This Week In Tennis

In cased you missed it; here is a summary of the week’s biggest tennis stories.

1.   The WTA makes History

This past Wednesday, the Women’s Tennis Association and Media Company, PERFORM, signed the largest media rights contact in the history of women’s sports. In addition to being the largest media rights agreement in women’s sports history, the ten-year, $525 million agreement is the largest live media and production endeavor for the WTA. The WTA, with the creation of WTA Media will look to expand the amount of premium content for fans around the world. Most importantly, the WTA will be broadcasting all 2,000 main draw matches, which dwarfs the 450 matches currently broadcasted for fans. The deal is set to begin in 2017 and run through 2026.

2.    Radwanska names ‘Supercoach’

Last week I reported Agnieszka Radwanska would be adding a high-profile coach to her camp for the 2015 season. On December 8^th, the 25-year-old Pole stated she would be coached by tennis-legend Martina Navratilova. The 18-time grand slam champion will work alongside Radwanska’s long-time coach Tomasz Wiktorowski. Navratilova becomes the latest former player to make the transition to coach. Last season, former players Michael Chang and Stefan Edberg had successful starts to their coaching careers working with Kei Nishikori and Roger Federer.       

3.    Keys Makes Coaching Change

Less than a week after I reported Madison Keys hiring Wim Fissette as her new coach, the 19-year-old American has made a coaching change. Keys will instead add Jon Leach, the husband of Lindsay Davenport, to her coaching team. The partnership developed after the American spent time hitting with Leach while Davenport recovered from foot surgery. Being parents of four young children, Davenport and Leach will work with Keys at the bigger WTA events. At some point, another coach will be added to travel to the smaller tournaments. Madison Keys is the third-highest ranked American at No. 30.  

4.    Junior Report: Cici Bellis Year-End No. 1

As a result of her quarterfinal victory at the Orange Bowl this past Friday, 15-year-old Cici Bellis clinched the year-end No. 1 junior ranking. This marks the second time in three years that an American girl finished the year as the top junior player. In 2012, Taylor Townsend became the first American girl in nearly three decades to accomplish this feat. At this year’s U.S. Open, Bellis won the hearts of U.S. fans with her inspiring opening-round performance against Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova. The American became the youngest player since Anna Kournikova in 1996 to win a main draw match at a major.

This Week In Tennis

Here is a brief summary of the top stories in women’s tennis this past week.

1.    Keys Hires Fissette

The 19-year-old American has hired coach Wim Fissette, who recently ended his partnership with Simona Halep. Fissette will be working alongside another fresh acquisition to the Keys camp, 2014 Hall-of-Fame inductee, Lindsay Davenport. Keys made huge strides in the past season, capturing are first WTA title in Eastbourne, and reaching a career-high ranking of 27 in July. Fissette will be traveling with Keys internationally, while Davenport will be in the coaching box when Keys competes domestically.    

2.    Radwanska Makes New Hire

Agnieszka Radwanska is another player who will be adding a high-profile coach to her camp. In the past year, we have seen tennis legends Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, and Amelie Mauresmo step out of retirement, and into the coaching box for Federer, Djokovic and Murray respectively. Even though the world number six has yet to disclose the name of this ‘supercoach,’ the Pole did state that the person is a former grand slam champion. 

  

3.    Wuhan 2015: Bigger and Better

The premier-level tournament, which made its WTA Tour debut in September, has promised to be bigger and better in 2015. The tournament plans on building a massive 15,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof for the 2015 edition of the event. The tournament organizers look to continue the success of its 2014 debut, which saw over 75,000 fans attend the week long event.

The image below of displays the new stadium in comparison to the 2014 center court.

4.    Legendary Tennis Selfie

Over the past few weeks the International Premier tennis league has been host to top male and female players like Roger Federer and Serena Williams. As the players enjoy the team-formatted competition, the players are documenting their experience with selfies including some of the game’s greats. Below is just one example of the incredible photos taken by players during the IPTL. Thank you Daniela Hantuchova for providing fans with the awesome pic!

Thanks for reading. You are now up to date on all things tennis. Until next time!

2014 Review: Serena Reigns Supreme

Coming off one of the greatest seasons in WTA history, Serena Williams was on the verge of what seemed like an unreachable achievement. Williams’ triumph at the U.S. Open in 2013 put the world number one was just one grand slam title away from tying Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova mark of 18 majors. With all eyes on the then 32-year-old American, the question arose whether Williams can overcome the pressure.

In the first half of the 2014 season, Williams was clearly affected by the overwhelming pressure to capture number 18. The world number one suffered shocking losses to players like Alizé Cornet (No. 24; Wimbledon), Garbiñe Muguruza (No. 35; French Open), and Jana Cepelova (No. 78; Charleston). As shocking as these losses were, it was the manner in which she lost these matches that left the tennis world scratching their heads.

Williams’ loss to Muguruza at Roland Garros marked the worst grand slam loss of her career, winning only four games in the 64-minute encounter. However, no loss was more puzzling than her third-round loss to Cornet at Wimbledon. After capturing the first-set of the rain-delayed match, Williams crumbled from not only the pressure of tennis fans, but also the pressure she was putting on herself. 

At the start of the U.S. Open Series, many were uncertain whether Williams, who collected four grand slam titles in the past two years, would capture her first major of the season in New York. Initially, the pressure to win the U.S Open title still plagued the world number one. However, the uncharacteristic move to play three consecutive tournaments leading into the year’s final major helped the American rediscover her dominant form. As a result, Williams looked poised to finally capture her 18^th grand slam title, in front of her home crowd.

Throughout the fortnight, Serena Williams exhibited a pressure-free demeanor, which typically spells trouble for the rest of the field. En-route to the final, the world number one dropped only 22 games, never losing more than three games in a set. In the final, Williams faced the resurgent Caroline Wozniacki. Being on the verge of her sixth U.S. Open title and 18^th major title, one would have expected Williams to exhibit signs of nerves. However, Williams, who had two tough three-setters against Wozniacki prior to the U.S. Open, seemed un-phased by the enormity of the moment. Unlike the two previous U.S. Open finals, which were dramatic three set matches, this encounter was routine for the world number one, 6-3 6-3.

As the backhand sailed along, Williams was overcome with joy. In a season where the 32-year-old showed great vulnerability, Williams persevered, and exhibited the heart of a champion. Williams’ ability to regroup following several disheartening losses parallels those of Mariano Rivera and Muhammad Ali. The world number one finished the season with seven titles; including Miami, Rome, the WTA Finals, and most importantly the U.S. Open.

Hope you enjoyed my blog. Throughout the month of December, I will be keeping you up to date on all things tennis, as well as review the biggest stories of the 2014 season.