WTA News and Gossip 2014

[MargaretMcAleer]

Bencic: WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2014.

Having finished 2013 at No 212 in the world, Bencic finished 2014 all the way up at No 33.And she's now been voted the WTA's Newcomer of the Year,joining some legendary names.Tracy Austin,Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario,Jennifer Capriati,Hingis,the Williams sisters,Kim Clijsters,Maria Sharapova and Caroline Woznicacki-to name a few,among the list of recipients of that award.

"It's a great honor and privilege to have been voted the WTA's Newcomer of the Year for 2014." Bencic said of the news."It has been a challenging and rewarding year for me and I hope to be able to build on my success from 2014 in the future.I have been watching top WTA players all my life and to have been able to be on the same court of the world's greatest players is a dream come true."

"I hope to make as much progress in 2015 as I did this year.Thank you for voting for me."

The WTA awards are voted for by a combination of media and fans.Bencic came out on top in both categories-she got 56 of 58 media votes and 46% of fan votes (Zarina Diyas next with 23%)

From the WTA website November 17th.

 

[tented]

Vote now: Shot of the Year

For the first time in WTA history we have broken voting into two groups.Each shot of the Month winner has been placed into one of two groups.

1. Voting for Group A and Group B will close Thursday November 20th at 11.59 ET

2. The two shots from each group that receive the most votes will then be placed into a final group

3. Final group voting opens Friday,November 21 and ends Thursday November 27th at 11.59 ET

4. The 2014 WTA Shot of the Year winner will be announced Friday,November 28th.

Go to the WTA website and register your vote for Shot of the Year in Group A and Group B.

Direct links:

http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/4296886/title/vote-now-shot-of-the-year--group-a

http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/4299458/title/vote-now-shot-of-the-year--group-b

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Eugenie Bouchard WTA Most Improved Player Of The Year In 2014.

Bouchard's 2013 was already huge-first WTA final in Osaka,finishing as the No 1 teenager,WTA Newcomer of the Year.But she took it to a whole new level in 2014,predominately at the Grand Slams,beginning with semi finals at the Australian Open and French Open.She was just the second Canadian to reach a Grand Slam semi final,after Carling Basset-Seguso,and the first to do it twice.At Wimbledon she made it all the way to the final,which made her the first Canadian,male or female,ever to reach a Grand Slam final.It also propelled her into the Top 10 at No 7 in the world,which made her the highest ranked Canadian women in history-Basset Seguso's career high was No 8.In the fall Bouchard would go as high as No 5 in the world,which made her the first Canadian,male or female,ever to break into the Top 5.Milos Raonic made it to No 6 on the ATP world tour.

The new WTA Improved Player of the Year is already looking to keep improving,too.

"I'm honored to be voted the WTA Most Improved Player of the year.Thank you for voting." she said.

"My goal is to try to improve every single day,and I feel like I did that this year.But while I'm proud of my accomplishments,I've already set new goals I want to strive to reach next year."I look forward to continuing to improve."

Bouchard id the first player born 1992 or later,on both the men's and women's side,to reach the Top 10 (she was born in 1994).She's currently the youngest player in the WTA's Top 25.

The WTA awards are voted by a combination of media and fans.Bouchard won both categories,she received 45 of 58 media votes and 49% of fan votes.(Karolina Pliskova was next with 23%)

Report from the WTA website November 18th.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

One of the WTA's own just received a very high honor indeed-Katrina Adams,a former Top 10 player in doubles,will assume the role of USTA President at the beginning of the 2015 season.Adams played on the tour between 1984 and 1999 and though she was a very strong singles player- her best Grand Slam result was the fourth round of Wimbledon in 1988-she found her calling in doubles,winning 21 WTA doubles titles and making it up to world No 8 in the team discipline.

Report from the WTA Website 18th November.

 

[special700]

When will we get the winner of the POY results.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

The world's No 1 ranked tennis player,Serena Wiliams,has been signed as the new ambassador for the Australian bra company Berlei Williams told Confidential she as a long-time fan of the brand after being initially introduced to the bras by her mother,tennis coach Oracene Price,a decade ago,when Oracene brought a Berlei bra while visiting Australia.

"I've been a fan of Berlei long before I started working with the brand.My mom discovered the brand in Myer on a trip to Australia ten years ago and I have been wearing their sports bras ever since." she told The Telegraph Sydney Confidential,while on location in Miami shooting a commercial for Berlei.

Williams-a favourite of celebrity mags thanks to her incredible figure-said stripping down to play the part of lingerie model was not an issue.

"I'm a normal women-I can get selfconscious.But I think that is just natural for women to feel that way." she said.

"In our society we're often led to believe we have to look a certain way but I have learned to be proud of my curves and to embrace them."

"It's important to love who you are and realize that you're beautiful,no matter what society says and the pressure they put on you to look a certain way."

Report from the Confidential page,Sydney Telegraph Paper.November 19th.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Lucic-Baroni WTA Comeback Player Of The Year.

After breaking through as a teen phenom in the 90s,she spent a number of years in the tennis wilderness,sidelined for the better part of a decade due to personal struggles and injuries.But a few years ago she began showing those flashes of hard hitting brilliance again,and after a dream summer this year Mirjana Lucic-Baroni has been voted WTA Comeback Player of the Year.Things didn't look so peachy going into the U.S.Open,though Lucic-Baroni was on a eight match losing streak and had fallen down to No 121,well below her 2013 year end ranking no No 104.But with unique brand of raw hitting,Lucic-Baroni who was the biggest hitter out there when she was a teenager,and is still right up there-was bound to catch fire again at some point,and that point turned out to be the U.S.Open,where she clawed her way out of qualifying and eventually made it all the way to the fourth round of the main draw,stunning then the World No 2 Simona Halep en route.The win over Halep wasn't the biggest win of Lucic-Baroni's career,but it was also one of her most emotional wins,she broke down in tears of joy during her post-match press conference.But that wasn't all-after Sara Errani finally put a stop to that winning streak,Lucic-Baroni made her way to Quebec City for the Coupe Banque Nationale and went all the way to the title,outdoing Venus Williams,in a tight 2-setter in the final to take home the third WTA title of her career.It had been 16 years and four months since Lucic-Baroni had lifted her last title at Bot in 1998,the longest gap between titles in the history of the WTA.She went home with the doubles title too.

Lucic-Baroni would finish the year at No 61 in the world,her highest year-end finish since 1999,and the Croat has now been voted by media and fans to be WTA Comeback Player of the Year.

"I am so honored and humbled to win the WTA Comeback Player of the Year award," she said.

"I want to thank every single person who voted for me and supported me all these years.I also want to thank everyone for recognizing the passion,perseverance and love I have for this sport".

"I look towards 2015 with excitement and hope for many more great results.Thank You."

The vote for the WTA Comeback Player of the Year was close-Lucic-Baroni edged Garbine Muguruza in the media vote,20 to 16.Maria Sharapova won the fan vote-48% of you picked her for this.

Report from the WTA Webiste 19th November

 

[special700]

The world's No 1 ranked tennis player,Serena Wiliams,has been signed as the new ambassador for the Australian bra company Berlei Williams told Confidential she as a long-time fan of the brand after being initially introduced to the bras by her mother,tennis coach Oracene Price,a decade ago,when Oracene brought a Berlei bra while visiting Australia.

"I've been a fan of Berlei long before I started working with the brand.My mom discovered the brand in Myer on a trip to Australia ten years ago and I have been wearing their sports bras ever since." she told The Telegraph Sydney Confidential,while on location in Miami shooting a commercial for Berlei.

Williams-a favourite of celebrity mags thanks to her incredible figure-said stripping down to play the part of lingerie model was not an issue.

"I'm a normal women-I can get selfconscious.But I think that is just natural for women to feel that way." she said.

"In our society we're often led to believe we have to look a certain way but I have learned to be proud of my curves and to embrace them."

"It's important to love who you are and realize that you're beautiful,no matter what society says and the pressure they put on you to look a certain way."

Report from the Confidential page,Sydney Telegraph Paper.November 19th.

Why did you post this? It is not new information.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

The world's No 1 ranked tennis player,Serena Wiliams,has been signed as the new ambassador for the Australian bra company Berlei Williams told Confidential she as a long-time fan of the brand after being initially introduced to the bras by her mother,tennis coach Oracene Price,a decade ago,when Oracene brought a Berlei bra while visiting Australia.

"I've been a fan of Berlei long before I started working with the brand.My mom discovered the brand in Myer on a trip to Australia ten years ago and I have been wearing their sports bras ever since." she told The Telegraph Sydney Confidential,while on location in Miami shooting a commercial for Berlei.

Williams-a favourite of celebrity mags thanks to her incredible figure-said stripping down to play the part of lingerie model was not an issue.

"I'm a normal women-I can get selfconscious.But I think that is just natural for women to feel that way." she said.

"In our society we're often led to believe we have to look a certain way but I have learned to be proud of my curves and to embrace them."

"It's important to love who you are and realize that you're beautiful,no matter what society says and the pressure they put on you to look a certain way."

Report from the Confidential page,Sydney Telegraph Paper.November 19th.

Why did you post this? It is not new information.

Well seeing I live in Sydney and I was reading that particular newspaper yesterday,it was updated news actually,seeing that Serena was doing a commercial in Miami for Berlei.

 

[Hoergren]

If you're hungry for womens tennis there is a fine promotion match tonight(Danish time):

Battle of champions in Denmark tonight at 21.00 local time - it ended 64 64 to Ivanovic.

You can see it via http://www.drakulastream.eu/tennis-live-streaming-video.html

 

[Hoergren]

This MIGHT be Caros dress for Australian Open - me thinks it's nice

And ain't that pair cute :heart:

 

[Hoergren]

Here is a really well made compilation of some of the best shots Caroline made in SIngapore - at the same time it proves how much better she's been in different ways - enjoy

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujg1DRkx40Q&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[Hoergren]

Good news for us likers of womens tennis - read this article - increase of womens tennis matches shown on TV next year - yeah:clap

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/11/wta-aims-televise-all-matches-rename-tournaments-among-other-changes/53300/#.VGyxwr6OZxs

 

[tented]

And ain't that pair cute :heart:

Adorable!

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Good news for us likers of womens tennis - read this article - increase of womens tennis matches shown on TV next year - yeah:clap

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/11/wta-aims-televise-all-matches-rename-tournaments-among-other-changes/53300/#.VGyxwr6OZxs

About time too...

 

[special700]

And ain't that pair cute :heart:

Adorable!

OMG that dog is soooooooooooooooooo cute.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Errani and Vinci: Doubles Team Of The Year.

Having finished 2013 as co-World No 1s,Errani and Vinci had targets on their backs all year and they even surrendered the top spot to Asian trail blazers,Hsieh Su-We and Peng for a few months.But all in all they handled the pressure extremely well,winning five WTA double titles-including Grand Slams at the Australian Open and Wmbledon and finishing co-World No 1s again.Their run to the title at the All England Club was a very meaningful one,as they became the fifth team in the Open Era to completed the Career Doubles Grand Slam after Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver,Kathy Jordan and Anne Smith,Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva and the William sisters.

Errani and Vinci were over the moon about Wimbledon and it came across strongly in their presser.

"It's unbelievable,I mean we have no words to tell you what this means for us," Errani said.

"Of course,we we thinking about this.We were thinking about it all day,all through the morning."

They were also asked why their partnership has been so strong and successful over the years.

"We always say that it's because we are friends outside the court," Errani said."I think this is very important.We know each other and we know how to help each other.It's definitely important when you go on court-but I also think we play very well together,and that helps too of course."

Their solidarity hasn't gone unnoticed either.Errani and Vinci are just the second team in WTA history to finish more than one season as co-No 1s together,after Cara Black and Liezel Huber,who achieved the feat three times in a row now to be exact-in 2007,2008 and 2009.

And now the Italians have been voted WTA Doubles Team Of The year for the third time,the first and second times coming in 2012 and 2013.Only three other teams in the 38-year history of this award have won three or more times,namely Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver(who won it eight times from 1981 to 1988).Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva(who won it four times in 1993,1994,1995 and1997) and Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez (three times in 2002,2003 and 2004).

Errani and Vinci won the media vote for WTA Doubles Team of The Year by a wide margin,receiving 41 of the 58 votes.They also won the fan vote-42% of you voted for the Italian Duo.

From the WTA Website 20th November.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Christopher Clarey on Twitter,

Reports that Carlos Rodgriguez,ex coach of Li and Henin,is working with Daneila Hantuchova this offseason in Beijing.Wont travel tho.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Serena Williams: WTA Player Of The Year.

It was a massive year for Serena Williams,with an historic 18th Grand Slam Title,the biggest payout in tennis history and Year End-World No 1.

"I'm really grateful and humbled to receive this award," Williams said of Friday's news."It's been an amazing year.I'm truly blessed to be playing at this level this far into my career.I feel incredibly supported by my team,my family,the tennis community and the fans.I'm just so happy-thank you!."

Halfway through the year it looked like Williams' World No 1 status might be in trouble-she had fallen early at the first three majors of the year and was down at No 6 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard.

But once the tour switched back to hard courts it's like she flipped a switch.Williams won 26 of 29 matches the rest of the season,picking up four more WTA titles at Stanford,Cincinnati,the US Open and the WTA finals,that US Open run tying her with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for second -most Grand Slam Titles in the Open Era with 18 ( Graf leads the list with 22 Grand slams).

And by winning the U.S.Open Series before that U.S.Open run,her $3 million prize money payout was boosted to $4million-the biggest payout in tennis history,men's or women's.

Perhaps the most impressive number for Williams in 2014 was she went 12-1 against Top 10 opponents,showing she brings her very best against the very best time and time again.And the only blemish in the record came against Simona Halep in the round robin portion of the WTA finals,which didn't stop her from winning the title anyway-and beating Halep back in the final.

Williams has now won WTA Playr Of The Year award six times,2002,2008,2009,2012,2013 and 2014.Only Graf (eight) and Navratilova (seven) have won it more times-in fact Graf,Navratilova and Williams' are the only three players in the 38-year history of the award to win it more than twice.

Williams was a big winner in the media vote for WTA Player Of The year,with 36 of 58 votes,Halep beat her in the fan vote,with 48% of you voting for her (Williams was next with 21%)

From the WTA website 21st November.

 

[Fefe26]

how is bouchard most improved player over Ana?