Stanford: Venus vs. Riske
Venus Williams takes on Alison Riske in the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic.
Venus Williams takes on Alison Riske in the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic.
MONTREAL, Canada – Tennis Canada announced that Serena Williams is withdrawing from Rogers Cup due to shoulder inflammation.
Winner of three Rogers Cup titles, Serena reached the semifinals at the last two editions of the event.
“Due to inflammation in my shoulder, I unfortunately must withdraw from the Rogers Cup,” she said in a statement. “I was looking forward to competing in Montreal and I look forward to returning soon.”
“Of course, we are disappointed that Serena will not play in the tournament this year. The fans really enjoyed the time she spent in the city in 2014,” said Eugène Lapierre, tournament director of Rogers Cup presented by National Bank.
“Because this is an Olympic year, the players have very full schedules. Sometimes your body needs rest. We hope that Serena will recover quickly and wish her much success for the rest of the season.”
Serena Williams is forced to withdraw from #CoupeRogers due to inflammation in her shoulder. pic.twitter.com/J7vPz2Mzgv
— Coupe Rogers (@CoupeRogers) July 24, 2016
An interview with Johanna Konta after her win in the semifinals of the Bank of the West Classic.
ZHUHAI, China – Not until July 24, the 100-day countdown for the 2016 WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, did I realize it had been more than eight months since I covered the inaugural edition of the WTA season finale.
Evidently, though, my fond memories of this amazing tournament are as fresh as yesterday.
Despite the lack of tennis tradition in the southern coastal city, the young yet vibrant face of the tournament held in Zhuhai’s Hengqin district intrigued me from the very first moment I stepped out of the shuttle bus after arriving at the Hengqin International Tennis Center.
The 5,000-seat stadium court caught my eye for its spectacular design and then made my jaw-drop in astonishment as I learned it was built in just eight months.
Strolling around the state-of-the-art tennis center, details like replicas of Raphael’s oil paintings hanging from the pillars and the considerate set of screens located around the giant entrance could not fail to impress each and every visitor.
And for a journalist, who came to work rather than purely enjoying the game, there is no better treatment than having a supportive and approachable media operation team.
What catered to me even better was that the team was formed by a group of acquaintances of mine.
Peter Johnston, the former WTA managing director for Asia-Pacific, chaired an energetic team, which previously served the Shanghai Rolex Masters, as the director of the young tournament.
In the modern era of professional tennis, where young stars emerge overnight, the lack of history can sometimes be a positive, helping establish something new and unique without any strings. Such a scenario transpired in Zhuhai.
“I think we’ve done an amazing job to run a great tournament with a unique personality of a comfortable, classy and contemporary taste,” Johnston told me.
“The tournament is stepping up to promote the name and personality of Zhuhai around the world. You need events that will attract attention from outside where you want to make an impact and this tournament just offered that.”
And that notion fitted exactly into the bigger picture the organizers and city governors ambitiously expected hoped to paint when they won the bid to host the event through 2019.
Zhuhai, a lively coastal city which boasts proximity to Macao and Hong Kong, is striving to enhance its international profile, forging a vibrant image by staging major sports and cultural events.
Having already appeared on the global stage as the host of a grand aviation show and an international circus festival for years, Zhuhai looks set to diversify on that legacy and the Elite Trophy tournament offered a unique opportunity.
“The city will continue to improve its international profile and the quality of cultural life for its residents by introducing more sports and entertainment events,” said Long Guangyan, the deputy mayor. “That’s our goal to enhance the city’s soft power on par with its economic strength.”
And for the event’s sake, it was the players and the audience that it had to please. Obviously, Zhuhai did a good job.
As the last mandatory event on the WTA calendar, Zhuhai attracted 12 high-ranking singles stars and six elite doubles pairs to compete in round-robin groups followed by a knockout phase. The top-level performances and cutting-edge facilities offered the local audience a taste of Grand Slam atmosphere on their doorstep.
Before the kick-off, the organizers also hosted a poolside welcome party for all the players, where they dressed up in banquet suits and enjoyed fine wines as well as live music on roof of the five-star Sheraton hotel.
And it was a welcome which the players were full of praise for.
“It was another beautiful job, and a nice surprise with the violinist,” seven-time major champion and the eventual tournament winner Venus Williams said of the party. “The enthusiasm for the tournament you can see in the whole city, from the preparation to how everything is set up. It makes the players feel very welcome and appreciated.”
Former World No.1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia said Zhuhai presented a fitting season finale. “The organization has done a tremendous job. The stadium is so beautiful. The courts and our hotel, everything; I’m really impressed. All of the players are more than satisfied to be here,” said the veteran who was eliminated in the group stage.
Danish former No 1 Caroline Wozniacki also said the compact layout in Zhuhai suited her well, “The fact that everything is close — the players’ lounge, the players dining area, the centre court — is nice, and I like that. We couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Chung Mezle, executive director of Huafa Cultural Tourism Industry Development Co., the tournament’s managing company, said: “We just wanted the players to feel comfortable and inspired to play at their best by providing them the best possible facilities, beautiful environment, and warm service.”
It seems everyone is happy.
And for me, I would expect one little thing that they could improve this year – just change the Nespresso capsule coffeemaker into a fresh-ground one at the media lounge.
Oh, never mind.
Sun Xiaochen, China Daily
An interview with Venus Williams after her semifinal win at the Bank of the West Classic.
STANFORD, CA, USA – Johanna Konta produced an classy display at the Bank of the West Classic to defeat Dominika Cibulkova and advance to the first final of her career.
Watch live action from Bastad, Stanford and Washington DC this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Displaying all the poise that has characterized her rapid ascent over the past 12 months, Konta outplayed 2013 champion Cibulkova from first point until last, triumphing 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 14 minutes.
A picture of calm throughout, Konta’s could not hide her emotions when Cibulkova send a forehand sailing long on match point, emitting a scream of delight. “It’s a release of emotions, because I felt I needed to do a very good job of focusing on myself, my own game. And I was very happy I was able to do that and that’s what happens when you try to stay calm for so long,” Konta told on-court interviewer Andrew Krasny.
Think she's excited? @JoKonta91 defeats @Cibulkova 6-4, 6-2. #BOTWClassic pic.twitter.com/spYxrdeGKA
— BOTW Classic (@BOTWClassic) 23 July 2016
“I was trying to focus just on the circumstances and not anything that was going on around me. I enjoyed being out here, playing in front of a great crowd and am excited to come back tomorrow.”
This time last year she was embarking on a 16-match win streak that began on the ITF Circuit and ended in the second week of the US Open.
On her return Konta has looked every inch the Top 20 player, and judging by her form against Cibulkova she could yet rise further. A pin-point forehand return brought her an early break, and with her own serve impenetrable it was an advantage she never looked like squandering.
The second set was even more impressive, Konta conceding only two points on serve as she cruised to victory. She is the third Briton to contest the final in Stanford – Sue Barker beat Virginia Wade to the title the 1977 – and there she will face two-time champion Venus Williams.
Carrying the momentum she picked up at Wimbledon with her across the Atlantic, Williams has been in fine form this week. And for the first half an hour or so of her semifinal against Alison Riske, it looked like the would reach her 80th career final a canter.
Riske’s fighting spirit ensured the second set was far more competitive, but despite holding a couple of set points she was unable to prevent Williams winning, 6-1, 7-6(2).
“I was at the finish line and playing well, but getting killed on these points where I hit amazing first serves, so all credit to her because she played her best tennis when it was almost over,” WIlliams said.
In the latest episode of Dubai Duty Free Full of Surprises, Venus Williams and sister Serena surprise an unsuspecting fan at the Bank of the West Classic with autographs and selfies.
BASTAD, Sweden – Katerina Siniakova advanced to the first final of her career by dethroning home favorite and reigning Ericsson Open champion Johanna Larsson on Saturday.
Watch live action from Bastad, Stanford and Washington DC this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
A relative novice at this stage of a WTA event and faced with an unashamedly partisan crowd, Siniakova took some time to find her bearings. However, once she had the Czech produced some sparkling tennis to run out a 7-5, 6-1 winner and set up a Sunday showdown with Laura Siegemund.
“It was a really hard match, I just tried to focus on every point and I think I played pretty well,” Siniakova said. “Maybe in the beginning I was a little bit nervous, so there were a few more mistakes, but from there my performance was better so I’m really happy.”
Having frozen when serving for the opening set at 5-3, Siniakova showed no hesitancy when another chance presented itself, thundering a backhand into the corner to bring up two set points. Larsson ballooned a drive volley long to surrender the set.
In addition to her title run last year, Larsson was a finalist on home soil in 2011 and 2013, but she never looked like adding to this tally in the second set, Siniakova establishing an early lead and never looking back.
Siniakova, whose previous semifinal appearance ended in defeats in Moscow and Prague, was understandably elated at clearing this hurdle at the third time of asking: “It’s really exciting. I think it will be a really tough match, hopefully we will both show great tennis. I think I will be nervous, but this is normal. I will just have to try my best, fight for every point and see how it goes.”
Like Siniakova, Siegemund took some time to find her groove, weathering an early storm of winners to see off Julia Goerges. Siegemund had already reached semifinals on the clay this year, in Stuttgart and Bucharest, and despite falling behind early on refused to get disheartened against her powerful compatriot.
While she was unable to rescue the first set, she hit back to take a high-quality second then forge ahead in the third. Trailing 4-6, 6-3, 4-0, Goerges body admitted defeat, a hip injury bringing an entertaining contest to a premature end.
“It was very tough – she started out very strongly in the first set. I tried to be solid but it was not enough, she was really the better player at the beginning and I needed to step it up,” Siegemund said. “I felt good out there today, I felt confident to be a bit more risky and go for my shots.”
Until recently, Siegemund existed in a different world on the tennis circuit to some of her more celebrated compatriots. A memorable run all the way through qualifying to the final in Stuttgart changed all this and on Sunday she has the opportunity to further cement her place among the elite.
semifinal highlights from #ericssonopen @wta pic.twitter.com/yQB2YTfbfn
— Swedish Open Tennis (@swedish_open) 23 July 2016
Highlights from quarterfinal action at the Bank of the West Classic.
WASHINGTON, DC, USA – Yanina Wickmayer made light of another sweltering day at the Citi Open to outplay Yulia Putintseva and reach her first final of 2016.
Watch live action from Washington DC, Bastad and Stanford this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
On an afternoon when temperatures in the US capital reached as high as 97°F, No.7 seed Wickmayer was intent on keeping her time on court to a minimum. Bristling with positive intent from the outset, the Belgian rode a fast start all the way to a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
“It was very hot but its been like that every day so far. I knew she was going to make me work for every single point and it would be tough out there,” Wickmayer said in her on-court interview. “I just tried to stay positive, stay implemented focused, go for my shots and stay aggressive.”
Wickmayer’s intentions were clear from the off, a couple of big forehands helping her break in the opening game. This lead was soon stretched to 4-0 and while Putintseva managed to pull back one of the breaks it was not enough to rescue the set.
The second followed a similar pattern, Wickmayer bossing the majority of exchanges to confidently advance to the 11th final of her career. There she will face Lauren Davis after she ended wildcard Jessica Pegula’s run with a 6-2, 6-3 win in the night session..
Before that, though, Wickmayer was back on court alongside Monica Niculescu, defeating Shuko Aoyama and Risa Ozaki, 6-4, 6-3 to book a place in the doubles final. “That’s what I work for, playing finals and holding the trophy at the end of the week,” she added. “It just feels great to be in the final here I’ve done really well in the singles and doubles so I’m really enjoying my time here.”