Tennis News

“Your mindset is worth more than your body.”

Well, at least it is according to Heather Watson, Great Britain’s No.2 and one of the most consistent British women’s tennis players.

Earlier in the season, Watson sat down with Women’s Health UK as a part of New Balance’s Toughest Opponent series, which discusses the inner battles that athletes have to fight within themselves. She shared her personal tips for how to ace the most important aspects of training and unlocking a positive mentality.

“Tennis, like running, is one of those sports where there’s so many factors you can’t control,” she said. “You need to be prepared for anything that hits you.”

Read on to hear what she had to say on how to improve your speed, stamina, and much more.

THE WINNERS

Garbiñe Muguruza played the best tennis of her career to stun defending champion Serena Williams and claim her maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros.

With the win Muguruza also adds her name to Spain’s storied history at Roland Garros: she’s the first Spanish woman to win the title since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario accomplished the feat in 1998.

Muguruza also climbs two spots in the rankings to World No.2, matching another one of Sanchez-Vicario’s feats by becoming the first Spaniard to hold that ranking since 1996. She sits behind Williams, who retains her No.1 ranking.

Read the full match recap here. | WTA Insider: Game-By-Game Analysis

But Muguruza isn’t the only one who took home some silverware in Paris: No.5 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic earned the biggest win of their young careers to win the French Open over former champions and No.7 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, becomng the first all-French pair to capture their home Slam since 1971.

“It’s never logical to win a Grand Slam,” Mladenovic said in their post-match press conference. “It’s never obvious. You know, you don’t win a Grand Slam every single day. Two young French women players who win Roland Garros. So there are the big tournaments that we have already won, which is a good success in itself, but, you know, winning a Grand Slam, and here in Roland Garros, it’s ten steps above what is logical or normal.”

Read the full match recap here.

GAME, SET, MATCH: WTA Insider

Game: Garbiñe Muguruza makes her mark in Paris.

Spaniards and Roland Garros go together like crepes and Nutella. At 22 years old, Muguruza became the youngest Slam champion since two-time major champion Victoria Azarenka won the 2012 Australian Open, and the second woman born in the 1990s to win a major, joining another two-time champion, Petra Kvitova. By every metric, Muguruza dominated her two weeks in Paris. She dropped just one set and defeated three Slam champions en route to her maiden title, defeating No.1 Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 in the final.

Despite her youth, Muguruza played throughout the fortnight like a veteran. Less than a year ago, she looked the nervous ingénue in her first Slam final, losing to Serena 6-4, 6-4 at Wimbledon. This time there was a methodical, steely resolve to how Muguruza plowed through the field. In Saturday’s final, she fended off Serena’s repeated attempts to mount one of her famous comebacks, snuffing out any hope a well-timed ace, gutsy backhand winner, or, as it was on match point, an impossibly good lob to secure the win.

On Monday, Muguruza became the first Spaniard since 1996 to hold the No.2 ranking and she vaulted up to No.4 on the Road to Singapore Leaderboard. And her story does not end here. She’ll be one of the favorites at Wimbledon in a few weeks time and look to add her name to the list of seven women in the Open Era to complete the Channel Slam.

Set: Serena Williams’ quest for No.22 continues.

You have to scroll back to 2004 to find the last time Serena Williams lost three finals in a single season. This year she has played five tournaments, made the final at four, and lost in three, upended by Angelique Kerber at the Australian Open, Victoria Azarenka at the BNP Paribas Open, and now Muguruza. Her quest to match Stefanie Graf’s Open Era record of 22 major titles now shifts to Wimbledon, the site of her last major title. To add even more intrigue to the upcoming grass season, Serena’s No.1 ranking, which she has held since February 2013, will be in play at the All England Club.

Read more about the shrinking the gap between Serena and the field, here.

Match: On to the grass.

There’s no time to kick the clay from our shoes. The five-week grass court season gets underway this week at the Aegon Open Nottingham and Ricoh Open in the Netherlands. Karolina Pliskova and Johanna Konta are the top seeds in Nottingham, which also sees the return of Caroline Wozniacki. The Dane, who fell out of the Top 30 for the first time since 2008, is back in action after an ankle injury force her out of the clay season.

Over in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, No.8 Belinda Bencic is also back in competition after a lower back injury kept her on the sidelines during the clay season. She’s the top seed along with Jelena Jankovic, Roland Garros doubles champion Kristina Mladenovic, and Jelena Ostapenko.

RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of June 6, 2016.

Shelby Rogers (USA), +48 (No.108 to 60): The biggest ranking mover of the week is Rogers, the 23-year-old American whose dream run to the French Open quarterfinals turned heads in a major way. She breaks the Top 100 and now sits at No.60, her career highest ranking.

Kiki Bertens (NED), +31 (No.58 to 27): Shelby had some completion in the French Open Cinderella story department, though, in the form of Bertens’ surprise run to the French Open semifinals. It was the culmination of a season of great results: Bertens’ impressive clay win-loss record is 19-3, a figure dating back to Fed Cup in April. No.27 is the Dutch phenom’s highest ranking ever.

Yulia Putintseva (KAZ), +25 (No.60 to 35): Putintseva has also reached her own career highest ranking this week, following her appearance in the French Open quarterfinals.

Sam Stosur (AUS), +10 (No.24 to 14): Stosur’s run to the French Open semifinals boosts her ranking up 10 spots to No.14, making her now the highest ranked Australian, male or female.

Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP), +2 (No.4 to 2): Last but certainly not least, Muguruza claimed her first Grand Slam at Roland Garros this past week and along with the trophy she also claims the World No.2 ranking, her career highest. She is the first Spaniard to hold the ranking since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in 1996.

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

Aegon Open Nottingham
Nottingham, Great Britain
International | $226,750 | Grass
Monday, June 6 – Sunday, June 12

Ricoh Open
‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
International | $226,750 | Grass
Monday, June 6 – Sunday, June 12

Aegon Classic Birmingham
Birmingham, Great Britain
Premier | $780,900 | Grass
Monday, June 13 – Sunday, June 19

Mallorca Open
Mallorca, Spain
International | $226,750 | Grass
Monday, June 13 – Sunday, June 19

TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams
2. Garbiñe Muguruza
3. Agnieszka Radwanska – Birmingham
4. Angelique Kerber -Birmingham
5. Simona Halep – Birmingham
6. Victoria Azarenka
7. Roberta Vinci
8. Belinda Bencic – ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Birmingham
9. Venus Williams
10. Timea Bacsinszky
11. Petra Kvitova – Birmingham
12. Svetlana Kuznetsova
13. Flavia Pennetta
14. Samantha Stosur
15. Carla Suárez Navarro – Birmingham
16. Madison Keys – Birmingham
17. Karolina Pliskova – Nottingham, Birmingham
18. Johanna Konta – Nottingham, Birmingham
19. Elina Svitolina – Birmingham
20. Sloane Stephens

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

Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) – June 7, 1988
Olivia Rogowska (AUS) – June 7, 1991
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) – June 8, 1989
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) – June 8, 1997
Kaia Kanepi (EST) – June 10, 1985

With the French Open officially in the books, how do the rankings stand as the tour heads into the third major tournament of the season?

Defending champion Serena Williams remains No.1 for a 174th straight week, a streak that began all the way back on February 18th, 2013, after reaching the final of the Qatar Total Open.

Garbiñe Muguruza is not too far behind at her career-high ranking of No.2, trailing the 21-time Grand Slam champion by 1564 points thanks to her maiden major title at Roland Garros, where she defeated Serena in the final.

Muguruza became the first Spanish woman ranked inside the Top 2 since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in December 1996; Sanchez-Vicario is also the first and most recent Spanish woman to be ranked No.1 back in 1995.

Ahead of the grass court season, Wimbledon finalists Serena and Muguruza have the greatest number of points to defend, with 2000 and 1356, respectively. World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska fell to Muguruza in last year’s semifinal and is defending 1195 points, having also made the semifinals of Nottingham and the final of Eastbourne, where she lost to Belinda Bencic.

Bencic is making her return from a lower back injury, one which precluded her from nearly all of the clay court season. The Swiss star reached the fourth round of Wimbledon and the final of the Ricoh Open, and is defending 920 points. 

Who made the biggest leaps during the clay court season?

By reaching the second week of the French Open, Bertens rocketed up into Olympic contention, as did quarterfinalist Tsvetana Pironkova, who now has a chance to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Yulia Putintseva made her career-best ranking and Top 35 debut by reaching the last eight in Paris, pushing Serena to three sets. Venus Williams also made her return to the Top 10 on the back of her best French Open result since 2010, reaching the fourth round.

‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands – No.6 seeded American CoCo Vandeweghe scored another win in her happiest of hunting grounds, having little trouble against Indy de Vroome in her 6-2, 6-4 opening round win at the Ricoh Open.

Watch live action from ‘s-Hertogenbosch this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

There’s something about playing on grass that causes Vandeweghe’s powerful game to click together. Right here in the Netherlands, Vandeweghe brought home her first WTA title back in 2014, and last year she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

Vandeweghe hardly needed more than an hour and fifteen minutes to reach the second round against Dutch wildcard de Vroome. The 20-year-old showed a lot of promise against the American; perhaps surprisingly, de Vroome out-aced the big serving Vandeweghe with eight aces to one. But Vandeweghe played more consistently in the important points, grabbing three of the four break chances she created.

Another American notched a victory today, with Madison Brengle scoring a big win against No.5 seed Laura Siegemund. Playing at the Ricoh Open for the first time, Brengle completed a three set upset against Stuttgart finalist Siegemund, coming back from a mid-match deficit to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in just over two hours.

Siegemund wasn’t the only seed that took a tumble today with No.7 Eugenie Bouchard bowing out in straight sets at the hands of Belgian qualifier Elise Mertens. Mertens allowed the Canadian only one break point chance in the whole match and ran roughshod over Bouchard on her way to her 52-minute, 6-2, 6-0 victory, her first WTA main draw win of her career.

The grass is always greener! On to the second round ricohopen ?? https://t.co/36RVMvv4U6

— CoCo Vandeweghe (@CoCoVandey) June 6, 2016