Hometown Favorite Rogers Stuns Top Seed Keys In Charleston
Charleston local Shelby Rogers stunned the No.1 seed Madison Keys in three sets to move into the Volvo Car Open round of 16 for the first time.
Charleston local Shelby Rogers stunned the No.1 seed Madison Keys in three sets to move into the Volvo Car Open round of 16 for the first time.
Oediv siht ni no gniog s’tahw tuo erugif uoy nac? Sreyalp ruo morf egassem laiceps a raeh ll’uoy nac uoy fI…
Victoria Azarenka takes on Angelique Kerber in the semifinals of the Miami Open.
Svetlana Kuznetsova has Saturday’s shot of the day in the final of the Miami Open.
An interview with Andrea Petkovic before her opening round match at the Volvo Car Open.
CHARLESTON, SC, USA – No.15 seed Sabine Lisicki returned to the the Volvo Car Open – the site of her first career breakthrough – on Monday; the 2009 champion faced few problems against American Irina Falconi, winning, 6-4, 6-3, to reach the second round.
Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Charleston right here on wtatennis.com!
Facing off for the first time since 2011, Lisicki and Falconi took the court on the first day of main draw play at the newly-renamed Volvo Car Open; Lisicki had burst onto the WTA scene on this very court six years ago with three big wins over Venus Williams, Marion Bartoli, and Caroline Wozniacki for her first career title. Against Falconi, she hit seven double faults but nonetheless managed to win 70% of her first serve points and convert all four of her break point chances to reach the second round.
Up next for the former Wimbledon finalist is the winner of the first round between Kurumi Nara and Yulia Putintseva.
Joining Lisicki in the second round is No.11 seed Kristina Mladenovic, who snapped a four-match losing streak with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Tatjana Maria. Mladenovic booked what promises to be a big-hitting second round against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who defeated Peng Shuai, 6-2, 6-1. Peng was playing just her third WTA singles tournament since a back injury ended her 2015 season at the French Open.
Mladenovic’s doubles partner, Caroline Garcia, didn’t have the same luck in Charleston; splitting sets with Irina-Camelia Begu, Garcia traded 12 straight service holds before ultimately falling in a third set tie-break, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(3).
Lara Arruabarrena will be top seed Angelique Kerber’s second round opponent; the Spaniard needed three sets to dispatch American wildcard and Rio Open runner-up Shelby Rogers, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Kateryna Bondarenko recovered from a set down to upset No.16 seed Misaki Doi, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. No.12 seed Daria Gavrilova suffered a second set let down against Zarina Diyas, but the Aussie overcame the Kazakh, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Danka Kovinic set up a second round encounter with No.7 seed Sloane Stephens when she took out qualifier Cagla Buyukakacay, 6-1, 6-3. Qualifier Elena Vesnina continued her solid start to 2016 with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Cindy Burger; Vesnina will next play No.2 seed Belinda Bencic in the second round.
KATOWICE, POLAND – Kristyna Pliskova and No.9 seed Kirsten Flipkens kicked off their Katowice Open campaigns and battled into the second round of the International event on Monday.
Watch live action from Katowice this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Pliskova was the first of the pair to advance in Katowice, the last hardcourt tournament before the tour completes the shift to the clay and grass seasons. She faced a stern first-round test in the form of 23-year-old Brit Heather Watson, who’s been on the rise having already won a title in Monterrey earlier this year.
“It was a really tough first round for me today,” Pliskova said afterwards.
“The surface is very different – quite slow – so it took me some time to get used to it.”
The No.88 Czech put pressure on Watson right away, unleashing her powerful lefty serve and letting lose a couple of her record-holding aces. She went up 4-1, break serve twice and grabbing the first set off Watson. But before Pliskova could run away with it, Watson turned things around to take the second set.
Into a deciding set, Pliskova ran ahead to a 3-0 lead, breaking Watson’s serve twice – Watson saved four break points in the third game alone but gave up the fourth on a mishit backhand. Watson grabbed a break back, but Pliskova’s lead was too great to surmount and the Czech took the match 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
“I played well and Heather also played well too,” Pliskova said. “So I was pleased to come through a tough third set.”
The No.9 seed Kirsten Flipkens had a much more straightforward road into the second round at Katowice, beating Donna Vekic in an emphatic straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. She only faced one break point all match, and wrapped up the encounter in less than an hour.
Stefanie Voegele, Andreea Mitu, and Elizaveta Kulichkova also advanced.
On Tuesday, 2014 champion Alize Cornet and two-time finalist Camila Giorgi are set to make their Katowice debut.
MIAMI, FL, USA – Former No.1 Victoria Azarenka boasted a good luck charm en route her third Miami Open title, and his name was Manny.
A popular French bulldog, Manny took time away from being a full-time Twitter celebrity to hobnob with the tennis elite as the Sunshine Swing came to its dramatic conclusion.
Congrats to my new friend @vika7 for her win today! pic.twitter.com/zlKoWwD5k7
— Manny The Frenchie (@FrenchieManny) March 28, 2016
Not to be outdone, Timea Bacsinszky and Svetlana Kuznetsova showed off some impressive footwork as they won their way into an exciting semifinal encounter in Key Biscayne; be sure to check it all out in Episode 2 of Dubai Duty Free Full of Surprises!
The 2017 Aces For Humanity campaign was launched by USANA and the WTA at the BNP Paribas Open and continued at the Volvo Car Open, where every ace hit by a WTA player at Premier-level events translates into a donation to the USANA True Health Foundation, whose mission is to provide the most critical human necessities to those who are suffering or in need around the world.
For every ace hit by any player the WTA donates $5, and for every ace hit by a USANA Brand Ambassador, it’s $10.
USANA Brand Ambassadors Caroline Wozniacki, Eugenie Bouchard, Monica Puig and Zheng Saisai hit 10 of the 224 aces in Charleston – raising a grand total of $2,560 throughout the week. Wozniacki hit the most with six aces.
Read more about the campaign here and see below to find out who’s hit the most aces so far!
#AcesForHumanity Fan Giveaway
It’s simple: before each WTA Premier tournament guess how many total aces will be hit.
Next up is the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. Last year there was a total of 147 aces hit. It’s now your turn, take your best guess of how many will be hit this year.
How To Enter:
• Follow @WTA and @USANAFoundation on Twitter and before each WTA Premier tournament tweet the number of aces you predict will be hit during the whole tournament (Singles, Main Draw)
• Include the hashtag #AcesForHumanity
• Beijing deadline is April 25 at 11:59pm ET
• The winner will be announced May 1st
Aces For Humanity is a joint WTA and USANA initiative that benefits the USANA True Health Foundation, which provides critical human necessities to those in suffering or in need around the globe.
For full rules on how to enter, click here.
KATOWICE, Poland – 2014 champion Alizé Cornet faced an unexpected challenge in the form of Bulgarian qualifier Isabella Shiniakova on her way to the second round of the Katowice Open, advancing after a 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-3 battle.
Watch live action from Katowice this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
“It was a very tough match,” Cornet said after the win. “Really happy I won as she played really good and moved so well.”
After quickly taking the first set, the Frenchwoman found herself unable to convert on any of the handful of break points that came her way. The match got even more complicated as Shinikova sent it to a tiebreaker and eventually took a set off the No.4 seed.
Cornet shook off the mid-match wobble and got back to work in the deciding set – she cruised to a quick win, despite a spell of dizziness at 4-2 up saw her have to call the trainer.
“In the third set I had trouble. I felt bad at that moment, but dug deep,” Cornet said of the mid-set scare. “I called the doctor just to double check it was nothing more serious. I don’t think it will be a big deal for rest of tournament.”
Earlier in the season, the Frenchwoman was facing up to six months out of action due to a back injury she sustained in the Australian Open. She ended up making her comeback to the tour in Miami after about two months off. Cornet appreciates these tough matches as a way to get back to her pre-layoff form.
“I’m not at the same level I was, so these sort of matches are good for me.”
Later in the day, No.8 seed Dominika Cibulkova came back from a set down to survive a tricky opening round challenge from Carina Witthoeft, prevailing 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3) after a three-hour battle. Two-time Katowice finalist Camila Giorgi is also through, as well as Francesca Schiavone, Naomi Broady, and Jelena Ostapenko.