Simona Halep Ready To Play In Sydney
The injury that caused Simona Halep to miss Brisbane is feeling better now – how does she feel about Sydney? Who’s her first opponent? Want to see her build a tower?
The injury that caused Simona Halep to miss Brisbane is feeling better now – how does she feel about Sydney? Who’s her first opponent? Want to see her build a tower?
An interview with Victoria Azarenka after her semifinal win at the Brisbane International.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Sloane Stephens did double duty at the ASB Classic on Saturday, completing a semifinal victory over Caroline Wozniacki and then defeating Julia Goerges for the title.
Stephens was leading Wozniacki 5-2 in the first set when rain stopped play on Friday, and when they resumed play on Saturday morning the American held on, edging the No.3-seeded Dane, 6-2, 7-6(3).
And she continued her winning ways later in the day in the final – Stephens, the No.5 seed, reeled off nine of 11 games from 4-5 in the opening set to run away with it against Goerges, 7-5, 6-2.
She held all 10 of her service games in the match, fighting off the only two break points she faced.
“You can never prepare for playing a set and then rain, then finishing the match the next morning and coming back again in the afternoon. You just have to keep going and do your best,” Stephens said.
“Julia had been playing some really great tennis all week, but I knew if I just kept playing solid I could do it. I was pleased the way I was able to pull myself together and come back and play well.
“Just kind of going with the flow – that was pretty much it. Pretty basic.”
Stephens, who has played some of the best tennis of her career during the Australian season in the past – she was a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2013, after all, famously upsetting Serena Williams along the way – now has two WTA titles, her first coming in Washington DC last summer.
“We have a really long season – I have to play all the way until October – so to win a tournament in the first week of the year is amazing,” Stephens said. “But I’m going to have many more opportunities throughout the year, and I’m looking forward to all of them. It’s easier to look at it that way.”
The American was asked if she was surprised how well she did for the first week of the season.
“I wouldn’t say surprised – I wouldn’t use that word. But the first week of the year you don’t really know what to expect. I felt good coming into the tournament. I was excited – I think that really helped.”
The doubles final took place later in the day, with Belgian duo Elise Mertens and An-Sophie Mestach taking out the Montenegrin-Czech pairing of Danka Kovinic and Barbora Strycova, 2-6, 6-3, 10-5.
2nd #WTA career title for @SloaneStephens! ? https://t.co/ZkqpJIvrTk
— WTA (@WTA) January 9, 2016
Highlights from the quarterfinal round action at the Brisbane International.
SHENZHEN, China – A day after securing a return to World No.4 – just in time for a Top 4 seed at the Australian Open – Agnieszka Radwanska won the 18th WTA title of her career at the Shenzhen Open.
By reaching the final at the International-level event, Radwanska secured herself of passing Maria Sharapova for No.4 on the WTA Rankings, which guarantees her a coveted Top 4 seed in Melbourne.
And as if that weren’t enough, the No.1-seeded Pole played near-flawless tennis to win the title on Saturday afternoon, cruising past Alison Riske in the final in an hour and 16 minutes, 6-3, 6-2.
“I think Alison was really playing solid tennis today,” Radwanska said. “She has a very powerful game from the baseline – I was really struggling from the baseline. I was really in a lot of trouble there.
“But my serve really helped me today. Also in the deciding points I was a little bit better, and I think that’s why the score was the way it was – it made it look easier than the actual match was.”
Radwanska has now won 22 of 26 matches since the US Open, picking up her 15th through 18th WTA titles at Tokyo [Pan Pacific], Tianjin, the WTA Finals and Shenzhen. She’s now 18-7 in WTA finals.
The former World No.2 is hoping to come back to Shenzhen – and not just to defend the title.
“It was my first time here, but I actually didn’t have much time to see the city. I came here pretty late. Each night I was enjoying different dinners, but didn’t have much time to enjoy the city.
“So I think because of that, I really have to come back here to Shenzhen!”
Radwanska will now head to Sydney for one last round of matches before the Australian Open.
“It’s the beginning of the year, so we’re all fresh compared to the end of the year. I’m feeling good,” Radwanska commented. “Also I have a bye there, so I’ll have a couple of days off right now.”
The doubles final took place afterwards and saw Vania King and Monica Niculescu upset No.1-seeded all-Chinese pair Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai in straight sets in an hour and 11 minutes, 6-1, 6-4.
This was King and Niculescu’s first WTA doubles title together, but they now have 20 WTA doubles titles between them – King now has 15, including two Grand Slams, while Niculescu now has five.
???✈️?????? https://t.co/6wL5Sqi4yD
— Aga Radwanska (@ARadwanska) January 9, 2016
The many, many volunteers who keep the Shenzhen Open running smoothly got a treat at the $500,000 event this week – an exclusive autograph session with semifinalist Anna-Lena Friedsam.
BRISBANE, Australia – Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won their 10th WTA doubles title together in Brisbane and have now won 26 matches in a row – the longest doubles winning streak in 22 years.
Saturday’s final was a tight affair early on, as Hingis and Mirza’s opponents in the final, Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic, rebounded from a 2-0 deficit with four games of their own to build a 4-2 lead. But the No.1-seeded Swiss-Indian combo flipped the script completely from there, rattling off 11 of the last 13 games of the match to get by the German wildcard pairing in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1.
“They’re obviously very good players, so we knew we had to come out and play our best,” Mirza said. “We let the lead go a little bit after 2-0, and we were both trying to find our form again on the court. It was big we broke on the deuce point at 6-5, and after that the tide really changed in our favor.”
Though she came out on the losing end, Kerber still made history – she’s the first player in the tournament’s history to reach both the singles and doubles finals. She was runner-up in singles too.
“It wasn’t my night tonight. I lost two finals,” she said at the trophy ceremony. “But it was still a great week, and congratulations to Sania and Martina – you are the best, good luck in Melbourne!”
And so, Hingis and Mirza’s winning streak lives on – at 26 matches in a row it’s the longest doubles winning streak since Gigi Fernández and Natasha Zvereva won 28 matches in a row together in 1994.
Hingis and Mirza also hit double digit WTA doubles titles together – Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, Wimbledon, US Open, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and WTA Finals in 2015, and now Brisbane.
Even more impressive? Hingis and Mirza are actually 10-1 in WTA doubles finals together.
They’re playing again this week coming up, at the Apia International Sydney – again as top seeds.
“Every match at the beginning of the season is a good match, just trying to get that confidence going,” Hingis said. “It’s great we already have this Brisbane title in our pockets, and we’re really looking forward to Sydney. We’ll get a couple days off before we play and then we will start again.
“I always have such great support in Australia so I really look forward to the next tournaments.”
#Hingis/#Mirza with their hardware! Their 10th tournament title together ?????????? #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/eRsqqDOod8
— Brisbane Intl (@BrisbaneTennis) January 9, 2016
The Shenzhen Open takes a look back at Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova and Eugenie Bouchard’s first matches of the 2016 season – watch highlights and interviews from the WTA stars here.
Daria Gavrilova’s Australia Green brought home the Hopman Cup title, sweeping Ukraine and ending the country’s 17-year wait for the trophy.
The newly-minted Australian – who last year was voted WTA Newcomer Of The Year – won the hearts of the exuberant home crowd with her gutsy performance against Elina Svitolina in the final. After winning the first set 6-4, Gavrilova found herself trailing behind 6-1 in the second-set tiebreak.
She went on to win seven straight points to secure the victory.
“I just literally told myself to settle down, just stop thinking of everything,” Gavrilova said after the win. “Just think about how to win every point.
“I just played free.”
Gavrilova’s Australia Green partner Nick Kyrgios went on to secure the title in the mixed-team event, beating Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 6-4 in the men’s singles rubber.
Though the Hopman Cup is Gavrilova’s first trophy for Australia, she’s earned herself another accolade, a rite of passage for every Australian athlete: an Aussie nickname. The crowd calls her “Dash” – a play on “Dasha,” the Russian nickname for “Daria,” and also a nod to the 21-year-old’s aggressive and unrelenting style of play.
“It means so much,” Gavrilova said of playing in the Hopman Cup.
“It’s just amazing that I got to represent Australia here.”
Thank you everyone for supporting us once again! Big thanks to @TennisAustralia ? @NickKyrgios you were amazing, thank you!
— Daria Gavrilova (@Daria_gav) January 9, 2016
Samantha Crawford has Thursday’s shot of the day at the Brisbane International.