World number one Simona Halep ensured that she would sit atop the WTA rankings for a little longer at least by opening her 2018 season with a singles title at the Shenzhen Open. But not only did she win her 16th WTA singles title, she also added her first WTA doubles title with country woman … Continue reading
If you want to know how great Karolina Pliskova was in winning the 2017 Brisbane International final 6-0 6-3 over Alize Cornet, look no further than the comments Cornet herself made when she went to press . She called Pliskova’s serve harder to read than Serena Williams. That’s not to say Serena’s serve isn’t more … Continue reading
For the fourth annual edition of my WTA and LPGA money list countdown I will focus on the dynamic dozen from each tour, the top 12 on the money lists. For the WTA, singles, doubles and mixed are combined for total earnings. Here are the #4 players for 2016: Agnieszka Radwanska (WTA) and In-Gee Chun … Continue reading
Coming back from injury in 2015, former world #1 Victoria Azarenka had, by her standard, a bit of an underwhelming season. She reached a final at Doha, but the year was not indicative of what she can accomplish when fit and focused. Maybe 2016 will be the year tennis fans see the rebirth of Vika. … Continue reading
In 2014, Martina Hingis added to her Hall of Fame career by winning doubles titles with both Sabine Lisicki and Flavia Pennetta. She has started 2015 right where she left off last season. Hingis captured her 41st doubles title by teaming with Lisicki to win the 2015 Brisbane International. The unseeded duo bested 4th seeds … Continue reading
What a way to begin the 2015 WTA season! So much to talk about, so let’s get to it. In the biggest event, the Premier-level 2015 Brisbane International, it was a dream final between top seed Maria Sharapova and 2nd seed Ana Ivanovic. These two fan favorites and former world #1s did not disappoint with … Continue reading
Sports organizations are often as strong as its top stars. When they play well, and in turn show up on television and other media winning championships more often, it’s a great boon for their respective tours. Sometimes in tennis, the opening weeks of the season can be hit or miss. Players are tuning up their … Continue reading
It was probably bound to happen eventually anyway, but the WTA’s presence in China will grow to 5 events in 2014. Still, I have to think that Li Na’s success at Roland Garros, becoming the first Asian born player to win a tennis Major in singles, lit a flame of tennis interest in a country … Continue reading
This year, while I will choose to follow one event during the week, I will be doing a combined WTA wrap-up on the weekends. It’s just less time consuming than trying to post for three WTA events, the LPGA and the JLPGA every week. So without further ado, congratulations to Serena Williams for winning the … Continue reading
Look out, Taiwan might just have some players in the pipeline to follow the success of world #1 Yani Tseng. At the 2011 Universiade, sometimes referred to as the World University Games, LPGA Futures Tour player Lin Ziqi (Tzu-Chi Lin/林子麒) won the individual gold medal and led Taiwan to the team gold. She was interviewed … Continue reading
Fairways and Forehands 