Monterrey: Pavlyuchenkova Profile
Three-time Abierto Monterrey Afirme champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova discusses her unlikely journey from bashing balls on the banks of the Volga to the top of the women’s game.
Three-time Abierto Monterrey Afirme champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova discusses her unlikely journey from bashing balls on the banks of the Volga to the top of the women’s game.
Serena Williams
On how living with Venus led her to attempt a raw vegan diet…
My sister went through a lot of illnesses, and in living with her – I finally moved, but across the street! Got my freedom across the street – but she was really able to introduce me to a really kind of vegan and raw and really vegetable-heavy diet. It was just kind of a whole raw world that I really enjoyed. I was able to see a lot of benefits in my game and my body in general from that.
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On playing a tournament with a raw vegan diet…
I did it when I was at the French Open 2013. I wasn’t tired, it was good, really good. I don’t know why I don’t do that more often. Maybe this year, I need to get back on that!
On whether she’s kept up with veganism…
Unfortunately no. I really want to get there, I really do. For a minute I was, but I couldn’t quite give up the chicken and the tacos! It kind of crept back into my life. But there’s a lot of things, like I don’t eat red meat, and I don’t eat a lot of other stuff. I was educating myself through Venus on a lot of things to remain healthy. It’s very interesting.
Simona Halep
On a hypothetical match-up between Serena and Steffi Graf in their prime…
It would be interesting. They are very different in my opinion. Serena is very strong, a lot of power in her serve. Steffi has a good, flat forehand and a very good slice. I never saw this on the women’s tour. Serena has her game, a strong game with lots of power. I don’t want to say who would win, but it’d be very interesting and very nice to watch. I would go to watch if they played!
On whether practicing with Graf has inspired her to incorporate more slice…
I didn’t play much slices when I was younger, when I was a kid, and now to put it in the matches is tough. You have no confidence and it’s like you don’t remember that you have to play slice. It’s tough to put them in practical during the matches. I will try; I do more in the practices than before. I hope to improve this way of playing as well.
On meeting Ilie Nastase…
I met him. We didn’t speak on many thing about tennis, but I liked him a lot, how he was on court. I watched some videos on Youtube. I can say I admired him a lot, but it’s a bit too much for me to do some crazy things on court, but I can appreciate him a lot for what he did on court and he remains the best player in Romania.
Garbiñe Muguruza
On locker room dynamic and her earlier comments about friendships on tour…
I heard a lot of things about that comment, which I think were a little bit wrong. I didn’t mean it in a bad way. This is a sport, and at the end of the day, we’re playing the same girls the whole year, which is difficult sometimes. A lot of people misunderstood my saying that we kind of hate each other, and that’s not true because I also have friends on tour and I get along good with people. It’s just this competitive environment, and when you’re young sometimes it’s difficult because you’re playing against older people, but with time you kind of know where you have to be.
Angelique Kerber
On adjusting to becoming the hunted instead of the hunter…
It’s a new situation for me and I know every player who will play against me will give everything to beat me. But this is also the situation you’re dreaming for, you’re working your whole life to be like, for me, No.2 at the moment. This is something you’re working for.
Agniezka Radwanska
On changes she’s made over the course of her career…
I think of anything I can think of, it’s the schedule, not playing every week. When I was 18, I could do that and it was no problem: singles, doubles, every week, no problem. I was ok, but not any more! Time changes, but 10 years makes a huge difference on the tour. You really have to think a lot about the schedule to be on the same shape in February as in Asia at the end of the year. Sometimes even when you feel good, and you want to play more and more, it’s not going to be good later, in a couple of months. Then you’ll feel you did too much at the beginning of the year.
Belinda Bencic
On the secret to Swiss success…
Chocolate, maybe, in the water! I don’t know what it is; we’re doing well.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Johanna Konta and Francesca Schiavone put on a show for fans in downtown Monterrey, bringing their best trick shots to the Palacio Municipal.
Defending champion Simona Halep was among the first to meet the press at the BNP Paribas Open All-Access Hour, attended by the tournament’s top seeds.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova spoke to the media as she aims to pass the quarterfinals of Indian Wells for the first time in her career.
At her first BNP Paribas Open All-Access Hour, Garbiñe Muguruza answered the questions posed with her signature dry wit.
Muguruza brought her brightest smile to complement the scenic Indian Wells backdrop.
Teen sensation Belinda Bencic made her Indian Wells All-Access Hour debut, too, citing “chocolate in the water” as the secret to Swiss success.
Kvitova flashed her pearly whites for an Indian Wells photo op.
Reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber grabbed the mic for a video interview…
…but the German appeared far more comfortable with a tennis ball in hand.
The WTA stars handled some whacky props throughout the day, including cardboard cut-outs of their faces.
“I’ve heard of success giving you a big head, but this is ridiculous!”
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | Simona Halep called on a couple of all-time greats to help fine-tune the preparations for her defense of the BNP Paribas Open.
With the Abierto Monterrey Afirme in full swing, Caroline Wozniacki, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Monica Puig took a walk on the wild side at the player party.
– Day 1 winners: It was a picture perfect day at the BNP Paribas Open. The sun was out, the soccer field was hopping, and the first round of the tournament got underway.
Despite their respective rankings, the biggest upset of the day went to World No.36 Lesia Tsurenko, who beat an improving and in-form Timea Babos 7-5, 6-4. Tsurenko made the quarterfinals as a qualifier here last year, beating Andrea Petkovic, Alizé Cornet, and Eugenie Bouchard. But she had not won a match in 2016. There must be something in the desert air.
– More winners: Laura Siegemund (d. Begu), Yulia Putintseva (d. Peng), Kateryna Bondarenko (d. Van Uytvanck), Kurumi Nara (d. Pereira), Barbora Strycova (d. Sansnovich), Lucie Hradecka (d. Riske), Vania King (d. Townsend), Dominika Cibulkova (d. Siniakova), Heather Watson d. (Voskoboeva), Carina Witthoeft (d. Falconi), CoCo Vandeweghe (d. Bertens), Yaroslava Shvedova (d. Kr. Pliskova), Nicole Gibbs (d. Dulgheru), Johanna Larsson (d. Maria), Danka Kovinic (d. Crawford).
– Serena & Venus play on Friday: Venus Williams makes her much-anticipated return to the tournament on Friday during the day session, while Serena will headline the evening session.
– Angelique Kerber still riding the high: Kerber is still on cloud nine after her Australian Open triumph, but now it’s time to get back to work. The No.2 seed knows she’ll be playing with a big target on her back.
“It’s a new situation for me and I know every player who will play against me will give everything to beat me,” she said. “But this is also the situation you’re dreaming for, you’re working your whole life to be like, for me, No.2 at the moment. This is something you’re working for.”
Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber says she's still on cloud nine after the win. #BNPPO16 pic.twitter.com/N3HYtpeYf2
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 9, 2016
– Tricky conditions: The conditions at the BNP Paribas Open can be tricky. Not only does the ball fly in the dry desert air, but the gritty hard court plays relatively slowly. It can be a difficult combination for players to adjust to quickly.
“Here when you play in the morning sometimes it’s a little bit cold,” Carla Suárez Navarro explained. “When you play in the night it’s cold also. During the day it’s hot. It’s a little bit slower at night. During the day it flies a little bit. The court is not too fast. I really like that.”
“I feel like the surface is a little bit slow for me,” Petra Kvitova said. “I feel good. I’m healthy, that’s important.”
Welcome to All Access Hour at a Premier Mandatory, Belinda Bencic. A new experience. pic.twitter.com/d5bM4DBFRb
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 9, 2016
– Don’t have a cow, Belinda: This was Belinda Bencic’s first time going through All-Access Hour at a Premier Mandatory event and the attention and flurry of reporters was definitely a new experience.
“I think it’s a learning process,” she said, “For sure I had a couple of press conferences before [but] I never had this for many times, so it’s a little bit more attention off the court as well. But I enjoy it and it means you’re really Top 10, so I really do enjoy it.”
As for the perks of being a Top 10 player? “To be seeded all the time, you get practice courts, you get a better locker. You just have advantages in everything. You get better hotel rooms and gifts. It’s nice.”
So far her best gift has been “a huge fruit basket”. When reminded that Roger Federer was given a cow after winning a Slam, the 18-year-old was having none of it. “I don’t want a cow,” Bencic said with a laugh. “[I want] chocolate, like a huge basket!”
– Getting the band back together: Suárez Navarro and Garbiñe Muguruza, runners up at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global last year, have teamed up again for doubles in Indian Wells. “We play for the Olympics,” Suárez Navarro said. “It’s tough to play every week but this tournament we want to play together and play matches. The draw is really tough. We play Pliskova/Goerges. They made the semifinals in Melbourne. But just to play together again is a big step.”
– Carla psyches out the competition: The Spaniard, up to a career-high of No.6, has been working with a sports psychologist since last fall. She speaks to him every week and he’s on call for her whenever she needs to talk things through.
“I think that I needed it because if you want to be on top the things you have to improve or change are so little or so close,” she said. “You have to do that thing that is better for you. I start to work in October when I was in Asia, just because I was playing in August and I lost match by match and I didn’t find a solution. My coaches helped me a lot but these things are not easy. We think we need a professional person to help.”
– Top players react to Maria Sharapova’s announcement: A roundup of what the players are saying:
Serena Williams, who spoke ahead of the BNP Paribas Showdown on Tuesday (Serena will do her pre-tournament media obligations at 10:30am Thursday): “I think most people were happy she was upfront and very honest and showed a lot of courage to admit to what she had done and what she had neglected to look at in terms of the list at the end of the year,” Serena said.
“It’s just taking responsibility, which she admitted that she was willing to do and ready to do. Just hope for the best for everybody in that situation.”
Radwanska: “I was actually in the locker room here watching with all the other players what’s going on. We’re in shock, all of us. But well, nobody expected that for sure.”
Muguruza: “For sure it must be a very difficult situation for her. Well the good thing is that she acknowledged it and she’s facing it. That’s a good thing she’s doing and we’ll see how it goes.”
Kvitova: “I think this is an example we see that they are really trying to have a clean sport. I think the system is working. They are doing a good job in that.”
On Wednesday Sharapova posted a note to fans on Facebook, her first public comments since Monday’s press conference.
Petra Kvitova talks to the press at All Access Hour. Still coachless, here with a hitting partner. #BNPPO16 pic.twitter.com/au84F5bVUN
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 9, 2016
– Kvitova still coachless: Kvitova is in no rush to hire a coach after parting ways with David Kotyza in January. She’s here in Indian Wells with her hitting partner and enjoying the freedom to schedule and plan her own practices.
“I think it was a long time to be with David,” Kvitova said. “All the things we did was really working. I mean I have two Grand Slams and he did a great job. I think I still need to improve a lot of things. I think my aggressive game can still be more consistent. Trying to improve the serve and the first point in the rallies.”
– Put a ring on it: Kvitova will be taking the court with a new accessory: her engagement rink. Kvitova was playfully grilled by reporters about the details of how the proposal went down. It was quick, it happened at home, and yes, he bent down to one knee (“I don’t know if it was the left or right one”).
But she said the proposal wasn’t exactly a surprise. “I think I did expect it a bit for one or two days,” she said. “I just know him. I feel like he was more nervous than normal.”
– Let’s reminisce: I asked Kerber for the best experience she’s had since Melbourne, thinking she would highlight a high-profile celebrity event back home. Not Angie.
“I think for me, the best moment was when I got back home and I was sitting with my family and my friends, eating and thinking about my whole career, the last few years, more than 10 years right now, and that was for me the most special moment after I came back.”
An interview with Agnieszka Radwanska before the start of the BNP Paribas Open.
INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – The first round bottom half gets started at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday as Eugenie Bouchard takes the court looking to continue her positive momentum.
Thursday
First Round
Stadium 1
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN #42) vs. [Q] Risa Ozaki (JPN #125)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Much ink was spilled in 2015 about Eugenie Bouchard’s second-season woes. Ranked as high as No.5, the Canadian ended the year outside of the Top 40 as she struggled to close out matches and string together victories.
But Bouchard seems to have put the past firmly behind her as she rides the momentum of a red-hot resurgence into Indian Wells – she’s made two finals and has won 13 out of 18 matches this year.
“I got here early for the tournament and I was working really hard in practice just trying to improve different areas of my game,” Bouchard said in Kuala Lumpur, where she reached the BMW Malaysian Open final. “I feel like I’ve improved already since last week and for me that’s just my goal right now – to improve every single week.”
Bouchard’s first test comes in the form of Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki. Though the pair have never played before, Ozaki made her presence known in Kuala Lumpur when she pushed eventual champion Elina Svitolina to three sets in the round of 16.
The winner is set to face No.21 seed Sloane Stephens, whose two titles in 2016 are a WTA-leading figure.
Caroline Garcia (FRA #41) vs. Christina McHale (USA #62)
Head-to-head: McHale leads, 2-1
The first women’s match on Stadium 1 sees Caroline Garcia and Christina McHale battle it out for a chance to face the No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza in the next round.
Both players are coming off of strong showings in Latin America – Garcia made the semifinal in Monterrey and McHale the semifinal in Acapulco. McHale already has one title under her belt though, an ITF 50K she picked up in Maui, while in her last match in Monterrey Garcia struggled against eventual champion Heather Watson as a result of a lower back injury.
Despite the head to head skewing in McHale’s favor, all three of their previous encounters have been unbelievably close; both of McHale’s wins came after three sets, and in Garcia’s straight sets victory, both sets went to a tiebreak.
Around the grounds…
It’s youth up against experience as Monica Puig faces WTA veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and 18-year-old Daria Kasatkina takes on Daniela Hantuchova. Laura Robson seeks to put her injury woes behind her as she opens against Magdalena Rybarikova.
An interview with Simona Halep before the start of the BNP Paribas Open.