Tennis News

ROME, Italy – 1999 champion Venus Williams got off to a winning start in her campaign at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia with a solid victory over fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-4, 6-3.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Rome right here on wtatennis.com!

In her first match since the green clay of Charleston almost a month ago, the former No.1 was drawn against the big serving No.40 Vandeweghe in the first women’s match of the day at the Foro Italico. Even though they are familiar with each other as Fed Cup teammates, it was the pair’s first encounter.

“I have hit with her a little bit at Fed Cup but not really sure what to expect,” Williams said after the match. “I imagine that on the clay I have a little bit more advantage, just having played more matches on clay. I think that helped a lot.”

It took a while for both players to find their range in the first set. Neither of them able to really assert themselves during their service games with Williams serving at 44% and Vandeweghe at 50%. Williams kept pressuring the younger American with her net play and angles until she finally struck, breaking for 5-3. Vandeweghe broke right back, but Williams responded in kind to take the first set.

In the second set, Williams backed up an early break with a comfortable hold to get a 3-1 lead. She continued to jam up Vandeweghe with a punishing body serve, leaving her to wreak havoc on the open court.

Despite the stats initially skewing to Vandeweghe­’s favor, it was Williams who kept her head during the key points: she converted three of the five break chances that went her way, and Vandeweghe just one of five. Williams struck 13 winners and 16 unforced errors to Vandeweghe’s 20 and 27.

Also in the bottom half of the draw, a pair of qualifiers caused a shakeup by taking out two seeded players. Monica Puig weathered a mid-match surge from No.15 seed Elina Svitolina before advancing 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, and Heather Watson broke Italian hearts when she sent the No.14 seed packing in emphatic fashion, ousting the 2014 finalist 6-4, 3-6, 6-0.

Meanwhile Teliana Pereira, Ekaterina Makarova, Madison Keys and Barbora Strycova also made their way to the second round.

There's that @VenusesWilliams victory twirl ? #ibi16 pic.twitter.com/PMLeNcRP6D

— WTA (@WTA) May 9, 2016

ROME, Italy – Defending Olympic gold medal team Serena Williams and Venus Williams took a wildcard into the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and rekindled their doubles partnership for the first time since 2014.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Rome right here on wtatennis.com!

Even though their first doubles venture in almost two years ended in a straight sets loss to the all-Slovenian team of Andreja Klepac and Katarina Srebotnik 6-1, 7-5, the Williams sisters showed flashes of the prowess that saw them win 21 titles together, including back-to-back Olympic gold medals.

Venus, who had played her opening singles match a few hours before, admitted that fatigue could have played a factor in her doubles loss.

“I haven’t done that in a long time,” Venus said in her post match press conference. “But I knew what was going to happen going into it. Even if you get tired, you have to try to ignore it. I felt okay.

“I guess I don’t have to worry about it anymore this week. Hopefully I’ll have that problem for two weeks in the French Open.That would be an awesome problem to have.”

The packed crowed on Court 1 was witness to lots of flubbed errors and mistiming from Venus and Serena – who are both also competing in singles here in Rome – as they looked to shake off the rust and narrowly avoid a shut out in the first set. They showed their grit in the second, mounting a comeback from 4-2 down, but the Slovenians closed them out to book a second-round clash against the No.2 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.

Despite the disappointing result, the Williams sisters have their eye on the future, including competing in Roland Garros and trying for a fourth gold medal at the Sumer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“We haven’t played doubles in a while,” Serena said in her press conference yesterday. “Obviously we would love to play in the Olympics.

“I love playing with Venus. She’s the best partner, and hopefully she feels the same about me. We make a great team.”

As the Olympic race takes shape, lots of same-country doubles teams looking to get as much doubles action in as possible. Serena and Venus are the defending gold medal team, and will likely use their combined singles rankings to gain direct entry into the 32-team draw, as explained by WTA Insider.

THE WINNERS

No.6 seed Simona Halep capped off a dominating week in the Spanish capital, conquering Dominika Cibukova 6-2, 6-4 to claim the Mutua Madrid Open crown and her first title of 2016.

Madrid holds a special place in the Romanian’s career: it was here in 2013 that she received a wildcard that kick started her ascent into the WTA’s elite. In 2014 Halep returned as a finalist, and this year she led a strong Romanian contingent that made tournament history before she captured her second career Premier Mandatory title.

With the win Halep will make her return to the WTA Top 5, at No.5, and both Cibulkova and Halep will enter the Road To Singapore Leaderboard’s Top 8.

Read the full story and watch highlights here | WTA Insider: As It Happened

Meanwhile in doubles, the No.5 seeded team of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic struck once again in their burgeoning rivalry with World No.1 team Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis. The Frenchwomen defeated Hingis and Mirza 6-4, 6-4 to claim the doubles title at the Mutua Madrid Open.

“It’s definitely great period for us,” Garcia said in the post-match press conference. “Three finals, three titles, and two times against No.1 in the world, Martina and Sania, and once against Bethanie and Lucie. So it’s only great matches every single time.

“Very, very happy with what we produced on the court today.”

Read the full story here.

GAME, SET, MATCH: WTA Insider

Game: Simona Halep gets back in the game.

After a season of stalls, Simona Halep is back in the conversation after rolling to her first title of the season at the Mutua Madrid Open. Halep lost just one set all week — a surprising bagel from her compatriot Irina Camelia Begu — posting dominant set scores all week and beating Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-4 to win the title on Saturday. The win moves Halep back into the Top 5 and into the Top 8 on the Road to Singapore Leaderboard, and it was a win that felt incredibly necessary for Halep after all her 2016 setbacks, which include injury and illness to start the season and a frustrating loss in her first match in Stuttgart to start the clay season.

“No one cares about me now,” Halep said with a laugh after her second round win in Madrid. “I care about myself, so that’s ok.”

“Attention is less and it’s good for every player I think, when you get a little less attention. I always felt normal, but sometimes the people around you expect more results, better results and that’s why you get frustrated and you get nervous. Now I feel ok, I have no points to defend, so I am free.”

In Madrid, Halep played like a woman completely free of pressure and expectation, something we haven’t seen since the US Open Series last summer. Even after the seeds feel around her and she became the overwhelming favorite to win the title by the time the quarterfinals rolled around, Halep took it match-by-match and kept it simple. Her game flowed accordingly. She saved her best for her last two matches, reeling off 11 consecutive games to beat Sam Stosur in the semifinals and using her counterpunching prowess perfectly to thwart Cibulkova less than 24 hours later.

Last year Halep struggled to back up her tremendous 2014 clay and grass seasons, where she made the French Open final and Wimbledon semifinals. She took a surprising loss to Caroline Wozniacki in Stuttgart and lost early in Paris and London. This win in Madrid, her biggest title since Indian Wells last year, put her back on the radar in Europe. Now to see how she handles it.

WTA Insider: Champions’ Corner with Halep

Set: Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia get Lucky No.13.

The French pair continue their run on clay, moving their impressive win-streak to 13 matches by beating co-No.1s Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis in Madrid to win their third consecutive title. Perhaps even more impressive than the streak is their back-to-back wins over Mirza and Hingis in finals, a feat no team had yet to achieve. They also beat No.2s Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova to win their first title in Charleston. Those are quality wins and their undefeated streak on clay has surprised event them.

“We didn’t expect to play better on clay than on hard,” Garcia said. “On hard we were already happy with what we did, two finals and one very close to get one more win. But maybe our game is even better on clay. I don’t know. But our kick serve and forehand with spin is a little bit more efficient on this surface.

“Also we needed time to [adjust to each other]. We are knowing each other better and better every week, so maybe it’s going to be better and better every week. We hope so, but sometimes it’s just on one point where you go to cover the other one, and at the beginning you didn’t do it. It’s one more point with no ad and tiebreak like this, and one point can change everything.”

Match: Sam Stosur and Dominika Cibulkova finding their clay form.

Both women should be threats in Paris in two weeks’ time. Since the tour turned to European clay, Stosur has made the final in Prague and the semifinals in Madrid, her biggest result on clay since making the 2010 French Open final. It took a fantastic effort form Halep early in their semifinal to fend off Stosur’s ruthless forehand and flip the match on its head.

As for Cibulkova, she continues to be one of the best players of 2016. She’s made the final or better at two of the last three tournaments she’s played, winning the title in Katowice. She’ll be seeded in Paris after her run to the final, a fact that will be the source of great relief for every other seeded player (just as Madrid’s top seed Agnieszka Radwanska).

RANKING MOVERS:
Notable singles ranking movers for the week of May 9, 2016.

Louisa Chirico (USA), +54 (No.130 to 76): The biggest ranking jump of the week goes to the 19-year-old American Chirico. She breaks into the Top 100 for the first time with her run from the qualifying rounds of the Mutua Madrid Open all the way to the semifinal.

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK), +12 (No.38 to 26): Cibulkova’s rivals can breathe a sigh of relief now that she’s back inside the Top 30: the dangerous Slovak is now going to be seeded at top events moving forward.

Daria Gavrilova (AUS), +7 (No.39 to 32): Australian youngster Gavrilova reaches a career high ranking of No.32 this week after her quarterfinal showing in Madrid, her biggest result of the year since the Australian Open.

Timea Bacsinszky (SUI), +5 (No.15 to 10): Bacsinszky is back into the Top 10 – after winning the International-level event in Rabat and reaching the round of 16 in Madrid, the Swiss equals her best ranking.

Simona Halep (ROU), +2 (No.7 to 5): She only jumped up two spaces, but it’s a big leap for Halep to put her back up to No.5 in the world after a dip this season.

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

Internazionali BNL d’Italia
Rome, Italy
Premier | $2,599,610 | Clay, Outdoor
Monday, May 9 – Sunday, May 15, 2016

Internationaux de Strasbourg
Strasbourg, France
International | $226,750 | Clay, Outdoor
Sunday, May 15 – Saturday, May 21

NÜRNBERGER VERSICHERUNGSCUP
Nurnberg, Germany
International | $226,750 | Clay, Outdoor
Sunday, May 15 – Saturday, May 21

Roland Garros
Paris, France
Grand Slam | – | Clay Outdoor
Sunday, May 22 – Sunday, June 5

TOP 20 PLAYER SCHEDULES
1. Serena Williams- Rome, Roland Garros
2. Angelique Kerber – Rome, Nurnberg, Roland Garros
3. Agnieszka Radwanska – Roland Garros
4. Garbiñe Muguruza – Rome, Roland Garros
5. Simona Halep – Rome, Roland Garros
6. Victoria Azarenka – Rome, Roland Garros
7. Roberta Vinci – Rome, Nurnberg, Roland Garros
8. Belinda Bencic – Roland Garros
9. Petra Kvitova – Rome, Roland Garros
10. Timea Bacsinszky – Rome, Roland Garros
11. Carla Suárez Navarro – Rome, Roland Garros
12. Maria Sharapova
13. Flavia Pennetta
14. Venus Williams – Rome, Roland Garros
15. Lucie Safarova – Rome, Roland Garros
16. Ana Ivanovic – Rome, Roland Garros
17. Elina Svitolina – Rome, Roland Garros
18. Sara Errani – Rome, Roland Garros
19. Karolina Pliskova – Rome, Roland Garros
20. Svetlana Kuznetsova – Rome, Roland Garros

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

 Timea Babos (HUN) – May 10, 1993
Katerina Siniakova (CZE) – May 10, 1993
Christina McHale (USA) – May 11, 1992
Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) – May 12, 1982
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) – May 14, 1993