Miami: Johanna Konta vs Venus Williams
Highlights from the semifinal clash between Johanna Konta and Venus Williams.
Highlights from the semifinal clash between Johanna Konta and Venus Williams.
Johanna Konta takes on Caroline Wozniacki in the final of the Miami Open.
Watch all of the best shots from the Miami Open – right here!
LONDON, Great Britain – Queen B has landed on Centre Court.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z were prominently featured in World No.1 Serena Williams’ player box as the top seed attempted to win a record-tying 22nd major title against Australian Open champion and countrywoman to current record holder Stefanie Graf, Angelique Kerber.
The American artist was in London for the United Kingdom leg of her “Formation” tour, performing at Wembley Stadium on July 2-3.
Serena's player box = actual royal box. pic.twitter.com/xs9uJMzYN7
— René Denfeld (@Renestance) July 9, 2016
Serena made a much-publicized cameo in Beyoncé’s “Sorry” music video off the superstar’s latest album, Lemonade.
See how Johanna Konta made the most significant rankings climb of her career.
Hear from Kiki Bertens before the tournament starts.
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.
Though she didn’t walk away with a sixth Wimbledon title, Venus Williams nonetheless rocketed up the Road to Singapore leaderboard, moving up almost 40 spots into the Top 20 at No.18.
The former No.1 and 2008 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion turned back the clock at the All England Club, reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal since the 2010 US Open before falling to eventual finalist and reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber.
Elena Vesnina broke new ground over the fortnight, reaching her first career semifinal in singles with wins over doubles partner Ekaterina Makarova and red-hot Dominika Cibulkova, who had upset RTS No.5 and defending WTA Finals champion Agnieszka Radwanska in the round of 16. The Russian has twice qualified for the WTA Finals in doubles – both times with Makarova – reaching the final her debut appearance in 2013. Her Wimbledon run has been a culmination of impressive singles results throughout 2016, moving her up 11 spots from No.23 to No.12.
Surprise quarterfinalists Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Yaroslava Shvedova also made big strides on the Road to Singapore leaderboard; Pavlyuchenkova made her best-ever run at a grass court tournament and up 32 spots to No.34, while Shvedova – she of the 2012 “Golden Set” at Wimbledon against Sara Errani – moved up 40 spots of her own to crack the Top 40 on the leaderboard.
CoCo Vandeweghe capped a solid grass court season by reaching the second week of Wimbledon for the second year in a row, roaring up nine spots to No.27.
The Top 8 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard remained largely unchanged following an exciting week at the All England Club, save for 2014 WTA Finals runner-up Simona Halep reclaiming the No.8 position over Madison Keys, who fell to the Romanian in the fourth round.
RTS Ranking Movers
Yaroslava Shvedova: No.78 to No.38 (+40)
Venus Williams: No.57 to No.18 (+39)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova: No.66 to No.34 (+32)
Elena Vesnina: No.23 to No.12 (+11)
CoCo Vandeweghe: No.36 to No.27 (+9)
Simona Halep: No.9 to No.8 (+1)
Click here to see the full Road To Singapore leaderboard standings following Wimbledon.
Top seed Timea Bacsinszky had a late start thanks to a rainy day in Gstaad, but advanced into the second round in straight sets alongside No.6 seed Johanna Larsson.
Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen wraps up a strong fortnight at SW19, which ended with Serena Williams winning her seventh Wimbledon title to tie Stefanie Graf’s Open Era Record of 22 major titles overall. Go inside the press room to hear from Serena herself after her big win on Saturday, and Courtney is joined by two great analysts in former player and current commentator Rennae Stubbs and tennis historian and reporter Steve Flink to discuss Serena’s performance in the final, her growing rivalry with Angelique Kerber, and where No.22 places Serena in the annals of tennis history.
Stubbs on Serena: “I want people to understand how hard it is to do what she’s doing. I think that get taken for granted because she has the serve, the power, physically her presence is so much more imposing than anyone else. People think it comes easily. It doesn’t. The pressure on Serena every single time she wakes up in the morning on match day is to win the match. Any great player will tell you how stressful it is every single day. I know what Steffi went through and one thing Steffi regrets is she didn’t enjoy the victories more. But my response to that is that Steffi wouldn’t have been as great as she was because she wanted more. If you start to enjoy it you think you’ve done your job. You’re satisfied. Serena, just as Steffi was, won’t be satisfied.”
Flink: Looking at the Open Era, Steffi and Martina had much more consistency than what Serena had, and she’s making up for lost time these last four years. If she passes Steffi and even catches or surpasses Margaret Court, then she has a very strong claim at being the best ever. She only had two years earlier in her career at No.1 in the world, now she’s on her way of doing it maybe for four straight years. That was for me the biggest hole in her record until now, not enough years at No.1, not enough consistency. But she’s been so consistent over these last four years that I think she’s going to be able to overcome the deficiencies of the earlier years. There’s going to be a real serious argument about whether Serena, Steffi, or Martina as the best player of the modern era.
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