Tennis News

While some stars are still working hard on the tennis court, others are enjoying a well-deserved break…and some amazing gifts.

Defending champion Heather Watson is using her time off at the Abierto GNP Seguros wisely – by sitting in the stands and recording the performance of her friend and Great Britain Fed Cup teammate Naomi Broady.

Ace ace baby ? Thanks to bae @heatherwatson92 for the video

A post shared by(@naomibroady) on Apr 5, 2017 at 8:45pm PDT

Alizé Cornet is having fun in Mexico.

Thanks to those who came out in the heat yesterday to support me ? ! Always a thrill to play in Mexico ! Next match tomorrow vamos ?? pic.twitter.com/8JqNOPLzia

— Alize Cornet (@alizecornet) April 5, 2017

Elsewhere, thrillseeker CoCo Vandeweghe is in deep water.

?????

A post shared by (@cocovandey) on Apr 5, 2017 at 12:51pm PDT

And new World No.7 Johanna Konta is ready for a very special delivery…of her favorite food.

I can't wait for my present!! #anxiouslywaiting https://t.co/nJFwY5PCvt

— Johanna Konta (@JoKonta91) April 6, 2017

BIRMINGHAM, Great Britain – Britain’s Heather Watson notched her first win in Birmingham in two years, downing Camila Giorgi 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the second round at the Aegon Classic Birmingham.

Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Watson played a neat and tidy game against the tricky Giorgi, striking 23 winners and seven unforced errors to the Italian’s 24 winners and 29 unforced errors.

The Brit found herself break points down in the second and fifth games of the second set, but rallied each time to come up with a way to stay in it.

“Today, the opponent I played is a real tricky one,” Watson said. “She doesn’t give you any rhythm. She’ll hit a lot of winners, but she’ll make some mistakes as well. So it’s tough.

“I was just really pleased with how positive I was, especially in the second set when I was breakpoints down. I thought those games in the end turned out to be very crucial.”

Her first-round win here overturns a spell of disappointing results at the Aegon Classic Birmingham – she’s bowed out in the first round in her last two appearances.

“I just love it here in Birmingham,” the Brit told the crowd after her match. “I haven’t had the results I’ve wanted here in the past, but I was really motivated this year to do well here because I really do enjoy it.

“I have family who live close by in Coventry, so I really feel like it’s a second home.”

Joining her in the second round is Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko. The 18-year-old defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6(2) 6-1 earlier in the day.

Watson and Giorgi’s match just barely missed the rain that had been threatening to come down all afternoon, leaving the clashes between Daria Gavrilova versus Naomi Broady and Carla Suárez Navarro versus Elina Svitolina postponed until tomorrow.

Clay court tennis is commonly associated with drawn-out baseline battles, but at Roland Garros the WTA’s big servers were doing their best to keep these to a minimum.

Unsurprisingly, Serena Williams led the way in terms of both aces and service speed. Her fastest of the fortnight was clocked at 121.8mph – a figure matched by one of the game’s stars in waiting, Naomi Osaka. They were not the only ones notching noteworthy numbers, either; Océane Dodin, Madison Keys and Danka Kovinic all threatening the 120mph mark.

Roland Garros
1. Serena Williams – 121.8mph / 196.0kph
1T. Naomi Osaka – 121.8mph / 196.2kph
3. Océane Dodin – 119.9mph / 193.0kph
4T. Madison Keys – 119.3mph / 192.0kph
4T. Danka Kovinic – 119.3mph / 192.0kph

2016
1. Serena Williams – 127.0mph / 204.4kph (Indian Wells)
2T. Lucie Hradecka – 123.0mph / 197.9kph (Indian Wells)
2T. Venus Williams – 123.0mph / 197.9kph (Miami)
4. Timea Babos – 122.0mph / 196.3kph (Indian Wells)
5. Naomi Osaka – 121.8mph / 196.2kph (Roland Garros)
6. CoCo Vandeweghe – 121.mph / 194.7kph (Indian Wells)
7T. Madison Keys – 119.9mph / 193.0kph (Australian Open)
7T. Océane Dodin – 119.9mph / 193.0kph (Roland Garros)
7T. Polona Hercog – 119.9mph / 193.0kph (Australian Open)
10. Danka Kovinic – 119.3mph / 192.0kph (Roland Garros)

All-Time
1. Sabine Lisicki – 131.0mph / 210.8kph (2014 Stanford)
2. Venus Williams – 129.0mph / 207.6kph (2007 US Open)
3. Serena Williams – 128.6mph / 207.0kph (2013 Australian Open)
4. Julia Goerges – 126.1mph / 203.0kph (2012 French Open)
5. Brenda Schultz-McCarthy – 126.0mph / 202.7kph (2007 Indian Wells)
6. Nadiia Kichenok – 125.5mph / 202.0kph (2014 Australian Open)
7. Lucie Hradecka – 125.0mph / 201.2kph (2015 Wimbledon)
8. Anna-Lena Groenefeld – 125.0mph / 201.1kph (2009 Indian Wells)
9T. Ana Ivanovic – 124.9mph / 201.0kph (2007 French Open)
9T. Denisa Allertova – 124.9mph / 201.0kph (2015 Australian Open)

CHARLESTON, SC, USA — Caroline Wozniacki won all four sets she played as day turned to night on Thursday in Charleston, as the 2011 champion ousted Anastasia Rodionova, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals for the fifth time at the Volvo Car Open.

“It was tough conditions to play in this wind, a little chilly tonight as well and then playing someone who doesn’t give you any rhythm,” Wozniacki assessed at the close of her second match of the day. “Obviously she plays a lot of doubles, so she was coming in, doing drop shots and hitting the ball hard and then slow. She was definitely trying to break my rhythm up, and it was difficult. But I managed to pull through.”

The No.5 seed defeated Annika Beck in straight sets earlier on Thursday, and showed no ill effects of having to play two matches in the span of a few hours. The Dane has never lost before the quarterfinals in five career appearances in Charleston, and advances to face Jelena Ostapenko in Friday’s quarterfinals.

The former World No.1 won 15 straight points over the first four games of the match to take command before the qualifier got on the board and a foothold in the match. The Australian broke and held serve in a lengthy game, saving five break points in total, to close the deficit to 4-2, but Wozniacki held on from there to take four of the next five games to lead by a set and a break.

.@CaroWozniacki wraps up the first set 6-3! #VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/Kfr7lvkXQK

— WTA (@WTA) April 6, 2017

Rodionova saved a trio of break points in the fifth game of the second set, and broke the Wozniacki delivery at love to level the match. Nonetheless, the qualifier who scored upsets against Duan Ying-Ying and Sara Errani to reach the third round was unable to conjure another stunner as the Dane secured the final three games to move safely through to the last eight.

Second Round ✅
Round of 16 ✅
Advances to @VolvoCarOpen Quarterfinals ✅

All in a days work for @CaroWozniacki! ? pic.twitter.com/NZbsHpckpX

— WTA (@WTA) April 7, 2017

Looking ahead to Friday night, Wozniacki lost the only match she’s played against the Latvian teenager at the Connecticut Open last year, as she attempts to reach the semifinals in Charleston for the first time since raising the trophy in 2011.

“I think I’m well-prepared for tomorrow. I got some clay tennis in today and feel like I’m just going to go out there and have fun and do my best and see how it goes,” Wozniacki said. “I’m just playing right now. I had one practice session before the tournament started for me, and that was it. I just kind of run on experience and try and figure it out.”

MALLORCA, Spain – Eugenie Bouchard and Jelena Jankovic both overcame sluggish starts to get their Mallorca Open campaigns off to a winning start and advancing to the second round.

Watch live action from Birmingham and Mallorca this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

The inaugural International event, staged right on the Mediterranean coast in Santa Ponsa, looks just as much like a relaxing getaway as it does a WTA event, and quite the opposite of a typical grass court tournament.

“It’s different, to have a tour spot in a vacation spot here like this,” No.8 seed Bouchard said.

“It’s hot over here, we’re not used to that when we play on grass, it’s usually cold rainy countries so this is a refreshing change.”

Bouchard raced through the opening set against Danka Kovinic, but had trouble keeping up the intensity in the second as the Montenegrin player climbed to a 5-2 lead. Bouchard reeled off the next five straight games to defeat her 6-3, 7-5 and book a spot in the second round.

“I think I played pretty solid,” Bouchard assessed after the match. “On my part I thought I had some big weapons. She had a big serve and can hit big shots so I felt like I stayed with her when I needed to, but I kept fighting even though I was down in that second set.”

No.2 seed Jankovic had a similar struggle against Ana Konjuh, but in reverse: after a tense, lengthy struggle in the first set against the Croatian, Jankovic found her range and snapped up the second set, 7-5, 6-3.

“I had a slow start and my opponent was playing very well,” Jankovic said. “She was hitting strong and I was reacting very slow.

“I wasn’t really able to play my game but slowly, little by little, I started to get in my rhythm. I felt more comfortable on the court and I think she just couldn’t follow.”

While these two seeds advanced, another two went tumbling out as Sabine Lisicki dealt an upset to the No.4 seeded Kristina Mladenovic, 6-4, 6-4, and qualifier Sorana Cirstea knocked out No.5 seed Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-2.

What post match cool down looks like in Mallorca ?? pic.twitter.com/CSqKiIYwJI

— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) June 14, 2016

Last month, SportsPro unveiled it annual list of the world’s 50 most marketable athletes. Once again, the WTA was well represented with three players making the cut.

French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza led the way, entering the list at No.14 on the back of her recent exploits. Joining her is fellow new entrant Sania Mirza and last year’s No.1 Eugenie Bouchard.

Muguruza first burst onto the scene two years ago when she inflicted a humbling second-round defeat on defending champion Serena Williams at Roland Garros. Since then her star has grown, a Wimbledon final appearance laying the foundations for a brilliant second half of 2015. The 22-year-old hit her first bump in the road at the start of the current season, before a spectacular return culminating in her Paris triumph.

Viewed by many as the sports next big crossover star, Muguruza has seen sponsors come flocking – BBVA Bank, Maui Jim, adidas and Babolat are among her current portfolio – capitalizing on the decade-long quest to find a female icon to join Rafael Nadal atop the pedestal of Spanish tennis.

Life has not been quite so rosy for the new generation’s other great young hope, Eugenie Bouchard. However, following a turbulent 2015 campaign, the green shoots of recovery have begun to sprout.

Success on the court and charisma off it fuelled the Canadian’s initial rise to prominence, and now unburdened by the weight of expectation that hung around her neck for much of 2015, she has begun to climb back up the rankings. The qualities that first attracted Nike, Babolat, Coca-Cola and others remain, and her reunion with childhood mentor Nick Saviano is sure to hasten her return to tennis’ top table.

Mirza, on the other hand, has had no shortage of success over the past 12 months, her all-conquering partnership with Martina Hingis – the duo have won three of the past four Grand Slams – thrusting her back into the spotlight.

A superstar in her homeland for the best part of a decade, the Indian, whose contracts include adidas, Sahara India and Tata Tea, is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations and was flagbearer at the 2012 Olympics.

Since SportsPro released its inaugural list in 2010, WTA players have been near ever-presents at the top of the pile, Caroline Wozniacki, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka and Sloane Stephens all featuring down the years.