France won their second Hopman Cup trophy after Kristina Mladenovic and Richard Gasquet partnered to defeat CoCo Vandeweghe and Jack Sock of the United States in the final in Perth.
THE WINNERS
Top seed Simona Halep was nearly flawless in the final of the BRD Bucharest Open, putting on a clay court masterclass in her 6-0, 6-0 win against Anastasija Sevastova to claim her second hometown title in three years.
“I am very happy, especially because I won like this,” Halep said. “I was very strong, I was confident and I can also say I was determined from the very beginning.
“It was a beautiful final and it’s also my 13th title. I will never forget this day.”
Read the match recap here.
Over in the Swiss Alps, local favorite Viktorija Golubic capped off a dream week by winning her first WTA title at the inaugural Ladies Championship Gstaad. Golubic defeated Kiki Bertens 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 after a two-hour battle to claim the title in her home country.
Earlier in the year, Golubic’s performance at the Ricoh Open turned heads when she reached her first ever WTA-level quarterfinals. Now just over a month later, the 23-year-old has claimed her first WTA title.
“Yeah, it’s really amazing,” Golubic reflected on her meteoric rise. “In March, I qualified for Katowice and won one round – that was the first time in more than a year that I qualify for a WTA event. In ‘s-Hertogenbosch, I played quarterfinals. That was such a new experience too.
“From that point on I improved even more, and to be here now as a winner is really incredible and amazing feeling.”
Read the match recap here.
RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of July 18, 2016.
Viktorija Golubic (SUI) +33 (No.105 to 72): Golubic’s performance at the Ladies Championship Gstaad earned her a maiden WTA title in front of her home crowd, as well as this week’s biggest ranking jump. The 23-year-old now sits at a career-high of No.72.
Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) +17 (No.66 to 49): Despite the lopsided score line in the Bucharest final,
Kiki Bertens (NED) +5 (No.26 to 21): Golubic’s opponent in the Gstaad final also notched a big ranking jump this week. Bertens continues her steady climb with a new career-high of No.21, a hair away from breaking into the Top 20 for the first time.
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI), +2 (No.17 to 15): Another deep run – this time to the semifinals at her home tournament in Gstaad – bumps up Bacsinszky two spots to No.15.
UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
Bank Of The West Classic
Standford, USA
Premier | $687,900 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, July 18 – Sunday, July 24
Citi Open
Washington DC, USA
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, July 18 – Sunday, July 24
Ericsson Open
Bastad, Sweden
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, July 18 – Sunday, July 24
Rogers Cup
Montreal, Canada
Premier | $2,413,663 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, July 25 – Sunday, July 31
Brasil Tennis Cup
Florianopolis, Brazil
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoor
Sunday, July 31 – Friday, August 5
Jiangxi Women’s Tennis Open
Nanchang, China
International | $226,750 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, August 1 – August 7
TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams – Montreal
2. Angelique Kerber – Bastad, Montreal
3. Garbiñe Muguruza – Montreal
4. Agnieszka Radwanska – Montreal
5. Simona Halep – Montreal
6. Victoria Azarenka
7. Venus Williams – Stanford, Montreal
8. Roberta Vinci – Montreal
9. Carla Suárez Navarro – Montreal
10. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Montreal
11. Madison Keys – Montreal
12. Dominika Cibulkova – Stanford, Montreal
13. Petra Kvitova – Montreal
14. Samantha Stosur – Washington DC, Montreal
15. Timea Bacsinszky –
16. Belinda Bencic – Montreal
17. Karolina Pliskova – Montreal
18. Johanna Konta – Stanford – Montreal
19. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – Stanford, Montreal
20. Elina Svitolina – Montreal
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:
Teliana Pereira (BRA) – July 20, 1988
Luksika Kumkhum (THA) – July 21, 1993
Karolina Pliskova capped a perfect start to the season with a dominant victory over Alizé Cornet in the final of the Brisbane International.
No.3 seed Monica Niculescu fought through tricky conditions to ease past Jelena Jankovic in straight sets at the Hobart International.
Daria Gavrilova was so keen to get back on court after Monday night’s rain delay that she joined the ball kids attempts to dry the court.
Johanna Konta takes on Daria Gavrilova in the second round of the Apia International Sydney.
Wading through the sea of champions set to be featured at the International Tennis Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony and watching from the sidelines was a quietly tall figure, but a former No.1 all the same.
Dinara Safina came to Newport in support of brother Marat Safin, the other half of the sport’s only sibling tandem to reach the top of the ATP and WTA rankings.
“There’s lots of history here, and it’s a really beautiful museum,” she told WTA Insider. “I’ve never seen anything close to it, really. What impressed most me was this wall here, with the ball cans. I really liked those.”
Asked whether he or his sister was the better tennis player, Safin didn’t mince words.
“What a stupid question,” he blurted out at the press conference alongside Justine Henin and Amélie Mauresmo. “Of course, sister!”
Beaming from her seat was Safina, who once called big brother “her God” in a 2004 interview they conducted with one another for L’Équipe.
“When you play, I love watching you,” she said at the time. “When you lose, I’m even sadder than when I lose. When you’re hurt, I suffer. When you talk to me, I drink your words. When you come to see me play, I’m beside myself with joy. I hate hearing or reading something bad about you. I know you are hard-working and that you do everything you can to be No.1.”
The two-time French Open finalist expressed a similar sentiment on Saturday when she recalled playing Hopman Cup with him shortly before his 2009 retirement.
“It wasn’t easy because, for me, I have so much respect for him and I tried to do as well as I could. I had a close match in the final that I lost, but I still had a lot of fun and it was a great experience.”
The two might have spent nearly a decade together on tour, but both look back and admit that they couldn’t have been further apart.
“We never really saw each other. First, he was living in Spain, and when I moved to Spain, he was on the tour. We’d only see each other a few weeks out of the year, at Grand Slams and a few of the Masters events.”
“It’s really a pity that we didn’t spend enough time together and couldn’t understand each other,” Safin added in press. “We didn’t know each other, and at some point we didn’t even feel like brother and sister because we were separated for quite some time. Now we’re having a great time; finally I’m getting to know her.
“She understands tennis much more than me – a hundred times more than me – and she’s a better person.”
Safina has put that knowledge to good use since her own retirement in 2014. From an administrative position at the Kremlin Cup, the Russian worked with young compatriot Anna Blinkova last summer, and has been a mentor figure to recent junior Wimbledon champion Anastasia Potapova.
“We’re in contact and I’m always talking with her; I’m really proud that she won a Grand Slam. I think she’s going to be good.”
Our pride: Lena, @Dinarik27 & @verazvonareva @ITF_Tennis pic.twitter.com/NJOJYGVrni
— Vladas Lasitskas (@VladasLasitskas) July 6, 2016
Safina led a Golden Era for Russia, on top of the world at a time when she and her countrywomen held a near-monopoly on the Top 10. Looking to the future, she has high hopes for the new wave that features Daria Kasatkina, Margarita Gasparyan, and Elizaveta Kulichkova.
“Kasatkina, for me, I’m really impressed with her. I really love the way she plays. She’s very smart, very intelligent, with a very good feeling for the court and the ball.
“Gasparyan is struggling this year, but I really like her one-handed backhand and she has a different game. It’s a new generation; they still have to work hard to get higher in the rankings. But I like Kasatkina; she’s on the right track and I like the team she has.”
Part of the all-Russian podium from the 2008 Olympic Games, the 30-year-old recently reunited with fellow medalists Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonareva for an ITF photoshoot, and has fond memories of their wild week in Beijing.
“After eight years, you realize what you achieved and what it was really like, but I would say, I don’t know if we’ll ever see what we were able to do again, sweeping the podium. We set a high bar for the next generation.
“With Elena and Vera, we’re always in contact. They’re beautiful girls. I’ve known Elena since I was a year old; she’s an amazing person.”
I just ran 17,0 km @ a 6'07''/km pace with Nike+. https://t.co/FEs2w5exzA #nikeplus pic.twitter.com/WLzep2w2MJ
— Dinara Safina (@Dinarik27) July 13, 2016
By summer’s end, Safina hopes to make a new life in New York; the Olympic silver medalist was seen jogging through Central Park before heading north to Newport. But there’s a sense she’d trade a crowded city for a crowded stadium in a heartbeat.
“I miss my fans and the crowds, that feeling you have on the court when you have a full crowd behind you and supporting you – whether you win or lose, especially when you win, that’s nice.
“I miss the traveling and all of the girls on the tour; even though we were competitors, we were like a family and had a really nice group of people. I really enjoyed it.”
Sitting on a set of pre-modern Wimbledon benches, Safina mused on whether she might one day return to the museum with her brother as a fellow Hall of Famer, but ever the awed younger sister, she resolved not to look too far in the future.
“Of course, it would be an amazing thing if I could join him one day. But for me, today is about being his sister, and I’m really proud of him. He deserves it. I know the way he was working to get to No.1 from where he started. I’m really happy for him.”
Follow Dinara on Twitter @Dinarik27 and Instagram @dinarasafina2704!
All photos courtesy of Dinara Safina and Getty Images.
Daria Kasatkina earned her first win over a reigning World No.1 on Tuesday, easing past top seed Angelique Kerber at the Apia International Sydney.
After a hard-fought second round win over Magda Linette, Bank of the West Classic top seed and former No.1 Venus Williams treated a fan to an extra special surprise.
After catching one of the autographed tennis balls Venus hit into the crowd, Emily was invited down by Andrew Krasny to take a selfie with the five-time Wimbledon winner. Within minutes, she was whisked back stage to meet Venus’ sister, World No.1 and 22-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, where they also took a photo.
Relive one magic night in Stanford in the latest episode of Dubai Duty Free Full of Surprises.
Very cool. Venus hits a ball into the crowd and invites the catcher to come down for a selfie. #BOTWClassic pic.twitter.com/G1fYt4wLHF
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) July 21, 2016
WASHINGTON, DC, USA – Yanina Wickmayer put friendship to one side on Friday afternoon to defeat No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic and take her place in the semifinals of the Citi Open.
Watch live action from Washington DC, Bastad and Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Breaks at the end of the second and third sets proved the difference in a tight affair as Wickmayer prevailed, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to book a meeting with No.6 seed Yulia Putintseva for a place in the final.
Wickmayer and Mladenovic are close off the court, a relationship which complicated matters going into their quarterfinal meeting. “Yeah it’s difficult, I think we went for dinner five or six times in the past week, it’s tough playing her and being her opponent today,” Wickmayer said afterwards. “I had to work hard because she plays such good tennis.”
Early on it appeared like it would be the Frenchwoman bringing the bragging rights to their next dinner date. However, after dropping the first set, Wickmayer grabbed the initiative in the second, three forehand winners bringing her the decisive break in the eighth game.
The third was just as evenly contested. Wickmayer made her move early, only to surrender this advantage with a misjudged drop shot at 3-2. A game later, the Belgian was back in front, and this time there would be no second chances, confidently serving out for a place in just her second semifinal of the season.
Putintseva ensured she would be fresh for their last four showdown by comfortably seeing off the unseeded Risa Ozaki, 6-4, 6-2.
Also impressing was wildcard Jessica Pegula, who knocked out top seed and former US Open champion Samantha Stosur, 7-6(4), 6-3, to reach her maiden WTA semifinal. There she will face the winner of the evening session between another American, Lauren Davis, and Camila Giorgi.