Tennis News

SHENZHEN, China – No.2 seed Simona Halep unveiled an aggressive gameplan that helped her emerge victorious in a three set tussle with former World No.1 Jelena Jankovic, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, to advance into the second round of the Shenzhen Open.

Halep spent the off-season training in Australia with coach Darren Cahill, and appeared to be employing some of those improvements early on against Jankovic, launching into her forehand and looking to terminate rallies early and often.

Don't blink! ?@Simona_Halep flies through the opening set vs Jankovic 6-1! #ShenzhenOpen pic.twitter.com/Ik2jhlm5NA

— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017

Jankovic struggled through most of the 2016 season with various injuries, but has played some of her best tennis in China over the last few years, reaching a second straight final in Guangzhou last fall. The Serb took a 4-1 lead in the second set and didn’t look back, leveling the match at one set apiece.

Great anticipation from @Jelena_Jankovic! ? #ShenzhenOpen pic.twitter.com/nFHLAaYcqp

— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017

The pair exchanged breaks in the decider, and as Halep steadied she served out the match in just under two hours. Up next for the Romanian is either hometown favorite Peng Shuai or Katerina Siniakova.

.@Simona_Halep is moving on to the #ShenzhenOpen second round!

Battles past Jankovic 6-1, 3-6, 6-3! pic.twitter.com/4HtTgwLzwI

— WTA (@WTA) January 2, 2017

More to come…

PERTH, Australia – Eager to bounce back from a difficult 2016, Andrea Petkovic made some tough decisions during the off-season. And judging by her dominant victory over Kristina Mladenovic at the Hopman Cup on Monday, she is already reaping the rewards.

“Big applause to Kristina, she’s such a talented girl. I was really in full focus today,” Petkovic said during her on-match interview. “I worked really hard. I started earlier than normal. I normally love to spend Christmas at home with my family but this time I thought, ‘Andrea, it’s time to make a sacrifice.’ So I spent it in Melbourne watching Seinfeld and eating burgers in the hotel room. But apparently it paid off!”

.@andreapetkovic speaks about her preparation for the Australian summer of tennis. Who knew ? and ? could be such great preparation ? pic.twitter.com/afvYYww43i

— #7TENNIS (@7tennis) January 2, 2017

Unsurprisingly, Petkovic has been the life and soul of this year’s competition, charming the crowds and fellow competitors alike. Indeed, at the Hopman Cup ball Petkovic was first to pull shapes, ushering in the New Year alongside Roger Federer and company.

“Well everybody has a thing and my thing is to open up dance floors,” she added. “So the first song the band played I was out there with my fitness and physio coach. Later we danced and Roger came on and I said, ‘Roger remember this time.” And he was like, ‘What? Why?’ I’m like, ‘Remember the time you and me danced with a bunch of teenagers.'”

I took that. #justsayin https://t.co/XWh6E0x5iU

— Andrea Petkovic (@andreapetkovic) December 31, 2016

While the German has mixed up her pre-season preparations, that is as far as her 2017 resolutions go: “I don’t do resolutions because I once tried a detox diet and at 3pm in the afternoon I was eating cake, so that’s how my resolutions go.”