Maria Sharapova & Friends: Highlights
Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, Madison Keys, Kei Nishikori, Laura Robson and friends lit up the UCLA Tennis Center on the weekend. Watch highlights right here on wtatennis.com!
Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, Madison Keys, Kei Nishikori, Laura Robson and friends lit up the UCLA Tennis Center on the weekend. Watch highlights right here on wtatennis.com!
LOS ANGELES, CA, USA – Olympic fever is picking up steam in the tennis world. Speculation about qualification, representation, and doubles pairings has already begun. We’ve already seen France’s Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic announce their intention to pair up in 2016, presumably to prepare a run at a doubles medal in Rio. This week saw Roger Federer and Martina Hingis confirm their intention of representing Switzerland in the mixed doubles competition.
While much is up in the air, one thing is certain: the 2016 schedule will be a grueling one. With the Olympics sandwiched between the Rogers Cup and the Western & Southern Open this summer, one of the big storylines heading into the season is how players plan to adjust their schedules to build in necessary blocks for rest and training.
“[I’m] looking at building a bit more of a break after the Australian Open and seeing how things unfold,” Maria Sharapova told WTA Insider. “I’m not crazy on building a concrete schedule. I know we must plan in advance and sign up for tournaments and I’m usually pretty good at those commitments. But next year’s a little bit different, there’s no doubt about it.”
It’s no secret that Sharapova holds the Olympics close to her heart. “That’s all my grandfather talks about and it just becomes annoying,” she joked. “I just grew up with it. I grew up being surrounded by the Olympic culture.” She carried the flag for Russia the opening ceremonies at the 2012 Olympics in London where sent on to win a silver medal. She also worked with NBC during the 2014 Winter Olympics in her hometown of Sochi, Russia.
So with the Olympics looming, how will the game’s best balance their desire to build their tennis legacies on the tour while also going for gold? Sharapova’s 2016 scheduling is somewhat complicated by her injury-interrupted 2015 season and busy off-season. The World No.4 played just one match – which ended in her retirement – between Wimbledon and the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global due to injuries to her leg and arm. But she finished her season on a high note, scoring three Top 10 wins en route to the semifinals at the WTA Finals and winning both her singles matches in the Fed Cup final to end the season.
Sharapova’s off-season has been a busy one. She was able to squeeze in a short vacation with friends, but much of the time has been spent developing her Sugarpova chocolate line, playing the International Premier Tennis League in Japan, and preparing for this weekend’s eponymous exhibition, Maria Sharapova & Friends, presented by Porsche, on the campus of UCLA.
“I didn’t know in the middle of the year that I would be part of the Fed Cup final,” Sharapova told WTA Insider. “I didn’t know that I would be missing four months. When Fed Cup came on the schedule I knew my off-season was short. If I knew I would be playing Fed Cup I probably, most likely, would not have played IPTL but I made that commitment before the Fed Cup decision was made. When I’m healthy and committed it’s tough to get out of that. [Withdrawing] is not something that I’m a fan of or enjoyed doing.”
Sharapova said her training sessions have been going well and she’s happy to report her tough physical conditioning block went off without a hitch. So far she’s seen no signs of the annoying injuries that derailed her 2015 season.
“Probably the rest of the girls are more ahead of me in terms of preparation,” Sharapova said. “I just came off more physical training. Not as much time on the court yet as maybe if I started a few weeks before.” Despite that heavy load, Sharapova put on a solid show over the weekend, edging Madison Keys 6-7, 6-1, 11-9 in their exhibition match on Saturday.
Now it’s time to build towards the Australian start of the season, where Sharapova hopes to replicate the solid start she had down under last year, where she won the Brisbane International and advanced to her first Australian Open final since 2012.
In the best episode of this season’s WTA Live Fan Access presented by Xerox, Caroline Wozniacki and Serena Williams put their womance to the test. Who knows who best?
Serena Williams has been named the 2015 SI Sportsperson of the Year, becoming the first active tennis player since Chris Evert in 1976 to earn the distinction. The annual award honors the athlete, team coach, or individual who, by virtue of performance and character on and off the field, transcended the year in sports.
Serena is the first active female athlete to win the award since the World Cup-winning US Women’s National Team in 1999. She is the fourth tennis player to win the award. Billie Jean King was the first female winner in 1972, followed by Evert in 1976. Arthur Ashe was named Sportsman of the Year in 1994 for his post-career humanitarian efforts.
Read the full tribute by the esteemed S.L. Price here.
All year Williams kept coming, on a path more arduous than anyone knew, and she put together the best season by a woman in a quarter century. “I do want to be known as the greatest ever,” she says. To many she already is. But that’s not the sole reason why we arrive, now, at this honor. It’s also because Williams kept pushing herself to grow, to be better, and tennis was the least of it. The trying is what’s impressive. The trying is why we are here.
Sports Illustrated’s Managing Editor Chris Stone sums it up here:
Sports Illustrated honors her dominance in 2015, when she won 53 of her 56 matches, three of the four Grand Slam events and built the most yawning ranking points gap between her and her closest competitor in tennis history. We honor her, too, for a career of excellence, her stranglehold on the game’s No.1 ranking and her 21 Grand Slam titles, a total that has her on the brink of Steffi Graf’s Open Era Slam record, which Williams will likely eclipse by mid-summer.
But we are honoring Serena Williams too for reasons that hang in the grayer, less comfortable ether, where issues such as race and femininity collide with the games. Race was used as a cudgel against Williams at Indian Wells in 2001, and she returned the blow with a 14-year self-exile from the tournament. She returned to Indian Wells in ’15, a conciliator seeking to raise the level of discourse about hard questions, the hardest ones, really. Williams, S.L. Price writes in his cover story in the Dec. 21 issue, “proffered an open hand. Far past the time that anyone expected it, she demonstrated a capacity for change – innovation if you will. She’s groping for answers and realizing she has much to learn.
Read WTA Insider’s tribute to Serena’s astounding 2015 year, one that saw her endure, embrace, and overcome a multitude of obstacles en route to a magical season.
Serena Williams hosted the second annual Serena Williams Live Ultimate Run on the weekend. How did she do? Which other WTA legend ran the race? Find out right here.
Thanasi Kokkinakis d. Bernard Tomic 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 8-6/R64/Roland Garros
Two sets down to fellow Aussie young gun Bernard Tomic in the second-round in Paris, 19-year-old Thanasi Kokkinakis brought the Court 7 crowd to its collective feet, roaring back and saving three match points to score an unlikely 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 8-6 victory in in three hours and 24 minutes.
In doing so, the No. 84-ranked Australian became the first teen to reach the third round at Roland-Garros since Latvian Ernests Gulbis in 2008.
The 6-foot-5 young guns had already faced off twice in 2015, Tomic emerging victorious on both occasions. But in this dramatic encounter, he would let three match points slip away at 5-2 in the fifth.
“I was going mental in the first two sets when I couldn’t take a break point,” said Kokkinakis. “I don’t know what my conversion rate was [23 per cent/five of 22], but it was driving me insane. But I kept hanging in there. I trusted my fitness, and it paid off.”
“It was an emotional celebration,” Kokkinakis added. “Second time I have come back from two sets to love.”
Kokkinakis had saved four match points in defeating 11th seed Gulbis in the opening round of the Australian Open 5-7, 6-0, 1-6, 7-6(2), 8-6.
Nick Kyrgios d. Andreas Seppi 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 8-6/R16/Australian Open
His 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3 Round of 16 shocker against Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2014 was indeed a grand introduction to the ATP World Tour for Nick Kyrgios. But it was at the 2015 Australian Open that the 19-year-old Greco-Malaysian-Aussie truly stepped into the spotlight when he stormed back from a two-set deficit to defeat Andreas Seppi 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 8-6, becoming his home-nation Slam’s breakout star.
An electric, filled-to-capacity Hisense Arena crowd roared in delight as Kyrgios saved a match point to secure his second-ever Grand Slam quarter-final in only his seventh major tournament appearance. He became the first Australian man to reach the elite eight at the event since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005.
Kyrgios, who became the first teen since Roger Federer in 2001 to reach multiple Grand Slam quarter-finals, would call it “the best feeling I ever had”.
“This is actually the most nervous I’ve ever been, going out against Seppi in the fourth round,” said Kyrgios. “When I saw I had finally won the match it was incredible.”
The turning point came early in the third set, when Kyrgios scored an all-important break in the second game to stem the tide.
“That just established that I wasn’t going to go away,” he said. “I was just going to compete till the very end. I started playing really well in the third set. I knew if I could just hang on some way and take it to a fifth set, it’s anyone’s match.”
“I just played a couple bad games at the beginning of the third set,” said Seppi, who a round earlier had dispatched 17-time Slam champion Federer. “I missed three easy forehands for the break. He played a little bit more relaxed after that.”
Donald Young d. Viktor Troicki 4-6, 0-6, 7-6(3), 6-2, 6-4/R32/US Open
It was only fitting. How better to bid farewell to the aging 6,000-seat Grandstand, an intimate venue unlike any other in the sport. Where else in tennis can you so easily shuttle back and forth between show courts (Grandstand and Louis Armstrong Stadium)? What other court features a walkway upon which fans can look directly into a player’s eyes as they toss the ball skyward on serve? Over the years, the one-of-a-kind venue has played home to some of the US Open’s most thrilling matches, and the Donald Young vs. Viktor Troicki affair — the last official singles match to be played on the court before its scheduled demolition — will rank right up there with the very best.
The left-hander had already battled back from a two-sets-to-love deficit in the opening round, shocking 11th-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. On the brink of defeat once more, the American brought the rowdy and decidedly one-sided home crowd to its feat as he fought his way past the Serb with aggressive shotmaking and never-say-die attitude.
Young, 26, needed three hours and 33 minutes to clinch the win. He had two match points on his racquet at 5-3, but sealed the victory in the following game with a down-the-line forehand winner.
“Showing you can fight and come back is a great feeling at the end of the day. It was 90 per cent you guys, 10 per cent me,” he told the crowd, which chanted “U-S-A” throughout the match. “I am so happy to be able to do it in front of you guys. Thanks for the support. It definitely did [feel a bit like Davis Cup]. I was on the other end of a match like this earlier this year in Scotland against Andy Murray, so to have you guys 100 per cent for me felt amazing. I really appreciate that.”
A sparkling new 10,000-seat Grandstand will be unveiled on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 2016, while the old facility — a remnant of the 1964 World’s Fair — will serve as a practice facility until its demolition.
Coming Tuesday: The Two Biggest Grand Slam Comebacks of 2015
Who took your favorite Selfie of the year? Who made you LOL and warm your heart with a big Aww? Click here to vote!
Ο Στέφανος Τσιτσιπάς στα μονά, και η Ελένη Χριστοφή στα διπλά, κατέκτησαν τη δεύτερη θέση στη μεγάλη διοργάνωση Grade A της ITF, ” Metropolian Orange Bowl 2015 “.
Ο Στέφανος Τσιτσιπάς έχασε τον τίτλο στο tie break(7-5), μετά απο ένα αμφίρροπο αγώνα, με πολλές εναλλαγές συναισθημάτων. Στα δύο σετ που προηγήθηκαν, ο Σέρβος αντίπαλος του, Miomir Kecmanovic πήρε το πρώτο σετ με σκορ 6-3, και ο Στέφανος το δεύτερο σετ με το εντυπωσιακό σκορ 6-2. Στο tie break ο τίτλος χάθηκε στις λεπτομέρειες με τον παράγοντα τύχη να παίζει στην τελευταία μπαλιά.
Η καθοριστική στιγμή για τον τίτλο, αποτυπώνεται στο παρακάτω βίντεο.Ο Kecmanovic σερβίρει ενώ προηγείται με 6-5 στο tie break, ο Στέφανος επιστρέφει τη μπάλα και ανταλλάσσονται άλλες δύο μπαλιές. Αυτό είναι το τένις…
Στον άλλο αγώνα με Ελληνικό ενδιαφέρον, στον τελικό των διπλών, η Ελένη Χριστοφή και η συμπαίκτρια της Anastasia Detiuc, ηττήθηκαν απο τις Pranjala Yadlapalli και Tamara Zidansek, με σκορ 6-2, 6-2 και κατέκτησαν τη δεύτερη θέση.
Η γλυκόπικρη γεύση της ήττας στους τελικούς μιας τόσο μεγάλης παγκόσμιας διοργάνωσης δεν μειώνει καθόλου το μέγεθος της επιτυχίας. Ευχόμαστε στους αθλητές μας καλή συνέχεια, τους καμαρώνουμε και τους ευχαριστούμε για τις μεγάλες συγκινήσεις που μας προσφέρουν.
LOS ANGELES, CA, USA – Maria Sharapova and friends lit up Centre Court at the UCLA Tennis Center on Day 1 of aptly-named exhibition event Maria Sharapova & Friends, presented by Porsche.
The highlight of the day was the hostess herself, Sharapova, taking on American rising star Madison Keys – and the five-time Grand Slam champion and former World No.1 squeaked by, 6-7, 6-1, 11-9.
Sharapova spoke about how excited she was about the new exhibition event. “I’ve been coming here to practice for so many years and felt part of the community here,” she explained. “I wanted to give the tennis fans in Los Angeles something back and support professional tennis in the United States.”
Elsewhere, Mardy Fish outlasted Andy Roddick in a men’s singles match, 7-6, 4-6, 12-10, Keys and Fish beat Roddick and Laura Robson in mixed doubles, 6-4, and, in a celebrity mixed doubles match, the all-female team of Sharapova and Chelsea Handler outdid all-male team Roddick and Will Arnett.
And that’s not all – Sunday’s schedule sees Sloane Stephens face Shelby Rogers, Kei Nishikori play Jack Sock, Sharapova and Nishikori play Robson and Sock, and Sharapova and Handler play another celebrity mixed doubles match. Find out where you can watch it all live on the Tennis Channel.
A part of the proceeds from the weekend will go to the Maria Sharapova Foundation – read more here.
And here are some of the best photos from Maria Sharapova & Friends, all courtesy of Porsche:
