Tennis News

It’s no surprise that the WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party presented by Dubai Duty Free is the biggest party in all of tennis. But what might surprise you is what Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki revealed when we caught up with them on the big night.

Who is a dedicated thrill-seeker and who has a huge sweet tooth? Find out in this party-themed episode of Dubai Duty Free: Full Of Surprises!

LONDON, England – British No.1 Johanna Konta took a lengthy rain delay in her stride to overcome Monica Puig and advance to the second round of Wimbledon for the first time in her career.

Displaying the poise that has characterized her rapid rise up the tennis ladder, Konta emerged onto a gloomy No.1 Court to close out a 6-1 7-5 victory.

Konta, who led 6-1, 2-1 when rain brought Tuesday’s play to a premature conclusion, was then forced to kick her heels for a further five hours as the wait for the skies to clear continued. When they did, the No.17 seed left her best tennis in the changing rooms as Puig pocketed the first three games.

Ranked No.36 and a semifinalist last week in Eastbourne, Puig represented as tricky an opening round opponent as Konta could have drawn. The Briton, however, was in no mood to extend her stay on court any longer than strictly necessary, reasserting herself in the baseline exchanges and drawing level when Puig sent a forehand long.

A few games later the Puerto Rican was serving to stay in the match. Sensing her moment, Konta went after her returns with added gusto, launching one beyond her sprawling opponent to close out a memorable victory.  

“I’ve worked my whole life, since I was eight years old, on becoming the best tennis player I could be,” Konta said “In that sense, I’ve been doing this for 17 years, so it didn’t exactly happen from one day to the next.

“I am very, very grateful for the experiences that I’ve had in quite a condensed, short period of time. I think that I am very grateful for that, enjoying that very much. Then again, also, the previous year where I had lost in the first round here, I had played some very, very good players. I always say I’m a firm believer in accumulating experiences. I’m most certain that if I hadn’t had those experiences, I wouldn’t have been able to deal with the example of today or the last few days.”

In the second round, Konta, who is the first British woman to be seeded at Wimbledon since Jo Durie in 1984, will now face former finalist Eugenie Bouchard.

LONDON, Great Britain – Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova got her 2016 campaign off to a roaring start against Sorana Cirstea, zooming past the Romanian to claim her eighth first-round win and a spot in the second round.

Kvitova, the champion here in 2011 and 2014, is usually a regular face in the last stages of grass court tournaments and came to Wimbledon looking for a kick start to her sluggish season. The Czech has yet to reach a final and comes off a pair of Round of 16 exits at Birmingham and Eastbourne.

It all clicked together for Kvitova when she needed it to against the No.85-ranked Cirstea; she needed just 52 minutes to notch a commanding 6-0, 6-4 victory.

Cirstea got off to a dismal start as Kvitova immediately broke her to love. The Romanian’s new abbreviated service motion – an attempt to mitigate the shoulder injuries that have plagued her in the past years – seemed to have zapped her of power and left her serves vulnerable against the World No.10’s punishing returns.

Kvitova took the first set to love with a commanding ace after just 15 minutes. The numbers really emphasize how the Romanian struggled on her serve in the opening set: she won just 17% of points behind her first serve against Kvitova’s 89% and won one point in all of her service games.

Cirstea put the disappointing numbers behind her to finally hold serve and get her name on the scoreboard at the start of the second set. But when Kvitova gets on a tear, it’s hard to stop her, and despite Cirstea’s improved ball-striking she couldn’t find a way to pressure her opponent’s lefty serve. Kvitova took the lone break for a 3-2 lead and held on to it to close out the match 6-0, 6-4 and move into the second round.

Kvitova awaits the winner between Ekaterina Makarova and Johanna Larsson, whose match was delayed due to rain.

More to come…