Chan Sisters Explore Singapore
Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching took to the culture heart of Singapore during the WTA Finals, even attempting to create traditional dress worn throughout Southeast Asia.
Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching took to the culture heart of Singapore during the WTA Finals, even attempting to create traditional dress worn throughout Southeast Asia.
From Alizé Cornet’s record-shattering performance to Naomi Osaka’s record low, take a look back at all the best WTA Frame Challenge moments!
ORLANDO, FL, USA – On-the-rise American Christina McHale took a break from her off-season preparations to take WTA fans on an exclusive tour of the new USTA National Campus in Orlando, set to open in early 2017.
“It’s just a really great environment to be in,” said McHale, who was in town for a practice session on the Team USA Player Development courts.
Dubbed “the new Home Of American Tennis,” the National Campus will serve as the home base of USTA’s Player Development and USTA’s Community Tennis divisions as well as host USTA Pro Circuit events. Formerly in New York at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which hosts the US Open, the new Orlando facility is one of the largest tennis facilities in the world.
Check out the video above to follow McHale on a first look at the brand new facility!
Fast Facts About The USTA National Campus:
· With 64-plus acres and 100 lighted tennis courts, the National Campus is one of the largest tennis facilities in the world.
· The USTA National Campus will open January 2, 2017 with the first tournament scheduled for January 6th.
· The Campus will host over 80 tournaments and events in 2017 with approximately 30,000 participants.
· An expected 80,000-100,000 attendees will visit the Campus in 2017.
· The USTA’s Community Tennis and Player Development divisions will be headquartered at the National Campus. It will also be home to the national training center for USTA-certified officials.
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Petra Kvitova sustained defensive wounds on her left hand from a knife-wielding robber who attacked her at home in Prostejov.
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.
Not long after checking in with fans and friends on Tennis Channel, Victoria Azarenka announced the birth of her first child late on Monday night.
The former No.1 began the season winning three titles in Brisbane and the elusive Sunshine Double in Indian Wells and Miami, but left the tour back in July after announcing her pregnancy. Azarenka took to social media to share her first picture as a mother on Twitter:
Today I had my hardest fight and my very best victory! Our son was born healthy and happy! So thankful and blessed! Thank you ??❤ pic.twitter.com/zsoFRivnvQ
— victoria azarenka (@vika7) December 20, 2016
Her colleagues and fellow players extended their hearty congratulations to the two-time Australian Open champion on Twitter, as well:
@vika7 Congratulations on your new little family Vika! ?
— Laura Robson (@laurarobson5) December 20, 2016
@vika7 ahhhh! So glad everybody's good!!! Congrats !!????????
— Irina Falconi (@IrinaFalconi) December 20, 2016
@vika7 congratulations, amazing News? wish you all the best xx
— Belinda Bencic (@BelindaBencic) December 20, 2016
@vika7 поздравляю вас!! ❤?
— Daria Gavrilova (@Daria_gav) December 20, 2016
@vika7 congrats Vika!!
— rennae stubbs (@rennaestubbs) December 20, 2016
The WTA and your favorite WTA stars want to wish you a Happy Holiday and a joyful New Year full of women’s tennis!
WTA Insider | The Insider team takes a long look back at the 2016 season’s ups and downs, Angelique Kerber’s rise to the top, and break down the best moments of the year.
In a one-hour interview that aired on ESPN on Sunday, 22-time major champion Serena Williams sat down with rapper and good friend Common, for a wide-ranging discussion touching on race, gender, her impact on both society and sport, and why she should always be in the conversation as one of the greatest athletes of all time.
“I think if I were a man, I would have been in that conversation a long, long time ago,” Serena said. “Like six, seven or eight years ago.”
“Any kind of man. White, black, it doesn’t matter. If I was a man it would have been a different conversation a long time ago. I think being a woman is a whole new set of problems from society that you have to deal with.”
Five more insightful moments from Serena’s wide-ranging interview:
On whether she ever felt misunderstood:
“I feel like in the beginning of this journey I was definitely misunderstood. You never saw anything like me or Venus in my field of work, in tennis. We may have said some things that people just couldn’t relate to.”
“Growing up and playing these tournaments when I was younger, I didn’t really see many people that were my color. I was black. So I think I just got used to it. So when you go to Russia or a lot of these countries, you just really stick out.
“But I like to stick out. One thing about me — I don’t want to be everyone else. If everyone is doing something I’m probably going to try it a different way. I just like to be different. I don’t like to fit a mold.”
On being taught to believe in herself:
“If I was playing the No.1 player and I was like ‘Yeah, I think I can be the best, I think can be better than her’ they were like ‘She’s so rude, she’s so disrespectful.’ I never meant anything in disrespect.
“My dad always taught me, if you want to do something you write it down, you believe it, you study it, and then you believe that it’s going to happen. So I believed that I was going to be No.1. I believed that I could be better than who was No.1 at that point.”
On becoming more of a vocal activist for black issues over recent years:
“I was at Wimbledon this year and someone got killed [back home in America] and I was just over it. I’m trying to play a semifinal and I turn on the news and look through social media and it hurts me because they’re my people who are being killed. They look like me. Who’s to say I’m not next? It hurts. It really hurts.”
In London I have to wake up to this. He was black. Shot 4 times? When will something be done- no REALLY be done?!?! pic.twitter.com/OaLn60G6nm
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) July 7, 2016
On body image:
“There was a time where I didn’t feel incredibly comfortable about my body because I felt like I was too strong. But then I had to take a second and think ‘Well who says I’m too strong?’ This body has enabled me to be the greatest player I can be. I’m not going to scrutinize that! This is great! This is amazing! Now my body is in style so I’m feeling good about it. I’m finally in style! Took a while to get there.”
On her legacy:
“We literally took the globe and shook it, me and Venus because we came from Compton, we came from nothing. In tennis you have to have something. We came and we conquered. And I shouldn’t have to apologize for saying and believing that I can be the best.”
Watch the entire interview at The Undefeated.
With the @AustralianOpen quickly approaching, @serenawilliams turns up the training intensity in Florida. ? #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/xoLjI6FhG9
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) December 16, 2016
Serena is set to kick off her 2017 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, which begins on January 2nd.
Victoria Azarenka
2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.22
Year-End Ranking: No.13
Season Highlights: Titles at Brisbane, Indian Wells & Miami
Best Major Result: QF (Australian Open)
13 Days left until the 2017 #WTA season! pic.twitter.com/8SEKBlJltK
— WTA (@WTA) 19 de diciembre de 2016
2017 Outlook
Two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka tore off the blocks in 2016, winning the first title of the year at the Brisbane International in emphatic style. She was just as ruthless in Indian Wells and Miami, where she became the first woman in over a decade to clinch the elusive “Sunshine Double.”
And the 2016 SAP Match Stats reflect her torrid form: she dropped just 17 games en route to lifting the trophy in Brisbane – the fewest games lost in winning a WTA title in the entire year.
But after the clay season, the former No.1 announced that she was putting an end to her season in order to take on her biggest challenge yet: motherhood.
Looking ahead to 2017, Azarenka has plans to return to the sport but admits she won’t put a date on her comeback.
“I don’t put any time frame on myself,” Azarenka said in an interview with Tennis Channel. “I would love to make it as soon as possible, but give myself a reasonable time to fully recover and be ready. I’m not going to rush anything, and it’s hard to tell before the birth actually happens.
“So, we’ll see, but I’m confident that I’ll be able to play tennis again pretty soon.”