Tennis News

There’s more to play for at this year’s French Open than just the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen. With the Rio Olympics less than 80 days away, this year’s French Open also serves as the last chance for players to earn ranking points to shore up their Olympic qualifying prospects. The ITF will use the singles and doubles rankings as of the Monday after the French Open to determine who’s in and who’s out. For the players who are still on the bubble, that adds a completely different set of pressures in Paris.

Ranking is just one element of the qualifying process. A player must also be in good standing with her federation and, fulfilled her Fed Cup responsibilities. The Top 56 eligible players will qualify for Rio, with a maximum of four singles players from a single country. Read more about the qualifying rules here.

On the bubble for Olympic qualification…

Below qualification line…

*outside country’s Top 4

Britain’s Heather Watson said she can’t stop thinking about the qualifying process. Currently ranked at No.54, Watson has been on cusp of the Top 56 for a few weeks but with so many points on offer in Paris, the threat of being overtaken in the rankings is real.

“I’m borderline and I need to move 10 more places and I’m in for sure,” Watson told WTA Insider. “I didn’t have a great clay court season last year so I’m hoping to make the most of the next couple of weeks.”

Speaking at the Mutua Madrid Open earlier this month, Watson said every match looms large. “Last night I slept terrible because I’m just thinking about the match,” she said. “Because in my mind it’s not just about this match to move into the next round. It’s a lot more on it right now.”

For Daria Gavrilova, the qualifying process is completely out of her hands. The 22-year-old Australian is in the midst of her best season so far but her recent change in citizenship from Russia to Australia has complicated her eligibility status and as of now, she will not qualify unless the ITF rules in her favor on her appeal.

“I really want to play,” Gavrilova said. “I really do. So I would be very disappointed. I’ll probably cry.”

Ranked No.45, Gavrilova has put together a strong clay season after making the Round of 16 at the Australian Open, and could play the role of spoiler when the tournament begins in Paris. She’s trying not to let the Olympics weigh on her.

“I don’t think about it a lot because it’s not up to me,” she said. “I’m just waiting for the decision. I can’t do anything about it.”

Elena Vesnina has the dual task of trying to qualify for both singles and doubles. Currently ranked No.47, Vesnina is well inside the cut-off thanks to her run to the Charleston final last month, but she’s currently the No.6 Russian. Only the top four Russians will qualify for the singles event. With Maria Sharapova’s Olympic participation in doubt, Vesnina is in the position of trying to chase down No.32 Daria Kasatkina to earn a singles berth.

“I’m not trying to think about it,” Vesnina said. “You cannot control everything. It’s going to be too much in your head.

“First of all you have to think about your singles game and your results there. For doubles you have to play match by match. What’s going to happen, you don’t know because there are really good teams right now and everyone is looking at the Olympics. You see a lot of teams pairing from the same country. That’s why it’s going to be very exciting.”

Vesnina is a two-time Olympic veteran, having competed in doubles in Beijing and London. She said the predominant Olympic chatter in the locker room is from players trying to figure out their best doubles options. In her case, despite playing with Kasatkina for most of the last six months, she’s repaired with Ekaterina Makarova to prepare for Rio. 

“We played together for four years. We don’t need to waste our team spirit. It’s always great to play with someone new like Dasha, but it’s not enough time. I’m still learning with Dasha what she’s doing in doubles. She’s still a young kid and she’s improving. Maybe later I’m going to play with her.”

Vesnina and Makarova have Olympic experience as well, having made the quarterfinals in London. Just last week they made the final in Rome.

“I think from the last Olympics I know a little bit what the numbers were,” Vesnina said, referring to the doubles cut-off, which looks at the combined ranking (singles or doubles) of the players. “I’m pretty sure the [combined ranking cut] has to be inside the Top 60. In London it was around 56. Both of you have to be Top 20, Top 25.”

For her part, Kasatkina hasn’t had the clay season she would have wanted so far, winning just one match on European clay. That has opened the door for Vesnina to make a move in Paris, but the youngster is more concerned with the state of her game than the Olympics.

“For sure to play Olympics would be big,” Kasatkina said. “But I’m just 19. If I play it’s perfect. But if not, I will hopefully have a few Olympics. I am focused on the tournaments and my game. If I play good these tournaments on clay it’s good and I will get in. If no, not a big problem.”

Like the Russians, the Americans also find themselves with an incredible amount of depth. As the clay season began, all eyes were on who would get that fourth Olympic spot and it appeared to be coming down to Madison Keys and CoCo Vandeweghe, with Keys trying to hold off her compatriot. With her run to the final in Rome, Keys has virtually secured her spot on the team, leaping ahead of Sloane Stephens to be the No.3 American at No.17.

“I feel like it’s just added pressure,” Keys said.

That the Olympics are even happening this summer still escapes her sometimes and she’s done well not to think about it.

“Obviously I really want to play and it would mean so much to me. But at the same time I feel like if I’m sitting there counting points I’m just going to freak out. As my Grandpa says, ‘everything happens for a reason,’ so I’m just going to go for that.”

A quarterfinalist in London four years ago, Germany’s Sabine Lisicki finds herself on the outside looking in as she heads to Paris. Ranked No.50, the 26-year-old looked like a lock for the Olympics when the season began, but she’s since been passed by Stuttgart finalist Laura Siegemund and Anna-Lena Friedsam. Annika Beck currently holds the fourth German spot at No.42.

Lisicki said her goal throughout her life has been to win a Slam, not the Olympics. Like most players, she has a fatalistic approach to her Olympic chances.

“I love to represent my country. I love to fight for my country. I’ve always loved it. I love playing at the Olympics at London. As soon as I found out it was going to be in Rio I really wanted to play. I can only do my best on court. I really want to go there.

“But I can’t start thinking too much about it because then it starts to hinder you. It was a tough time with injury. It’s bad timing in a way but if it’s not meant to happen so be it. I’ll probably have a chance in four years. I’m thinking bigger picture now than just the Olympics. My goal is still to win a Grand Slam. Nothing will change about that if I go to the Olympics or not.”

Roberta Vinci agreed. The Olympics hold a different place in tennis’ pecking order. “Probably if you think one big tournament in tennis you think Wimbledon, Roland Garros. Not the Olympics. If you want to swim, the Olympics is unbelievable. But of course, the Olympics is still fun. I hope to win a medal.”

Set to play in her last Olympic games, Vinci is a three-time Olympic veteran, having played her first Olympic games in Athens in 2004. For her, the Olympics have rarely felt like anything other than another tournament.

“If you think about the Olympic games you think ‘Oh, wow, the Olympics!'” she said. “But when I played in London, Beijing, and Athens – I played already three times – they are so quick. You go, you stay, yeah if you see the opening ceremony it’s nice. But in London I played Kim Clijsters first match at 11am. The day before was the opening ceremony and I [didn’t go.] So for me it was like another tournament.”

“The Federation booked an apartment near Wimbledon. It was not a ‘real’ Olympics. It was like a Fed Cup. So I hope this time it will be a little different. But right now if I think about the Olympics…I don’t know. We’ll see.”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Kayla Day has a beaming smile, one of those smiles which lights up a face, and while this week in the desert has given her plenty to smile about, it seems that she’s the kind of person who doesn’t need many excuses to crack out a grin.

When asked to describe herself in one word she chooses “hilarious”. The 17-year-old admits to being “pretty funny, I’m serious sometimes but I like to crack jokes a lot and laugh.” She clearly enjoys life and with the kind of impressive talent that saw her take out No. 32 seed Mirjana Lucic-Baroni on her way to the third round at the BNP Paribas Open, there is plenty to be happy about.

The California native first picked up a racket at the age of seven after watching her mom play in a women’s interclub match. She thought tennis looked ‘fun’ and subsequently signed up for a week’s tennis camp, loving it so much she ended up playing ‘every day all summer’ before locking in to regular lessons in her hometown of Santa Barbara.

A few years later she started making the four-hour round trip to Carson twice a week with her mom and she still trains there today under the watchful eye of Henner Nehles.

“My dream was always to be a professional but I really started thinking about it when I was 15,” said Day, who won the first Grand Slam match she played when she defeated Madison Brengle at last year’s US Open. That victory set up a second round meeting with Madison Keys on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

“It was such a good experience. I mean, I got two matches,” said the lefthander. “I got to play one of the great American players right now, Madison Keys. And I got to play on such a big court, and that was the first time I had ever been on such a big court.”

It was quite a fortnight for Day who claimed her first Junior Grand Slam title at the same event and also finished as runner-up in the girls’ doubles competition with Caroline Dolehide. Her junior successes ensured she ascended to World No. 1 in the junior rankings – a position she hopes to hold one day in the senior ranks, although she is having to practice the art of patience in the pursuit of her career dreams.

“I want my results to come, like, now. I want everything to be as fast as possible,” she admitted. “I think my coach is really good about telling me, like, focus on the process and improving and the results will come.”

Day is bubbly and confident and seems to be taking her success in her stride. She certainly doesn’t struggle for motivation either, divulging she was almost too psyched for her meeting with Lucic-Baroni.

“Before a match I either go Maroon 5 mellow or really pump out Kanye West or Jay Z,” she revealed. “Before I got in the car [to go to the courts] I was all pumped up and then I got in the car and I was like, man, I’m a little too pumped up, maybe I should mellow it down so I went Maroon 5 right before I went out there.”

As well as enjoying music, Day is a big fan of Stephen King novels and Netflix series like Grey’s Anatomy and The Vampire Diaries. Her non-tennis talents include speaking fluent Czech, thanks to her mom who was born and raised in the Czech Republic, and making a good butternut squash soup.

– Photos courtesy of Getty Images

PARIS, France – A brief delay truncated the order of play again on Day 2 of Roland Garros, but the first round got underway in earnest by afternoon; catch up with the biggest storylines as Tuesday’s matches came to a close. 

Aga and Simona roll, Muguruza survives: No one is talking about No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanksa here in Paris, but she rolled through her opener against Bojana Jovanovski, losing just two games. She’ll have a much trickier task in the second round against Caroline Garcia, who played a sharp match to beat Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets.

Not be outdone on the day, Simona Halep matched Radwanska’s feat, losing two games to Nao Hibino. She plays Zarina Diyas next.

It was a different story for No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, who needed three sets to get past a slumping Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. It was Schmiedlova’s 12th consecutive tour-level loss this year. Muguruza chalked up her slow start to, well, her headphones. The Spaniard didn’t hear her match announced over the loudpseaker and had just 10 minutes to warm up.

“I think I had the music on or something,” she said. “I didn’t really listen when someone talks with the speaker. The supervisor came, and they’re like, We’re waiting for you. I’m like, No way. I start to do running and jumping fast. So I didn’t have the time to really warm up.”

Cagla Buyukackay makes history: Buyukackay became the first Turkish woman in the Open Era to win a match at a Slam, as she rallied to beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-2. You’ll hear more from Cagla on Tuesday.

Heather Watson streaks to a big win: Watson’s first round match against her doubles partner Nicole Gibbs was suspended on Sunday due to rain, with Gibbs serving up a break and a point away from consolidating at 2-1 in the third. On Monday’s resumption, Watson would save that game point and go on to win five straight games to win, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

“My first goal was to win that first point, because I knew it was very important. I could have been 3-1 down and just one point,” Watson said. “I actually had a talk with my coach and we talked for five minutes about how we’re going to play that first point. Once I got that, I think I just kind of settled. Especially once that game was done, I started swinging through.”

Currently ranked No.56, the win was a big one for Watson’s Olympic qualifying chances. She’ll play No.13 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round.

Roberta Vinci’s early exit: The highest seed to fall after the first two days in Paris: No.7 seed Roberta Vinci. The Italian has struggled with her form since the tour turned to clay, her most uncomfortable surface. She left Paris winning just four games against Kateryna Bondarenko.

Tsvetana Pironkova gets a win on clay: When you think of clay, you don’t usually think of Pironkova, a 2010 Wimbledon semifinalist. The Bulgarian, now ranked No.102, thrives on fast, low-bouncing surfaces such as grass and very particular hard courts – remember that Sydney title? – but clay has been a challenge.

On Monday she faced off against one of the best clay courters on tour in former Roland Garros finalist and No.16 seed Sara Errani. The Italian came into Paris struggling, having gone 0-3 on European clay this season, and the lack of form showed. Pironkova rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 upset and will face Johanna Larsson in the second round.

Naomi Osaka continues to impress: The 18-year-old made the third round in her Grand Slam debut in January at the Australian Open. Now she’s into the second round at her French Open debut, beating No.32 seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-5. She’ll play Mirjana Lucic-Baroni next.

Osaka admits she’s not adept on the red clay yet, but her game may be perfectly suited for the surface. Like many who grew up playing on green clay, the European red stuff has been a shock. “I was like, Oh, my God,” Osaka said when asked about her first reaction to red clay. “Because last year I didn’t really play red clay. I didn’t play any clay, I think, so technically this year is my first time on red clay.

“Oh, God,” she said, smiling. “I don’t know what I was thinking because it’s completely different…. It’s kind of slow, and then I’m just like, Oh, hardcourt, please. But, I mean, I have to adjust, so I can’t complain about it all the time.”

“I don’t have like a hateful relationship with clay. I used to think I was the queen of grinding and then I was like, Oh, now I have to hit. People that hit powerful do well on clay. They do well on any surface.”

Class of 1997: The young class of 1997 on tour has been a promising one. Belinda Bencic has obviously set the standard of the 18-year-olds, but Jelena Ostapenko, Daria Kasatkina, and Ana Konjuh have also been eying a surge forward. Osaka says there’s no rivalry between the young women. Just sources of motivation.

“They’re kind of doing better than me right now, but I don’t know,” Osaka said. “I am trying to do my own thing and I’m sure they’re trying to do their own thing. We’re all going for different goals that are kind of the same because everyone wants to be No.1 and stuff. I mean, I don’t have any like [ill will] – nothing but love. Like no negative feelings or anything towards anybody.”

Shelby Rogers ‘bolts’ into the second round: Read more about Rogers’ big upset over No.17 seed Karolina Pliskova here.

Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber, and Victoria Azarenka ready for Tuesday: After two rain-addled days in Paris, the forecast looks positive for Tuesday, which means in an ideal world, the first round will conclude as scheduled. World No.1 Serena Williams gets underway against Magdalena Rybarikova, Kerber is on upset watch against Nuremberg champion Kiki Bertens, and Azarenka plays Karin Knapp.

Full order of play here.

Photos courtesy of Getty Images.