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Indian Wells Thursday: Bouchard Begins

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – The first round bottom half gets started at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday as Eugenie Bouchard takes the court looking to continue her positive momentum.

Thursday
First Round

Stadium 1

Eugenie Bouchard (CAN #42) vs. [Q] Risa Ozaki (JPN #125)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Much ink was spilled in 2015 about Eugenie Bouchard’s second-season woes. Ranked as high as No.5, the Canadian ended the year outside of the Top 40 as she struggled to close out matches and string together victories.

But Bouchard seems to have put the past firmly behind her as she rides the momentum of a red-hot resurgence into Indian Wells – she’s made two finals and has won 13 out of 18 matches this year.

“I got here early for the tournament and I was working really hard in practice just trying to improve different areas of my game,” Bouchard said in Kuala Lumpur, where she reached the BMW Malaysian Open final. “I feel like I’ve improved already since last week and for me that’s just my goal right now – to improve every single week.”

Bouchard’s first test comes in the form of Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki. Though the pair have never played before, Ozaki made her presence known in Kuala Lumpur when she pushed eventual champion Elina Svitolina to three sets in the round of 16.

The winner is set to face No.21 seed Sloane Stephens, whose two titles in 2016 are a WTA-leading figure.

Caroline Garcia (FRA #41) vs. Christina McHale (USA #62)
Head-to-head: McHale leads, 2-1

The first women’s match on Stadium 1 sees Caroline Garcia and Christina McHale battle it out for a chance to face the No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza in the next round.

Both players are coming off of strong showings in Latin America – Garcia made the semifinal in Monterrey and McHale the semifinal in Acapulco. McHale already has one title under her belt though, an ITF 50K she picked up in Maui, while in her last match in Monterrey Garcia struggled against eventual champion Heather Watson as a result of a lower back injury.

Despite the head to head skewing in McHale’s favor, all three of their previous encounters have been unbelievably close; both of McHale’s wins came after three sets, and in Garcia’s straight sets victory, both sets went to a tiebreak.

 Around the grounds…
It’s youth up against experience as Monica Puig faces WTA veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and 18-year-old Daria Kasatkina takes on Daniela Hantuchova. Laura Robson seeks to put her injury woes behind her as she opens against Magdalena Rybarikova.

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Cibulkova Sets Up Radwanska Clash

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – The first day of WTA main draw action kicked off on Wednesday, and Dominika Cibulkova was among the day’s winners – she will take on No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska’s first opponent in the second round.

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

“We’ve played so many times against each other,” Cibulkova said in her post-match interview. “[Radwanska] is a great opponent so I hope it’s gonna be a good match.”

The Slovak found her groove early on to cruise against Czech youngster Katerina Siniakova, 6-2, 6-0. She broke serve right away and only lost just one point in the first three games. Though Siniakova had the advantage of being familiar with the surface and the Indian Wells atmosphere – she had fought through two rounds of qualifying – Cibulkova didn’t allow her any way into the match.

Cibulkova needed exactly one hour to put away the 19-year-old and book the second round clash against Radwanska, who received a first round bye.

Also through to the second round is Heather Watson, whose match fitness was tested to the limit by Galina Voskoboeva. Fresh from winning the title at the Abierto Monterrey Afirme on Sunday, Watson had to weather a second-set surge from the Kazakhstani to advance 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-1.

While Voskoboeva faltered, a pair of other Kazakhstani women kept the blue and gold flag flying high at Indian Wells as Yaroslava Shvedova survived an all-out assault from qualifier Kristyna Pliskova and Yulia Putintseva picked off Shuai Peng 6-0, 6-1.

It was a tough day at the office for the Americans, though – Lucie Hradecka sent off Alison Riske 7-6(4), 6-2, Vania King ousted her countrywoman Taylor Townsend 6-2, 6-3 and Carina Witthoeft dismissed Irina Falconi 6-4, 6-4. But CoCo Vandeweghe, who feels right at home here in California, kept American hopes alive as she fought off Kiki Bertens 6-4, 6-4.

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Insider Doubles Take: Santina-versary

Insider Doubles Take: Santina-versary

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Full Circle For Santina: Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza paired up for the very first time at last year’s BNP Paribas Open, winning the event and prompting a 15-match winning streak through Miami and Charleston. The summer following their first Grand Slam victory at Wimbledon proved even more fruitful, taking Santina on a 41-match win streak that included nine titles and two more majors at the US Open and Australian Open.

That incredible run came to an end in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open, three matches shy of tying the longest winning streak since 1990 – when Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova won 44 matches in a row – forcing Hingis and Mirza to celebrate their one year anniversary on a decidedly unexpected one-match losing streak.

Martina Hingis, Sania Mirza

Turning that around won’t be an easy ask for the best team in the world; in a jam-packed draw, Santina are set to play a first round against Casey Dellacqua – the current World No.4 who reached the US Open final with Yaroslava Shvedova – and former No.1 Samantha Stosur. Also in their section are Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina, the very team who beat them in Doha.

But bear in mind: Hingis and Mirza haven’t done a whole lot of losing in the last 12 months; should they pass these early hurdles, they could easily catch fire once more and capture their fifth title of 2016.

Olympic Fever: Dellacqua/Stosur and Vesnina/Kasatkina aren’t the only mono-country pairings to form this season, as half of the Indian Wells doubles field is comprised of women playing with their compatriots.

Four of them – No.4 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, No.7 seeds Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro, No.8 seeds Raquel Atawo (née Kops-Jones) and Abigail Spears, and No.2 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan – qualified for BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global just a few months ago.

Lucie Hradecka, Andrea Hlavackova

The Czechs have the most experience under their belts, including two Grand Slams and an Olympic silver medal, while the Spaniards finished runner-up to Hingis and Mirza in Singapore, and the Americans played some of their best tennis in 2015. The Chan sisters were the story of the second half of the season, and reversed a slow start with back-to-back titles in Taiwan and Doha.

No.6 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic were both in Singapore with other partners – Katarina Srebotnik and Timea Babos, respectively – but teamed up to start the season with the Olympics in mind. The two have already reached two finals in Sydney and Doha – beating the Chans and pushing Santina to a match tie-break in the former.

Kristina Mladenovic, Caroline Garcia

A trio of potential Olympic pairs remain unseeded and looming in the California desert. Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja came together on a more permanent basis last summer, and have been bastions of consistency throughout 2016. Making the semifinals or better at seven of their last eight events, the Spaniards – who open against Mladenovic and Garcia – swept the Central American swing with titles in Acapulco and Monterrey.

By contrast, wildcards Andrea Petkovic and reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber are playing just their second tournament together and will have to hit the ground running against the Chans, but they may yet build on their reputation as the “best worst team ever,” one that took them into the finals of the Brisbane International.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands has been in search of a consistent partner since injuries and illness felled partner and co-Australian and French Open champion, Lucie Safarova. The Czech is back in action at Indian Wells, but instead playing with Ekaterina Makarova – Vesnina’s former partner. Mattek-Sands began the year alongside Sabine Lisicki and Yaroslava Shvedova, but is revisiting a successful Fed Cup partnership with CoCo Vandeweghe; the Americans won their doubles rubber against Poland’s Paula Kania and Klaudia Jans-Ignacik in straight sets.

Chan Hao-Ching, Chan Yung-Jan

Equal and Opposite: With 2015 partners Dellacqua and Mladenovic chasing after Olympic glory, Shevedova and Babos have decided to team up for the time being. Babos had enjoyed success with Julia Goerges in the Middle East, but after opting out of her original arrangement with Katarina Srebotnik, the Hungarian youngster admitted it was tough to find a consistent partner at this point in the season.

“I still have big goals in doubles, and we had a goal with Kata,” she told WTA Insider in Monterrey, “But after two tournaments, we realized it wouldn’t be so easy to make it, and our games weren’t matching so well. After Australia, I tried to find someone who I could play with every week, but it’s not easy to find someone who is still free and can be a good partner when the season’s already started.”

Comeback Kids: Peng Shuai began her wade back into the competitive pool in Australia, playing doubles in her first tournaments since a back enjury ended her 2015 season at the French Open. Making her highly-anticipated singles return at the BNP Paribas Open, Peng is also reforming her most successful partnership by reuniting with Hsieh Su-Wei.

The former No.1s burst onto the scene nearly three years ago with wins at Wimbledon, the French Open, and the WTA Finals. Unseeded in the Mladenovic/Garcia section, Peng and Hsieh drew Sara Errani and Oksana Kalashnikova – Hsieh’s most recent partner. Errani is coming off of a solid Middle East Swing, reaching the finals of Doha with Suárez Navarro.

Hsieh Su-Wei, Peng Shuai

Elsewhere in the draw is Galina Voskoboeva, who made her WTA return at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in doubles with Anastasia Rodionova. Winning one match before losing in a valiant effort to Hobart International champions Christina McHale and Han Xinyun, Voskoboeva had been off the tour for almost two years and has solid history with the Aussie, reaching the semifinals of the Rogers Cup back in 2012. Their tournament begins with a first round encounter with Kasatkina and Vesnina.

Finally, Vania King is back at Indian Wells for the first time since 2014 – when she played, oddly enough, with Voskoboeva. Using her protected ranking, King is coming off of a run to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open with Alla Kudryavtseva, where they earned consecutive upsets over Shvedova and Stosur and Vesnina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. In the Santina section of the draw, King and Kudryavtseva will play their first round against Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Barbora Strycova.

All photos courtesy of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy and Getty Images.

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Far From Elementary For Watson

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Heather Watson weathered an early storm to defeat Galina Voskoboeva in Wednesday’s first round at the BNP Paribas Open.

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

Fresh from winning the third title of her career last weekend, Watson struggled to find her best tennis before eventually prevailing, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-1.

“It was very tough today. Galina’s coming back from injury and I thought she played very well today and really made me work for it but when it was important I was able to bring out my best tennis and I was very happy with it today,” Watson told Andrew Krasny in her on-court interview.

“I was very happy with my win in Monterrey,” she added. “I think today I was a little slow getting used to the court – it was very different, but I got through and I’m into the next round.”

Watson will face No.32 seed Monica Niculescu in the second round.

More to follow…

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Serena & Caro’s New York Showdown

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Before the tour hits the desert in Indian Wells, good friends Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki headed to Madison Square Garden for the BNP Paribas Showdown. Who came out on top?

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SAP Behind The Numbers: IW & Miami

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Who were the last women to complete the Sunshine Double? And who has the most match wins? Find out as SAP takes you Behind The Numbers at Indian Wells and Miami.

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Indian Wells Wednesday: Watson's Chance

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – The BNP Paribas Open gets underway on Wednesday, with an in-form Heather Watson and a couple of Americans on the comeback trail in action.

Wednesday, First Round

Stadium 1
[WC] Heather Watson (GBR #53) vs. Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ #NR)
Head-to-head:
Watson leads 1-0
Unsurprisingly, Johanna Konta has dominated British tennis in the opening months of 2016. Last week, though, Heather Watson moved out of the shadows to lift the third WTA title of her career, at the Abierto Monterrey Afirme. Most impressive was the manner of her victory in México, taking the initiative to defeat Caroline Wozniacki, Caroline Garcia and then Kirsten Flipkens in a high-quality final.

Next stop is Indian Wells and an unfamiliar foe. Galina Voskoboeva missed the best part of two years recovering from a serious foot injury, making her return at an ITF event in February. The Kazakhstani has completed just a handful of matches since then and is using her protected ranking of No.72 to step up her competition in the desert. Watson won her only previous meeting against the Kazakhstani, an extremely tight three-set battle three years ago in Memphis, and in light of recent accomplishments will expect to repeat the result.

[Q] Taylor Townsend (USA #379) vs. Vania King (USA #202)
Head-to-head:
Townsend leads 1-0
Two years ago, Taylor Townsend looked ready to deliver on her boundless potential, reaching the third round of the French Open and breaking into the Top 100. But since then, things have not exactly gone to plan for the former junior No.1, injury, coaching reshuffles and a loss of form sending her tumbling down the rankings.

Such has been Townsend’s fall, she needed to win eight matches to earn a spot in the main draw. Having negotiated her way through that minefield, the American, who does not turn 20 until later this spring, meets Vania King. Like Townsend, King is also on the comeback trail, a productive spell on the ITF Circuit leaving her on the cusp of the Top 200. The match is be third on Stadium 1 and with defending champion Simona Halep awaiting in the second round the winner is likely to be rewarded with another prime time slot.

Around the grounds…
Dominika Cibulkova attempts to set up a second-round blockbuster against Agnieszka Radwanska when she takes on Katerina Siniakova. Also on court are Barbora Strycova and CoCo Vandeweghe, who face Kiki Bertens and Aliaksandra Sasnovich, respectively. 

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Henin Looks Back On Her HOF Legacy

Henin Looks Back On Her HOF Legacy

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Seven-time Slam champion. 117 weeks at World No.1. 43 WTA singles titles. 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist. 2001 Fed Cup champion.

Hall of Famer? Never in doubt.

Justine Henin will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame this summer, in a class that includes two-time major champion Marat Safin. Despite her impeccable resume, the 33-year Belgian admitted the announcement still came as a surprise.

“It’s an honor to be part of the game, of the history of the game,” Henin told reporters via phone on Tuesday. “When you play, you don’t really realize that you’re going to be part of the game forever. Now with this honor, probably more I realize that a little bit more.”

Standing at just five feet, five inches, Henin rose to the top of the game during a time when pure power tennis appeared to take hold. Her game, built on variety, guile, and quickness set her apart. Her great rivalries with the likes of Serena Williams, Amélie Mauresmo, and compatriot Kim Clijsters helped define her generation of greats.

Justine Henin

Finding a way to hit hit above her weight-class, Henin’s laser-like focus and grittiness earned her a spot at the table, while her elegant game – punctuated by one of the finest one-handed backhands the sport has ever seen – drew in many fans.

Henin hopes her one-handed flair doesn’t disappear from today’s game. She insists it’s still a viable shot even as the game has gotten faster.

“I wouldn’t say it’s too hard now in the women’s game because I think Amélie and I, we proved that even we were playing with Venus and Serena and many other pretty strong players, we proved it’s not because of that. The game is going faster and faster, that’s for sure.

“It’s just that when you are a young kid, it’s easier to play with two hands because you have more power. You start like this. Then it’s very hard to change or maybe there’s no reason to change.

“I started with a one-handed backhand. Maybe because I was a big fan of Steffi Graf and Stefan Edberg, maybe it’s for that. I worked on this technically, physically, and finally it could be powerful.”

Reflecting on her career, Henin focused on her drive to prove the doubters wrong. After her mother took her to the French Open when she was 10, Henin vowed that one day she would play on Court Philippe Chatrier. She would go on to win the junior title there in 1997 and Roland Garros would be her place of dominance for years to come, winning the title in 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007.

“Coming from a small country, not being so tall, not being so strong, like for a lot of people life hasn’t been so easy to me when I was young.

“Not a lot of people really believed I could reach my goal because my dream was to become the best player in the world. It became my goal. A lot of people thought I was a little bit crazy. But strongly, deeply I never really doubted about the fact that I could make it.

“I always say to the young people, ‘Don’t stop to dream, believe in your dreams, do everything you can to reach your dreams.’ It’s very important. To me ‘dreaming’ is a word that is very important.”

Justine Henin

When she heads to the Newport, Rhode Island in July for the induction ceremony, Henin will walk on some of the finest grass courts in America. It’s a small piece of irony given her unfulfilled quest to win Wimbledon and complete the Career Grand Slam. She may just be the best player to never complete the feat. Twice a Wimbledon finalist, she came within a set of completing the feat in 2006 when she lost to Mauresmo.

“I’m the kind of person who is looking after perfection all the time, which doesn’t exist for sure. But I see it as a good thing that there’s something not complete in my career, so I can accept that. I gave everything I had in my career.”

Her signature cap sleeves and bright white cap will surely find their way into the display cases in Newport. It was a jockish look befitting a woman who regularly took the court out-gunned, yet she never shied from the battle.

“I was wearing my cap all the time,” Henin said with a laugh. “I needed it to maybe protect myself a little bit from a lot of things, to get focused, I don’t know. But I won all my Grand Slams with it. That would be for sure the first item I would send to the museum, something that I think people will remember from me.”

After a sudden retirement announcement just weeks before the French Open in 2008, Henin returned to the game in 2010 before ending her career a year later due to an elbow injury. Since her retirement she has focused on her academy in Belgium and gave birth to her two-year old daughter, Lalie.

Justine Henin

This year she’s slowly dipped her foot back into tour life after signing on as a coaching consultant to Elina Svitolina. Henin was one half of one of the most famous and successful player-coach relationships in tennis, having been coached by Carlos Rodriguez for the entirety of her career. Theirs was a unique and intense partnership and one that left a lasting impression on Henin. So is she trying to bring the same dynamic to Team Svitolina?

“It was very different. I’m not really in the position of the coach here. It’s just like trying to give my advices and share especially also mentally and emotionally the experience of at least a couple of important matches.”

Whatever she’s said has worked so far. Since announcing the partnership, Svitolina made the semifinals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, won her first title of the season just last week at the BMW Malaysian Open, and is up to a career-high at No.14.

“It’s completely different in the way that she is Top 20 already and I have to respect what she does already and just try to share my experience and my conviction of what she can do more or give more to her game, just try to get better.”

Justine Henin

Many look to Henin’s era of players as the last great era, a span of five years that saw intense rivalries surface over and over again on the game’s biggest stages. Mauresmo is already in the Hall of Fame. Clijsters will surely be a first ballot inductee. Serena and Venus are living legends as they continue to play on tour. Henin confessed it was difficult for her to identify what set this group apart.

“Inspiration, I think, is something that is very important,” she said. “I was really inspired. I think it’s the same for all the girls that I played against and with in my generation. We were looking at our idols with a lot of respect. We were trying to take a lot from them and get the inspiration. I still hope that the young players now can still do it and get inspired because it is very, very important.

“Probably also from the next generation, what’s going to be hard is the society is changing a lot. We have a lot of distractions. I don’t know if we all can be as focused as we were in the past because things are going so fast, communication is changing a lot. A lot of things are changing and we have to adapt ourselves.

“Still at the end we need people to be inspired by. I hope that the new generations still get the inspiration from other players. I think it’s something very important.”

Justine Henin

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

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