Pliskova, Strycova Seal Fifth Fed Cup Title In Six Years
Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova win the deciding doubles rubber for the second straight year, capturing a fifth Fed Cup title in the last six years over home team France.
Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova win the deciding doubles rubber for the second straight year, capturing a fifth Fed Cup title in the last six years over home team France.
Who took home the most silverware in 2016? Was it World No.1 Angelique Kerber, WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova or Serena Williams? Find out right here!
Olga Govortsova knocked out former champion Vitalia Diatchenko to secure the first semifinal spot at the OEC Taipei WTA Challenger.
2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and 2015 US Open finalist Roberta Vinci each expressed their desire to continue playing tennis through the 2017 season.
Finishing inside the Top 20 for the fourth time in the last five years, Vinci spread the news on her official Instagram:
”I still feel like I have the desire and enthusiasm to try and do something in what is perhaps the thing I’m best at, playing tennis,” she said in quotes translated by Sports Illustrated.
“Now don’t start asking me if this will be my last year!!! See you in Australia.”
Vinci previously announced that she would make 2016 her final season, but began reconsidering her options as early as last winter, when she won the biggest singles title of her career at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy and became the oldest woman in WTA history to make her Top 10 debut.
She told WTA Insider at the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai that she would make her final decision over the off-season.
“I don’t want to say, ‘Yes, I’m continuing,’ and then in one week, I stop, or say, ‘No, I’m retired,’ and then after a week, you see a video of me practicing,” she said in October.
“If it’s yes, then yes. If it’s no, then no.”
The always-entertaining Schiavone took her fans on a more colorful journey through the off-season, launching a web series asking them to pick one of several careers she could pursue – tennis, of course, being one of them.
“Do you know something?” she asked in the video below [translated by Giulio Gasparin]. “This shirt doesn’t fit me. It’s not the right time to wear it. I like to work outdoors, grab a tool and hit some balls.
“No more glasses, no more elegant shoes… I want to go back to my trainers, I need them. I love to feel alive, I love to play tennis and this is my present to you: I don’t know for how long, but my present to you in 2017 is for playing tennis and it is a present to myself too!”
Svetlana Kuznetsova’s late season surge into Singapore made headlines, but the WTA veteran’s hot shots have been turning heads all season long. Watch all of her best shots of 2016, right here!
The entry list is out for the Hobart International, which begins on January 8th, with French Open semifinalist and World No.22 Kiki Bertens leading the International field that includes defending champion Alizé Cornet and fan favorites Jelena Jankovic and Andrea Petkovic. Last season, Cornet rolled to her first title in nearly two years, beating Eugenie Bouchard, 6-1, 6-2 in the final.
The field also includes two of the tour’s top teenagers, in No.47 Ana Konjuh and No. 48 Naomi Osaka.
Full Hobart Entry List:
No.22 Kiki Bertens
No.34 Anastasija Sevastova
No.38 Monica Niculescu
No.39 Alison Riske
No.40 Misaki Doi
No.41 Alizé Cornet
No.42 Kristina Mladenovic
No.47 Ana Konjuh
No.48 Naomi Osaka
No.49 Sara Errani
No.50 Johanna Larsson
No.51 Annika Beck
No.52 Katerina Siniakova
No.53 Julia Goerges
No.54 Jelena Jankovic
No.55 Andrea Petkovic
No.56 Viktorija Golubic
No.57 Lesia Tsurenko
No.59 Shelby Rogers
No.60 Kristyna Pliskova
No.62 Lucie Safarova
No.64 Galina Voskoboeva (SR)
No.65 Kirsten Flipkens
The WTA’s all-star cast battle it out for wins, titles and ranking points all year long – but who is getting the most clicks? This week, wtatennis.com will count down the Top 50 Most Popular Players Of 2016.
Last up on the list goes from No.10 to No.1! Find out who tops the list…
10. Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
The former World No.1 became the first woman in over a decade to capture the Sunshine Double, and hopes to return to tennis after giving birth to her first child.
9. Monica Puig (PUR)
Puig piqued fan interest in a major way when she became the first Puerto Rican to win an Olympic Gold medal in Rio de Janeiro.
8. Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
Pliskova enjoyed a summer surge of her own, winning the Western & Southern Open and beating both Williams sisters en route to the US Open final.
7. Johanna Konta (GBR)
Konta continued to rewrite British tennis history in 2016, becoming her country’s first Grand Slam semifinalist and Top 10 player in over two decades.
6. Eugenie Bouchard (CAN)
The Genie Army remained loyal to Bouchard through a year of ups and downs, one that nonetheless saw her earn wins over Konta and Angelique Kerber.
5. Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP)
Spain’s first Grand Slam champion since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Muguruza stunned Serena Williams to win the French Open.
4. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)
The perennial Fan Favorite and proverbial Hot Shot Queen earned more big results in 2016, including a Premier Mandatory crown in Beijing.
3. Simona Halep (ROU)
Halep earned a Premier Mandatory title of her own at the Mutua Madrid Open, and earned a WTA Finals berth for the third straight year.
2. Serena Williams (USA)
Still she rises: Serena won a record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, putting her one win away from breaking Stefanie Graf’s Open Era mantle.
1. Angelique Kerber (GER)
World No.1 Angelique Kerber bookended a breakthrough season with a pair of Grand Slam titles in Australia and New York, making her the top searched player on the WTA website..
Check out who else made the cut from No.50 to No.11…
No.50 to No.41
No.40 to No.31
No.30 to No.21
No.20 to No.11
December 14, 2016
Spelling challenges, emoji challenges, cracker challenges, selfie challenges and, of course, the WTA Frame Challenge – which video was the best of the year? Click here to vote!
Carla Suárez Navarro
2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.13
Year-End Ranking: No.12 (Career-High No.6, 2/29/2016)
Season Highlights: Title at Doha
Best Major Result: QF (Australian Open)
12 Days left until the 2017 #WTA season! pic.twitter.com/4HCCfhp92B
— WTA (@WTA) December 20, 2016
2017 Outlook
Having earned herself a place on tennis’ top table last year, 2016 saw Carla Suárez Navarro consolidate her place among the game’s elite. The Spaniard set the tone for a campaign characterized by its consistency in January, following up a semifinal in Brisbane by returning to the last eight of the Australian Open where her run was halted by an inspired Agnieszka Radwanska.
This good form continued as the tour moved to the Middle East, where she made the latest breakthrough of her career, lifting the prestigious Premier 5 Qatar Open. This result lifted her to a new high ranking of No.6 and while she was unable to scale her usual heights on the European clay, appearances in the second week at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open maintained this Top 10 status.
Suárez Navarro looked well-placed to cap off the year with a singles debut at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, but – just as 12 months earlier – it was not to be, injury ultimately curtailing her chances.
“The season is from January to October. There were a lot of good things in the middle of the year,” coach Marc Casabó said following her withdrawal from the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai. “Going again to Asia being eight and with options to get into Singapore is a good note. And we should value the whole year as a whole. The blow is great because we all thought it would be there. But it’s been a growing season. “
A refreshed Suárez Navarro will begin 2017 in Brisbane, once more, lining up alongside eight other members of the Top 20.
Johanna Konta
2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.47
Year-End Ranking: No.10 (Career-High No.9, 10/10/2016)
Season Highlights: Title at Stanford
Best Major Result: SF (Australian Open)
10 Days left until the 2017 #WTA season! pic.twitter.com/BLzBZliR05
— WTA (@WTA) December 22, 2016
2017 Outlook
Johanna Konta’s first off-season as a member of the Top 10 has been nothing if not eventful. Following the conclusion of a year that brought 46 wins, one title and a jump of 37 places up the rankings, Konta was rocked by the death of mental coach Juan Coto, a significant figure in her spectacular rise.
Soon after, the Brit split from long-term coach Esteban Carril, before teaming up with the well-respected Wim Fissette for a trial period at the National Tennis Centre at Roehampton. Fissette has an excellent record, having taken three of his previous charges to a Grand Slam final.
Konta will hope the new arrangement will elevate her game to the next level. “I guess he’s been on the tour for quite some time, so I’m definitely looking forward to being a sponge and absorbing as much of his experience and knowledge through the years,” she said in an interview with The Independent. “He’s been with Kim and some of the players I’m currently playing against. Again, it’s early days. I think there’s only so much that you can feel out in the training block, and then the year starts. That’s when you really feel how you get along.”
“I am a firm believer – and this applies to every single team member – that I’m looking for a partner. I like working together harmoniously. I like being involved in my own development, having my input. It’s basically about a partnership more than anything.”
The pair will begin this partnership at the season-opening Shenzhen Open, before rounding off preparations for the Australian Open at the Apia International Sydney.