Tennis News

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Cagla Buyukakcay delighted the Turkish fans at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup, roaring out to a big lead and treating the crowd to a tense ending with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Stefanie Voegele.

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Buyukakcay turned heads earlier in the year with a run to the third round of the Qatar Total Open – upsetting Lucie Safarova en route – but has been even more impressive at home in Istanbul, running through four matches without losing a set to become the first Turkish woman to reach a WTA singles final.

“I was very nervous in the beginning,” she admitted after the match. “I was trying to focus on the point all the time; it was hard not to think about the future in the second, when I was 6-0, 2-0 up.”

Completely in charge through the opening eight games, Voegele – a former Volvo Car Open semifinalist in 2013 – found her way back to level in the second set, getting within one game of tying things up in the tenth game.

“I knew my opponent could come back at any time, but it’s normal that I lost a little bit of concentration. It’s tough to finish a match and I was starting to feel really tight, but also I was making some unforced errors. But I would be brave again and I’d tell myself, ‘Play your best and try. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.’ It’s better to say this than ask, ‘Why didn’t I go for it?’ after the match.

“That’s why I was positive when I was 5-4 down, I was like, ‘Play your game, play aggressively like you did before.’ That worked well for me.”

Maintaining an incredibly high first serve percentage, Buyukakcay only missed three first serves through the one hour and 23 minute match, winning 63% of her first serve points and converting six of 11 break point chances on return.

“I hadn’t noticed, but I was told I was serving over 90%; that must have happened for the first time in my career!”

The top-ranked Turkish star was already the first from her country to reach a WTA semifinal, and Saturday’s victory allowed her to go one better, and assure herself of a Top 100 debut.

What a moment for #Buyukakcay! Makes the final at home! 6-0 7-5 over #Voegele @istanbul_cup pic.twitter.com/BgdJlEZGdL

— TennisTV (@TennisTV) April 23, 2016

“It was very important for me to break the Top 100 this match; that’s why I was very emotional at the end. I’ve been working for it for the first time, and I’ll be the first woman in Turkish tennis to be Top 100. It’s a huge thing for me.

“I saw the Turkish flags around me, and I’m reminding myself all the time that it’s perfect to be here, and it’s working.”

Hoping to inspire other young women from her home country, Buyukakcay discussed her active role as President of the Athlete’s Commission through the Turkish Olympic Committee.

“I’m very happy about it because we have to encourage kids to be involved with sports. My role is to help them for their Olympic dreams and to have a good bridge between the athletes and the Olympic Committee, and what we can do together in the future.

“It’s an important role for me to be a good athlete, because when I was young I didn’t have any role models in tennis. That’s why my dreams were very far for me; I didn’t have anyone to look up to. But because of me, they can dream that they also can reach a WTA final. We could never dream about it before in Turkish tennis.”

Standing between the hometown favorite and a maiden WTA title will be Danka Kovinic, who overcame a topsy-turvy second semifinal to see past Katreryna Kozlova, 7-5, 6-4. In doubles, Buyukakcay’s compatriot Ipek Soylu continued the banner week for Turkish tennis as she and partner Andreea Mitu reached the final when Nao Hibino’s right shoulder injury forced she and Kurumi Nara to withdraw from the semifinals.

Kovinic is also in the doubles final, having won her semifinal with fellow No.3 seed Xenia Knoll on Friday, and withstood a spirited challenge from Kozlova to reach the singles final on Saturday.

“The conditions are completely different on this court than on Court 1,” she said after the match. “It´s a bit faster but I like it more because there is no wind.

“I am really happy that I finished in two sets. It has been a tough week for me coming from Fed Cup but I am really happy with my result here because I am a step closer to making it for Rio, to play for my country. I hope that tomorrow is a good match. I know Cagla very well. We are close friends and we played in Charleston a few weeks ago.

“I expect a crazy crowd tomorrow, but I like it when the stadium is full even if they are against me and I like that people come to watch and to support us.”

Former WTA World No.3 (in both singles and doubles) Nadia Petrova has announced her retirement from professional tennis after a 19-year career.

“Tennis has given me so much,” Petrova told WTA Insider. “It’s given me a career, shaped me as a person, allowed me the opportunity to travel the world, make friends internationally and learn about many cultures. My opportunities have become endless and for that, I’m forever grateful.”

The 34-year-old from Russia concludes a career which saw her clinch 13 WTA singles and 24 WTA doubles titles, reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal, advance to two Grand Slam doubles finals and win the WTA Finals doubles title on two occasions.

Check out Petrova’s full statement below and click here to read WTA Insider’s exclusive interview with the two-time French Open semifinalist.

Tennis has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. It was pretty much everything I did on a daily basis and the little time I had off, I would spend with my loved ones. I suppose when the time comes to say goodbye, it becomes bitter sweet. It’s confusing, somewhat painful, scary yet also gratifying. I’ve decided to turn the page and move on to another stage in my life and I’m ready to do it. Tennis has given me so much. It’s given me a career, shaped me as a person, allowed me the opportunity to travel the world, make friends internationally and learn about many cultures.

My opportunities have become endless and for that, I’m forever grateful. My career has been great, obviously with highs and lows. We all know I was plagued with many injuries which made some of my calendar years challenging. Unfortunately that’s part of an athlete’s life and we all learn how to deal with that. We fall and then we get back up and keep going. Then there comes a time, no matter what you do, say or feel, nothing is ever enough. Your body lets you know it’s had enough. In 2013, when I lost my mother, emotionally I was a mess. On top of that, I was dealing with a hip injury which affected a good portion of the year. I made the decision to take some personal time to heal physically and emotionally. Hopefully that would help me once I decided to step back on court. In February 2014, I tried playing to see how I felt. My mind was still everywhere but on the court and my body was just not responding. It was painful. Painful because I felt useless and the player I was once, was no longer there.

I took more time and when I decided to start training again, my body felt good but once I was aggressively doing court work, it started to break down again. I had to start facing the inevitable and that was that my career had come to an end. To be able to compete at a high level with these top players, I had to be in the best shape and if my hip was not holding up, there was no way I could move on. After many failed attempts of trying to make a come back, I came to the realization that maybe it was time to turn the page and say goodbye to tennis competitively. I would be starting a new chapter in my life, exploring other interest and keeping myself occupied but most importantly spending my time with my loved ones. Making up for lost time.

I said to myself.. “I want to start a family, I want to be home more and I want to enjoy a lot of the things I never had time for while I was on the road”. So although it’s been unfortunate that I was unable to overcome this last injury and compete again, I’m excited for what’s to come and be a part of tennis in the future with other aspects of the sport. I’ve been blessed that Tennis has been such a huge part of my life professionally for the past 15 years. I want to thank every single one of you who has made it possible along the way. Whether that’s been sponsors, tournament staff, WTA, my travel team (which consisted of my coach, trainer, physio and manager), friends and family.. Thank you all. Last but not least MY FANS!! You have been my motivation, my back bone and the reason why I hadn’t given up sooner. Without fans, there wouldn’t be tennis. You all make the sport. Thank you all so much for believing in me and helping me through out my entire career.

Without any further delay, I’d like to make it known that I’m officially retiring from the sport. I plan to stay involved in tennis in the near future. I will be devoting a lot of my time to the sport through charity work which I will make known soon. I may no longer be competing but I will never be far from a court. My heart will always belong there.

Thank you all for making my career so memorable.

Nadia P

SYDNEY, Australia – Former champion Agnieszka Radwanska eased past qualifier Duan Ying-Ying and into the semifinals of the Apia International Sydney on Wednesday evening.

At last week’s Shenzhen Open, Radwanska saved three match points to defeat Duan in a tougher-than-expected season opener. This time around it was a far more straightforward outing, the No.2 seed completing a 6-3, 6-2 victory in an hour and 20 minutes.

“Sometimes you play people two or three weeks in a row, like Caroline and I had last year in Asia, but I’m definitely more happy with this performance than in Shenzhen,” Radwanska said in her on-court interview. “It’s another semifinal here, so I’m very happy with that.

“I was warming up at 4pm and it was still very hot, so I was a little bit lucky to play this evening. I was watching the first match here and it was unbelievably hot – the guys were playing amazingly.”

Despite the more hospitable conditions, both players made heavy weather of holding onto their serve early on. But after a succession of breaks, Radwanska finally put some daylight between the two, opening up a 5-3 lead before calmly serving out the set.

.@ARadwanska takes the first set 6-3! #SydneyTennis pic.twitter.com/4JRVJczZYf

— WTA (@WTA) January 11, 2017

Unlike in Shenzhen, there was to be no Duan comeback, Radwanska rattling off the first four games of the second set to ease her way into the last four.

Radwanska lifted the title in 2012, and standing between her and a return to the final is marathon woman Barbora Strycova. Earlier in the day, Strycova withstood the worst of the midday sun to win an epic encounter against Caroline Wozniacki. “Like I said, she was playing unbelievable tennis and she’s really on fire. Last year she also played amazing tennis. I’m just expecting a good match and we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”

“It's funny when you see your picture (when) walking down the corridor” @ARadwanska on seeing her 2012 champion photo behind the scenes pic.twitter.com/ywMZcAh66K

— Apia Intl Sydney (@SydneyTennis) January 11, 2017