WTA

Wimbledon: Bouchard beats Halep for her 1st major final

Published

9 years ago

03/07/2014

TENNIS WIMBLEDON 2014 – Third time is the charm for Eugenie Bouchard as she finally wins her 3^rd major semifinal match to get to her 1^st major final. She beat Simona Halep in straight sets 7-6 6-2 to face Petra Kvitova in the final of the 2014 Wimbledon. Cordell Hackshaw

Results, Order of Play, Draws and Interviews from The Championships

Both Simona Halep (3) and Eugenie Bouchard (13) have the best record in majors this year on the women’s tour at 15-2. These two youngsters have done better at the majors than Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska and Maria Sharapova as neither Halep nor Bouchard has lost before the quarterfinal stage. Now today, they were facing each other for a place in their first Wimbledon final and distinguish herself solely as the best at majors. Although Halep has made a major final recently at the French Open, it was Bouchard who showed herself more adept to this major pressure, handling all the distractions of the match as she took it 7-6⁵ 6-2. “I’m happy to get to my first Grand Slam final. It’s very exciting. It’s what I’ve worked so long … I’m just proud of myself for today’s effort,” Bouchard said.

Bouchard held serve to open the match and Halep responded by winning her first service game. The Romanian went on to break Bouchard when the Canadian’s forehand went long. Halep attempted to consolidate the break to edge ahead 3-1 but Bouchard broke her immediately to level it 2-2. In her attempt to chase down one of Bouchard’s shots, Halep appeared to have turned her ankle and had to be treated by the trainer. She played on with a taped ankle. Both players were making valiant attempts to break the other. Several times, Halep would get a 0-30 lead but could go no further as Bouchard produced some big time serving and got herself out of trouble. Bouchard for her part got break points in the 8^th game which if converted would have had her serving for the set 5-4 but Halep too produced the big serves to stay even.

The tiebreaker would be the decider. In the opening points for the tiebreaker, neither player won points on their serve. Up 3-2, Halep about to serve, a spectator fell ill presumably from heat exhaustion and this delayed play for 5 minutes. Upon resumption of play, Halep won her first service point on serve for 4-2. She would be deflated from here on end. Bouchard came up with the necessary goods to win the next 5/6 points. She was now had a set lead 7-6⁵.

Like the first women’s semifinal, the winner of the 1^st set took complete charge of the 2^nd set and the loser, seemingly capitulated. After 1-1, Halep seemed to have lost her way in the match. She looked passive throughout. She gave up on shots and began making careless errors and double faults at very inopportune times including on break point. “[I]n second set I lost my energy and I couldn’t believe anymore that I can finish the match in the right way for me,” Halep said after the match. Bouchard was soon up 5-1 and she was definitely swinging confidently. The Canadian had three match points on Halep’s serve but failed to convert them. It seemed as though the nerves were getting to her. Serving for the match 5-2, Bouchard would need three more match points in order to finally close out the match 7-6 6-2.

It was a bad day for Halep it seems. Each time she had the momentum, something came up in the match. She later spoke of these instances; the injury, “I felt a big pain in the moment, but then was better with the tape. But still I couldn’t push anymore in my leg. My first serve was really bad after that … [I]t was difficult to continue with another injury.” As for the distraction in the breaker, she mentioned that she lost her concentration at this time and eventually the set. However, Bouchard stayed focus throughout and was definitely the better player of the day. She won 74% of her 1^st serve points compared to Halep who was only winning 54%. Despite them both making 23 errors in the match, Bouchard had 20 winners as opposed to Halep with 13. As for her match up against Petra Kvitova in Saturday’s final, Bouchard had this to say, “I think it will be my toughest match yet. I’m looking forward to the challenge … [S]he obviously likes the grass and has some good weapons, so I will be ready for those. I’ll try to impose my own weapons and game against her. I think we’ll both be going at it, which will make for a very good, you know, match.”

Related Topics:Eugenie Bouchard Simona Halep Wimbledon

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Eugenie Bouchard: “It's very exciting. It's what I've worked so long for. I'm just proud of myself”

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Barbora Krejcikova Does The Double In San Jose

Published

1 week ago

17/09/2023

Adam Addicott

After what has been a challenging past few weeks on the Tour, Barbora Krejcikova has returned to the winner’s circle by claiming both the singles and doubles titles at the San Diego Open.

The world No.13 battled to a marathon 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, win over Sofia Kenin in what was a clash of the former Grand Slam champions. Krejcikova was pushed to her limits throughout the two-and-a-half-hour clash with there being no break in the decider until the final game. It is the second singles title the Czech has won on the WTA Tour this season after Dubai and her seventh overall.

“Normally I wouldn’t be here,” said Krejcikova, who received a wild card to play in the tournament “I really want to thank them (the tournament organisers). It was very special. I really enjoyed my stay here.”

Krejcikova’s run to the trophy has also seen her score wins over Beatriz Haddad Maia and Danielle Collins earlier in the week. She is the first player from her country to win the tournament.

Following on from that triumph, the 27-year-old then clinched the doubles title alongside compatriot Katerina Siniakova. The duo beat Collins and Coco Vandeweghe 6-1, 6-4.

Krejcikova came into San Jose on a four-match losing streak which started at Wimbledon where she was forced to withdraw from her secound round clash due to a left leg injury.

“I came here with not really good statistics after my injury, I didn’t actually win any matches,” she said. “So I just came here and I pretty much was hoping and believing that I could get the first win and go from there. It’s pretty special to be sitting here having won [the title].”

It is only the second time in Krejcikova’s career that she has won both the singles and doubles titles at the same event. The first time she did so was at the 2021 French Open where her partner in the doubles was also Siniakova.

Focus

Ex-No.1 Ash Barty Stands By Retirement Decision

Published

2 weeks ago

15/09/2023

Adam Addicott

Ashleigh Barty (AUS) playing against Angelique Kerber (GER) in the semi-final of the Ladies' Singles on Centre Court at The Championships 2021. Held at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Day 10 Thursday 08/07/2021. Credit: AELTC/Jed Leicester

Despite the growing number of players returning to competitive tennis after giving birth, Ash Barty says she is contempt in retirement.

Barty, who is still only 27 years old, stunned the sport at the start of 2022 when she announced her retirement from the sport just weeks after winning the Australian Open. She has won 15 WTA titles during her career with three of them being at Grand Slam tournaments. She also held the world No.1 spot for 121 weeks and earned more than $23.8M in prize money.

The Australian returned to the media limelight on Friday by attending a special event to announce the return of the Brisbane International next year. It will be the first time the tournament has been held since the COVID pandemic with the women’s draw being increased from 32 to 48. However, no such changes will be made to the men’s draw. There will be a record prize money pool of AUS$3.1M.

For those hoping that Barty might have a change of heart and return to competitive action at her home event in Brisbane, they are going to be disappointed.

“I don’t have the time – I don’t have the time to train, I don’t have the time to prepare, and I have so many great memories out on this court, and now I just get to create new memories,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Barty as saying.

“I’m certainly not coming out of retirement. Pat (Rafter) may be more likely than me.”

Earlier this year Caroline Wozniacki announced her return to tennis following a three-year retirement from the sport. Despite playing in only two WTA tournaments beforehand, she reached the fourth round of the US Open where she was defeated by Coco Gauff who went on to win the title. Meanwhile, Elina Svitolina returned to the Tour following the birth of her first child and reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon.

Barty has previously said she would like to remain involved in tennis by helping support the rising stars of the game in her home country. Currently, Australia doesn’t have any players in the top 100 on the women’s Tour. In contrast, there are nine Australians in the top 100 on the men’s Tour.

“It’s depth, you have to play at your top level, you have to be consistent across a 52-week calendar to keep your ranking up with the top of the world,” she said.
“I think it’s exciting for the women’s game, it creates hunger, passion and drive for girls wanting to be the best and knowing there’s an opportunity to take that top spot.
“There’s obviously not as many girls in the top 100 as we would like, but there’s plenty coming through that are learning their craft, developing.
“It takes time to understand how you think you can fit in, how you think you can grow into your play. I’m excited for the next five or 10 years to see where they can get to.”

The Australian tennis season will begin on December 29th with the United Cup. A mixed-team competition that will be held in Sydney and Perth. Two days later, the first singles events in Brisbane and Adelaide will get underway.

The 2024 Australian Summer of Tennis calendar

United Cup
Venue: Perth – RAC Arena, Sydney – Ken Rosewall Arena
Group Stage – 29 December 2023 to 5 January 2024
Finals – 6 to 7 January 2024, more details to be announced soon
Category: ATP / WTA international mixed team competition

Brisbane International
31 December 2023 to 7 January 2024
Venue: Queensland Tennis Centre, Brisbane
Category: WTA 500 / ATP 250
Draw size: WTA – 48 singles / 24 doubles; ATP – 32 singles, 24 doubles

Canberra International
31 December 2023 to 6 January 2024
Venue: Canberra Tennis Centre, Canberra
Category: ATP Challenger 125 / WTA 125
Draw size: ATP – 32 singles, 16 doubles; WTA – 32 singles, 16 doubles

Adelaide International
8 to 13 January 2024
Venue: The Drive, Adelaide
Category: WTA 500 / ATP 250
Draw size: WTA – 32 singles, 16 doubles; ATP – 28 singles, 24 doubles

Hobart International
8 to 13 January 2024
Venue: Domain Tennis Centre, Hobart
Category: WTA 250
Draw size: 32 singles, 16 doubles

AO Opening Week, including Australian Open qualifying (8 to 12 January)
8 to 14 January 2024
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne
Category: Grand Slam
Draw size: Q128 singles

Australian Open
15 to 28 January 2024
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne
Category: Grand Slam
Draw size: 128 singles, 64 doubles

Latest news

The WTA Tour In 2024 Should Be Even Stronger

Published

2 weeks ago

10/09/2023

James Beck

Cori Gauff - Australian Open 2023 (Twitter @AustralianOpen)

To Aryna Sabalenka, every shot seems to be a go-for-it.

The two Grand Slam champions in Sunday’s U.S. Open men’s final would say, “Thank you” for a similar approach by their opponent. But Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev don’t play that game often.

They play to win. Sabalenka didn’t, although she wanted so badly to earn her second Grand Slam title this year.

COCO PLAYED TO WIN

Coco Gauff also played to win, once she got past a one-sided first set. Sabalenka kept going for it, and the world’s new No. 1 player paid the price in a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to young Coco Gauff.

So, what happens now? Obviously, Sabalenka and Gauff will lead the way as the best women’s players in the game . . . for now.

Where does French Open champ and former world’s No. 1 Iga Swiatek fit? Wimbledon titlist Marketa Vondrousova, Jessica Pegula, 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, Ons Jabeur and yes, Karolina Muchova fit into WTA Tour stars led by Sabalenka and Gauff?

WTA TOUR SHOULD BE EVEN BETTER IN 2024

The 2024 women’s season is sure to be an exciting one. Any of these eight players could turn out to be superstars by this time next year.

Or it might be that there are simply too many equals in the women’s game, or maybe not enough stability at the top of the game. Superstars are important to a tour.

What would the ATP Tour have looked like without Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal all winning Grand Slams about the same time?

Gauff has been amazing since returning from Europe to the U.S., going 16-0 in the U.S. and suffering her only loss in Canada to doubles partner Pegula.

GAUFF MOVING UP TO THIRD

Gauff is projected to climb three spots in the WTA rankings to No. 3.

But Saturday was the dream come true for the 19-year-old. She simply outplayed the hard-hitting Sabalenka in the last two sets.

Just as Medvedev’s victory over Carlos Alcaraz was set up by Medvedev’s amazing defense, running down practically everything Alcaraz had to offer, Gauff’s victory was secured by her ability to repeatedly chase down what looked like Sabalenka winners.

Gauff usually kept running down Sabalenka’s missiles until the Belarussian missed the court.

James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award. 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.