Professional Tennis
American Venus Williams was eliminated in the first round of the China Open on Monday, as Chinese wild card Peng Shuai cruised to a 7-5, 6-1 victory over the sixth-seed. Shuai produced a late break in the opening set, and would then break Venus twice in the second set while saving the only break point…
Credit photo to Calvin Rhoden Petra Kvitova continued her lights-out play at the Wuhan Open, dismissing fourth-seed Simona Halep 6-1, 6-2 to reach the tournament’s final. Kvitova hit a blistering 28 winners to just four for Halep, and was in control of the match from the very start. She set up seven break points in…
Romania’s Simona Halep put on a clinical performance on Thursday, rolling past American Madison Keys 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Wuhan Open semifinals. It wasn’t smooth sailing from the start, as twice Keys took the break advantage. But Halep continued to push through, converting on three break points to win the opening set. She carried…
In a marathon third round match earlier in the day, Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova outlasted newly-minted world number one Angelique Kerber 6-7(10), 7-5, 6-4 to reach the Wuhan Open quarterfinals. “I won after playing a long time. I feel happy. But as well I feel tired, and the tournament is still going, so I don’t…
Credit photo to Sidney Beal III World number one Novak Djokovic withdrew from the China Open with an elbow injury, the Serb announced on Wednesday. “I am extremely disappointed not to be able to compete at the China Open this year,” said Djokovic. “I’m still recovering from my elbow injury and have been advised not…
Credit photo to Sidney Beal III World number two Serena Williams announced on Friday that she will not be competing in the Wuhan Open and China Open tournaments, citing a lingering shoulder injury. “I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open or the China Open due…
As I write this column the 2016 Summer Olympics are mere days away and it appears that most of the major tennis stars are headed for Rio. Unlike golf where three of the sport’s major superstars, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Jordon Spieth, have opted not to play, it seems that tennis pros have a…
Credit photo to Akira Ando American Christina McHale won the first WTA singles title of her career on Sunday, coming back from a set down to beat Katerina Siniakova 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to win the Japan Women’s Open Tennis title. “I don’t even want to put my trophy down—I just want to gold it all…
Stan Wawrinka captured the 2016 U.S. Open championship Sunday night, with a 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 win over the top-seeded Novak Djokovic. In the near four-hour match, is a perfect 3-0 now in Grand Slam finals, having taken the Men’s Singles title at both the 2015 French Open, defeating Djokovic, and 2014 Aussie Open, defeating…
The newly minted world number one Angelique Kerber hopes to put a stamp on her new title as the best player in the world on Saturday as she takes on 10th seed Karolina Pliskova in the women’s final of the U.S. Open later this afternoon. “It feels amazing,” Kerber said of reaching the top spot…