Knapp Outlasts Injured Azarenka
Karin Knapp bravely pushed past Victoria Azarenka, who was forced to retire from her first round match at the French Open.
Karin Knapp bravely pushed past Victoria Azarenka, who was forced to retire from her first round match at the French Open.
No.9 seed Venus Williams edged past a surging Anett Kontaveit for a spot in the second round of Roland Garros.
On Tuesday afternoon Serena Williams will begin the defense of her French Open crown when she meets Magdalena Rybarikova on Philippe Chatrier.
By her own high standards, Williams’ made a slow start to 2016. But judging by her performance in Rome, where she lifted the 70th title of her career, she appears to be rounding into form at just the right time.
Ahead of her return to the French capital, CNN Open Court sat down Williams to discuss her love of clay, coaching set-up and the quest for Grand Slam title number 22.
PARIS, France – Kiki Bertens caused the first major upset of this year’s French Open by knocking out No.3 seed Angelique Kerber in the first round.
Fresh from a triumphant week in Nürnberg, where she came through qualifying to lift the title, Bertens continued her fine form to defeat Kerber, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Earlier this year in Miami, Bertens came within a set of toppling the German only for illness to intervene, but out on Philippe Chatrier there was to be no stopping her. Displaying the confidence of a woman riding the crest of a seven-match winning streak, she withstood the inevitable comeback, wrapping up victory on her third match point when Kerber sent a drop shot looping into the net.
Kerber is the second Australian Open champion in three years to fall at the first hurdle in Paris, following in the unfortunate footsteps of Li Na.
In Nürnberg, Bertens upset Roberta Vinci to notch up her first ever Top 10 win, and her reward for a second is a meeting with either Camila Giorgi or Alizé Lim.
More to follow…
World No. 1 Serena Williams begins her quest for a fourth Roland Garros title on Tuesday as the top half of the draw contests its first-round matches. We preview all the action here at WTATennis.com.
Tuesday, First Round
[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK #77)
Head-to-head: Williams leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Williams is one of nine Grand Slam winners in the main draw, and has four more major titles (21) than the other eight major winners combined (17).
Serena Williams will look to resume her march towards history in Paris this week after stumbling in the late rounds at each of the last two majors. The World No.1 sits just one behind Steffi Graf for the all-time Open Era record for major titles, but that fact is something that the 34-year-old American prefers not to dwell on. “I definitely block it out,” Williams said over the weekend in Paris. “I was one off last year, too. If I don’t win [Roland Garros] I’ll still be one off. It took me forever to get to 18. I was so stressed out. I don’t want to relive that at all.” On Tuesday Williams will hope for a stress-free encounter against Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova in the final match of the day on Court Philippe Chatrier. Rybarikova has struggled with a leg injury since reaching the quarterfinals at Indian Wells and the 27-year-old has only played once since then, retiring from a challenger match in Slovakia in the first set.
Pick: Williams in two
[26] Kristina Mladenovic (FRA #30) vs. Francesca Schiavone (ITA #95)
Head-to-head: Schiavone leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Mladenovic has notched a Top 10 win in each of her last two Roland Garros appearances.
Kristina Mladenovic’s Roland Garros legend is growing with each passing year as the Frenchwoman has notched some of the grandest, most emotional wins of her career on the terre battue. In 2014 she famously upset 2011 Roland Garros champion Li Na in the first round. Last year Mladenovic took out then-World No.6 Eugenie Bouchard in her opening match. Credit to Mladenovic. She’s embraced the challenge of playing at her home Slam and delivered inspiring performances in two consecutive years. But to do it again this year the 23-year-old will have to get past a woman with a Roland Garros resumé that is far more impressive than her own. Francesca Schiavone’s legend is already as big as it gets in Paris. “La Leonessa” pulled off one of the most magical runs in recent Grand Slam history when she took the title at Roland Garros in 2010, but the 35-year-old will likely need some more of her Paris magic if she is to book her place in the second round.
Pick: Mladenovic in three
[5] Victoria Azarenka (BLR #5) vs. Karin Knapp (ITA #118)
Head-to-head: Knapp leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Knapp dropped just two games in a straight-sets win over Azarenka at Roland Garros in 2007.
Nine years ago, Italy’s Karin Knapp notched one of her best career wins at a major against Victoria Azarenka at Roland Garros, dropping just two games in a first-round blowout. But that victory came early in Azarenka’s Roland Garros career, before she had fully acclimated herself to the red clay. These days Azarenka is a much more accomplished clay-courter with seven finals on the surface under her belt and three appearances in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros (including a semifinal in 2013). If Azarenka truly has put the back issues that have plagued her on clay this season behind her, she should be able to assert herself early and often against Knapp on Tuesday.
Pick: Azarenka in two
[3] Angelique Kerber (GER #3) vs. Kiki Bertens (NED #58)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Kerber lost in the first round in both Madrid and Rome.
On Tuesday in Paris Angelique Kerber will play her first Grand Slam match since claiming the Australian Open title in January. How will she handle the challenge? The German has been through her share of ups and downs since that triumph, but by and large she has adjusted to her newfound notoriety with maturity, managing to stay grounded and focused on playing the high-quality tennis that she has become known for. But dealing with fame hasn’t been Kerber’s only challenge this spring. The World No. 5 has also struggled with a shoulder injury that could be a factor when she meets last week’s Nürnberg champion, Kiki Bertens, in her first-round match. “I’ve had a few practice days and that gives me confidence,” Kerber told reporters this weekend about her decision to skip last week’s event in Nürnberg to rest. “I used the days at home to have a lot of shoulder treatments. Physically I’m feeling good again. I was scared to play matches before Paris. Now I can serve and there are not so many pains.”
Pick: Kerber in three
By The Numbers
4 — Williams is bidding for her fourth Roland Garros title this year. If she succeeds she’ll pull even with Justine Henin and Helen Wills-Moody on the all-time leaderboard.
40 – Schiavone is fifth among active players on the Roland Garros win list. The Italian has gone 40-14 in her 15 appearances in Paris.
4 – In the Open Era the No. 1 seed has lost in the first round just four times at a major and never at Roland Garros.
-Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor
PARIS, France – Former finalist Simona Halep made a confident start to her 2016 French Open challenge, swatting aside Nao Hibino in 45 minutes.
Three of Halep’s last four Grand Slam appearances have ended with defeat to players ranked outside the Top 50, however there was never any danger of World No.70 Hibino extending this sequence.
Halep started confidently, breaking to love in the third game thanks to a smart backhand winner. The set was soon in the bag and when she fired away a forehand to break at the start of the second, the writing appeared on the wall.
It was not long before she arrived at match point, completing a 6-2, 6-0 victory to set up a second-round meeting against Zarina Diyas.
Two years ago, on the back of a terrific clay court season Halep made it all the way to the final at Roland Garros. Despite a recent triumph in Madrid, this time around she arrived in the French capital with less fanfare, yet a favorable draw has opened up the possibility of another deep run.
“I feel more confident now playing on clay court. I had good matches in Madrid. The title is really important for me – it means a lot,” Halep said. “You know, now I feel more confident, like everyone can see that that I play aggressive, I play my game.
“Always when I go on court I feel that I can win the match. So this makes myself a little bit more positive, a little bit more stronger on court, and I just want to go to play. I’m already in the second round. I feel good, and I feel that I have the game to win matches here.”
After starting off on an informal basis last year, since January Halep has been working full-time with celebrated coach Darren Cahill. While the union did not bring overnight success, Halep appreciates the adjustments her new mentor has brought about.
“I think the most important thing that he brought to me is mental, because he tells me how to manage all the situations,” Halep said when quizzed on their relationship. “Also tactically, he tells me how to play, always when he came on court, when I called him on-court coaching, I did what he said and I won all the matches!
“So he teaches me many things about tennis and also attitude, because sometimes I have bad attitude. But, you know, it’s normal, and when the pressure is on, you cannot control everything. But I’m better. I’m stronger now. And I keep working to get better.”
PARIS, France – A brief delay truncated the order of play again on Day 2 of Roland Garros, but the first round got underway in earnest by afternoon; catch up with the biggest storylines as Tuesday’s matches came to a close.
Aga and Simona roll, Muguruza survives: No one is talking about No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanksa here in Paris, but she rolled through her opener against Bojana Jovanovski, losing just two games. She’ll have a much trickier task in the second round against Caroline Garcia, who played a sharp match to beat Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets.
Not be outdone on the day, Simona Halep matched Radwanska’s feat, losing two games to Nao Hibino. She plays Zarina Diyas next.
It was a different story for No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, who needed three sets to get past a slumping Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. It was Schmiedlova’s 12th consecutive tour-level loss this year. Muguruza chalked up her slow start to, well, her headphones. The Spaniard didn’t hear her match announced over the loudpseaker and had just 10 minutes to warm up.
“I think I had the music on or something,” she said. “I didn’t really listen when someone talks with the speaker. The supervisor came, and they’re like, We’re waiting for you. I’m like, No way. I start to do running and jumping fast. So I didn’t have the time to really warm up.”
Cagla Buyukackay makes history: Buyukackay became the first Turkish woman in the Open Era to win a match at a Slam, as she rallied to beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-2. You’ll hear more from Cagla on Tuesday.
Heather Watson streaks to a big win: Watson’s first round match against her doubles partner Nicole Gibbs was suspended on Sunday due to rain, with Gibbs serving up a break and a point away from consolidating at 2-1 in the third. On Monday’s resumption, Watson would save that game point and go on to win five straight games to win, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
“My first goal was to win that first point, because I knew it was very important. I could have been 3-1 down and just one point,” Watson said. “I actually had a talk with my coach and we talked for five minutes about how we’re going to play that first point. Once I got that, I think I just kind of settled. Especially once that game was done, I started swinging through.”
Currently ranked No.56, the win was a big one for Watson’s Olympic qualifying chances. She’ll play No.13 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round.
Roberta Vinci’s early exit: The highest seed to fall after the first two days in Paris: No.7 seed Roberta Vinci. The Italian has struggled with her form since the tour turned to clay, her most uncomfortable surface. She left Paris winning just four games against Kateryna Bondarenko.
Tsvetana Pironkova gets a win on clay: When you think of clay, you don’t usually think of Pironkova, a 2010 Wimbledon semifinalist. The Bulgarian, now ranked No.102, thrives on fast, low-bouncing surfaces such as grass and very particular hard courts – remember that Sydney title? – but clay has been a challenge.
On Monday she faced off against one of the best clay courters on tour in former Roland Garros finalist and No.16 seed Sara Errani. The Italian came into Paris struggling, having gone 0-3 on European clay this season, and the lack of form showed. Pironkova rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 upset and will face Johanna Larsson in the second round.
Naomi Osaka continues to impress: The 18-year-old made the third round in her Grand Slam debut in January at the Australian Open. Now she’s into the second round at her French Open debut, beating No.32 seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-5. She’ll play Mirjana Lucic-Baroni next.
Osaka admits she’s not adept on the red clay yet, but her game may be perfectly suited for the surface. Like many who grew up playing on green clay, the European red stuff has been a shock. “I was like, Oh, my God,” Osaka said when asked about her first reaction to red clay. “Because last year I didn’t really play red clay. I didn’t play any clay, I think, so technically this year is my first time on red clay.
“Oh, God,” she said, smiling. “I don’t know what I was thinking because it’s completely different…. It’s kind of slow, and then I’m just like, Oh, hardcourt, please. But, I mean, I have to adjust, so I can’t complain about it all the time.”
“I don’t have like a hateful relationship with clay. I used to think I was the queen of grinding and then I was like, Oh, now I have to hit. People that hit powerful do well on clay. They do well on any surface.”
Class of 1997: The young class of 1997 on tour has been a promising one. Belinda Bencic has obviously set the standard of the 18-year-olds, but Jelena Ostapenko, Daria Kasatkina, and Ana Konjuh have also been eying a surge forward. Osaka says there’s no rivalry between the young women. Just sources of motivation.
“They’re kind of doing better than me right now, but I don’t know,” Osaka said. “I am trying to do my own thing and I’m sure they’re trying to do their own thing. We’re all going for different goals that are kind of the same because everyone wants to be No.1 and stuff. I mean, I don’t have any like [ill will] – nothing but love. Like no negative feelings or anything towards anybody.”
Shelby Rogers ‘bolts’ into the second round: Read more about Rogers’ big upset over No.17 seed Karolina Pliskova here.
Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber, and Victoria Azarenka ready for Tuesday: After two rain-addled days in Paris, the forecast looks positive for Tuesday, which means in an ideal world, the first round will conclude as scheduled. World No.1 Serena Williams gets underway against Magdalena Rybarikova, Kerber is on upset watch against Nuremberg champion Kiki Bertens, and Azarenka plays Karin Knapp.
Full order of play here.
Photos courtesy of Getty Images.
PARIS, France – No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska raced through her first round match with Bojana Jovanovski, playing bright tennis under a gloomy sky to win, 6-0, 6-2, and set up a second round meeting with Caroline Garcia at the French Open.
Radwanska hadn’t played a match since losing in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open to Dominika Cibulkova, but it was an even longer lay-off for Jovanovski, who had been off the tour since St. Petersburg in February. As the Serb struggled to find her range, Radwanska soared, hitting 22 winners to just nine unforced errors, breaking serve five times and saving all three break points on her own serve to advance in straight sets on Philippe Chatrier Court.
“It was cold and windy,” she said in her post-match press conference, describing the less than idea conditions on the court. “That’s why it was a little bit slow and the ball is not going anywhere.
“I think we all kind of used to that after couple of days here. The conditions are same for both of us.”
Over on Court 1, Garcia fought off both the demons from her first round loss in 2015 and a surging Lesia Tsurenko to win, 6-3, 7-5.
“I had no specific expectations,” she said after the match. “However, when I made it on the court today I just wanted to do my best. I played with using my strengths.
“It wasn’t a super match, but I think we waged the tough battle. I think I’m quite happy, and I’m looking forward to the next round.”
Sporting a heavily strapped left thigh, Tsurenko nonetheless recovered from losing the opening set to take a 5-2 lead in the second, getting within points of a decider. With the crowd behind the young Frenchwoman, Garcia swept the final five games to win her fifth match in a row following her title run at the Internationaux de Strasbourg last week.
“In Strasbourg I played very well. I learned about myself. I have worked hard, day after day, week after week. It has been a long process. Takes a lot of time.
“But my game has improved, and this is a very important tournament. We’re in France. I wanted to do something. I think I was quite good at managing my stress. I managed to stay very focused, and each point counted.”
Radwanska and Garcia have played thrice before; though the Pole has won two of their three previous meetings, all have gone the distance.
“That’s for sure going to be different match. I guess she’s on fire winning last week. She’s a good hitter and we had couple of good matches, long ones.
“So, well, just looking forward. Going to be a good match, especially here where she’s playing at home.”
“I think I’m getting better. Of course I was doing everything in those last couple of weeks to move better. I think that’s the key on clay.”
Eliminée au 1er tour ces deux dernières années, Caroline Garcia a réussi à faire sauter le verrou ukrainien #RG16 https://t.co/47cZyIhz6o
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 23, 2016
PARIS, France – Shelby Rogers woke up on Monday morning full of excitement and adrenaline. Sure, the 23-year-old South Carolina native was looking forward to taking on No.17 seed Karolina Pliskova in the first round of the French Open, but that wasn’t what she was amped about.
Rogers is a huge Tampa Bay Lightning fan and she woke up to the news her boys were a game away from the Stanley Cup Final.
“My Bolts are doing so well right now!” Rogers said, as she lit up at the mere mention of the NHL playoffs. “They’re going home with a 3-2 lead [over the Pittsburgh Penguins]. I’m so pumped.”
Rogers’ Monday would only get better. Ranked No.108, she pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the day at Roland Garros, beating Pliskova 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the second round in Paris for the second time in her career. Rogers falls into the growing category of young Americans who are loving European red clay, and she was happy to avenge a tough loss to the Czech earlier this year in Indian Wells.
“I definitely like my chances better on clay, that’s for sure,” Rogers said.
“I think it helps my kick serve for sure. Moving is really fun on it. The points are always a little more versatile, you do a lot of different things. It’s a little bit slower so I do think I can hit through the court but I have a little bit more time to pick my shots.
“It’s a lot of fun, for sure.”
So how closely has Rogers been keeping tabs on the Lightning while she’s been in Europe? She’s doing as much as she can.
“I can’t watch the games because they’re so late,” she said. “They’re like at 3AM and that’s not very good match prep.
“But I woke up this morning and I was all fired up because they got the win in overtime. I was retweeting all the goals. I’m such a nerd. They’re probably like, ‘This girl needs to stop stalking us.'”
But how does a South Carolina native who now trains in Los Angeles become such a rabid Tampa Bay fan?
“I trained at [the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida] for about a year when I was younger,” Rogers explained. “That was the only thing I did there that was fun. I became a huge fan. I love hockey. I think it’s one of the best sports [to watch] live. It’s so much fun and I’ve just been a fan every since.”
@tennis_jarkag @TBLightning how good was that OT win???! Inspiring for sure! #gobolts
— Shelby Rogers (@Shelby_Rogers_) May 23, 2016
“I just love the aggression of it. I love the atmosphere at the games. I love that you can get rowdy and shout and the players love that. It’s just a really fast paced fun sport to watch. I grew up going to a lot of games. We have a team in South Carolina called the Sting Rays, and I grew up going to those. It’s just something different, something unique.”
Rogers plays No.49 Elena Vesnina in the second round. Vesnina beat Madison Brengle, 6-2, 6-3, in the first round.
WTA World No.1 Serena Williams came in at No.5 on Sports Illustrated’s Fittest 50, a list of athletes across all sports disciplines that an expert panel named as the fittest in the world.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion’s overall fitness was evaluated and her unmatched strength, power, agility and quickness stood out to SI’s experts, as well as her longevity: at 34 years old Williams now owns 70 career titles and doesn’t look ready to slow down any time soon.
To come up with the Fittest 50, the editors of SI worked with a panel of trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, performance experts, pro athlete coaches and more. Athletes were assessed based on characteristics that define fitness and conditioning: strength, speed, endurance, agility, flexibility and skill in their respective sports.
No.22-ranked Sloane Stephens also joined Williams on the list at No.38, and it’s no surprise why with three WTA titles under her belt this year already. The American’s fitness routines are well-documented on her social media: she typically does a morning workout in the gym followed by a couple of hours of work on the tennis courts.
SI’s experts highlighted her gym routines, which include battle ropes, Bosu balls and pull-ups.
Visit Sports Illustrated’s Fittest 50 for a complete list of the world’s fittest athletes in all of sports.