Tennis News

LOS ANGELES, CA, USA – ESPN revealed today the nominees for The 2016 ESPYS presented by Capital One, and Serena Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza, Flavia Pennetta, Angelique Kerber and Roberta Vinci all received award nods across two categories.

The ESPYS recognize outstanding athletic achievements in the calendar year preceding the awards ceremony, and are awarded via an online fan vote.

Four WTA players are nominated for Best Female Tennis Player including World No.1 Serena Williams, who is chasing her eighth ESPY in the category (2003-2004, 2009-2011, 2013, 2015). Last year, Williams took home three of the four Grand Slam titles and was voted as 2015 WTA Player of the Year. Her 175 consecutive weeks at No.1 make up the second-longest streak in WTA history.

Williams faces a field of first-time nominees for the award, including reigning Roland Garros champion Garbiñe Muguruza, who avenged her 2015 Wimbledon final loss to Williams by upsetting her in the 2016 French Open final to win her career-first major and rise to World No.2.

Also vying for the Best Female Tennis Player award are Angelique Kerber, 2016 Australian Open champion and Flavia Pennetta, 2015 US Open champion.

In addition, Roberta Vinci’s upset of Williams at the US Open is up for Best Upset, a category that also includes Holly Holm knocking out Ronda Rousey and No.15 Middle Tennessee State defeating No.2 seed Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament.

The unseeded Vinci pulled off the upset of the year when she famously halted Williams’ quest for a Calendar-Year Grand Slam, shocking everyone – including herself. Afterwards she addressed the crowd, saying: “Today is my day. Sorry guys!”

Click here to vote for Best Upset!

Fans will determine the winners in most ESPYS categories by voting online up to the start of The 2016 ESPYS. View all the categories and nominees, and cast your vote now at www.espys.com – voting ends on Wednesday, July 13th 8 p.m. (ET)!

LONDON, England – On Thursday morning The All England Club announced the seeds for the most historic tournament on the tennis calendar, Wimbledon. Here is the full list:

Updated 6/23/16 to reflect the withdrawal of No.6 seed Victoria Azarenka (knee injury):

(1) Serena Williams (USA #1)
(2) Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #2)
(3) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #3)
(4) Angelique Kerber (GER #4)
(5) Simona Halep (ROU #5)
(6) Roberta Vinci (ITA #7) 
(7) Belinda Bencic (SUI #8)
(8) Venus Williams (USA #9) 
(9) Madison Keys (USA #10)
(10) Petra Kvitova (CZE #11) 
(11) Timea Bacsinszky (SUI #12)
(12) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP #13)
(13) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #14)
(14) Samantha Stosur (AUS #16)
(15) Karolina Pliskova (CZE #17)
(16) Johanna Konta (GBR #18) 

(17) Elina Svitolina (UKR #19)
(18) Sloane Stephens (USA #20)
(19) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK #21)
(20) Sara Errani (ITA #22)
(21)Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS #23)
(22) Jelena Jankovic (SRB #24)
(23) Ana Ivanovic (SRB #25)
(24) Barbora Strycova (CZE #26)
(25) Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU #27)
(26) Kiki Bertens (NED #28)
(27) CoCo Vandeweghe (USA #29)
(28) Lucie Safarova (CZE #30)
(29) Daria Kasatkina (RUS #31)
(30) Caroline Garcia (FRA #32)
(31) Kristina Mladenovic (FRA #33)
(32) Andrea Petkovic (GER #34)

There are some dangerous floaters among those to have missed the cut, including Caroline Wozniacki and former finalists Sabine Lisicki and Eugenie Bouchard.

Qualifying at Roehampton’s Bank of England Club finishes later this week, with main draw action starting on Monday June 27.

EASTBOURNE, Great Britain – Monica Puig continued her stellar grass court season with a thrilling victory over former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals of the Aegon International.

Watch live action from Eastbourne this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

The Puerto Rican star is in the midst of a career-best season, matching her best French Open result by reaching the third round and making her first-ever grass court semifinal at the Aegon Open in Nottingham.

“I have had up-and-down results with grass courts in the past,” Puig said in her post-match press conference. “You know, I had fourth round at Wimbledon, and early exits in all the tournaments. So it’s a surface where you have to really work at it in the first week and a half, you know.

“I tried to use Nottingham as a good preparation for Wimbledon and getting used to the body on how I’m supposed to get really low and just feel everything out.”

Wozniacki, by contrast, is attempting to kickstart her season after an ankle injury forced her to sit out the entirety of hte clay court season. With a solid win over No.7 Samantha Stosur in the second round, the Dane looked on course to build even more momentum ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, surviving a titanic sixth game and eventually running away with the first set in 50 minutes.

“She’s a great player and she makes you work for every single point, so it was really up to me to stay very focused in my game plan and what I wanted to accomplish out there in the court.”

One break separated the two in the second set, with Puig converting and racing out to a 2-0 lead in the decider after leveling the match at one set apiece.

“I think Monica played really well today,” Wozniacki said after the match. “I just have to take that and then just bring it with me to next week.

“There are a couple of things you can always improve on, but generally I’m feeling good, I’m feeling confident. And again, I’m not seeded so hopefully I can get a nice draw for myself.

“I feel like the draws haven’t been with me the last year, so I’m like hopefully eventually it’s going to turn, right? I’m hoping it’s going to start at Wimbledon.”

Wozniacki had one last surge in the final set, winning three games on the bounce, but Puig proved too strong in the end, serving out the win in two hours and 15 minutes.

“I was aggressive there at the end,” Puig noted. “You know, it’s never easy also to close out a match when you’re serving, especially when it’s 5-4. You know, anything can happen, and then all of a sudden you’re 5-5, fighting to get your lead back.

“I stayed with my game plan the whole way and the way that I was just extremely positive throughout the match.”

Up next for Puig is another youngster in Kristina Mladenovic, who edged past Anna-Lena Friedsam, 6-4, 7-6(4).

And the fun continues!!!! ? (Photo credit: @JJlovesTennis ) pic.twitter.com/IoULNdK4RF

— Monica Puig (@MonicaAce93) June 22, 2016

EASTBOURNE, England – Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska booked her place in the quarterfinals of the Aegon International Eastbourne after swatting aside Eugenie Bouchard on Wednesday.

Watch live action from Eastbourne this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

In an impressive display, Radwanska broke five times to complete a 6-3, 6-3 victory in little over an hour. Next up will be the familiar face of Dominika Cibulkova, whom she has already met twice this season. Cibulkova overcame a slow start to see off Kateryna Bondarenko, 7-6(3), 6-3.

Radwanska is appearing at Devonshire Park for the 10th straight year, and against Bouchard she looked at home from first point until last. It did not take her long to hit the front, taking advantage of a couple of loose strokes from the Canadian to break in the third game.

This cushion proved more than enough to hand her the opening set, then tightening her grip on proceedings by jumping out to a 3-1 lead in the second. Bouchard continued to battle away, but even when drawing level at 3-3 never looked likely to solve Radwanska’s riddle.

Radwanska reestablished her advantage with another moment of brilliance, this time in the form of a shoveled forehand lob, closing out the match moments later with a swinging serve down the T.

The numbers were just as pleasing on the eye as the shotmaking, Radwanska offsetting her 16 winners with only nine unforced errors. “I think it was a really great match from the beginning to the end. I was playing such good tennis the whole match and I’m very happy with my game and hoping I can play better and better,” Radwanska told Annabel Croft after the match.

“I was serving much better today. And I think the key to today’s match was the serve at the end which helped me close out the match in two sets.”

Going by recent evidence, the Pole will do well to win her next match inside the distance. Radwanska and Cibulkova met twice this spring, the spoils shared from high-quality encounters in Indian Wells and Madrid.

“We’ve played so many great matches. Playing against her is never easy – she’s a great fighter from the baseline,” Radwanska added. “I think now the tournament reaches another level, so every match is going to be difficult.”