Stuttgart: Shot Of The Day (Saturday)
Angelique Kerber had Saturday’s shot of the day at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Angelique Kerber had Saturday’s shot of the day at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
THE WINNERS
Reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber won her second title of the season at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, dispatching qualifier and countrywoman Laura Siegemund, the tournament’s Cinderella story, 6-4, 6-0.
“I was just trying to enjoy the atmosphere, the fans and to play here again in the finals,” Kerber said. “So, I was trying to relax a little bit but also in the same moment to be focused. It helped me yesterday, so I was trying and hoping that it will help me today as well!”
Though Siegemund finished the match with more winners (22 to 16), Kerber played her counterpunching style to perfection, hitting just nine unforced errors in 80 minutes to win the final 10 games of the match.
It was nonetheless a stellar week for the 28-year-old veteran, who will bound up nearly 30 spots to a career-high ranking of No.42; more importantly, she leapfrogs four of her compatriots to become the No.4 German woman on the WTA rankings – putting her in pole position to round out the national team who can be sent to the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Read the full story and watch highlights here.
Meanwhile, unseeded Cagla Buyukakcay’s fairytale week at the TEP BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup came to a thrilling conclusion when the hometown favorite recovered from a set down to defeat No.5 seed Danka Kovinic, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Set to crack the Top 100 for the first time in her career, Buyukakcay was making history with every win this week in Istanbul, becoming the first Turkish woman to reach a WTA semifinal, then a final, and against Kovinic, the first Turkish WTA titlist in history.
“It’s an incredible week for me to win the title at home, to break into the Top 100 with this tournament, to play against someone with my crowd,” she said after the match. “This is a tournament I’ve been playing since 2005, when I was 15, and I saw the best players at this tournament when I was young. So I dreamed of winning the title since then; it’s very special for me.”
Read the full story here.
GAME, SET, MATCH: WTA Insider
Game: Angelique Kerber turns the page.
Kerber’s successful title defense at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix capped off a five-week run of play that saw her put her post Australian Open malaise behind her and re-assert herself as a force on clay. After two opening round losses after winning her maiden Slam, the German has now made the semifinals or better at her last three events. Her Stuttgart title builds her lead at No.1 on the Road to Singapore, nearly 500 points clear of No.2 Victoria Azarenka.
Kerber is the first to admit clay has never been her favorite. But that began to change last year when her titles in Charleston and Stuttgart kickstarted what has been a career-best 12 months. Kerber has yet to maintain her success in the early part of the clay season through to Paris. She has made the quarterfinals just once at the French Open and in the last two years she has won just one match combined in Madrid and Rome. So long as she’s healthy and stays aggressive from the baseline, there’s no reason Kerber can’t be a force on the red dirt.
Hear from Stuttgart champion Kerber in this week’s WTA Insider Champion’s Corner.
Set: Cagla Buyukakcay historic on home soil.
Home court advantage doesn’t always ring true in tennis. Playing at home can be paralyzing given the pressure to perform. But this week saw both singles champions win their home tournaments, with No.118 Cagla Buyukakcay becoming the first Turkish woman to win a WTA title. The 26-year-old was 0-7 at the Istanbul Cup before last week but she made good on her wildcard to snag five wins en route to the title. The win vaults her into the Top 100 for the first time at a career-high No.82.
@roberta_vinci Robyyyy???Thank you sooo much❤️❤️ trying to follow your foot steps??????Always classy!!????
— Çağla Büyükakçay (@CaglaBuyukakcay) April 24, 2016
@TimeaOfficial Timiii thank youu so much❤️❤️???? I love that team spirit??? love to your lovely team!! good luck in Rabat??????
— Çağla Büyükakçay (@CaglaBuyukakcay) April 24, 2016
Quick look at the new Road to Singapore rankings and how about that @CaglaBuyukakcay: pic.twitter.com/MziDD5uoe4
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) April 25, 2016
The best day of my life! One of my dreams came true, won WTA title at home??? pic.twitter.com/vX9EZyO3ED
— Çağla Büyükakçay (@CaglaBuyukakcay) April 24, 2016
Match: Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic stop SanTina.
The French duo is riding an eight-match win streak after winning their second consecutive title, edging out No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza 2-6, 6-1, 10-6 to win the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Garcia and Mladenovic have been flying since the tour turned to clay, winning their first title at the Volvo Car Open, winning the decisive doubles in France’s 3-2 win over the Netherlands at Fed Cup, and now beating the game’s best in Stuttgart.
As for Hingis/Mirza, the duo have not won a title since having their 41-match win streak snapped by Daria Kasatkina and Elena Vesnina at the Qatar Total Open.
Hingis and Mirza are now in the midst of a four tournament title drought. Time to panic? Not really. The pair went five tournaments without a title last year, mostly on their worst surface of clay. They went on to win Wimbledon, the US Open, and the WTA Finals.
RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of April 25, 2016.
Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR), +36 (No.118 to 82): Turkey’s Buyukakcay owns this week’s biggest ranking jump after her fairytale run at the TEP BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup ended with the hometown favorite becoming her country’s first WTA titlist. She now sits at a career-high No.82.
Laura Siegemund (GER), +29 (No.71 to 42): Another Cinderella story unfolded at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, which saw Siegemund upset player after player to reach her first WTA final and vault to a career-high No.42.
Danka Kovinic (MNE), +13 (No.60 to 47): Kovinic also posts a career-high ranking this week after reaching her second WTA final at Istanbul.
Petra Kvitova (CZE), +1 (No.7 to 6): Kvitova’s run to the Stuttgart semifinals causes the only Top 10 shuffle of the week, leapfrogging Simona Halep to reach the No.6 spot.
UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
GP SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem
Rabat, Morocco
International | $226,750 | Clay, Outdoor
Monday, April 25 – Saturday, April 30, 2016
J&T Banka Prague Open
Prague, Czech Republic
International | $226,750 | Clay, Outdoor
Monday, April 25 – Saturday, April 30, 2016
Mutua Madrid Open
Madrid, Spain
Premier Mandatory | €4,771,360 | Clay, Outdoor
Sunday, April 30 – Saturday, May 7, 2016
Internazionali BNL d’Italia
Rome, Italy
Premier | – | Clay, Outdoor
Monday, May 9 – Sunday, May 15, 2016
TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams – Madrid, Rome
2. Agnieszka Radwanska – Madrid
3. Angelique Kerber – Madrid, Rome
4. Garbiñe Muguruza – Madrid, Rome
5. Victoria Azarenka – Madrid, Rome
6. Petra Kvitova – Madrid, Rome
7. Simona Halep – Madrid, Rome
8. Roberta Vinci – Prague, Madrid, Rome
9. Maria Sharapova
10. Belinda Bencic – Madrid, Rome
11. Carla Suárez Navarro – Madrid, Rome
12. Flavia Pennetta
13. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Prague, Madrid, Rome
14. Venus Williams – Madrid, Rome
15. Timea Bacsinszky – Rabat, Madrid, Rome
16. Lucie Safarova – Prague, Madrid, Rome
17. Elina Svitolina – Madrid, Rome
18. Karolina Pliskova – Prague, Madrid, Rome
19. Ana Ivanovic – Madrid, Rome
20. Sara Errani – Madrid, Rome
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Best wishes to those celebrating birthdays this week:
Jarmila Wolfe (AUS) – April 26, 2016
Misaki Doi (JPN) – April 29, 2016
Sara Errani (ITA) – April 29, 2016
Shahar Peer (ISR) – May 1, 2016
Angelique Kerber takes on Petra Kvitova in the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
It’s hard to overstate the difficult task at hand for Angelique Kerber when she arrived in Stuttgart last week for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The World No.3 had won eight career titles but she had never successfully defended any of them. As the first German woman to win a major since Steffi Graf, she would be inundated by media requests and sponsor obligations throughout the week. And to cap it off, she was embarking on her fifth consecutive event dating back to the BNP Paribas Open.
All this for a player who admits she’s still getting used to the spotlight and the expectations that go with being a reigning major champion.
But if she was nervous, if she was stressed out, you didn’t see it in Stuttgart. That’s a huge step forward for Kerber. En route to her second title of the year she weathered the storm in two tough three-set wins over Annika Beck and Petra Kvitova before buckling down to take care of her countrywoman Laura Siegemund, 6-4 6-0 in Sunday’s final.
The honeymoon period after winning your first major title can last for months. For some players we’ve seen it last for years. But since losing in the first round of Indian Wells to Denisa Allertova, Kerber has righted the ship. She is 13-2 since then, with the two losses coming to Victoria Azarenka at the Miami Open and a retirement against Sloane Stephens at the Volvo Car Open, both of whom were the eventual champions. In the first two tournaments she played after the Australian Open, she lost in the opening round in straight sets to women ranked outside the Top 60. Her next three events? Semifinals or better, capped off by the win in Stuttgart.
WTA Insider caught up with Kerber after her Stuttgart win.
Insider: When we spoke before Charleston we talked a lot about moving past the Australian Open. Does a result like this, winning Stuttgart and playing how you did all week, does that give you confidence that you moved on?
Kerber: For sure. Like we talked, it was not easy to find the middle, how to mix all the media stress while playing good tennis. Now I’m getting used to it. Of course defending my title here is just an amazing feeling. It’s really special because it’s in Germany and here in Stuttgart. I’m getting used to it. Now I know how to deal with all the pressure and it makes me much more confident than I was a few weeks ago.
Insider: After winning the Australian Open, when you played in the Middle East you were dealing with all the attention in Germany, playing Fed Cup at home. Do you think those results in the Middle East and Indian Wells, was that a result of not being prepared because you couldn’t practice as much or was it because your mind just wasn’t right?
Kerber: I think it was both a little bit. Of course because I didn’t have too much time to prepare for the next tournament and really practicing again really hard like I did after Indian Wells. With all the media things and all the stuff I have to do off site, which now I’m getting used to it.
Insider: Have you just gotten used to the media side of things? Or do you actually enjoy it now?
Kerber: It’s both. I’m trying to enjoy it. It’s nice to do something different. To get to know new people, to see something different, not always my day is practice. I can change a little bit my day plan. So I try to enjoy it. So it’s both of it. I enjoy it but I’m also getting used to it.
Insider: Since the Australian Open, we’ve been playing tournaments but they haven’t been leading up to a Slam. Now we have the French Open coming up. Have you completely embraced clay?
Kerber: Yes that’s for sure. A few years ago clay was not my favorite surface. But right now I had a great clay court season last year and now, I played well in Charleston and here to win on clay, it gives me confidence that my game is also good for the clay court. That’s why I’m looking forward to Madrid, Rome and of course Paris, where I can play good tennis and play well there.
Insider: Does your mindset change now that you’re in Grand Slam preparation mode?
Kerber: I need a few days, even during the tournament for a few days, where I’m doing something different. Not thinking about tennis just trying to relax a little bit, go for a coffee, going shopping. Something like this. Then the motivation is there again to go on court, fight, and play good tennis. I think now I know how to mix it.
Insider: When’s the last time you had a normal day?
Kerber: I think the day will come tomorrow (laughs). I can’t remember, but I know this day will come tomorrow.
Insider: Do you have a celebration ritual?
Kerber: Yeah. Going for a great dinner after and then just enjoy this moment on this day. That’s what we will do today. Just going somewhere and enjoying the evening.
Insider: It must be nice to be home in Germany for that.
Kerber: It helps a lot. Here there are more people around me and it’s much nicer when you have a bigger team.
Insider: So how many Porsches does a single person actually need?
Kerber: Ha. That’s a good question. I don’t know. Minimum one but I think I have a little bit more.
Insider: You’re going to have to invest in a bigger garage.
Kerber: Yes (laughs). Yes, I have to.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Laura Siegemund takes on Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
An interview with Angelique Kerber after her win in the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
An interview with Laura Siegemund after her win in the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Highlights from quarterfinal action at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Laura Siegemund has Friday’s shot of the day at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Angelique Kerber takes on Carla Suárez Navarro in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.