RTS Update: Pliskova Powers Up, Konta Climbs
Karolina Pliskova moves up to the top of the Road to Singapore leaderboard – but Miami Open champion Johanna Konta is now hot on her heels, jumping seven places to No.2.
Karolina Pliskova moves up to the top of the Road to Singapore leaderboard – but Miami Open champion Johanna Konta is now hot on her heels, jumping seven places to No.2.
Check out Monica Puig’s shot of the day at the Volvo Car Open!
CHARLESTON, SC, USA — Monica Puig was the first of two main draw winners as the Volvo Car Open got underway in Charleston on Monday, as Katerina Siniakova was forced to retire with a back injury in the final set.
Siniakova received medical attention earlier in the match, and retired as the match hit the two-hour mark, trailing 6-4, 2-6, 1-4 to send the Puerto Rican in to the second round.
“It’s always nice to come back and play on the clay again — unfortunately she had to retire there in the third set,” Puig said after the match. “I thought it was some pretty good, high-quality tennis up until that point.
“She was definitely holding, clutching her back a little bit there in the second set, so I was obviously a little bit aware something was going on. I had to try and keep focus because sometimes when a player is feeling a little bit of discomfort, they start hitting the ball hard, going for their shots a little more. I had to really focus and pay attention.”
Puig, who reached the third round in Charleston last season, fell behind early as Siniakova broke in the first game and rode the advantage to a one-set lead. She flipped the script in the second set, breaking Siniakova at the first opportunity to open up a 3-0 lead en route to sending the match to a decider. While the Czech fought through valiantly in the decider, she dropped serve in the fourth game and was unable to continue much further from there.
.@MonicaAce93 is first through to @VolvoCarOpen Second round!
Siniakova retires due to injury pic.twitter.com/xcJH4OUG9S
— WTA (@WTA) April 3, 2017
The Puerto Rican played her first WTA main draw in Charleston in 2011 after coming through qualifying and the World No.40 is eager to use one of her most successful tour stops as a springboard on the road to the French Open
“I love the clay. I really enjoy playing on it. Not so much the green clay because you don’t really notice that you’re on clay as much as the red clay — I love getting off the court and seeing I’m all dirty!” she joked.
“You don’t really have to change up your game style, but you have to adjust to what you have to do as far as tactics and things like that,” Puig assessed, as she’ll face the winner of the match between Daria Kasatkina and Danka Kovinic in the second round. “That’s what my coach and I were trying to work on coming into this clay season, just to really be smart of there.”
Joining Puig in the second round as an early winner was Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who rallied for her first career main draw win in Charleston after dropping the first set against Johanna Larsson, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2.
Check out the rest of the opening round results here.
Check out CiCi Bellis’s shot of the day from the Abierto GNP Seguros.
The theme of the Abierto GNP Seguros player party was “glow in the dark,” and Caroline Garcia, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and plenty of WTA players were on hand to light up the night.
MIAMI, FL, USA – The British media celebrated Johanna Konta’s win at the Miami Open with plenty of print space and air time – and are hoping she’ll rise even further up the rankings than her current career high of No.7.
Konta said in her post-match press conference that she hoped her journey in the tournament would garner lots of attention for the sport.
“If the coverage has been good then it’s great for us,” said the British No.1. “It’s promoting tennis, and hopefully promoting more people to play.”
And so it has proved – starting with a front-page splash in the Sunday Times.
No stunts required – win as big as Konta is starting to, it gets attention. Front page of the Sunday Times. pic.twitter.com/VQKgSUsnt9
— DavidLaw (@DavidLawTennis) April 2, 2017
Comparisons are inevitably being drawn with Virginia Wade, Britain’s last female singles Slam winner – but Konta has played that down, although she admitted she would love to win Wimbledon.
The Daily Mail reported that she said: “It does sound quite monumental but winning Wimbledon is a dream and hopefully one day I will get an opportunity to play for such a title.”
An unforgettable two weeks for @JoKonta91 at the @MiamiOpen! ? pic.twitter.com/XuN5Snv16F
— WTA (@WTA) April 2, 2017
The Daily Telegraph’s tennis correspondent Simon Briggs assessed Konta’s chances of a Slam title thus: “How much further, then, can this late-blooming champion climb? Two years ago, Konta was ranked around the 150-mark, which did not even earn her a spot in the qualifying tournament here. Now she stands alongside Pliskova and world No 1 Angelique Kerber as one of the women most likely to worry Serena Williams.”
In the Guardian, Kevin Mitchell wrote: “Konta was clearly the better player in this match as well as the one in Melbourne. That was such a clear indicator of how far the British No1 has come in a relatively short time. There would not have been many takers backing Konta to beat Wozniacki even a couple of years ago. Now she has to set her sights higher.”
And of course Konta’s Fed Cup teammates were also thrilled for her – Naomi Broady and Heather Watson were straight on Twitter to publicly congratulate their friend.
She came, she saw, she 'kontad' ? best tweet I've seen today! Killing it JK ? @JoKonta91
— Naomi Broady (@NaomiBroady) April 2, 2017
Congrats @JoKonta91 ! ?????? #killinit
— Heather Watson (@HeatherWatson92) April 1, 2017
See how Johanna Konta made the most significant rankings climb of her career.
Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova took to the heart of historic Charleston for the Volvo Car Open’s annual Iconic Photoshoot.
The pair played a mini-tennis match in front of Randolph Hall at the College of Charleston.
Built between 1828 and 1829, Randolph Hall is a National Historic Landmark and one of the oldest college buildings still in use in the United States.
Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova at College of Charleston.
Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova at College of Charleston.
Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova at College of Charleston.
Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova at College of Charleston.
Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova at College of Charleston.
Elena Vesnina and Daria Gavrilova at College of Charleston.
Kirsten Flipkens, Elena Vesnina, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Venus Williams, and Caroline Wozniacki – who will win March’s WTA Shot Of The Month presented by Cambridge Global Payments? Vote now!