Tennis: 'I didn't know how I'd come back,' says Serena

LONDON -- Serena Williams admits that she didn't know how or when she would return to tennis but insisted retirement had not been on her agenda during her year-long absence.

"I didn't retire. I just needed to heal physically, mentally. I had no plans. I just didn't know when I would come back. I didn't know how I would come back," said the 40-year-old on Saturday.

The American star will return to singles action at Wimbledon next week for the first time since her tearful exit from the All England Club in the first round in 2021.

The seven-time Wimbledon champion is chasing a record-equaling 24th Grand Slam title.

However, her lengthy absence from the sport has seen her world ranking plummet to 1,204th.

She needed a wildcard to play Wimbledon this year as she seeks a first major since capturing the Australian Open while pregnant in 2017.

Her last appearance at the All England Club ended after just six games when she was forced to quit her Centre Court opener against Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

Having made her debut in 1998, Williams said that she didn't want that heartbreaking exit to be her last memory of Wimbledon.

"It was a lot of motivation, to be honest. It was always something since the match ended that was always on my mind.

"Wimbledon was tough last year. I felt like I was injured for most of the year. Then I ripped my hamstring.

- 'Who knows where I'll pop up' -

"I still tried to make New York. I gave everything I could, just every day getting ready or trying to make it. But then it's just like, I'm not going to make it. Hung up my racquets for a little bit until I could just heal."

In a change to tradition, and with a nod to the gravity of Williams's injury last year which was caused by her slipping and falling, organizers have allowed practice sessions on Centre Court.

The aim is to bed in the grass so that players can enjoy immediate grip on the world's most famous patch of grass.

"On the one hand it's amazing, but on the other hand it's like, we have to preserve Centre Court," said Williams.

"Obviously I was super happy to be out there and have that opportunity, and it was also good for me to get that out of my system because the last moment I had on Centre Court was probably not my best moment."

Williams said she decided before the French Open to make her comeback at Wimbledon and to warm up for the big occasion, she played two matches in doubles with Tunisia's Ons Jabeur in Eastbourne.

"Probably could have played singles there. I felt more prepared than I thought I would have a month or two months or three months ago," she added.

Her rivals at Wimbledon, which gets underway on Monday, are delighted to see the American back on court.

"I saw her yesterday, I was pretty overwhelmed," said world number one and recently-crowned French Open champion Iga Swiatek.

Coco Gauff described Williams as "always a contender to win, even if she hadn't played for a year".

"I remember watching that match a year ago where she had to finish short. I thought maybe that would have been the last time we saw her play at Wimbledon," said the 18-year-old.

Williams, meanwhile, was not in the mood to discuss her long-term future in the sport and whether or not this is her last Wimbledon.

"I can only tell you that I'm here. Who knows where I'll pop up next," said the American who turns 41 in September.

Agence France-Presse

Wimbledon champ Halep up to No. 4 WTA rankings, Serena No. 9

WIMBLEDON, England — Simona Halep’s Wimbledon championship lifted her from No. 7 to No. 4 in the WTA rankings on Monday, while runner-up Serena Williams moved up one spot to No. 9, her best placing since returning to the tour last season after having a baby.

Halep beat Williams in Saturday’s final with surprising ease, 6-2, 6-2.

Coco Gauff’s magical run from a wild-card entry in qualifying all the way to the fourth round at the All England Club allowed her to move into the WTA’s top 150 for the first time.

The 15-year-old American rose 172 places to No. 141 from No. 313 before the tournament. Gauff was the youngest player to ever qualify for the main draw at Wimbledon, then beat five-time champion Venus Williams on the way to reaching the fourth round. That is when Gauff lost to eventual champion Halep.

Two other big jumps came from Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic and Lauren Davis of the U.S.

The 33-year-old Strycova became the oldest first-time Grand Slam semifinalist in the professional era before losing to Williams, allowing her to move up 22 places to No. 32. Strycova also took over at No. 1 in the doubles rankings on Monday by winning that title at Wimbledon.


After losing in qualifying, Davis made it into the main draw when someone else withdrew. She then eliminated Angelique Kerber in the second round to become the first “lucky loser” to beat a defending champion at a major in the professional era and went up 13 spots to 75th.

Kerber dropped from No. 5 to 13th.

French Open champion Ash Barty remains at No. 1 in singles, followed by two-time major champion Naomi Osaka and Karolina Pliskova.

Wimbledon men’s champ Novak Djokovic stayed atop the ATP rankings after his 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 13-12 (3) victory over Roger Federer on Sunday in the longest final in tournament history. Rafael Nadal is No. 2 and Federer is No. 3.

Roberto Bautista Agut, who lost to Djokovic in the semifinals, went from No. 22 to No. 13, equaling his career high.

Daniil Medvedev’s third-round showing let him crack the top 10 for the first time at No. 10; he was ranked 13th before Wimbledon. Sam Querrey, beaten by Nadal in the quarterfinals, lifted his ranking by 26 spots to No. 39.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Serena Williams talks fashion, not fouls at Las Vegas event

LAS VEGAS — Serena Williams talked about her fashion business and her family, but not tennis fouls during a Friday appearance before a business trade group in Las Vegas.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion wasn’t asked about gender equality in sports or an argument she had last weekend with the chair umpire at her U.S. Open finals match in New York during about 25 minutes onstage with Sarah Robb O’Hagan, chief executive of Flywheel Sports, at the National Retail Federation trade show.



Williams, who took no questions from the audience, said previously she felt she had been treated more harshly than a male player would have been for smashing her racket and arguing with match official Carlos Ramos during her straight-set finals loss to Naomi Osaka of Japan on Sept. 8 in New York.

Williams received three code violations and was penalized a point and one game. She was later fined $17,000.

The incident drew a volley of commentary in recent days.

Tennis icon Billie Jean King said she believes tennis applies a double standard to women compared with men, and a similar outburst by a male player would have drawn no repercussions.

A cartoon caricature of Williams appeared in an Australian newspaper drew comparisons to U.S. racial stereotypes of the past.

In Croatia, U.S. Davis Cup team captain Jim Courier said he thought the gender issue had been polarized and, in some ways, politicized.

“It’s been quite the week,” O’Hagan said before steering the conversation away from controversy.

“It isn’t the first time you have had to deal with unfair judgment against you, and yet you have this amazing ability to come back with such courage and grace,” she said.

She drew applause praising Williams for calming a riled-up audience that booed the U.S. Open outcome to refocus the moment on Osaka’s victory.

“I feel it’s really important to stand up for what you believe in,” Williams said, “especially if it can affect the future and affect a lot of people in the future. That’s what it’s all about.”

Williams also was asked about what O’Hagan termed “epic comebacks” during her 20-year tennis career, including having a baby a little more than a year ago.

The tennis star, who has her own fashion line, advised business owners to “really figure out, ‘What can I do to revamp and bring it back to the top?’”

“Really, it’s just about having a great team … and rolling up your sleeves and hard work,” Williams said. “I work really, really hard at my game. And then I work super hard at my fashion business. And I’m working incredibly hard at being a mom.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

‘Serena I know was back’: Williams gets to 22 at Wimbledon

LONDON, England—To hear Serena Williams and her coach tell it, the process of getting her ready to win Wimbledon for a record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title began with a series of chats over the phone not long after her loss in the French Open final.

That setback in Paris marked the third consecutive major tournament that Williams left without the trophy, which to any other tennis player would not be a big deal but to the 34-year-old American represented a real drought.

So she and Patrick Mouratoglou touched base repeatedly to hash it all out.

“I was just talking through things, and how I was disappointed that I lost the French, and what I needed to do, to do better at Wimbledon. We were strategizing a lot,” Williams told a small group of reporters in her last of many interviews Saturday night, about 7 hours after beating Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 for the championship at the All England Club.

“It wasn’t one conversation,” Williams said. “We talked for at least five — so many times. Almost every day. Just to try to feel what I needed to do and what was going to be done.”

At some point during that period, Williams sent a text message to Mouratoglou that he found full of meaning.

“He said he recognized that I was different and I was back to who I am, usually,” Williams said. “And I was like, ‘What does that mean?’ He just said that he felt I was different when I sent that text. He was very encouraged by it, and we were able to build on it.”

Recalled Mouratoglou on Saturday: “I felt like the Serena I know was back. … Back to thinking the way she thinks.”

That was important, he knew, because it wasn’t as if she had forgotten how to play, of course, or allowed her skills to erode, even if she already was the oldest woman to be ranked No. 1 and the oldest to win a major title.

He realized he hadn’t quite seen the same person ever since Williams’ bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam in 2015 ended with a loss to Roberta Vinci in the U.S. Open semifinals, one of the biggest surprises in tennis history.

After that came defeats for Williams in two Grand Slam finals, against Kerber at the Australian Open, then against Garbine Muguruza at Roland Garros.

Thinking back to what happened in New York, Mouratoglou said: “Either she or I— we both—didn’t know she was that hurt. I think it took a lot of time. She was not herself.”

During the past two weeks at Wimbledon, Williams certainly did appear to be back to possessing the confident, all-powerful presence the world is accustomed to seeing and hearing—on and off the court.

“One day, I woke up and I just felt different,” Williams said, referring to those days after the French Open. “I felt like: I can do better. I can do this. Not only can I do this, I’m going to do this, and there’s nothing in this world that’s going to stop me.”

That was evident in her play, to be sure, particularly in that spectacular serve, which produced 13 aces at up to a tournament-leading 124 mph against Kerber.

And it was evident in her words, most succinctly when a reporter asked after the semifinals what Williams makes of it when others refer to her as one of history’s greatest female athletes.

She replied: “I prefer the word, one of the greatest ‘athletes’ of all time.”

Well put.

source: sports.inquirer.net

French Open: Serena sweeps aside Svitolina, schedule fears

Defending champion Serena Williams brushed off concerns about a busy playing schedule after powering into the French Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Williams reached the last eight at Roland Garros for the 10th time after pulverizing 18th seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-1, 6-1 in just over an hour on Court Philippe Chatrier.

But the world number one, who next plays Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva, faces the challenge of playing four matches in four days in her pursuit of a record-equalling 22nd Open era Grand Slam title.

“Four in a row? I think for us…when we play regular tournaments you play four, five matches in a row. It’s what happens,” said Williams.

“In Rome I played four in a row? Five? I don’t know. But, you know, in Miami and Indian Wells you just play every day. It’s something you just get used to. It’s totally fine I think for me and for everyone.”

Swiss eighth seed Timea Bacsinszky dumped out sister Venus 6-2, 6-4 to rule out the prospect of the two Williams siblings meeting in the semi-finals.

Bacsinszky, who reached the semi-finals in Paris a year ago, reeled off nine of 10 games after trailing 0-2 in the first set to lay the foundation for her victory.

“If I could play here every day of my life, I would do it,” said Bacsinszky, who will meet unseeded Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens next.

“Being in a quarter-final in a slam is like every player’s dream. Like some have achieved it way more times than others, but for me it’s my third.

“I still sometimes cannot believe it, especially if you have a great win over such a good player.”

Bertens reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final after defeating American 15th seed Madison Keys 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

The world number 58, conqueror of Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber in the first round, has now won 11 straight matches after arriving in Paris fresh from lifting the Nuremberg clay-court title as a qualifier.

Putintseva, 21, the youngest player left in the draw, extended her best run at a major with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Spanish 12th seed Carla Suarez Navarro.

“I think I have been always playing well. It’s just in last few years I had some troubles with like sometimes fitness, sometimes my game that I have to change a little bit in the more aggressive way.

“But I think it’s just the moment came and now I’m playing better in this tournament,” said Putintseva, the world number 60, who was beaten in straight sets by Serena at Indian Wells this year.

“She’s a legend. I’m just gonna go there and show my game, show my best, and we’ll see what’s going to happen.

“Like I have nothing to lose obviously against her. Yeah, I’m just gonna go and play. What else can I do?”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Serena Williams reinforces huge rankings lead

Serena Williams reinforced her huge lead at the top of the WTA rankings a week out from the start of the French Open after winning the Italian Open on Sunday.

Williams beat fellow American Madison Keys in the final in Rome to set herself up nicely for Roland Garros.

Second place in the rankings was reclaimed by Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska from Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who suffered an early exit in the Italian capital.

Elsewhere, Victoria Azarenka moved up a place to fifth at the expense of Romania’s Simona Halep and Timea Bacsinszky and Flavia Pennetta were also climbers in the top 10.

WTA top 20

1. Serena Williams (USA) 9,030 pts

2. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 5,850 (+1)

3. Angelique Kerber (GER) 5,740 (-1)

4. Garbine Muguruza (ESP) 5,196

5. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 4,341 (+1)

6. Simona Halep (ROM) 4,301 (-1)

7. Roberta Vinci (ITA) 3,505

8. Belinda Bencic (SUI) 3,330

9. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) 3,150 (+1)

10. Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 2,963 (+3)

11. Venus Williams (USA) 2,886 (+3)

12. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 2,878 (-3)

13. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 2,843 (+2)

14. Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 2,585 (-3)

15. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 2,585 (+4)

16. Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 2,560

17. Madison Keys (USA) 2,541 (+7)

18. Sara Errani (ITA) 2,450

19. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 2,420 (+1)

20. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 2,416 (-3)

source: sports.inquirer.net

Serena Williams, PH Mavericks rout UAE Royals

Serena Williams dominated and so did the Philippine Mavericks in a 29-18 win over the UAE Royals in the opening day of the 2015 International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) Manila leg Sunday before a sizeable crowd at Mall of Asia Arena.

Williams, regarded as one of the best women’s tennis players ever, beat Serbian star Ana Ivanovic, 6-3, in women’s singles before the Mavericks’ pair of Richard Gasquet and Édouard Roger-Vasselin also hacked out a 6-3 victory over Tomas Berdych and Daniel Nestor in men’s doubles in the night cap.

“So excited to be here playing for the Mavericks,” said the 34-year-old Williams, who made her second visit in Manila after suiting up for the Singapore Slammers last year in the inaugural season of the IPTL.

The Filipinos came to see Williams and the current world No.1 did not disappoint.

During one of the intervals, Williams busted out a few dance moves as the rap song “Trap Queen” played to the delight of the crowd.

“It’s very fun and super cool,” Williams said of the atmosphere.

The Mavericks also drew convincing wins from Mark Philippoussis and Milos Raonic. Philippoussis destroyed Goran Ivanisevic, 6-2, in the legend’s match while Raonic, the fast rising star from Canada, turned back Berdych, 6-4.

The Royals’ only victory was when Kristina Mladenovic and Nestor survived Fil-American Treat Huey and Williams in a shootout in the mixed doubles, 7-6.

The win propelled the Mavericks in first place with a 2-1 record. The Royals also own the same slate but won fewer games to settle in second place.

The Mavericks take on the Japan Warriors, who have yet to win in four games, on Monday at 7:30 p.m. after Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal and the Indian Aces clash with the Royals at 4:00 p.m.

Nadal, who has 14 Grand Slam singles titles, will play in front of the Filipino crowd for the first time.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Tennis giants Nadal, Serena fall

Defending champion Rafael Nadal was ushered to the exit, while top-seeded Novak Djokovic cruised through his first match of the season at the Qatar Open on Tuesday.

Across the globe to Australia, world number one Serena Williams complained of tiredness after being trounced by Canadian Eugenie Bouchard at the mixed teams Hopman Cup.

The second-seeded Nadal, showing desire but displaying a rusty game, was upset by German qualifier Michael Berrer 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.

This was Nadal’s first match since losing in the Basel quarterfinals to 17-year-old Borna Coric of Croatia in October. The Spaniard spent much of the autumn suffering from appendicitis and underwent an appendectomy on Nov. 3.

“These things happen after long time without being on the road, being on rhythm, being in competition,” Nadal said. “I was playing with more nerves because after long time (away) I wanted to win.

“When you are back from an injury, that takes time.”

The 127th-ranked Berrer broke Nadal to go ahead 3-1 in the second set, and then in the first game of the third set.

Berrer had never before beaten a top five ranked player. The 34-year-old father of two has already announced he’s retiring at the end of the year.

“It’s really unbelievable,” Berrer told the crowd after his win. “It’s my last season so I’m just going for it. Why not?”

Top-ranked Djokovic started off his 2015 season with a 6-2, 6-1 win in a 59-minute match against fellow Serbian Dusan Lajovic.

Djokovic put 72 percent of his first serve in play and was successful on five of six break point opportunities.

Djokovic is making his first career appearance at the Doha tournament. Historically, he doesn’t play a sanctioned tournament the first week of the year.

Meanwhile, Williams was humbled by the sixth-ranked Bouchard in straight sets as Canada upset the tournament favorites 2-1.

Williams went down one set against 12th-ranked Flavia Pennetta in her first outing in Perth on Monday but was rejuvenated by a mid-match coffee and went on to beat the Italian.

However, there was to be no coffee-inspired miracle against the sixth-ranked Bouchard, who doubled-faulted five times in her first two services games and yet cruised to an emphatic 6-2, 6-1 win over the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion.

Errors flowed off the Williams racquet during her match with Bouchard and the 33-year-old said she hadn’t been feeling at her best since arriving in Perth on Saturday.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I am so tired, it’s so weird,” she said when asked if she was suffering from jet lag.

In beating Williams for the first time, Bouchard rebounded strongly from the disappointment of Canada’s opening tie, when she was beaten 6-0, 6-4 by the Czech Republic’s in-form Lucie Safarova.

The 20-year-old was delighted with the rapid improvement in her game.

“My goal was to be more active with my feet, try and go for my shots a bit more and be more aggressive,” she said.

“I think I did that well, I know she (Williams) definitely didn’t play her best but I am happy I stayed with it.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Sharapova blows chance at year-end number one

SINGAPORE —Maria Sharapova’s hopes of becoming the year-end world number one went up in smoke Tuesday when she crashed in straight sets to Petra Kvitova at the WTA Finals in Singapore.

The Russian superstar needed a win to have any chance of overtaking top-ranked Serena Williams but she blew up in spectacular fashion as Kvitova won 6-3, 6-2 in 75 minutes.

It was the second upset in quick succession at the season finale after Simona Halep stunned Williams 6-0, 6-2 on Wednesday, the 18-time Grand Slam-winner’s worst defeat in 16 years.

Kvitova’s first win over Sharapova since 2011 also left the Russian’s bid for a second year-end title — a decade after the first — hanging by a thread after her opening defeat to Caroline Wozniacki.

Earlier, Wozniacki beat Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 7-5, 6-3 to take top position in the White Group round robin as the resurgent Dane neared a spot in the semi-finals.

Sharapova won the first two games against Kvitova but then went to pieces as the Wimbledon champion won the next five straight and took the first set 6-3.

Another run of five games put Kvitova on the verge of victory before Sharapova finally earned a break of her own, and then saved two match points as she clung on in a 10-minute hold of serve at 5-1 down.

However, her resistance was broken when on the third match point, Kvitova blasted a magical looping forehand which landed on the baseline and beyond the crestfallen Russian.

Wozniacki took more than three hours to beat Sharapova on Tuesday and another long match looked likely when she fought with Radwanska in a tight opening set which featured five breaks of serve.

But the super-fit former world number one, who is training for the New York marathon, raced through the second set to step towards her first semi-final at the year-ender since 2009.

“I knew from the start that this wasn’t going to be an easy match,” Wozniacki said.

“I came out there a little bit nervous, but you know, I just did my best out there,” added the world number eight.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Halep gives Serena Williams a ‘bagel’ at WTA Finals

SINGAPORE — Simona Halep beat two-time defending champion Serena Williams 6-0, 6-2 at the WTA Finals on Wednesday, with the American’s two games won equaling her career worst.

The last time Williams managed to win just two games in a WTA Tour or grand slam match was in 1998 when she was just 16. 

Halep had never before beaten a top-three ranked opponent and in her previous two matches against Williams, both last year, she had won an aggregate of just seven games.

The Romanian, who also won convincingly against Eugenie Bouchard in her opening round-robin match, moves to a 2-0 record in the Red Group while Williams slips to 1-1.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Serena Williams into French Open second round

PARIS — Defending champion and top seed Serena Williams reached the French Open second round on Sunday with a 6-2, 6-1 win over French wildcard Alize Lim.

Williams will face either compatriot Grace Min or Spain’s Gabrine Muguruza for a place in the third round where she could play big sister Venus.

Venus Williams began her campaign with a 6-4, 6-1 win against Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic.

source: sports.inquirer.net