Tennis Frontier

Tag: wta

2014 French Open Roland Garros Women’s Draw

The women’s draw for the 2014 French Open at Roland Garros is out. Serena Williams (#1) and Agnieszka Radwanska (#3) are in the top half; Li Na (#2) and Simona Halep (#4) are in the bottom.

Serena Williams (USA) (1)
Alize Lim (FRA)

Qualifier
Garbine Muguruza (ESP)

Anna Schmiedlova (SVK)
Jie Zheng (CHN)

Belinda Bencic (SUI)
Venus Williams (USA) (29)

Roberta Vinci (ITA) (17)
Pauline Parmentier (FRA)

Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)
Lauren Davis (USA)

Karin Knapp (ITA)
Mona Barthel (GER)

Fiona Ferro (FRA)
Sabine Lisicki (GER) (16)

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) (9)
Virginie Razzano (FRA)

Qualifier
Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL)

Amandine Hesse (FRA)
Yvonne Meusburger (AUT)

Monica Puig (PUR)
Samantha Stosur (AUS) (19)

Kaia Kanepi (EST) (25)
Monica Niculescu (ROU)

Romina Oprandi (SUI)
Paula Ormaechea (ARG)

Annika Beck (GER)
Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)

Qualifier
Maria Sharapova (RUS) (7)

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Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) (3)
Shuai Zhang (CHN)

Mathilde Johansson (FRA)
Karolina Pliskova (CZE)

Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO)
Francesca Schiavone (ITA)

Christina McHale (USA)
Elena Vesnina (RUS) (32)

Alize Cornet (FRA) (20)
Ashleigh Barty (AUS)

Taylor Townsend (USA)
Vania King (USA)

Qualifier
Qualifier

Qualifier
Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) (14)

Flavia Pennetta (ITA) (12)
P.Mayr-Achleitner (AUT)

Maria Kirilenko (RUS)
Johanna Larsson (SWE)

Qualifier
Julia Goerges (GER)

Shahar Peer (ISR)
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) (18)

Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) (31)
Jovana Jaksic (SRB)

Claire Feuerstein (FRA)
Olga Govortsova (BLR)

Petra Cetkovska (CZE)
Varvara Lepchenko (USA)

Katarzyna Piter (POL)
Angelique Kerber (GER) (8)

[divider]

Petra Kvitova (CZE) (5)
Zarina Diyas (KAZ)

Marina Erakovic (NZL)
Nadiya Kichenok (UKR)

Bojana Jovanovski (SRB)
Camila Giorgi (ITA)

Qualifier
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) (27)

Lucie Safarova (CZE) (23)
Mandy Minella (LUX)

Casey Dellacqua (AUS)
Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP)

Elina Svitolina (UKR)
Petra Martic (CRO)

Caroline Garcia (FRA)
Ana Ivanovic (SRB) (11)

Sloane Stephens (USA) (15)
Shuai Peng (CHN)

Polona Hercog (SLO)
Jana Cepelova (SVK)

Iveta Melzer (CZE)
Coco Vandeweghe (USA)

Shelby Rogers (USA)
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) (22)

Klara Koukalova (CZE) (30)
Mt.Torro-Flor (ESP)

Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK)
Urszula Radwanska (POL)

Qualifier
B.Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)

Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)
Simona Halep (ROU) (4)

[divider]

Jelena Jankovic (SRB) (6)
Sharon Fichman (CAN)

Anna Tatishvili (USA)
Kurumi Nara (JPN)

Teliana Pereira (BRA)
Luksika Kumkhum (THA)

Qualifier
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) (26)

Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) (21)
Qualifier

Donna Vekic (CRO)
Julia Glushko (ISR)

E.Cabeza Candela (ESP)
Dinah Pfizenmaier (GER)

Madison Keys (USA)
Sara Errani (ITA) (10)

Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) (13)
Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)

Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP)
Chanelle Scheepers (RSA)

Alexandra Cadantu (ROU)
Qualifier

Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN)
A.Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) (24)

Andrea Petkovic (GER) (28)
Misaki Doi (JPN)

Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER)
Stefanie Voegele (SUI)

Alison Riske (USA)
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO)

Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)
Na Li (CHN) (2)

May 24, 2014
Sharapova Takes Madrid Title

Maria Sharapova recovered from a first set loss to beat the fourth-seeded Romanian, Simona Halep, and take the Mutua Madrid Open championship, a WTA Premiere mandatory event.

Halep came out strong, but Sharapova found her timing and confidence early in the second set to win the match in the third, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. This was Sharapova’s 11th straight win on clay. For Halep, it was her first final at this level.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Yann Caradec

May 11, 2014
Aegon International, Eastbourne, UK, 2014

Photos courtesy of Dave Rubenstein.

May 6, 2014
Tennis Frontier Celebrates One Year

On this day last year, 14 April, 2013, Tennis Frontier first hung out its shingle. We thought we’d wish ourselves a happy anniversary, and remind you how far we’ve come in just one year.

Founding partners Owen Gigg, Trent Curtis, and Susan DePalma started the site as a way to keep a wandering tennis community together. In our maiden year, while we have been steadily adding to our growing list of Discussion Forum members, we have also become a lot more.

Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google+ social media channels have all been launched. Tennis Frontier now has two to three times as many Twitter followers as Forum members. We’re delighted that not only have we maintained such a loyal following amongst old friends, but have also added so many new voices to the conversation.

According to Google Analytics, Tennis Frontier currently gets between 15,000 – 25,000 unique visitors a month, and between 130,000 and 200,000 page views — noteworthy growth since last April.

“Down The T”, one of our trademark blogs, has featured exclusive interviews with Major winners Johan Kriek and Michael Chang, plus Wimbledon finalist Chris Lewis. Participants have also included Andy Murray’s former coach, Ben Saunders, and the recently-retired Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian.

Coming soon will be another exclusive interview: tennis legend Margaret Court, winner of a record 24 singles Majors.

In order to provide additional original content, we have also been adding to our blog roll.

Our thanks to bloggers (in alphabetical order): Brian Canever, Warren Casreo, Colin Chambers, Samer Kadi, Johan Kriek, Arienna Lee, Chris Lewis, Scoop Malinowski, John Masters, Jonathan Northrop, and Jesse Pentecost.

We are also grateful to those who have contributed through their efforts as moderators.

We’ve surprised even ourselves by how far we’ve come in just one year, but we’re even more excited about what the coming year will bring.

Thank you for helping to make Tennis Frontier such a success.

April 14, 2014
Venus Still Formidable in Dubai

Venus Williams won her 45th title today, defeating France’s Alize Cornet, 6-3, 6-0, in the Dubai Open. Williams, 33 years old, hadn’t won a title in 16 months. Her recent battles with illness, and her age, have put her career in question. However, the seven-time Grand Slam Champion and former world No. 1 put all of her skills on display today. The French woman, Cornet, who was the vanquisher of Venus’s sister yesterday, had little answer to the big serving American, who was having a very strong day.

Cornet scored the upset and was the surprise finalist over world No. 1 Serena Williams. As Venus said, “I was expecting to be playing Serena, but Alize played an amazing game in the semis, so congratulations on that.”

Venus staved off retirement questions for another tournament, and proved she still has more than a little game.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis

February 23, 2014
Halep Takes Doha

Simona Halep, the 22-year-old Romanian who made a splash last year by winning six titles on the WTA Tour, has won her biggest one yet at the Qatar Open, beating Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the final, 6-2, 6-3.

For the first time, Halep beat 3 Top 10 players on her way to the trophy, including Kerber (No. 9), having already dispatched Sara Errani (No. 7), and Agnieszka Radwanska (No. 4.)

Despite four break point opportunities, Kerber was unable to break Halep in the match.

“It’s tough to play against a player like Simona,” Kerber said. “I was trying to play my game plan, but it was not easy … she hit the balls very well and on the line.”

“I just want to be focused for every point, to fight for every point,” Halep said. She will rise to a career-high No. 9 when the rankings come out on Monday.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): robbiesaurus

February 17, 2014
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Wins the Open GDF SUEZ

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova ended a memorable week in Paris by defeating Sara Errani at the Open GDF SUEZ. The Russian reeled off 48 winners en route to taking the match 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

In a match of many momentum swings, Pavlyuchenkova began by racing out to a 3-1 lead in the opening set. She then dropped seven consecutive games to leave Errani firmly in the driving seat with a set lead and a 2-0 buffer in the second.

The Russian then awoke from her slumber and took seven consecutive games of her own behind strong serving and huge groundstrokes. With the second set sealed, the match was carefully balanced as it progressed into the deciding stanza.

Pavlyuchenkova took the opening game but her advantage was short-lived, with Errani reeling off three more consecutive frames to move out to a 3-1 lead.

The see-saw battle turned on its head again – this time decisively, with Pavlyuchenkova recovering her rhythm and dropping only six more points throughout the remainder of the match. She won the remaining five games without reply to secure the biggest title of her career.

“I just want to keep working hard and improving my game, and if I keep doing those things it will show in rankings and results,” said the Russian after the match.

It was Pavlyuchenkova’s sixth career title and it was well earned. Earlier in the week, she defeated Carla Suárez Navarro, Angelique Kerber, and top seed Maria Sharapova.

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Cover Photo: karlnorling, Creative Commons License (Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova)

February 3, 2014
Makarova Wins Pattaya Open

Ekaterina Makarova won her first title in nearly four years clinching the Pattaya Open in Thailand with a 6-3, 7-6 (7) victory over Karolina Pliskova.

The Russian took the match in 1 hour 36 minutes and fought off two set points in the second set tiebreak to take the championship.

“It was a nervous ending and a really tough match, and she was playing really great tennis today,” stated Makarova after the match.

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Cover Photo: angela n, Creative Commons License (Ekaterina Makarova)

February 3, 2014
Cibulkova Thrashes Radwanska in Australian Open Semifinal

Dominika Cibulkova dominated Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska en route to a 6-1, 6-2 victory and a place in the Australian Open final.

Radwanska, who had previously defeated defending champion Victoria Azarenka, struggled to negate the aggression and physicality of the Slovakian throughout the match.

Cibulkova was in control from the outset, dominating the exchanges from the baseline and attacking the Radwanska serve with impunity.

The first set was barely a contest as she ran out a convincing 6-1 winner, closing out the set with a monstrous backhand winner.

The same patterns of play continued in the second set with Radwanska repeatedly defending way behind the baseline as Cibulkova dictated proceedings with pure power tennis.

Radwanska had three break points at 0-2 down in the second set but failed to capitalize and only managed to finally break at 0-4. She held serve in the next game but it was a temporary respite as Cibulkova regained her poise and closed out the set 6-2 to take the match in convincing fashion and book her place in the final.

Her opponent for the championship decider is China’s Li Na, who defeated young Canadian Eugenie Bouchard 6-2, 6-4.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): robbiesaurus

January 23, 2014
Li Na Advances to the Australian Open Final

China’s Li Na reached the Ladies Australian Open final for the third time in four years with a 6-2, 6-4 win over young Canadian revelation Eugenie Bouchard.

Li dominated the opening stanza, rushing out to a 5-0 lead in only 16 minutes before Bouchard finally registered a game on the scoreboard. She added another before Li closed out the set behind penetrating groundstrokes and strong serving.

The Canadian steadied her nerves in the second set and made a match of it before her experienced opponent broke and closed out the set with a crosscourt backhand.

Li Na will meet the winner of Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova and Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska who face off in the other semifinal.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): globalite

January 23, 2014