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Martina Hingis Returns To No. 1 Doubles Ranking – Passing Shots With Kevin Craig

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by Kevin Craig

@KCraig_Tennis

  • Bob and Mike Bryan are the No. 3 seeds in the men’s doubles draw at the 2016 Australian Open. The last time the Bryans were seeded lower than No. 2 at a grand slam was at the French Open in 2005, where they would go on to make the final.
  • American Nicole Gibbs was able to qualify for the main draw of the Australian Open without dropping a set. In her three matches, Gibbs was able to win more than half of her return points, 52 percent, allowing her to break her opponents 15 times total.
  • Viktor Troicki was able to defend his title in Sydney, defeating Grigor Dimitrov 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(7). Troicki became the first man to win back to back titles in Sydney since James Blake did so in 2006 and 2007. Prior to his loss in the final, Dimitrov had won 11 consecutive deciding set tiebreakers. The last time Dimitrov had lost a deciding set tiebreak before this was in 2012 against Donald Young in Memphis. The man who holds the record for most deciding set tiebreakers won consecutively is Carlos Moya with 17.
  • In the Simona Halep – Svetlana Kuznetsova semifinal match in Sydney, Halep was able to win almost every statistical category, yet she lost the match. Kuznetsova won 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3, despite winning five less points than Halep did. Kuznetsova went on to win the title, defeating Monica Puig in straight sets in the final.
  • The doubles team of Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won their 30th match in a row by defeating Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in the final in Sydney. The longest win streak by a women’s doubles team is held by Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova at 44. With the title, Hingis will join Mirza as co-No. 1 doubles players, seeing Hingis return to No. 1 in the rankings for the first time since 2000.
  • Also in Sydney, Teymuraz Gabashvili was able to make his first ATP semifinal after going 0-16 in ATP quarterfinal matches to start his career.
  • Mikhail Youzhny won his second challenger tournament in a row, defeating Adam Pavlasek in Bangkok, 6-4, 6-1. The win will boost Youzhny back into the Top 100 after having been outside of the Top 150 as recently as November of 2015.
  • Three tournaments in the United States have taken place on the futures circuit in 2016 so far, and each event has seen a different American teen reach the final. Stefan Kozlov won in Los Angeles in the first week of the season, while Tommy Paul won in Plantation and Michael Mmoh lost the final in Long Beach in the second week.
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis

I Love the 90s: A Reflection on Two Teen Phenoms

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The teen phenoms hit their peak when Martina Hingis and Venus Williams met in the finals of the 1997 US Open (photo credit: espnW).

The year was 1994. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) had just been established. Groups like Weezer and Green Day dominated the airwaves. The Lion King was released and quickly became the highest grossing animated film of all time.
Oh, and a pair of 14 year olds, Martina Hingis and Venus Williams began their careers as professional tennis players.
Snuck onto the WTA Tour before the now infamous Jennifer Capriati Age Eligibility Rule was adopted, Hingis and Williams were the sport’s last prepubescent prodigies. In a class all their own, the two young women could not have been more different. Martina, named for compatriot and living legend Navratilova, was the Swiss Miss of the international junior circuit. At 12 years old, she won the French Open girls’ title, defending it a year later and picking up a Wimbledon title along the way. Thrashing opponents years her senior, Hingis played a grown up game within a child’s frame, one that barely scratched 5’7″. Far from a baseline aggressor, Martina preferred to light up the court with cunning variety and flawless shot selection.
Across the Atlantic was Williams, whose father Richard taught her and her sister, Serena (perhaps you’ve heard of her) the sport with thanks to instructional VHS tapes and gang-infested Compton courts. Making school a priority, Richard kept his daughters stateside and entered them solely in USTA events. Venus went undefeated in 63 matches, setting a precedent on a soil she would come to dominate as a senior. Where Martina represented a keen tennis brain and sharp instincts, Venus was raw talent and natural athleticism. Statuesque and 6’1″, she was known for possessing a powerful, well, everything. The young American was breaking records for serve speeds as a teenager, and helped usher in the era of Big Babe Tennis that persists to this day.
In the mid-90s, while Venus broke records with her serve, Martina wrote her name in the record books simply by winning. At 15, she became the youngest-ever Slam champion, taking the 1996 Wimbledon doubles crown with veteran Helena Sukova. A year later, she became the undisputed queen of the tour, falling one match shy of the Grand Slam and began a reign atop the rankings that was largely uninterrupted for the next four years.

Venus reached her first Slam final that same year, falling to Martina in Flushing. At the time, she was no match for her rival’s fully-developed game. But while the American made steady improvements, fine-tuning her power game to match the consistency of those ranked above her, injuries tended to derail her cause, most notably when she succumbed to cramps against Hingis at the same event two years later.
As she was getting her legs massaged by the trainer, Hingis put a towel on the ground so she could lie on the court with her feet up.
It is a scene that is just so Martina. Once quoted as saying she was a “player, not a worker,” the Swiss superstar was a young woman to whom much (perhaps too much) came easily. Her consistent style meant she could compensate for a powderpuff serve, the biggest weakness in her game, relatively speaking. While those around her got fitter and tougher, Martina laid back with her feet up, never losing that signature wry grin. And why shouldn’t she have? She was assured of a Hall of Fame career by the age of 18.
Sure enough, Hingis was elected to the illustrious Interantional Tennis Hall of Fame on Monday, a class of 2013 for which, once again, she seems too young. While her powerful, injury-prone contemporary once looked more likely to be the proverbial flash in the pan, it was Hingis herself who burned out at 22, made a comeback at 25 only to retire for good at 27. Even in her much anticipated mid-2000s comeback, it was apparent that she had failed to make the necessary changes to compete with what had become the game’s best. The comparative lack of success meant, for Hingis, an exponential decrease in desire.
By comparison, Venus has become the posterwoman for overcoming adversity. Over almost two decades on tour, she not only became a great champion (though her head-to-head with Hingis ended at 11-10 in the Swiss’ favor), but also an ambassador for her sport and an inspiration to all who have seen her battle and conquer Sjogren’s Syndrome, a debilitating autoimmune disease, to win a fourth Olympic gold medal last summer in London. Who could have predicted the way this story would end? Certainly no one in the 90s.
Though firmly entrenched among the game’s legends, what would Hingis give to go back?

As Serena Slips, Razzano Regains Footing

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Virginie Razzano has struggled to follow up her inspiring win over Serena Williams, but has posted some encouraging results close to the site of her infamous victory.

There are precious few constants on the WTA Tour, but one bizarre set of coincidences seems to point towards an inverse proportion in the careers of Serena Williams and her nemesis, Virginie Razzano. For much of the last decade, the Frenchwoman has made her biggest strides while Serena was struggling beneath some of her career’s stickiest situations.
At the 2006 US Open, Razzano upset Martina Hingis to reach the second week of a Slam for the first time. On the same half of the draw, Serena was laboring through thanks to a wildcard that compensated for an injury-deflated ranking. Days before Razzano reached her career high of 16 in 2009, Serena lost her cool and the US Open semifinal to Kim Clijsters on a point penalty.
Most of us remember when these two very different players clashed at last year’s French Open, the shockingly momentous occasion that it was. For Razzano, it was her first French Open main draw win since she lost her fiancé and coach, Stephane Vidal, to a brain tumor. For Serena, it was her first-ever first round loss at a major tournament, one that catalyzed a crisis of confidence that saw her pair with Patrick Mourataglou and tear through the second half of 2012.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUjCpQ1JBwM&w=560&h=315]
As Serena soared, Razzano faltered, winning only two more WTA matches for the rest of the year. Already in the midst of an injury-induced tailspin at the time of their infamous encounter, the Frenchwoman’s slump reached its nadir when she failed to qualify for this year’s Australian Open. It was the first time she had even been forced to play Slam qualies since 2004.
But as everything seemed to go wrong for Williams over a traumatic fortnight that featured no less than three separate injuries, one could not help but think of what had happened to the last architect of the American powerhouse’s discontent. As it turns out, she was simply biding her time for another Serena meltdown to make her move. Playing in qualifying on home turf, Razzano bulldozed the field at the Open GDF Suez event in Paris, most notably taking out Dutch star Kiki Bertens in three sets.
Should she beat a fellow qualifier in the first round, the Frenchwoman would get a crack at struggling No. 1 seed Sara Errani, who also lost her opening singles match in Melbourne (albeit in the main draw).
For all her Serena-related notoriety, Virginie Razzano is quite a tennis player in her own right; with an all-court game, the Frenchwoman has excelled on every surface and, in addition to Serena, has wins over multiple Slam finalists, including Dinara Safina, Vera Zvonareva and Elena Dementieva. An engaging and endearing personality, she earned numerous fans for the courage she displayed in fulfilling her dying fiancé’s last wish for her to continue playing in his memory.
Serena too has dealt with her share of tragedy; no moment in her career has been more poignant than when she dedicated her improbable 2007 Australian Open win to murdered half-sister Yetunde Price. On the wrong end of incidents like “The Hand” and “The Shot Seen Round the World”, it’s hard to argue that the American household name with the Hall-of-Fame career has truly had it all her own way.
Does Serena really have to be at her worst for Virginie to play her best? Obviously not. But it is strange to think that two women, already inexorably linked thanks to one of the strangest matches in French Open history, might be a little more connected than we thought.

Agassi Tops McEnroe, But Sportimes Beat Lobsters in World Team Tennis

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NEW YORK – On a night full of Marquee players, Martina Hingis stood tallest, winning her singles, doubles and mixed doubles matches to lead the NY Sportimes to a 22-18 World TeamTennis victory over the Boston Lobsters Thursday at Sportime Randall’s Island.
Boston’s doubles team of Jan-Michael Gambill and Eric Butorac topped Robert Kendrick and Jesse Witten, 5-3, to give the Lobsters the early lead.  Hingis and Ashley Harkleroad moved the Sportimes ahead with a 5-1 victory over Irina Falconi and Carly Gullickson-Eagle for an 8-6 N.Y. edge.
In the singles matchup of Marquee Players, Andre Agassi of the Lobsters (3-5) edged John McEnroe in a 5-4 tiebreak.  Then in mixed doubles, McEnroe and Hingis teamed to upend Agassi and Gullickson-Eagle, 5-3, for a 17-14 New York advantage.
The match came down to the women’s singles event, and Hingis was again up to the task, defeating Falconi, 5-4, for the final margin.
Proceeds from tonight’s match benefit  the Johnny Mac Tennis Project, McEnroe’s not-for-profit foundation to provide scholarships, coaching, transportation and other financial assistance to qualified young tennis players in the greater New York area.
The Sportimes (5-2) next visit the Philadelphia Freedoms on Friday.  Boston is off until Sunday, when they host the Sportimes at Ferncroft Country Club.
World TeamTennis
NY Sportimes 22, Boston Lobsters 18
Men’s Doubles –  Jan-Michael Gambill/Eric Butorac (Lobsters) def. Robert Kendrick/Jesse Witten, 5-3
Women’s Doubles – Ashley Harkleroad/Martina Hingis (Sportimes) def.   Irina Falconi/Carly Gullickson-Eagle, 5-1
Men’s Singles – Andre Agassi (Lobsters) def. John McEnroe, 5-4
Mixed Doubles – Hingis/McEnroe (Sportimes) def. Agassi/Gullickson-Eagle, 5-3
Women’s Singles – Hingis (Sportimes) def. Falconi, 5-4

Summer heats up in D.C. with the Washington Kastles tennis team: a win in photos

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By Romi Cvitkovic

From a grandmother doing “The Dougie,” to 2011 Washington Kastles’ tennis players receiving commemorative championship rings, to familiar D.C. faces in the crowd like Kastles’ owner Mark Ein, former D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty and current Tennis Channel commentator Brett Haber, there is something in store for every tennis fan during the Washington Kastles’ season at The Wharf in downtown D.C.
Thursday night’s home opener against the New York Sportimes marked the Kastles’ 19th straight win that stretched from last year’s perfect 16-0 season. Returning players Leander Paes,  Bobby Reynolds and Arina Rodionova, along with newcomer Anastasia Rodionova, entertained the crowd with five tight matches and energetic play, that culminated in a 20-18 win.
The evening festivities began with mixed doubles as Anastasia Rodionova and Leander Paes took on the duo of Martina Hingis and Robert Kendrick. Paes, a thirteen time men’s and mixed doubles Slam champion, carried his partner with his deft hands at net to even the score at 4-4. Tennis wouldn’t be tennis without a disputed call, and after a brief discussion with the official by the Sportimes coach, play continued — but the Sportimes had lost their momentum. Paes quickly knocked off four clean winners, including a backhand volley to seal the set, 5-4(1).
Next up was women’s doubles featuring the Rodionova sisters (the “Hot Rods”) taking on Martina Hingis and Ashley Harkleroad (the “Models”). With Hingis, a former World No. 1, and Harkleroad, a former World No. 39, the Rodionova sisters had an uphill battle. But with competitive rallies, good looks, and giggling players, it was difficult not to get energized. Arina’s serve was broken at love with a couple of unforced errors and the “Hot Rods” quickly went down 1-3. They re-grouped and broke back on Hingis’ serve but two games later, the “Hot Rods” were again broken by the “Models”, losing 3-5.
With the Sportimes leading with a score of 9-8, the men’s doubles team of Leander Paes and Bobby Reynolds kicked it into high gear over the tandem of Robert Kendrick and Jesse Witten. Reynolds, a former World No. 46 in doubles, blasted serves while Paes fed off his lead to put away easy volleys. In the blink of an eye, the Kastles’ were up 4-0 on a Sportimes team that was struggling to find their balance. Reynolds, nicknamed “The Closer” for his ability to seal the team win on the final men’s singles matches, did much the same as he served out a 5-0 win in doubles, giving the Kastles’ a 13-9 edge.
Halftime was full of spectator giveaways, quickstart tennis with Paes and Coach Murphy Jensen with two lucky young fans, as well a ring presentation for Rennae Stubbs, who was part of the 2011 Washington Kastles Championship team. The short ceremony had Coach Jensen and Paes praising Stubbs, Paes receiving a kiss from both Stubbs and Jensen(!), and Stubbs commenting on her love of the city of Washington D.C.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Iuvk0jNRQc&hd=1&w=585
After crowd applause and appreciation, the tennis action was quickly underway as Anastasia Rodionova took on Martina Hingis in the women’s singles. As Hingis hit deep into the court, Rodionova responded with wicked backhand winners to even the set out at 2-2. After failing to convert on three break points, Rodionova self-destructed hitting error after error, giving Hingis the set, 5-2.
With the score tightly standing at 15-14 for the Kastles, the concluding men’s singles match between Bobby Reynolds and Jesse Witten had a whole season riding on the outcome. Always the most intense match of the night, it didn’t disappoint as it went the distance with a tiebreaker at 4-4 and a Reynolds fistpump to the crowd. Witten, although deceptively agile and hard-hitting, couldn’t do much to hold back an energized Reynolds who reeled off three winners to go up 3-0 in the tiebreaker. After a Witten error and an unreturnable serve by Reynolds,  the Kastles “Closer” sealed the win, 20-18.
After celebratory handshakes, and exchanges of of hugs and laughs, the Kastles team huddled together on court as any team proud of winning and keeping the steak alive would.
Catch the Washington Kastles this month as they battle for another perfect season! Full schedule and for tickets, click here.
Full gallery below; credit to author.
[nggallery id=64]

Witten, Hingis Lead NY Sportimes Past Philadelphia Freedoms, 22-16, In World TeamTennis

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NEW YORK – Jesse Witten and Martina Hingis each won a singles and doubles match as the NY Sportimes defeated the Philadelphia Freedoms, 22-16, in World TeamTennis action at Sportime Stadium on Randall’s Island Friday night.
The doubles team of Robert Kendrick and Witten ralled for at 5-3 win in the opening set, winning five of the last six games to top Luka Gregorc and Jordan Kerr.  Hingis then won a singles match over Kristyna Pliskova and mixed doubles with Kendrick, both by 5-3 counts, to lift the Sportimes’ advantage to 15-9.
But Philadelphia battled back behind twins Kristyna and Karolina Pliskova, who beat Hingis and Ashley Harkleroad, 5-2, to trim the Freedoms’ deficit to 17-14.
Witten completed the scoring with a 5-2 singles win over Gregorc for the final margin.

Jesse Witten
Jesse Witten

The Sportimes (2-1) visit the Kansas City Explorers on Sunday and Sacramento Capitals on Monday before returning to Randalls Island on Wednesday for a rematch vs. Philadelphia.  The Freedoms (1-2) host Springfield Saturday at Villanova. For more info, go to www.NYSportimes.com
World TeamTennis
NY Sportimes 22, Philadelphia Freedoms 16
Men’s Doubles – Robert Kendrick / Jesse Witten (Sportimes) def. Luka Gregorc/Jordan Kerr, 5-3
Women’s Singles – Martina Hingis (Sportimes) def. Kristyna Pliskova, 5-3
Mixed Doubles – Hingis/Kendrick def. Kerr/Karolina Pliskova
Women’s Doubles – Pliskova/Pliskova def. Ashley Harkleroad/Hingis, 5-2
Men’s Singles – Witten def. Gregorc, 5-2

Hingis Leads NY Sportimes Past Springfield In World TeamTennis Opener

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NEW YORK – The NY Sportimes opened their World TeamTennis season with a 22-14 victory over the visiting Springfield (Mo.) Lasers at Sportime Stadium on Randall’s Island.  Sportimes Marquee Player Martina Hingis won her singles, doubles and mixed doubles to pace the hosts.
The Lasers’ Amir Weintraub began the night with a decisive 5-2 singles win over Robert Kendrick.  Hingis’ 5-3 victory over Timea Babos pulled the Sportimes to within 8-7, before the doubles tandem of Kendrick and Jesse Witten downed Weintraub and Devin Britton, 5-2, to give New York a 12-10 advantage.
Hingis then teamed with Ashley Harkleroad to top Babos and Maria Sanchez, 5-3, then partnered with Kendrick to down Sanchez and Britton, 5-1, for the final margin.

Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis

Springfield (0-2) hosts the defending WTT champion Washington Kastles on Wednesday.  The Sportimes (1-0) next visit the Kastles on Thursday. The next home match for the Sportimes will be Friday, July 13 at 7 pm against Philadelphia at Randall’s Island. For ticket information, go to www.NYSportimes.com
World TeamTennis
NY Sportimes 22, Springfield Lasers 14
Men’s Singles – Amir Weintraub (Lasers) def. Robert Kendrick, 5-2
Women’s Singles – Martina Hingis (Sportimes) def. Timea Babos, 5-3
Men’s Doubles – Jesse Witten/Kendrick (Sportimes) def. Weintraub/Devin Britton, 5-2
Women’s Doubles – Ashley Harkleroad/Hingis (Sportimes) def. Babos/Maria Sanchez 5-3
Mixed Doubles – Hingis/Kendrick (Sportimes) Sanchez/Britton, 5-1

Daniela Hantuchova on beating Martina Hingis, her love for tennis and partying with Roger Federer

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Daniela Hantuchova is considered by many to be a veteran of the women’s WTA Tour in tennis. But at only 29 years old, the striking Slovakian beauty still has years left of passion for the sport. Looking chic and casual, Dani took time out of her schedule during a recent stop in Germany to answer a few questions from Tennis Grandstand. She shared her most memorable moment on court where she defeated Martina Hingis, her love for tennis and the three tennis players she would most want to party with.
After receiving the “Newcomer of the Year” award from the WTA Tour back in 2001, twelve years later, Dani is still solidly in the top 20. She has reached two doubles slam finals at the Australian and French Opens and is only the fifth women in history to win the mixed doubles championship at all four grand slams. Her first mixed doubles win came at the tender age of 18 and she won her most recent singles title in February at Pattaya City. Clearly, age doesn’t matter to a champion.
With the tennis world recently having seen a resurgence of the veterans on the women’s tour sweeping the grand slams, it is perhaps Dani’s turn for her own singles title-winning two weeks at a slam. Only time will tell, but in the meantime, enjoy the video below as she answers questions about her most memorable moment on court, her love and dedication to tennis and the three players she most wants to party with. Hint: one is Swiss, one is Polish and one is Danish! 

(video via adidas tennis)

Andre Agassi and John McEnroe World TeamTennis matchup

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Tennis Legends To Compete As Highlight Of World TeamTennis NY Sportimes vs. Boston Lobsters At Sportime Stadium; Proceeds To Benefit Young N.Y. Area Tennis Players

NEW YORK, April 30, 2012 – Tennis Hall of Famers Andre Agassi and John McEnroe and all-time great Martina Hingis will compete as part of the World TeamTennis matchup between the New York Sportimes and Boston Lobsters, the team announced today.  In a special benefit night on July 19, proceeds will go towards the Johnny Mac Tennis Project (JMTP), to provide scholarships, coaching, transportation and other financial assistance to qualified young tennis players in the greater New York area.  The evening begins at 7 p.m. at Sportime Stadium on Randall’s Island.

Andre Agassi and John McEnroe

Last year, McEnroe faced Bjorn Borg in the first JMTP benefit evening in front of a sold-out Sportimes Stadium crowd.
Johnny Mac Tennis Project recipients will attend the John McEnroe Tennis Academy, which is completing its second year at Sportime Randall’s Island. Ticket prices for the match will be $250, $150 and $60; please consult your tax advisor concerning the tax deductibility of ticket purchases.  Tickets for the Benefit night on July 19, and for additional NY Sportimes home matches on July 10, 13, 18 and 25, can be purchased by calling 1-888-WTT-NYC1 or by visiting www.nysportimes.com.
“This year’s Johnny Mac Tennis Project Night will highlight three of the most popular and exciting players ever to play the sport,” said Sportime Clubs and NY Sportimes CEO Claude Okin.  “Andre Agassi has become a notable humanitarian and ambassador for tennis as a life changing opportunity.  We are thrilled that he will be part of this great night to benefit our efforts to improve the lives of young people and young players here in New York City.”
“I’m committed to giving opportunities to youngsters in the New York area to help them reach their full potential as tennis players and as people through the Johnny Mac Tennis Project,” said McEnroe.  “This night is critical in making the JMTP a success, and getting to face Andre in a WTT match will make it even more special.”
Agassi and McEnroe met four times while active on the ATP World Tour, each winning two matches.  McEnroe won in 1986 in Stratton Mountain, Vt., and in 1989 in Dallas, while Agassi was victorious in 1988 in Los Angeles and 1992 in the semifinals at Wimbledon.
“Youth tennis and education have always been extremely important to me,” said Agassi, who won 60 career singles titles.  Among those were eight Grand Slam crowns, including wins at all four major venues.  “I am proud to support John’s program and look forward to competing against him in an exciting match on July 19.”
This will be the fifth appearance in WTT for Agassi, who previously competed for the Sacramento Capitals from 2002-2004 and the Philadelphia Freedoms in 2009.
Bahar Uttam, Owner of the Boston Lobsters, explained, “It is the Lobsters’ pleasure and honor to be supporting what Sportime and John McEnroe are doing in New York, and, of course, we are thrilled to have all-time-great, Hall-of-Famer Andre Agassi joining our team for this 2012 season WTT match.  What a great night it will be.”
The July 19 WTT match will feature Agassi and McEnroe competing against each other in both men’s singles and in doubles in the five set WTT format.  Martina Hingis will also play for the New York Sportimes that evening as McEnroe’s team member; they will be joined by veteran New York Sportimes players Robert Kendrick, Jesse Witten and Ashley Harkleroad, three of the standouts who helped the squad reach the World TeamTennis finals in 2010.
The 2012 WTT regular season runs from July 9-28, with the top two teams from both the Western and Eastern Conference advancing to the WTT Finals Weekend presented by GEICO, September 14-16, at the Family Circle Tennis Center in Charleston, S.C.
2012 SPORTIMES Home Schedule
July 10            Springfield Lasers, 7 p.m., at Sportime/Randall’s Island
(Sportimes – Martina Hingis)
July 13            Philadelphia Freedoms, 7 p.m., at Sportime/Randall’s Island
(Sportimes – Martina Hingis; Philadelphia – Ryan Harrison)
July 18            Philadelphia Freedoms, 7 p.m., at Sportime/Randall’s Island
(Sportimes – Martina Hingis)
July 19            Boston Lobsters, 7 p.m., at Sportime/Randall’s Island
(Sportimes – Hingis, McEnroe; Boston – Andre Agassi)
July 23            Washington Kastles, 7:30 p.m., at Albany/SEFCU Arena
(Sportimes – Hingis; Washington – Venus Williams)
July 24            Boston Lobsters, 7:30 p.m., at Albany/SEFCU Arena
(Sportimes – Hingis; Boston – John Isner)
July 25            Washington Kastles, 7 p.m., at Sportime/Randall’s Island
(Sportimes – Hingis, McEnroe)
Tickets for Sportimes matches are available by calling 888-WTT-NYC1 or by visitingwww.nysportimes.com.  For more information on matches in Albany, visitwww.NYSportimes.com/Albany or call 518-393-0440.
2012 Sportimes’ partners include USTA Eastern Section, GEICO, USTA, Wilson, DecoTurf, Principal Funds, SPORTIME Clubs, Tennis.com, Arizon Tennis Domes, NY Orthopedics, and Randall’s Island Park Alliance.
About the Johnny Mac Tennis Project
The Johnny Mac Tennis Project, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation whose purpose is to expose young athletes in the greater New York metropolitan area to high level, competitive tennis by raising public and private funds in order to provide scholarships to attend a non-residential tennis academy/training facility, to obtain lessons and to fund the costs and expenses associated with travel to regional, national and international tournaments and on-site coaching at such tournaments.

Bartoli Ends Azarenka’s Win Streak

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Marion Bartoli defeated Victoria Azarenka at the Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinals, snapping the Belarussian's 26-match win streak. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images North America)

With the result of the match no longer in question, tears began forming in Victoria Azarenka’s eyes. There would be no magic escape from defeat this time around.
Marion Bartoli, ranked a career-high No. 7, beat world No. 1 Azarenka 6-3, 6-3 in a convincing fashion to end the Belarussian’s 26-match win streak. The 27-year-old Frenchwoman kept Azarenka on her heels all night and won six out of 10 break points. As the match wore on, it was evident that the 22-year-old Azarenka was running out of steam. She finished the match with 16 winners to Bartoli’s 27.
“I honestly never seen her play that well,” said Azarenka, who owns an 8-3 head-to-head edge over Bartoli. “But, I mean, all the credit to her. She did an amazing job today.”
Bartoli will play fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska next in the Sony Ericsson Open semifinals. She is through to the final four in Miami for the second time (2010) and is aiming for her first final at the WTA Premier Mandatory event.
“I think the main key for me was the belief and really to step up on the court trying to win the match,” said Bartoli, the 2007 Wimbledon runner-up. “Not only thinking about how well she’s playing and everything, but really go on the court, having a game plan and try to go for my shots.”
Azarenka has been the dominant player on the WTA Tour this year. She has won four titles, including her first Grand Slam – the Australian Open – to become the top ranked player in the world. But in the quarterfinals against Dominika Cibulkova in Miami, Azarenka was forced to dig deep and fought back to emerge with a 1-6, 7-6, 7-5 victory, keeping her 2012 win streak alive. It was the longest win streak to start a year since Steffi Graf began the 1990 season with 25 wins. Five-time Grand Slam winner Martina Hingis holds the record for the longest season opening streak at 37 wins.
“What I’ve done in the last couple of months, I have to be really proud of myself,” said Azarenka. “For sure, you know, I could have maybe played better today, that’s for sure, but I gave it all I had. Physically I was just not able to do anything today. It was just not possible. You know, I’m a human, not a super woman, and I wish I could be but I’m not (smiling).”
While Azarenka will get some time to rest, Bartoli will be getting ready for Radwanska, a player she has not defeated in six tries.
“I know the stats (smiling),” said Bartoli. “But I think a first is always to happen, so maybe it’s going to be my first tomorrow. But I know it’s not going to be easy. That’s for sure. I know I will have to run a lot, a lot more forward, because I know she’s going to make a lot of dropshots. I’m going to be ready.”