Montréal: Keys Interview
An interview with Madison Keys after her win in the third round of the Rogers Cup.
An interview with Madison Keys after her win in the third round of the Rogers Cup.
After Thursday’s look back at tennis’ historic return to the Olympics at Seoul in 1988, wtatennis.com’s next stop off on its trip down memory lane is Barcelona…
Barcelona, Spain, 1992
Tennis de la Vall d’Hebron
Red Clay
Now established at the Games once more, Barcelona saw the singles draw expanded to 64 and an even stronger line-up in attendance; in addition to defending champion Steffi Graf, six other members of the Top 10 were present, including home hopes Conchita Martínez and Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario and an American teenager going by the name of Jennifer Capriati.
Staged on the red clay of the Tennis de la Vall d’Hebron to the north of the city, the early stages were devoid of any real surprises, with all four top seeds all making it through to the semifinals.
Here, though, was when the tournament really sparked into life.
Faced with the cauldron of noise that was the Olympic Tennis Stadium, a 16-year-old Capriati had every right to be overawed when she stepped on court to face Barcelona’s favorite daughter, Sánchez-Vicario.
However, the American had not read the script.
The unashamedly partisan crowd, which included King Carlos and Queen Sophia of Spain, were stunned as Capriati put on a regal display of clay court tennis to triumph, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Meeting Capriati for the gold medal was Graf. Once again the odds were stacked against the teenager, and once again she beat the house.
Going into the final, Graf had never lost to Capriati, her cool temperament trumping youthful promise on all four of their previous meetings. Yet where the teenager had collapsed under the pressure in the past, in Barcelona she battled tigerishly.
Capriati had nine break points at 2-2 and when she blew them and lost the first set 6-3 she could have wilted in the debilitating heat of the bullring-like Centre Court. Instead she began to hit the ball harder and closer to the lines.
Confronted by this barrage of winners, it was Graf who cracked; she lost her serve in the eighth game of the second set and again at the same stage in the third after Capriati bludgeoned yet another forehand drive down the line.
The American had only to hold her serve to become champion and she did so to 15 to claim the fourth and most important title of her fledgling career.
“It was so emotional,” Capriati said of her feelings as she received her medal. “I had the chills the whole time. I just can’t believe it. All week I watched the other athletes up there and I was with them and I thought, ‘Wow, that would be so cool.'”
——
Olympic Memories: Seoul
It’s time to crown July’s WTA Shot Of The Month. There were some incredible shots to choose from this month, and we narrowed it down to the five best – have a look at the nominees in the above video and cast your vote for your favorite shot before voting ends Thursday at 11:59pm ET!
The winner will be announced Friday, August 5.
How it works: five shots are selected by wtatennis.com, and the winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com.
NANCHANG, China – Francesca Schiavone moved one step closer to an eighth career title with a three-set win over Lu Jia-Jing at the Jiangxi Open on Wednesday.
Watch live action from Nanchang this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Following Magda Linette’s 11th-hour Olympic acceptance, Schiavone was elevated to the highest-ranked player in the top half of the draw, although for the first set it was her not Lu that resembled the underdog.
“I think I was playing too short and too much counter-attacking and I told myself that I can’t keep playing like this at 36 years old and I have to go to the ball, hit the ball and make life much, much easier,” Schiavone said.
The conclusion to the first set was a war of attrition, Schiavone coming off second best in two arduous games. Eager not to continue in this vein, the Italian came out firing on the restart, racing into a 3-0 lead and wrapping up the set soon after. The decider followed a similar pattern, the No.3 seed assuming control with two early breaks before surviving a slight wobble to close out a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory.
Nanchang has been a fixture on the WTA calendar since 2014, household names Peng Shuai and Jelena Jankovic triumphing at the first two editions. Schiavone’s bid to follow in their footsteps and lift the tournament’s striking new trophy will face a stern examination in the quarterfinals when she takes on No.7 seed Risa Ozaki.
As Schiavone stepped out on Centre Court, Ozaki was putting the finishing touches to a clinical 6-0, 6-3 win over qualifier Nicha Lertpitaksinchai. Also advancing were Zhang Kai-Lin, who defeated Miyu Kato, 6-4, 7-5, and Vania King, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Zhang Ying.
Relive the Opening Ceremony as CoCo Vandeweghe’s Olympic Video Blog takes you inside the night’s festivities with Team USA!
An interview with Johanna Konta before her first round at the Olympic tennis event.
Petra Kvitova strode purposefully past former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki and into the third round of the Olympic Games on Monday.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Venus Williams booked the first spot in the quarterfinals of the Olympic tennis event as she and mixed doubles partner Rajeev Ram edged past Kiki Bertens and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands, 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 10-8.
More to come…
Serena Williams must advance to the quarterfinals to secure the No.1 ranking.
With the top spot on the WTA rankings in play this week, World No.1 Serena took a late wildcard into the tournament. The scenarios are simple. If Serena makes the quarterfinal she will hold onto the No.1 ranking heading into the US Open. If she loses before the quarterfinal stage, No.2 Angelique Kerber can overtake her by winning the title.
A two-time defending champion here, Serena leads the top half and she could open her tournament against the woman how knocked her out of the Olympic tennis event last week: Elina Svitolina. Svitolina would have to get past Christina McHale in the first round to book a rematch with the 22-time Grand Slam champion. Serena could then play either Karolina Pliskova or Jelena Ostapenko, with Svetlana Kuznetsova or Timea Bacsinszky looming in the quarterfinals.
Click here to check out the full draw.
As for Kerber, anything less than the title means she will remain at No.2 heading into New York. She is into the Gold Medal match at the Olympics, which will be played on Saturday, but as a Top 16 seed she’ll have a bye into the second round. The question is how much will she have left in the tank?
Kerber will play either Kristina Mladenovic or a qualifier in the second round and could play either Sam Stosur or Barbora Strycova in the Round of 16.
Rio Redux.
Serena and Kvitova will both have an opportunity to avenge their Olympic losses. For Serena that could come in her first match against Svitolina, while Kvitova could play Monica Puig in her first match of the tournament. Puig, who is also into the Gold Medal match against Kerber, opens her tournament against American wildcard Louisa Chirico.
Simona Halep gets back to work.
After skipping Rio, Halep spent the week training with coach Darren Cahill and famed fitness trainer Gil Reyes. The Rogers Cup champion will look to continue her winning ways in Cincinnati. With a significant number of points on the line over the next four weeks – Halep made the final here last year and the semifinals of the US Open – defending those points would set up a significant rankings push in Asia this fall.
Halep has won 23 of her last 26 matches dating back to her title run at the Mutua Madrid Open, and she’s currently riding a 10-match win streak. The No.3 seed here, she got the toughest draw of any of the top four seeds, landing in a quarter with No.5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska. She will open her tournament against either Yulia Putintseva or a qualifier and could then face Belinda Bencic, who is returning from injury, or Caroline Garcia.
Agnieszka Radwanska has work to do.
The No.5 has not made a semifinal since April (Porsche Tennis Grand Prix) and has struggled to put together a confidence boosting run over the last few months. It won’t be easy this week in Cincinnati, where she has never made it past the quarterfinals. She will play either Andrea Petkovic or Lucie Safarova in the second round, with Johanna Konta potentially looming in the third round. All that to get to a possible quarterfinal against Halep.
The qualifying draw is stacked.
The Cincinnati qualifying draw, which begins on Saturday, would be a strong International-level event in and of itself. The main draw cut-off was at No.41, meaning a host of top notch players will have to play their way into the main draw.
Eugenie Bouchard took a wildcard into qualifying, and she’s alongside a list of exciting players like Alizé Cornet, Daria Gavrilova, Misaki Doi, Sabine Lisicki, Camila Giorgi, Sorana Cirstea and more. It will be a tough weekend of qualifying matches and the complexion of the draw could change dramatically depending on who makes it through and where they end up being placed.
Follow the qualifying draw here.
Top seeds in the top half: Serena Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Dominika Cibulkova.
Top seeds in the bottom half: Angelique Kerber, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Roberta Vinci.
Projected quarterfinals: Serena Williams vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Garbiñe Muguruza vs. Dominika Cibulkova, Simona Halep vs. Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber vs. Carla Suárez Navarro.
First round matches to watch: Andrea Petkovic vs. Lucie Safarova, Elina Svitolina vs. Christina McHale, Sara Errani vs. CoCo Vandeweghe, Louisa Chirico vs. Monica Puig.
Potential second round matches to watch: Serena Williams vs. Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova vs. Jelena Ostapenko, Garbiñe Muguruza vs. CoCo Vandeweghe, Petra Kvitova vs. Monica Puig, Johanna Konta vs. Ana Ivanovic, Belinda Bencic vs. Caroline Garcia, Simona Halep vs. Yulia Putintseva.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.