Tennis Frontier

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Radwanska Unseats Defending Champ Azarenka

Victoria Azarenka’s defence of her Australian Open title has been brought to an end by fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska in Melbourne.

Radwanska prevailed 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 in two hours. It continued a stream of upsets, coming in the wake of shock defeats to Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. It also snapped Radwanska’s own seven match losing streak to the World No. 2.

The match began with Radwanska racing out to a 5-0 lead before Azarenka registered on the scoreboard. That game prevented the bagel but the Belorussian was powerless to prevent the Pole from closing out the first set.

Azarenka rallied in the second set, making her move when Radwanska was serving to stay in the set at 5-6. She returned aggressively and finally got her reward by taking the game and the set with a powerful crosscourt winner.

With the match carefully poised at one set each, the momentum switched again with Radwanska storming back on the back of some superb winners. Azarenka was visibly frustrated and it crept into her game.

Radwanska was not to be denied and took the set with a 6-0 bagel to end the champion’s reign.

“Play aggressive and go for every shot that I could. That was what I was trying to do and it worked today,” stated Radwanska after the match.

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Cover Photo: globalite, Creative Commons License

January 22, 2014
Ana Ivanovic Shocks Serena Williams in Australia

In a stunning upset, Ana Ivanovic defeated five-time champion Serena Williams in the fourth round of the Australian Open. Ivanovic came from a set down to prevail 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour and 56 minutes. It was the 26-year-old Serb’s first victory over Williams in five attempts.

“It’s amazing,” said Ivanovic. “Honestly, I went on the court and I just wanted to play the best I could. I’m so thrilled.”

It was Williams first loss since August 2013.

Ivanovic, seeded 14, will face Eugenie Bouchard or Casey Dellacqua in the quarterfinals.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): NAPARAZZI

January 19, 2014
Ana Ivanovic Secures WTA Auckland Title

Former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic continued with her excellent run of form by defeating Venus Williams 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in a titanic battle to seize the WTA Auckland crown in 2 hours, 19 minutes.

Williams, also a former world No. 1, fought back strongly after Ivanovic had raced to an early lead by taking the opening stanza 6-2. The 33-year-old American won the second set to level proceedings having fought back from 3-5 down and facing a championship point. She held serve and then broke the Serb twice to send the match into a deciding set.

In the decider, Ivanovic broke Williams early and stayed in control, despite having to survive two break points when serving for the match.

It was Ivanovic’s 12th title and first since 2011.

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Cover Photo: NAPARAZZI (Creative Commons License)

January 4, 2014
Serena Williams Bags Brisbane

Serena Williams secured her first title of 2014 defeating Victoria Azarenka in the final of the Brisbane International.

Williams, the world No. 1, took the match 6-4, 7-5 in 98 minutes to send out a clear warning to her rivals in the build up to the Australian Open.

She took the first set without facing a single break point and capitalized on an unforced error from Azarenka to break in the seventh game. The Belarus World No. 2 was offered no opportunity to restore parity and could not get back into the set.

Azarenka raised the stakes in the second set, twice breaking Williams and was in pole position to level things up after jumping out to a 4-2 lead before Williams broke back.

At 5-5, the American broke again to edge out in front and then served out the match to take the title.

The win extended a run of successive victories to 22 and Williams didn’t drop a set during the entire tournament.

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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Francisco Carbajal

January 4, 2014
Caroline Wozniacki Back in the Winning Groove

Following a week where her personal relationship with golfer Rory McIlroy came under intense scrutiny, Caroline Wozniacki responded by claiming her first WTA title in over a year at the Luxembourg Open.

Wozniacki defeated young German teenager Annika Beck in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.

“This result in Luxembourg is going to give me a lot of confidence,” stated the 23-year-old Wozniacki after the match. It marked a welcome return to winning ways for the former world No. 1, who is currently listed as one of the alternates for the end-of-year WTA Championships.

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Cover Photo: karlnorling, Creative Commons License

October 21, 2013
Simona Halep Rocks in Russia

Sam Stosur was unable to repeat last week’s Osaka triumph in Moscow, going down 7-6 (1), 6-2 in the final of the Kremlin Cup to Romanian Simona Halep.

”It’s an incredible year for me and I am enjoying every moment of it,” said Halep who has now won all five of the finals she has appeared in during 2013.

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Cover Photo: robbiesaurus, Creative Commons License

October 21, 2013
Dokic Looking for Return to the WTA Tour

Jelena Dokic, the former World No. 4, is hoping to return to the WTA tour at the Australian Open in 2014. The 30-year-old Australian-based Serb has been working out with Todd Woodbridge, the head of professional tennis down under.

”She wants to get back into the game,” stated Craig Tiley, the chief executive of Tennis Australia. ”She’s training every day with a focus on next year.”

Dokic was a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2000 before a spate of family issues with a domineering father and subsequent injuries derailed her career.

In 2009, she made a strong return by reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open before injuries once again sabotaged her comeback.

It would be a remarkable return that almost certainly hinges on Tennis Australia awarding a wildcard entry.

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Cover Photo: NAPARAZZI, Creative Commons License

October 16, 2013
Johan Kriek on Character in Tennis

As an owner/operator of an elite tennis academy in Charlotte, NC, I would like to talk about character. It matters the most in my book. We all make mistakes, but it is the person with character who realizes they have made a mistake and can fess up and truly feel sorry, say so, and apologize and try not to make the same mistake again. That is a person with good character.

Character also plays a huge role in becoming successful in tennis. It is so refreshing to see our kids listen and truly try new things which we coach all the time because tennis coaching is a step-by-step process with ever increasing demands in “execution” of shots as well as the building of maturity in the mental side of the game. Needless to say, there are so many “boxes” to check off to learn to play this game at the best of our ability, it takes a lot of time, huge effort, and dedication coupled with a limitless “thirst” to do better every day. It would be easy for me to try and focus on getting a “player” from the top ranks in the world. Would be a great “feather in my cap”, however, I truly enjoy seeing a kid start to bloom from a very early age and create their own “look” and build their tennis character. That, to me, is by far the most satisfying aspect of the academy business. I can’t wait to see where some of these 8-16 year olds will be in the next decade, etc.

So how does one break out of the “pack” of all these boys and girls playing ITF Futures and Challenger events, such as the older boys we are working with the past few weeks? There are thousands of very good players out there, all trying to make it on the ATP or the WTA tours. It takes one tough character to “stand out”. Having talent and weapons is great, but if you are not one tough character, talent will only take you so far. It is the person with a strong character who will leave no stone unturned to achieve their goals. Setbacks will be there, no doubt. Failures will pop up aplenty. Losing will make one feel like a failure. But it is the person with a strong-willed character, a never-say-die attitude, even if the odds seem overwhelming, that eventually makes it.

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October 9, 2013
Petra Kvitova Wins the Pan Pacific Open

Czech star Petra Kvitova defeated Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-2, 0-6, 6-3 to secure the Pan Pacific Open title in Japan.

The former Wimbledon champion earned it the hard way. It was a roller-coaster ride of a match that featured several momentum swings before Kvitova sealed the contest with a rapier-like crosscourt forehand winner.

Kvitova dropped six straight games en route to a second set bagel before recovering her poise and going on to win the deciding set.

“Angie came back at me but I tried to stay focused and it’s amazing to win such a big tournament,” stated the champion after the match.

It was Kvitova’s first title success since Dubai in February.

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Discuss the Pan Pacific Open on the Tennis Frontier message boards.

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Cover Photo: Piotr Drabik (Creative Commons License)

September 29, 2013
Agnieszka Radwanska Wins Korean Open

Agnieszka Radwanska won her third WTA title of the year defeating Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a gruelling match lasting 2 hours 45 minutes at the Korean Open in Seoul.

The top seeded Pole prevailed 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. “After a great match, almost three hours of great tennis at a really high level, of course I’m very happy,” she said after clinching the title.

After dropping a first-set tiebreak to Pavlyuchenkova she took back control of the match with an early second set break. Radwanska went on to seal the second set before breaking in the tenth game of a final set decider to take the match.

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Discuss the Korean Open with fellow tennis fans on the Tennis Frontier message board.

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Cover Photo: Christopher Johnson (Globalite), Creative Commons License

September 23, 2013