Tennis News

Monica Puig cemented her status as Puerto Rico’s favorite daughter by becoming her country’s first gold medalist in any sport on Satuday at the Olympic tennis event. Upsetting World No.2 Angelique Kerber in the final, Puig showed off the potential first exhibited back in early 2013, when she pushed the German to a third set tie-break at the Brisbane International.

Hear more from Puig as she adjusts to life after gold and how she hopes to take this Olympic sized achievement back onto the WTA circuit on this Dropshot edition of the WTA Insider Podcast:

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn or on any podcast app of your choice to ensure you never miss an episode when they go live. Reviews are always helpful, so if you like what you’ve heard so far, leave us one. You can also get new episode alerts by following us on Twitter @WTA_Insider.

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CINCINNATI, OH, USA – Croatian qualifier Donna Vekic snapped a six-month long losing streak to knock out 2014 finalist Ana Ivanovic out of the Western & Southern Open in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.

Watch live action from Cincinnati this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

“I’m very happy – I’ve played a great three matches and I’m happy to be through to the second round,” Vekic said after the match.

The only previous time Vekic played Ivanovic, the match ended in a lopsided straight sets victory for the Serbian. But now with more experience, and with three matches in Cincinnati already under her belt in the qualifying rounds, Vekic came out looking more match fit and playing aggressively.

Vekic’s big forehand gave Ivanovic plenty of trouble throughout the match. The Croat earned a double break lead early on to build a 5-1 lead. Though the former No.1 eventually looked to be finding her rhythm and even got a break back to cut into Vekic’s lead, she wasn’t able to keep the unforced errors out of her game and Vekic took the first set 6-4.

She opened the following set with another break, punching back an Ivanovic volley with a deep cross court forehand. A lackadaisical backhand from Ivanovic drifted just wide and gave Vekic her first match point, on Ivanovic’s serve at 5-1, but the Serb held on after a pair of big serves and aggressive baseline play. Vekic took the match at the second time of asking, sealing it with a big inside-out forehand.

“I’ve played [Ivanovic] before and I know her,” Vekic said. “I just played my best tennis tonight and it was enough – I’m happy.”

Once ranked as high as No.62, Vekic has struggled with finding her form in recent months. With her win over Ivanovic, she’s well on her way to finding it again. She’s snapped a losing streak dating back to February – the 20-year-old hadn’t won a WTA-level main draw match since her first round win in Doha.

She faces another big task ahead in the form of British No.1 Johanna Konta in the second round. The No.10 seeded Konta sits at a career-high ranking of World No.13 after a spate of great results that has seen her reach the quarterfinals or better in seven events so far this year.

“I’m just gonna get back out there on the practice court and try to keep up my level,” Vekic said of the matchup. “Hopefully that’ll be enough again.”

What did the top seeds have to say on Day 1 of the Western & Southern Open? Check out some of their best quotes from the All-Access Hour from Cincinnati…

Svetlana Kuznetsova

On her pre-season goals and strategy:

Before the start of the year, I was thinking if I couldn’t do better, or at least how I think I should do, I don’t know what would come next. So I wanted to give this year everything I could. I didn’t have a fitness coach for preparation, but I did it myself and for the first time, I won a tournament in the first three weeks of the season in Sydney. I felt better mentally because maybe sometimes you start to figure out how your brain and mentality works. You find keys to yourself.

On forming the right team:

I don’t think I’m special, but it’s hard to find the right people to be your coach or physio because it’s like life; to find a boyfriend, you need time. You need to find someone you like, who you understand and understand you. A lot of times, a person comes onto your team and tries to change everything. But I’m 31, I’m not 16 anymore; everyone has to listen and adjust. Maybe our styles will clash, and so it’s very hard for me to say, I’m going to get a new person. With Carlos, it took us two-three years, but now we know each other. He knows how I am in the morning. I’m really happy with this new fitness coach I got a few weeks ago, but I want to be careful about forming the right team.

On growing up with professional athletes for parents:

It was very tough, but at the same time, I had an education most kids don’t. I’ve analyzed how a lot of kids grow up and I’ve asked why they’re not as professional or have the same desire or why we don’t have such great athletes coming up. It’s because when they grow up, they go to normal school and see normal kids living normal lives. Our lives are not normal, so these kids ask themselves at 13-14, ‘Why would I practice five hours when I can party and have fun?’ I grew up in my father’s club, and it was like a combination of college and the army where you stay there full time. You’re not allowed to go home or go out to the club. I was with guys who were training, and I enjoyed getting up at seven in the morning to run with them. It wasn’t hard because I got used to it and had no doubts.

Dominika Cibulkova

On taking time off to heal from injuries and post-wedding fatigue:

I needed a break from everything. I was a little bit injured during the Olympics, so I took some time off. But now I feel I’m ready to be back on the court again. At the Rogers Cup, it was a combination of a heel injury I had and just being really tired from everything, and I realized I needed some time off; I’d played too much. I took a whole week completely off; I had some holidays, and then I trained for a week and a half. Hopefully I can have a good result here, because I’ve only won one match here in the last six years.

On changing her scheduling strategy for the US summer hardcourts.

It’s not like I’ve been in America for a whole month already and have three more tournaments to play. I’m just focusing on Cincinnati and the US Open; it’s different when you’re able to go back home and come back feeling like, ‘I want to be here and play this tournament!’ I had a really good week of training and feeling better with my fitness; this year I played so many matches that I didn’t have time for fitness. For my game, that’s really important, so hopefully it’ll help me.

Roberta Vinci

On her goals for the season:

Last year I had an incredible year, but I’m not thinking about retirement right now. I just want to play through the end of the season, trying to play good. I have a lot of points to defend but I don’t want to think about that, just enjoy every day here and the next few tournaments. I started well at the beginning of the year, but this is a tough part of the season with the ranking and everything. But it’s normal. It’s tennis, you can win, or you can lose. I’ll try my best here, New Haven, New York, and China.

On the US Open:

I’m so happy to play again in New York. But it probably won’t be the same like last year, a lot of pressure, for sure. It’s a special tournament for me. I don’t know; we will see. It’ll be my first time in this situation. I know I have a lot of points to defend; it’s on my mind, that’s it. I’ll try not to think about it, but I know I’ll be nervous.

Garbiñe Muguruza

On the Olympics:

I have to say, I thought I was going to an incredible experience, but after I got there, it was like a regular tournament. But I had a lot of fun because it was still different than the WTA; I spent time in the Village with all the Spanish players. I was looking at all the athletes trying to guess what they did. I went to the Opening Ceremonies and I was doubting whether I should go because I had a match the next day. But I knew I’d regret not going. It was like a Carnival, so it was very fun.

On transitioning back to the WTA tour:

I was happy to live the experience in Rio, and I’m happy to be back. Coming here, I’m motivated to have a great tournament because I haven’t played a lot of matches. I’m looking forward to it.

On Monica Puig:

It’s an incredible achievement. When I played against her, I’d never seen her play at such a high level. When I ended the match, I thought it was tough for me, but she played very well and deserved to win the gold, the way she played.

Agnieszka Radwanska

On her flight to Cincinnati and the Olympics:

It couldn’t be worse than to Rio. I tried to book a private plane, but it was too tough to do that. I was talking to other players about a private jet. I should be gold for every airline after all the miles I flew!

On positives from the Olympics:

It was still exciting to see so many sports and athletes together at the same time, fighting for the gold. I was there for a pretty short time, but I got to see some of the Games.

On rebounding from recent results:

I had a better start to the year. First of all, I didn’t do as good as I wanted to on grass. Rio was not my thing. I just hope I can get back to my game here, next week, and the US Open. I want to do better and have more chances to make it to Singapore.

Simona Halep

On missing the Olympic tennis event:

I was very disappointed that I had to decide not to go there, but it was much better for my health. It’s not easy for me to travel a lot and eat in different places, but it was definitely a great Olympics in Romania because they made the men’s doubles final. I’m disappointed, but I’ll prepare myself for Tokyo! We can say Olympic tennis is not like gymnastics, but there you go to play for your country and winning a medal means a lot for any athlete. I played once already in London and I enjoyed the feeling of being there and the Opening Ceremonies.

On watching Olympic sports and Monica Puig’s Gold Medal run:

I watched everything. In gymnastics, Simone [Biles] is whoah, incredible. I also watched Phelps. I know everything now. I watched the tennis final and Monica Puig played so well; she was there to win. I saw what she was saying on Twitter – I’m more into Twitter lately – how she was very motivated and confident. It was only shocking because of the ranking, but she plays well.

On moving to a warmer training base:

Nothing is for sure, but I think I’m at a level where I have to change some things to be more professional. I have to go somewhere warmer that’s better for tennis. I think I’ll go in December because it’s cold in Romania, and I get cold all the time!

On how she feels she is perceived in Romania:

They don’t realize because they don’t see me. They don’t know how hard I work every day, or how I’m practicing and playing matches even when I don’t feel good. They just see the matches and think all I do is go shopping, which I do sometimes, but not that often!

On inspiring young children to play tennis:

I’ve heard many kids have gone into tennis because of me. I think this is a good thing in our country; it’s a small country. I think it’s better for kids because these days they’re always with the tablets and phones. I have kids in my family who are two years old who already have a phone. So I give them a racquet instead of a phone!

CINCINNATI, OHIO, USA – World No.1 Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Western & Southern Open due to a right shoulder injury.

Winner for the last two years in Cincinnati, Williams also withdrew from the Rogers Cup due to a right shoulder issue, and has played just three matches since winning a record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.

“I’m very disappointed I’m not able to compete in the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati as I was really looking forward to defending my title,” she said in a statement. “My shoulder inflammation continues to be a challenge, but I am anxious to return to the court as soon as possible.”

Serena needed to reach the quarterfinals this week to lock up the No.1 ranking ahead of the US Open – a tournament the American has won six times.

World No.2 and Olympic Silver medalist Angelique Kerber can now end her rival’s 183-straight week stretch atop the WTA rankings, but would have to win the entire event to do so.

Sad to announce top seed Serena Williams has withdrawn from 2016 tournament due to a shoulder injury.#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/4XFgQ3YKrU

— W&S Open (@CincyTennis) August 15, 2016

CINCINNATI, OH, USA – Jelena Ostapenko produced a stunning comeback to defeat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in a rollercoaster opening round at the Western & Southern Open.

Watch live action from Cincinnati this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Trailing by a set and double break, it looked for all the world that Ostapenko’s debut at the Lindner Family Tennis Center was going to end in defeat. However, the bleakness of the situation seemed to rouse the Latvian into life, as she rescued the second set before conjuring an even more miraculous escapology act in the third to triumph, 1-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(5).

Ostapenko, a former junior Wimbledon champion, has been ascending the professional ranks fast, establishing herself as the youngest player in the Top 50. Against Schmiedlova the baseline firepower was once again present – she finished with 45 winners. Unfortunately for the teenager, the unforced error count was even higher, and very nearly proved her undoing.

Schmiedlova, meanwhile, was far less flashy, and for the best part of an hour her consistency looked destined to triumph. “I’m sorry about the first set – I couldn’t put a ball in the court – but I’m really happy I saved two match points on her serve and fought to the end and that I could finish the match,” Ostapenko said.

This first set lasted less than 20 minutes, and when Ostapenko slipped 4-1 behind the second appeared certain to be equally swift. Standing on the precipice, Ostapenko produced her best, saving a couple of match points at 5-4 then rallying from 5-2 in the decider to complete an unlikely turnaround.

“I don’t know what was wrong with me today; I was losing but then when I was losing I was playing better. Then in the third set I was 2-0, 40-0 up on her serve. After that I lost five games in a row. I know what happened. But then I started to fight again and I’m glad I could win the match,” she added.

Her reward for the comeback is a second-round meeting with No.15 seed Karolina Pliskova.

THE WINNERS

Monica Puig made Olympic history for Puerto Rico on Saturday night, becoming the island’s first ever gold medalist after a rollercoaster win over World No.2 Angelique Kerber, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.

Puig has been the surprise of the Olympic tennis event, playing the best tennis of her career to reach the gold medal match and dealing out upsets to the likes of French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova along the way.

She now stands as the first athlete – male or female – to bring home a gold medal to Puerto Rico, ending a 68-year drought dating back to the island’s first appearance at an Olympic Games.

“This is for Puerto Rico. This is definitely for them,” Puig said. “They’re going through some tough times right now, and they needed this. I needed this.

“I think I united a nation. I just love where I come from.”

Read the full match recap | WTA Insider Live Blog: Game-by-game analysis

Four years after pairing up for the first time ahead of the Olympic tennis event in London, No.7 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina strike gold in Rio, taking out No.5 seeds and World Co-No.1 Martina Hingis and countrywoman Timea Bacsinszky, 6-4, 6-4.

“It’s incredible,” Vesnina said after the match. “Ever since I was a little girl, I was watching the Olympic Games, and it was such a dream just to come here and get a medal for Russia, for my country and in front of my dad. We’ve been through so much, and yet we were so good today.

“We stuck together and we believed til the end that we could win. It’s just incredible, I still can’t believe that we won the gold. It’s the best moment in my career, I swear!”

Makarova and Vesnina came to Rio having just won their first title of the season at the Rogers Cup, but not before enduring a nightmarish travel itinery that nearly left them late for the Opening Ceremonies. Once there, the Russian duo took care of business in efficient style, running through five wins without dropping a set over the opposition.

Read the full match recap here.

In a thrilling encounter between two tough American teams, Bethanie Mattek-Sands partnered Jack Sock to take out four-time gold medalist Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram, 6-7(3), 6-1, 10-7 and win gold in mixed doubles of the Olympic tennis event.

“I’m still pretty emotional,” Mattek-Sands said after the match. “I think, going into this final, we knew the American national anthem was going to be played either way, but I was actually kind of surprised I was so emotional. It’s my first Olympics, first time being up on the podium. It’s hard to describe it in words, but I’m so excited having this guy next to me, we played awesome. It was a lot of fun this whole week.”

Read the full match recap here.

RANKING MOVERS
There were no WTA ranking points awarded at the Olympic tennis event for the week of August 15, 2016.

Click here to view the current rankings.

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

Western & Southern Open
Cincinnati, USA
Premier | $2,503,250 | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, August 15 – Sunday, August 21

Connecticut Open
New Haven, USA
Premier | $695,900 | Hard, Outdoor
Sunday, August 21 – Saturday, August 27

US Open
New York, USA
Grand Slam | $ TBA | Hard, Outdoor
Monday, August 29 – Sunday, September 11

TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams – Cincinnati, US Open
2. Angelique Kerber – Cincinnati, US Open
3. Garbiñe Muguruza – Cincinnati, US Open
4. Simona Halep – Cincinnati, US Open
5. Agnieszka Radwanska – Cincinnati, US Open
6. Venus Williams – US Open
7. Victoria Azarenka
8. Roberta Vinci – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
9. Madison Keys – New Haven, US Open
10. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
11. Dominika Cibulkova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
12. Carla Suárez Navarro – Cincinnati, US Open
13. Johanna Konta – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
14. Petra Kvitova – New Haven, US Open
15. Timea Bacsinszky – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
16. Samantha Stosur – Cincinnati, US Open
17. Karolina Pliskova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
18. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
19. Elina Svitolina – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open
20. Barbora Strycova – Cincinnati, New Haven, US Open

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:

Chan Yung-Jan (TPE) – August 17, 1989
Johanna Larsson (SWE) – August 17, 1988

CINCINNATI, OH, USA – One of the biggest events of the US hardcourt swing begins in full force on Monday. It’s the Western & Southern Open from Cincinnati and we’re previewing Day 1’s enticing match-ups on wtatennis.com.

Monday, First Round

Center Court
Sara Errani (ITA #32) vs. CoCo Vandeweghe (USA #33)
Head-to-head: Errani leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Monday’s winner faces fourth-seeded Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round.

American CoCo Vandeweghe will try to continue the momentum she built during the grass court season when she faces Italy’s Sara Errani on Center Court at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on Monday. It won’t be easy. Vandeweghe has won 12 of her last 15 WTA-level matches, but she has only played two matches since Wimbledon, winning one and losing one at Stanford. Vandeweghe will have to hit the mark early and often to avoid getting dragged into too many protracted rallies against the super-fit World No.24 from Bologna. It was Errani who won the only career meeting between the two at Wimbledon, but that was just over four years ago and the 24-year-old Vandeweghe has evolved since then, particularly after pairing with coach Craig Kardon last season. Errani reached the round of 16 at the Olympics, but she has only managed a 7-9 record against the Top 50 this season.

Pick: Errani in three

Ana Ivanovic (SRB #25) vs. [Q] Donna Vekic (CRO #121)
Head-to-head: Ivanovic leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Ivanovic has won seven of her last nine matches at Cincinnati, losing only to Serena Williams.

It has been a fantastic year on a personal level for former World No.1 Ana Ivanovic, marrying German footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger this July, but in order to make it a fantastic year professionally Ivanovic requires a summer resurgence on the US hard courts. After dropping a three-setter to Carla Suárez Navarro at the Olympics the Serb has now lost three straight and is barely hovering above the .500 mark for the season at 15-14. The 2014 Western & Southern Open runner-up will open up with a winnable contest against 20-year-old Croatian Donna Vekic. Long on promise, the former World No.62 has struggled to string together victories and will make her Cincinnati debut in the midst of a nine-match WTA-level losing streak.

Pick: Ivanovic in two

Grandstand
Caroline Garcia (FRA #30) vs. [Q] Daria Gavrilova (AUS #47)
Head-to-head: Gavrilova leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Garcia recorded her only career Top 5 win at Cincinnati last season.

A pair of highly-touted 22-year-olds will clash for the first time in a WTA main draw – they met five years ago on the ITF Circuit – on Monday in Cincinnati, as Caroline Garcia and Daria Gavrilova are set to lock horns in the second match on Grandstand. Garcia has lost four of six since winning her first career grass court title at Mallorca, but she is back at the scene of her first career Top 5 win, which came last season over Petra Kvitova during a quarterfinal run here at Cincinnati. The Frenchwoman doesn’t lack for talent, but consistency has been a limiting factor ever since she cracked the WTA’s Top 50 a little over two years ago. The same could be said about her opponent of late. Gavrilova’s breakout season came in 2015, and she’s done a solid job of maintaining a Top 50 ranking this season, but she has managed only two quarterfinals in 15 events this campaign.

Pick: Gavrilova in three

By the numbers…
400 – Both Andrea Petkovic and Lucie Safarova have a shot at winning their 400th WTA match at Cincinnati this week.
19 – The age of Jelena Ostapenko, the youngest player in this year’s draw. The Latvian will face Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Grandstand on Monday.
0 – Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza is appearing at Cincinnati for the third time but is still searching for her first victory. She will face the winner of Vandeweghe versus Errani after a first-round bye.