St. Petersburg: Vinci vs. Wickmayer
Roberta Vinci takes on Yanina Wickmayer in the second round at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Roberta Vinci takes on Yanina Wickmayer in the second round at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan – Venus Williams continued her serene progress at the Taiwan Open with a straight set win over Urszula Radwanska on Thursday.
Watch live action from St. Petersburg & Kaohsiung this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
On a blustery afternoon, Williams struggled early on, slipping a break behind. However, once into her rhythm it was one-way traffic, the top seed completing a 6-4, 6-2 victory in an hour and 27 minutes.
“My opponent started so strong – she went 4-1, but I was hoping to still win that set. After that things went almost perfectly for me, so I’m really happy with that and to be playing again tomorrow,” Williams said.
“The wind is also the opponent, too! So you’re then playing yourself, and the ball, and the opponent, and the wind. So it changes everything – it’s not easy. Hopefully tomorrow will be a lot easier.”
Meeting Williams for a place in the semifinals will be Anastasija Sevastova. “Honestly, I’ve never seen her play, so it’ll be a new experience and I’ll just try to play my best,” Williams added.
Also advancing in the top half of the draw was Stefanie Voegele, who dealt with the tricky conditions to upset No.5 seed Zheng Saisai, 6-4, 6-4.
“I’m happy that I won but it probably wasn’t the nicest match we’ve both played,” Voegele said. “It was difficult with the strong winds but I tried to do my best.”
There was better news for the other seeds in action, with Misaki Doi and Hsieh Su-Wei taking their place in the last eight. No.2 seed Doi was untroubled during a 6-2, 6-3 win over Magda Linette, while Hsieh, the No.6 seed, delighted the home crowd by battling past Mandy Minella, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
Ana Ivanovic had Wednesday’s shot of the day at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Already one of the most-followed WTA players on Twitter, Caroline Wozniacki reached a big milestone on Wednesday when she became one of the few tennis players to cross the one million followers mark.
There are only five active WTA players to reach 1 million Twitter followers:
1. Serena Williams – 6.07 million
2. Sania Mirza – 3.4 million
3. Maria Sharapova – 1.98 million
4. Venus Williams – 1.37 million
5. Caroline Wozniacki – 1 million
Wow!! 1 million followers!! Thank you for all the support! ❤️❤️❤️?? pic.twitter.com/y7jxbW2scX
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) February 10, 2016
On Twitter, Wozniacki does a great job of showing fans a glimpse into her life behind the scenes through photos, videos and of course, selfies. Check it out!
Playin' tennis, takin' names, breakin' rules. #heretocreate @adidas pic.twitter.com/NcY65eBgXK
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) January 31, 2016
Caption this..?? @DjokerNole @milosraonic @AustralianOpen #kidsday #behindthescenes pic.twitter.com/eHqIHd2xuN
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) January 16, 2016
It's cooold out! #mood pic.twitter.com/f8cGnpaQDQ
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) January 25, 2016
An interview with Laura Siegemund after her win in the first round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
– Maria Sharapova pulls out of the Qatar Total Open: The two-time champion has withdrawn citing the ongoing left forearm injury that has plagued her since the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open. The withdrawal is not much of a surprise if you’ve been paying attention. Sharapova told me in December that she had an eye on February as being a good time for a break.
“I’m going to go and take care of my forearm first,” Sharapova told reporters after losing in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. “I think that’s really important. I’m going to go to Moscow [for Fed Cup], be part of the team. I don’t think I’ll be playing. Then I’m not sure.
“But I think this will be a time to just get myself ready for a long year. I don’t see myself playing anything before Indian Wells.”
– Other entry/withdrawal news: Agnieszka Radwanska has withdrawn from the Dubai Duty Free Championships citing the left leg injury she carried through the Australian Open. Lucie Safarova is also out of Dubai due to ongoing illness, though it looks like she’s already in Doha training for her return there. Safarova is the defending champion.
The team is back together! #training #start #in #doha @robsteckley ????? pic.twitter.com/4JgMBGusXt
— lucie safarova (@luciesafarova) February 9, 2016
In their stead, No.3 Simona Halep and No.9 Petra Kvitova have taken wildcards into Dubai.
– Justine Henin jumps into the coaching pool: Ukrainian press are reporting that Henin will join Elina Svitolina’s team as a coaching consultant at the Slams.
– Tale of two juniors: Belinda Bencic and Daria Kasatkina are both 18-years-old and competed alongside each other on the junior ranks. Bencic made her jump to the senior tour first and is the top seed at this week’s St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy. Kasatkina is just starting her first full season on the tour. Both have been incredibly complimentary of each other’s games. Good to see their friendship endures:
Friends???✌?️?? pic.twitter.com/lekYgZY5o7
— FormulaTX (@Formula_TX) February 10, 2016
– Injury sidelines Victoria Duval: Already in the early stages of her comeback from Hodgkins lymphoma, Duval underwent knee surgery this week for a torn meniscus.
⚠️ Earlier today, I underwent an arthroscopy on my knee to remove a tear in my meniscus. The onset of pain began several months ago
— Vicky Duval (@vicky_duval95) February 8, 2016
– The hottest Olympic qualifying races: Last week I put together an explainer on the qualifying rules for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. One notable rule: No country can send more than four singles players and two doubles teams. If a country has more than four players who meet all the eligibility criteria, the top four ranked get the nod.
This rule has little impact on countries that lack depth in the Top 100. Those players will be aiming for a Top 56 ranking on June 8th. But for four major nations — the United States, Germany, Russia, and Czech Republic — it creates a race within the race to qualify. Being Top 56 may not be enough. You also need to be one of the top four women from your country.
Here’s where things stand right now:
United States
1. Serena Williams (No. 1)
2. Venus Williams (No. 12)
3. Madison Keys (No. 24)
4. Sloane Stephens (No. 25)
—
5. CoCo Vandeweghe (No. 46)
6. Varvara Lepchenko (No. 49)
7. Madison Brengle (No. 57)
8. Christina McHale (No. 62)
9. Irina Falconi (No. 75)
10. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (No. 77)
Germany
1. Angelique Kerber (No. 2)
2. Andrea Petkovic (No. 23)
3. Sabine Lisicki (No. 32)
4. Annika Beck (No. 39)
—
5. Mona Barthel (No. 45)
6. Anna-Lena Friedsam (No. 52)
7. Julia Goerges (No. 53)
Russia
1. Maria Sharapova (No. 6)
2. Svetlana Kuznetsova (No. 17)
3. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (No. 26)
4. Ekaterina Makarova (No. 31)
—
5. Margarita Gasparyan (No. 43)
6. Daria Kasatkina (No. 63)
7. Elizaveta Kulichkova (No. 95)
Czech Republic
1. Petra Kvitova (No. 9)
2. Lucie Safarova (No. 10)
3. Karolina Pliskova (No. 13)
4. Barbora Strycova (No. 41)
—
5. Denisa Allertova (No. 59)
6. Lucie Hradecka (No. 71)
– April’s Fed Cup ties are set: The Fed Cup semifinals will feature the Czech Republics vs. Switzerland in Switzerland, while the French will host the Netherlands.
The World Group Playoffs are more complicated. The United States will have to fly to Australia just as the European clay season is set to begin. In another blockbuster tie, Germany will go to Romania, Belarus will go to Russia and Italy will go to Spain. As a reminder, the losing teams will be relegated to World Group II in 2017.
Hot reads: A selection of great reads from around the web.
– In Jon Wertheim’s SI.com mailbag: Acclaimed director Peter Berg is involved in a Serena Williams documentary, plus more interesting tidbits.
– Is tennis’ unique scoring format fundamentally flawed? Gabe Allen at The Cauldron wants the six-game set replaced by a 24 point set.
– Steve Tignor on the evolution of Madison Keys.
– Another great Tignor read, this time on “Renaissance Woman,” Martina Hingis.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
An interview with Ana Ivanovic after her second round win at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan – All week long, Venus Williams has talked about the bright future of tennis in Taiwan, and on Wednesday she got the chance to be a part of it.
The former No.1 took some time away from her Taiwan Open preparations to join a lucky group of young Taiwanese tennis at the Taiwan Open children’s clinic. They hit some tennis balls, joined an autograph session, and even got to present the Williams with a player portrait.
Watch the video above and see all of the best pictures below, courtesy of the Taiwan Open:
Highlights from the first round action at the Taiwan Open.
Saint Petersburg is a city known for its arts and culture, so it’s no surprise that doubles co-No.1s Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis made a stop to take it all in at the State Russian Museum.