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Vickery Victorious In Bogota

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

American Sachia Vickery was the first to reach the second round at the Claro Open Colsanitas, while No.4 seed Lara Arruabarrena weathered a rain delay to also advance.

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Team Bucie Go Big On Film

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

CHARLESTON, SC, USA – Top seeds at the Volvo Car Open, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova were in the midst of relaunching their Grand Slam-winning partnership after capturing the Miami Open title. Though they finished runner-up to Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, team “Bucie” nonetheless had a great week in Charleston, dropping just one set en route to the final.

The team also collaborated with Safarova’s coach, Rob Steckley, to produce another action-packed video that takes viewers on a frantic tour of Daniel Island, the site of the Family Circle Tennis Center.

Check out the full video above, and stay tuned for more high-octane content from the reigning French Open champions.

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Cibulkova Charges To Katowice Title

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

KATOWICE, Poland – Dominika Cibulkova captured her first WTA final since 2014 at the Katowice Open, taking out three-time finalist Camila Giorgi, 6-4, 6-0.

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

Giorgi had reached her third straight Katowice final, but her hopes of a first title in Poland took an immediate hit as Cibulkova raced out to a 4-0 lead. The 2014 Australian Open finalist served for the opening set at 5-2 when Giorgi’s signature firepower briefly lit up the stadium, nabbing one of the two breaks back and holding break points to level the contest at five games apiece.

Cibulkova was in her second final of 2016 – having narrowly missed out on the Abierto Mexicano Telcel title to Sloane Stephens – and managed to hold her nerve to serve out the set on the second time of asking, and promptly proceeded to win the final seven games of the match.

“Thank you for coming and supporting me all week,” Giorgi said in her runner-up speech. “It was really nice to be here this year again, and I hope to come back next year.”

The fiery Slovak was forced to miss five months of 2015 after having surgery on her Achilles – addressing a bone spur issue that had been bothering her for the better part of three years. A former World No.10, Cibulkova saw her ranking fall as low as No.62, but Sunday’s title returns her back into the Top 40 with a chance to be seeded for the upcoming French Open.

“I would like to thank the city of Katowice for making such a friendly event for us,” Cibulkova said in her victory speech, adding, “Especially for me, it was very nice to drive three hours for a title!

“I was really surprised playing for the first time in Poland, it feels like home. I really appreciate it, so thank you.”

Cibulkova finished her speech dedicating the win to her team, particularly her father, who was celebrating his birthday on Sunday.

“I think this is the best gift!

Equally ebullient in press, the Slovak discussed how she turned around an 0-2 head-to-head and a difficult swing in Indian Wells and Miami, where she lost tight matches to Agnieszka Radwanska and Garbiñe Muguruza.

“I would say today I was prepared very good for Camila. My tactic was to go for it, and I was doing it 100%. I was just playing really solid, going for the shots really strong and I was reading her game really well. When I had an easy shot, I always made it, and this was very important today. In the second set, I was going for it even more, and that’s why I won today. I wasn’t afraid.

“You have to go by small steps, and this is just a small step for me to get to where I want to be. I proved that through the last matches – how I finished them – that I’m a really good player and this is how I want to play.

“I would say this my top level of tennis and this is why I worked so hard to get here. I want to go further for sure and after some bad matches in Indian Wells and Miami, this gives me really positive energy.

“When you lose tight matches, it’s not the same as when you win them.”

In the doubles final, Japanese duo Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato survived a match tie-break against Russians Valentyna Ivakhnenko and Marina Melnikova, 3-6, 7-5, 10-8.

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Stephens Strikes Gold In Charleston

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

CHARLESTON, SC, USA – No.7 seed Sloane Stephens was a point from a one-set deficit against 2011 Volvo Car Open finalist Elena Vesnina, but the young American turned the tide in emphatic style, capturing her third title of the season, 7-6(4), 6-2.

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

Stephens had lost her only prior encounter with Vesnina back in 2013, but appeared to have weathered the storm after falling behind an early break to take a 5-2 lead in the opening set. Vesnina had to win two matches in qualifying just to reach the main draw, however, and was far from finished as she clawed back to win four games in a row and even hold set point behind a barrage of winners.

The 2013 Australian Open semifinalist nonetheless held her nerve and, saving her best tennis for the ensuing tie-break, reclaimed the initiative and never looked back, breaking serve twice more to clinch the victory on her fourth championship point.

“I just said to myself, ‘You have to fight for every point and compete.’ She’s a great player, so I knew I had to stay in every point,” she told ESPN’s Pam Shriver after the match.

“When I got a couple of opportunities, I took them, so that was great.”

Stephens has now won three titles in 2016, starting with the ASB Classic in Auckland and the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco. The 23-year-old will take her Charleston victory to Europe to start the red clay season in earnest at the Mutua Madrid Open.

“I love red clay, so starting in Madrid, I think I’ll have a lot of fun and just look forward to the French Open.”

Later on in press, Stephens credited a change in mindset with helping her reverse a string of disappointing results in Charleston, a tournament where she had only ever won one main draw match in five career appearances.

“Obviously coming into here I have a lot of anxiety coming into this tournament because I’ve never done well here. I just thought, you know, I’m just going to go have fun. I have nothing to lose. I’ve only won one match here ever, and just go out and play and have fun because I mean it’s just another week, and after this I’ll have a nice little break. I’m going to go to Europe.

“I don’t have anything to lose. My life is great. It’s tennis. And this is what I do every week. So I kind of just changed my mindset, and that worked. So I should just do that every week.”

For Vesnina, losing felt pretty close to winning after seven match wins from the qualifying draw; starting the season having to play Grand Slam qualifying for the first time since the 2005 US Open, the Russian veteran has enjoyed a career renaissance since Australia, nabbing wins over Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki in Doha, Venus Williams in Miami, and Sara Errani on Saturday.

“This final is like a win,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I know that there’s only one winner, and for us, for all the athletes there’s only one place, No.1, but here, today, I feel like I’m a winner because I played so many matches from qualies. I was just counting, I had like eight matches in singles and two in doubles, so ten matches in one week. That’s quite a lot.

“I’m just really happy about my run here, and let’s see how it’s going to be the rest of the year. But I’m really looking forward to that because I think it’s going to be good.”

In the doubles final, French Connection Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic won their first title of the season; the Frenchwomen announced their partnership at the end of 2015 in anticipation of the Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, and after two finals at the Apia International Syndey and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the two struck gold in Charleston, taking out top seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova, 6-2, 7-5.

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Stephens, Vesnina Into Charleston Final

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

CHARLESTON, SC, USA – Sloane Stephens is into her first WTA singles final on clay after the defending champion Angelique Kerber saw herself forced to retire, 6-1, 3-0, in the semifinals of the Volvo Car Open.

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

“It’s been a little tough out here but I’m happy to be through to the final,” Stephens said. “It’s sad that it had to be that way. It’s not the way I’d wanted it.

“I wish Angie a speedy recovery – she’s a really nice girl and a really great player.”

Stephens, who already has two titles in 2016 with wins at Auckland and Acapulco, took the first set after a dominating 24 minutes, outhitting a sluggish Kerber. The American scored 10 winners and hit just two unforced errors, while the out-of-sorts Kerber hit just seven winners to 10 unforced errors.

After consulting with the trainer and doctor, Kerber took the court again after a lengthy break trailing a set and 2-0. She was forced to retire from the match after one more game due to viral illness, sending Stephens into the Volvo Car Open final.

“When I was warming up this morning, I felt a little bit like something is wrong,” Kerber said afterwards. “I was thinking that when I’m going on court, the energy will come back and I will feel okay.But after the first few games in the first set I was feeling that, yeah, something is not good.”

Back into a WTA final, Stephens is putting a rough four-week stretch behind her. Despite the roaring start to her 2016 season that saw her claim two titles, she lost in straight sets at the last two tournaments she’s played before heading to the green clay at Charleston.

“Making a final is making a final, but I think there’s kind of a buildup to that,” Stephens said. “It wasn’t just because of today she wasn’t feeling well.I think the matches I played previously, like yesterday I was down a match point and things like that.

“Today I was just looking forward to getting out there, and the same I’ll do tomorrow, just looking forward to getting back on the court.”

Joining Stephens in the Volvo Car Open final is Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina, who’s into her first WTA singles final since 2013 after battling past Sara Errani 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Vesnina had a tough 2015 season, recording 13 first-round losses (across all levels), but 2016 has seen her come up from the qualifying rounds to score consistent main draw wins. Playing in her first semifinal of the year, former No.21 Vesnina found herself up against Errani, a clay court heavyweight – seven of the Italian’s nine titles have been won on clay, along with 12 of her 19 finals appearances.

“I had some great memories from being in that final five years ago, and I knew that I can do that again,” Vesnina said. “But of course, I knew that it was going to be very difficult coming from the qualifying.I was just thinking match by match, to improve my game on the clay.

“I’m pretty impressed with my game level, today as well because Sara is a clay court specialist. She had most of her wins on this surface and she really understands the strategy on this surface.”

Errani applied her tried-and-true clay court prowess early on, breaking Vesnina’s serve to go up a 3-1 lead. Vesnina got the break back to level up the score at 4-4, and her sudden changes of pace gave the Italian trouble, winning the first set with a drop shot that barely edged over the net.

A drawn out battle at 3-3 in the second set changed the momentum for Errani, giving her a lead to take back the second set. In the decider, Vesnina was more focused and sharper on the big points; she created and converted more break chances – three conversions for five chances – than Errani.

“It’s going to be a little bit different match tomorrow against Sloane because Sloane is playing in a different style than Sara,” Vesnina said. “It’s going to be difficult to show the same level in the final, and in general in the finals it’s really difficult to show your best tennis.

“You need to be solid.You need to be consistent.You need to come on the court and you have to know what you have to do there.

“So you have to be ready, and hopefully tomorrow it will be a great match between me and Sloane.”

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