St. Petersburg: Siegemund vs. Mladenovic
Laura Siegemund takes on Kristina Mladenovic in the first round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Laura Siegemund takes on Kristina Mladenovic in the first round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Top-ranked doubles team and WTA co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza brought their 36-match winning streak to the St. Petersburg Ladies Tophy, adding to their total with a first round win over Jelena Ostapenko and Evgeniya Rodina, 7-5, 7-5.
“We didn’t know how to play them that well in the beginning,” Hingis said in their post-match press conference. “We lost an opportunity at 3-2, 40-0 to go up and close out the match, and they came back to play a couple of really good games – especially Ostapenko, who hit some really great shots.
“I think it was great experience for them to play a match like that, and also for us to get into the tournament. I’m definitely happy we didn’t have to play a deciding set. It’s always nice to close out in straight sets; it makes us that much stronger.”
Hingis and Mirza haven’t lost a match since last August at the Western & Southern Opent, their now-37-match winning streak having taken them to titles at the US Open, BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, and the Australian Open – with only the French Open standing between them and a possible “Santina Slam.”
“The streak that we’re on is amazing,” Mirza said. “To be honest, we knew we could play good, but not this good. We’re surprising ourselves as well, and we just want to keep going.
Asked about the media’s fascination with their streak, the longest since Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova won 44 straight matches in 1990, Mirza didn’t mince words.
“We’re counting, also.”
“Yes, we are,” Hingis added.
For Hingis, the partnership with Mirza marks her second to truly capture the imagination of the tennis world, the first being her late-90s domination with Russia’s own Anna Kournikova – still a popular topic in the St. Petersburg press room.
“She was a great player, a team player, and we had great times for those two years,” Hingis said, speaking about their two Australian Open victories in 1999 and 2002.
“She kind of was the one who started this Russian Armada – or Russian generation – along with Elena Likhovtseva. She was definitely the one who you could aim for and be like, go around the world and live the ‘Russian-American dream.’ I loved playing with her.
“We stay in touch, especially during the Miami event; we always try to see each other. I follow what she’s doing; she follows me.”
Mirza too fondly remembers the ‘Spice Girls’ of the women’s doubles circuit.
“At that time I think TV was not as evolved as it is today, combined with the computer, so it was not so easy to get to see matches all the time. But everybody knew Martina Hingis, everybody knew Anna Kournikova, and everybody knew that this partnership was winning a lot, and probably was one of the best doubles teams to play.
“She’s not that much older than me,” she added with a laugh. “Only five years; it’s just that she’s been around for such a long time!”
Another partnership Hingis looks forward to exploring involves fellow Swiss Roger Federer, who agreed to play mixed doubles with her at the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
“I waited 10 months, and maybe after winning a lot with Sania, and becoming No.1 again and winning three mixed titles, I was hoping that would be persuasion enough to partner up.”
‘SanTina’ next face an all-Russian pair for a spot in the quarterfinals and Win number 38: rising Russian star Daria Kasatkina and Elena Vesnina, Mirza’s former doubles partner.
“We played together for a long time; she’s a very good friend of mine, and we’ve known each other since we were 13 years old.
“I have a feeling that the crowd will be behind them because she’s quite popular here, but hopefully there will be some people supporting us.”
Asked if they foresaw their partnership transcending to other endeavors, Hingis said they planned to let their racquets do the talking.
“We’ll stick to tennis; that’s what we do best.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Highlights from first and second round action at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
Sisters and doubles partners Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan are Taiwan’s highest ranked team. They’re No.5 on the Road To Singapore.
Hsieh Su-Wei, Taiwan’s No.1 singles player – was also in attendance.
No.1 seed Venus Williams made her highly anticipated Taiwan Open debut on Wednesday.
The Taiwan Open welcome dinner featured live entertainment…
…as well as a Chinese calligraphy lesson from a local artist.
He showed players how to use a traditional Chinese calligraphy brush.
The players wrote messages to the people of Taiwan who were affected by an earthquake before the start of the tournament.
The messages – written in English and Chinese – expressed encouragement and solidarity.
The Chan sisters, Williams and Hsieh were invited to the stage to show off their creations.
21-year-old Elina Svitolina announced that seven-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin would join her coaching team on her website.
Justine rejoint la team Svitolina! Elle pourra transmettre son expérience et ses précieux conseils à la joueuse… https://t.co/Hm5S8xMApx
— Justine Henin (@Justine_Henin) February 11, 2016
Svitolina has enjoyed a rapid rise up the rankings in the last two seasons, earning four Top 10 wins – two over reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber – and making her Top 20 debut last spring, following a run to the quarterfinals of the French Open. Looking to make the next step in her career ascent, Svitolina has been after Henin’s expertise since the off-season.
Neither Svitolina nor Henin are the tallest to ever play the game – Svitolina stands at 5’9″ to Henin’s 5’5″ – but the Belgian unleashed a barrage of unbridled aggression combined with an unflappable competitive spirit to finish as the Year-End No.1 three times, win a hat-trick of French Open titles from 2005-2007 (four in total), along with an Olympic Gold Medal in 2004 – recovering from 1-5 in the final set of her semifinal against Anastasia Myskina to dispatch Amélie Mauresmo in the final.
Retiring in 2008, Henin returned to tennis two years later, reaching the Australian Open final in the first major appearance of her comeback, falling to World No.1 Serena Williams in three thrilling sets.
Svitolina already has strong competitive instincts, winning a majority of her three-set matches in 2015, but could certainly benefit from a dose of Henin’s aggressive tactics that may encourage her to step into the court and dictate play more often.
Whatever happens, Henin’s addition to the coaching community has certainly left the tennis world intrigued:
J Henin to start coaching Svitolina. Great news for WTA??. One of the legends!
— Magnus Norman (@normansweden) February 11, 2016
Interesting 1st coaching gig https://t.co/fejk4rnMDf
— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) February 11, 2016
Ana Ivanovic takes on Margarita Gasparyan in the second round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Doubles star Elena Vesnina has won three Grand Slams in doubles – most recently a maiden mixed doubles trophy at the Australian Open with Bruno Soares – but the former No.3 in doubles (No.21 in singles) hit an extra-special milestone over the off-season when she married fiance Pavel Tubanstov in Moscow.
Joined by bridesmaid and longtime doubles partner Ekaterina Makarova – with whom she won the 2013 French Open and 2014 US Open – and a plethora of Russia’s tennis elite, Vesnina enjoyed a fairytale wedding in the Russian capital.
Back in her home country to play the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, Vesnina reached the second round of the singles event as a wildcard, and will try to snap Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza’s 37-match winning streak in doubles alongside rising Russian star, Daria Kasatkina.
Until then, check out some of the best photos from Vesnina’s November nuptials below:
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.