Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #2 Angelique Kerber vs Petra Kvitova

Angelique Kerber 7-6 (12-10), 5-7, 4-6 Petra Kvitova (Wuhan Open R3)

Kerber came into the match as the big favourite, especially when she just won the US Open and became the World No.1, defeating Kvitova along the way. This was Kerber’s first tournament as the new World No.1, and she would want to cement her position at the top with a strong showing in Wuhan.

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #3 Sloane Stephens vs Dominika Cibulkova

Sloane Stephens 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) Dominika Cibulkova (Acapulco Final) 

This match was Stephens’ 2^nd final of the year, having previously winning the title in Auckland earlier in January. Stephens is unbeaten in finals, having won all 2 of her finals in her career. Cibulkova, who is ranked 66^th, was a member of the Top 10 and have reached the Australian Open final in 2014 before suffering from an Achilles injury that kept her out of action for close to half a year.

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #4 Serena Williams vs Angelique Kerber

Serena Williams 4-6, 6-3, 4-6 Angelique Kerber (Australian Open Final)

Serena Williams comes into the match as the big favourite, as she goes for her 22^nd Grand Slam title against a left-handed opponent in Angelique Kerber, whom she has a 5-1 head to head record advantage over. The only time Williams faced a left-handed player in a Grand Slam final was against Lucie Safarova at the 2015 French Open, and she faced a lot of problems against Safarova. Would it be the same against Kerber? Would Kerber, participating in her 1^st ever Grand Slam final, feel the pressure?

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #5 Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Agnieszka Radwanska

Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 Agnieszka Radwanska (Singapore WTA Finals RR)

These two players had had some tough matches in the past, with their most recent encounter being in Wuhan where Kuznetsova prevailed in a 2 hours and 51 minutes thriller after saving a match point. Their head-to-head may come to as a surprise to some people, as it stands at 12-4 to Kuznetsova’s advantage. In 2 of their past 3 meetings, the winner have saved match points and won the match. Radwanska knew that in order to win this match, she had had to be more offensive and attack on the slow second serves of Kuznetsova. For Kuznetsova, it would be tough to adapt to the conditions of the Singapore Indoor Stadium Court as she only arrived in Singapore on Sunday after she triumphed in Moscow to be able to qualify for this event. However, Kuznetsova, known for her agility and good stamina, has won the most 3 set matches on the WTA Tour this year despite her age, and thus fatigue should not be of a major problem for her.

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #6 Roberta Vinci vs Agnieszka Radwanska

Roberta Vinci 6-3, 2-6, 3-6 Agnieszka Radwanska (Doha QF)

This match is definitely 1 of the best matches in the year, with both players winning more than 60 net points combined in the match, which can be considered very impressive. Both players also had more winners than unforced errors, making it feel like the points were being won than being lost.

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #7 Karolina Pliskova vs Venus Williams

Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 Venus Williams

This match was a thriller between 2 big servers and hard-hitters, with both players able to hit serves that go faster than 115 mph. Their previous encounter was in Zhuhai, where Venus Williams prevailed in a tough 2 sets battle that ended 7-5, 7-6 to capture the inaugural WTA Elite Trophy and secure her place in the Year-end Top 10 rankings last year. 

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #8 Daria Kasatkina vs Venus Williams

Daria Kasatkina 5-7, 6-4, 8-10 Venus Williams

It was a battle between youth and experience, with Kasatkina being a newbie on tour and Venus being a veteran having won 7 Grand Slams in her career. They met only once previously, with Kasatkina upsetting Venus in 3 sets at Auckland for her 1st ever Top 10 win in their first match of 2016. 

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #9 Monica Puig vs Angelique Kerber

Monica Puig 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 Angelique Kerber

Monica Puig managed to create history when she won the Olympics final against World No.2 and heavy favourite Angelique Kerber, becoming the first Puerto Rico woman to ever win a medal at the Olympics, and the first person from Puerto Rico to win a gold medal.

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #10 Karolina Pliskova vs Krisitna Mladenovic

Kristina Mladenovic 3-6, 6-4, 14-16 Karolina Pliskova (Fed Cup Final Rubber 1)

Many were shocked when the French Tennis Federation chose to play on indoors hard courts, instead of indoors clay courts, which the French players have an advantage on. The courts in Strasbourg looked pretty fast as compared to the rest of the hard court events on the tour, and that gave an advantage to Czech Republic as their crucial players like Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova are hard hitters and prefer fast surfaces. Nevertheless, the French team also has hard hitters like Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia, which makes this tie even more exciting.

The draw was conducted in a local parliament the day before, and it saw Kristina Mladenovic, the French No.2 start against the Czech No.1 and her good friend Karolina Pliskova. Following that match is the French No.1 player Caroline Garcia facing Czech No.2 and recent Zhuhai Elite Trophy winner Petra Kvitova.

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #11 Monica Puig vs Kristyna Pliskova

Monica Puig 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 9-7 Kristyna Pliskova (Australian Open R2)

Monica Puig comes into this match as the favourite, coming off her career best performance at the Sydney International, reaching the final only to suffer a one-sided loss to Svetlana Kuznetsova. While Puig has her career best performance, Kristyna Pliskova has come into the match with a shock victory over home favourite Samantha Stosur in straight sets.

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #12 Ekaterina Makarova vs Petra Kvitova

Petra Kvitova 5-7, 6-7 Ekaterina Makarova

Kvitova and Makarova faced off many times in their career, with Makarova winning their last encounter in a tough straight sets win at the Miami Open. It was a blockbuster 2^nd round encounter as both players were ranked in the Top 10 in the last year, but Makarova had some injury problems and soon fell out of the Top 10.

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #13 Victoria Azarenka vs Garbine Muguruza

Victoria Azarenka 7-6, 7-6 Garbine Muguruza (Miami R4)

This match was definitely a match to watch as it was the first ever meeting between Victoria Azarenka and Garbine Muguruza. This match-up may as well be the future main rivalry of the WTA as both players are tipped to stay at the top for many more years.

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #14 Angelique Kerber vs Karolina Pliskova

Angelique Kerber 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 Karolina Pliskova

Pliskova contested in her 1st ever Grand Slam final after a magical run which saw her defeat both the Williams sisters, and she faced the brand new World No.1 Angelique Kerber in the final. Kerber won the thrilling final to win her 2nd Grand Slam of the year and cemented her position as the World No.1. 

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #15 Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Karolina Pliskova

Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) Karolina Pliskova 

Svetlana Kuznetsova’s dream run continues after surviving a tough battle against the US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova. She came from *6-5 *30-0 down in the final set to win the match and progress to the semifinals for the first time in her career after 5 failed attempts.

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #16 Karolina Pliskova vs Garbine Muguruza

Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 7-5 Garbine Muguruza

This match saw a magnificent comeback from Karolina Pliskova, who came from 5-2 down in the final set and saved a match point in the path to the victory. With the benefit of hindsight, had Muguruza won this match, Muguruza would have a chance to progress to the semifinals.

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #17 Agnieszka Radwanska vs Dominika Cibulkova

Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 Dominika Cibulkova

This match is a thriller, seeing Radwanska coming from 5-2 down in the final set to defeat Cibulkova in 3 sets. This match also started one of the rivalries of 2016 between Radwanska and Cibulkova, which saw more 3 sets matches between them coming our way later in the season.

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #18 Serena Williams vs Simona Halep

Serena Williams 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 Simona Halep

The 2^nd set was one of the best sets during the whole year, with the sole break deciding everything and that last game could possibly be the best game of 2016, lasting for 22 points. Williams was also 0/12 on break points in the whole of the 2^nd set. 

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #19 Serena Williams vs Christina McHale

Serena Williams 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 6-4 Christina McHale

Photo by AP

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Match of the Year #20 Maria Sharapova vs Belinda Bencic

Belinda Bencic 5-7, 5-7 Maria Sharapova (Australian Open R16)

This was a blockbuster fourth round match between Sharapova and Bencic, with both players meeting for the first time in their career. Many fans have looked forward to seeing this match happening one day; with youth up against experience. Bencic, who has received a lot of spotlight despite her very young age, is the 12^th seeded player at the Australian Open while Sharapova, who used to be a teenage sensation too, is the 5^th seeded player. Sharapova managed to win her 600^th match of her career earlier in her campaign against Lauren Davis in a hard-fought 3 set match which saw Sharapova having a mid-match wobble.

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Veterans and Comeback Players to watch in 2017

-        Svetlana Kuznetsova

Photo by AFP

Kuznetsova had her resurgent season last year, qualifying for the WTA Finals and also returning to the Top 10 in the rankings. At the age of 32 next year, it would be interesting to see if Kuznetsova can still play as many tournaments and go deep in them, and if she can retain her place in the Top 10 of the rankings especially with the return of Azarenka and Sharapova.

-        Elena Vesnina

Photo by Getty Images

Vesnina is another Russian who had her resurgent season last year, with her return to the Top 30 and breaking into the Top 20 of the rankings despite starting the year outside the Top 100. Vesnina is a doubles specialist, and we would see how she would maintain her spot in the Top 20 of the rankings, and defending a huge chunk of points at tournaments like Wimbledon, coupled with playing doubles at every tournament.

-        Serena Williams

Photo by Reuters

Williams would come into the new season feeling refreshed and healthy, having not participated in any professional tournaments since the US Open. With the return of Sharapova and Azarenka, Williams definitely has more competition next year and would be motivated to play more tournaments, after playing just 8 tournaments this year.

-        Victoria Azarenka

Photo by Brisbane International

Azarenka returns to the tour as a Mother, having gotten pregnant in the middle of the season in June after Roland Garros. Many would question if Azarenka would return to her best form and play her best tennis when she returns to the court after being out for a long period of time, and especially with the close competition of the top players.

-        Maria Sharapova

Photo by AP

Sharapova returns to the professional circuit as a refreshed player, after her suspension for taking Meldonium. Sharapova has been practicing on the courts regularly as according to her social media accounts, and judging by her never-give-up attitude, Sharapova would once again be aiming to be the best when she returns to professional tennis.

-        Caroline Wozniacki

Photo by Getty Images

Wozniacki had an awesome 2^nd half of 2016, from almost dropping out of the Top 100 at the US Open to returning to the Top 20 by the year-end, which was very impressive. If she could keep the momentum going into the 1^st half of 2017, where she is not really defending many points, she can definitely return to the Top 10.

-        Jelena Jankovic

Photo by Getty Images

Jankovic had her injury problems this year which forced her out of some tournaments, and has fallen out of the Top 50 in the rankings. She had some impressive wins this year though, defeating Roland Garros champion Garbine Muguruza in Wuhan and Belinda Bencic in Dubai. She would be looking to bounce back from her poor performances in the next year, and her main goal is to definitely break back into the Top 30.  

-        Ana Ivanovic

Photo by Getty Images

Ana Ivanovic had many injury problems this year which forced her to end her season early at the US Open, but generally her season has been poor as she suffered many disappointing losses. Ivanovic has also fallen out of the Top 50 in the rankings, and she is currently on a 4-match losing streak that dates back to Wimbledon. Her only Top 10 win was over Simona Halep in Dubai, and she would want to return to the Top 10 after she dropped out from it in 2015.

-        Ekaterina Makarova

Photo by Skysports

Makarova had many injury problems in 2015, which caused her to fall out of the Top 10 despite a bright start to the season. In 2016, she failed to break back into the Top 20, after she was unable to make any deep runs at any big tournaments, losing to a higher ranked player at 14 tournaments. Makarova has the quality of a Top 10 player and consistently progressing deep in tournaments, and I would definitely be looking forward to Makarova’s 2017 season.

-        Lucie Safarova

Photo by Getty Images

Safarova started the year in the World’s Top 10, but she ended the year as the World No. 62. She only reached 1 quarterfinal this year in Prague and going on to win the title. She had 12 opening round losses this year, which is very disappointing. Safarova made a successful return to the Doubles competition, but she has not played her best tennis in the Singles competition. I would look forward to Safarova’s 2017 season to see if she can play her best tennis again and return to the Top 20.

-        Belinda Bencic

Photo by Kyoto

Winning her sole title in St. Petersburg this year, she broke into the Top 10 and looked on course for a very successful season. However, everything started going wrong for Bencic since then, due to a back injury, she fell out of the Top 40 and ended the year as the World No.43. It has been a very disappointing season other than the title and the Top 10 entry, and as a 19 year-old, she has a great future ahead of her. Let’s look at her 2017 and see if she could re-enter the Top 20 and win a title again.

Tennis.World.Craze's WTA Rising Stars to Watch in 2017

-        Daria Kasatkina

Photo by Martin Sidorjak

Kasatkina already made a breakthrough in her career this year; breaking into the Top 30 of the rankings and being the youngest player in the Top 40. She also reached the quarterfinals of Indian Wells after beating former Top 10 player Timea Bacsinszky. As a 19 year-old, Kasatkina managed to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympics, losing to Madison Keys. Kasatkina, along with Potapova, are tipped as the future of Russian Women’s Tennis, and future World No.1s.

-        Yulia Putintseva

Photo by Reuters

Putintseva often roars everyone with her loud celebrations and on-court attitude, and she has achieved some great results this year. She reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, before losing to World No.1 Serena Williams despite being up by a set and a break. Seen as a future Grand Slam winner, Putintseva is one to watch in 2017.

-        Jelena Ostapenko

Photo by WTA

Ostapenko had some great runs this year; beating Kuznetsova and Kvitova on the way to her 1^st Premier 5 final in Doha, which pulled her up in the rankings from the 80s to the 40s. Her highest ranking was 34^th in the world, and she was seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career at the French Open this year. Her mixed emotions and her on-court attitude often makes people want to watch her matches, and she has great potential to become a future Top 10 player. 

-        Naomi Osaka

Photo by Getty Images

Osaka reached the third round of every Grand Slam this year, except Wimbledon where she did not play. She had a chance to reach the fourth round of the US Open, but let a 5-1 lead in the final set evaporate against Madison Keys. She also reached her 1^st WTA Final of any kind at the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open, her home event, as a wildcard, defeating eventual WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova along the way. Osaka also won the 2015 WTA Finals Rising Star Invitational Tournament where she defeated Caroline Garcia in the final. Named the newcomer of the year by WTA, Osaka is one of the few players tipped to be a future World No.1.

-        Ana Konjuh

Photo by AP

Konjuh reached the quarterfinals of the US Open, defeating 4^th seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the 4^th round. She also won her 1^st WTA title in 2015 at the Nottingham Open. Tipped for a great future, Konjuh has relatively very little points to defend in the first half of the year, and she would be looking to rise in the rankings.

-        Catherine Bellis

Photo by Getty Images

Bellis won her 1^st WTA Title of any kind at the Hawaiian Open, a WTA 125k event. The win allowed her to break into the Top 75 in the rankings. Bellis is the youngest player in the Top 100 at the moment, and she is tipped for a great future having decided to play professionally and full-time on the tour after reaching the third round of the US Open, losing to eventual champion and World No.1 Angelique Kerber. Bellis would be the favourite to rise in the rankings next year as she would be playing on the tour full time, an opportunity to get more points. Bellis is also tipped as one of the future World No.1s. 

Tennis.World.Craze! Awards of the Year: WTA Youngster of the Year

Our Tennis.World.Craze!’s WTA Youngster of the Year is definitely……………

Tennis.World.Craze! Awards of the Year: WTA Player of the Year

Our Tennis.World.Craze!’s WTA Player of the Year is definitely……………

Tennis.World.Craze! Awards of the Year: WTA Most Improved Player of the Year

Our Tennis.World.Craze!’s WTA Most Improved Player of the Year is definitely……………

Tennis.World.Craze! Awards of the Year: WTA Comeback Player of the Year

Our Tennis.World.Craze!’s WTA Comeback player of the year is definitely……………

Tennis.World.Craze! Awards of the Year: ATP Youngster of the Year

Our Tennis.World.Craze!’s ATP Youngster of the Year is definitely……………

Tennis.World.Craze! Awards of the Year: ATP Player of the Year

Our Tennis.World.Craze!’s ATP Player of the Year is definitely……………

Tennis.World.Craze! Awards of the Year: ATP Most Improved Player of the Year

Our Tennis.World.Craze!’s ATP Most Improved Player of the Year is definitely……………

Tennis.World.Craze! Awards of the Year: ATP Comeback Player of the Year

Our Tennis.World.Craze!’s ATP Comeback player of the year is definitely……………

Tennis.World.Craze!'s ATP Match of the Year #1 Juan Martin del Potro vs Andy Murray

Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4, 5-7, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4 Andy Murray (Davis Cup Semifinal Rubber 1)

Both players meet at the net after the match. Photo by AP

No more coverage of IPTL

Hi everyone,

I am sorry to announce that there would be no more coverage of the IPTL for this year, after I decided that I should have a well-deserved break from tennis after a busy year-end! Thanks for your support during these days and come here again in 2017 for more exciting tennis news!

Don

Tennis.World.Craze!'s ATP Match of the Year #2 Milos Raonic vs Andy Murray

Milos Raonic 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (9-11) Andy Murray (ATP World Tour Finals SF)

Raonic and Murray meet at the net. Photo by Reuters

IPTL: Japan Leg Review

IPTL --> Japan Leg Review

Photo by IPTL

Tennis.World.Craze!'s ATP Match of the Year #3 Roger Federer vs Marin Cilic

Marin Cilic 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (9-11), 3-6 Roger Federer (Wimbledon QF)

Federer after the win. Photo by Guardian

IPTL Match 6 Review: Singapore Slammers vs Japan Warriors

Japan Warriors 23-27 Singapore Slammers

Jelena Jankovic 2-6 Kiki Bertens
Jean-Julien Rojer/Jelena Jankovic 6-5 Nick Kyrgios/Kiki Bertens
Marat Safin 1-6 Carlos Moya
Kei Nishikori/Fernando Verdasco 5-6 Marcelo Melo/Nick Kyrgios (Baghdatis in, Kyrgios out at 4-2)
Kei Nishikori 9-4 Nick Kyrgios

Photo by IPTL

IPTL Match 5 Review: UAE Royals vs Indian Aces

UAE Royals 30-20 Indian Aces

Thomas Johansson 6-3 Mark Philippoussis
Martina Hingis 6-4 Kirsten Flipkens
Pablo Cuevas/Martina Hingis 6-4 Rohan Bopanna/Sania Mirza
Tomas Berdych 6-3 Feliciano Lopez
Pablo Cuevas/Daniel Nestor 6-6 Rohan Bopanna/Feliciano Lopez

Photo by IPTL

Tennis.World.Craze!'s WTA 2016 Review

The 2016 WTA Season finally ended after the Year-End championships in Singapore and Zhuhai. The season was considered disappointing for many of the fans after many top players had a loss of form, and the quality of the top players are massively decreasing. The fans were once more disappointed when WTA decided to opt for a new streaming platform other than TennisTV, and then announcing that there would be no streaming services on their new “WTA Network” in the first quarter next year.

IPTL Match 4: Japan Warriors vs UAE Royals

Japan Warriors 23-20 Indian Aces

Jelena Jankovic 6-1 Martina Hingis
Jean-Julien Rojer/Jelena Jankovic 4-6 Daniel Nestor/Martina Hingis
Marat Safin 4-6 Goran Ivanisevic
Kei Nishikori/Fernando Verdasco 3-6 Pablo Cuevas/Daniel Nestor
Kei Nishikori 6-1 Tomas Berdych

Photo by IPTL

IPTL Match 3 Review: Singapore Slammers vs Indian Aces

Singapore Slammers 25-26 Indian Aces

Carlos Moya 6-4 Thomas Enqvist
Marcos Baghdatis 4-6 Feliciano Lopez
Nick Kyrgios/Marcelo Melo 6-4 Ivan Dodig/Feliciano Lopez
Marcelo Melo/Kiki Bertens 4-6 Rohan Bopanna/Sania Mirza
Kiki Bertens 5-6 Kirsten Flipkens

Photo by IPTL

The second day of action started with the tie between Singapore Slammers and Indian Aces. The slammers entered the tie with a 29-19 loss to UAE Royals, 1 game away from achieving a loss but a 6-1 loss for Kiki Bertens proved crucial in the match. Whereas it was just opposite for Indian Aces, winning all 5 sets to defeat Japan Warriors 30-17.

Season Review: Venus Williams

A lot was expected from Venus Williams after her very successful 2015. She finished 2015 with a title run in the inaugural WTA Elite Trophy held in Zhuhai, pushing her from No.11 to No.7 in the rankings to finish the year in the Top 10 of the rankings for the first time since 2010. However, she had a disappointing season this year, falling out of the Top 10 in the rankings.

Venus Williams. Photo by Reuters

IPTL Match 2 Review: Japan Warriors vs Indian Aces

Japan Warriors 17-30 Indian Aces

Kurumi Nara 2-6 Kirsten Flipkens
Jelena Jankovic/Jean-Julien Rojer 5-6 Rohan Bopanna/Sania Mirza
Marat Safin 3-6 Mark Philippoussis
Fernando Verdasco/Jean-Julien Roger 2-6 Ivan Dodig/Feliciano Lopez
Fernando Verdasco 5-6 Feliciano Lopez

Credits: IPTL

IPTL Match 1 Review: Singapore Slammers vs UAE Royals

UAE Royals 29-19 Singapore Slammers

Goran Ivanisevic 6-3 Rainer Schuettler (Carlos Moya substituted in at 4-2)
Martina Hingis 6-1 Kiki Bertens
Tomas Berdych 6-4 Nick Kyrgios
Pablo Cuevas/Daniel Nestor 6-3 Marcelo Melo/Marcos Baghdatis
Martina Hingis/Daniel Nestor 5-8 Kiki Bertens/Marcelo Melo

Credits to IPTL

Surprise Performance of the Year #1: Angelique Kerber

The biggest surprise of this year is definitely the rise of Angelique Kerber. Kerber started the season as the World No.10 who is known to be inconsistent and unreliable, but an impressive and successful year proved otherwise. She reached her first 3 Grand Slam finals, her first Olympic final, the No.1 ranking spot, and many other firsts during this year.

Kerber celebrates after winning a hard-fought point. Photo by Rick Rycroft/AP.

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2017: Top Players Announced for tournament

The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix tournament recently announced part of their line-up, with 8 of the current Top 10 players in the world attending the tournament.

Credits to Porsche

IPTL Preview

Indian Aces: Feliciano Lopez, Mark Philippoussis, Thomas Enqvist, Rohan Bopanna, Ivan Dodig, Roger Federer, Sania Mirza, Eugenie Bouchard

UAE Royals: Daniel Nestor, Goran Ivanisevic, Thomas Johansson, Pablo Cuevas, Tomas Berdych, Martina Hingis, Ana Ivanovic

Singapore Slammers: Nick Kyrgios, Carlos Moya, Rainer Schuttler, Marcos Baghdatis, Marcelo Melo, Kiki Bertens, Serena Williams

Japan Warriors: Jean-Julien Roger, Fernando Gonzalez, Fernando Verdasco, Kei Nishikori, Marat Safin, Jelena Jankovic, Kurumi Nara

IPTL logo. Credits to IPTL

WTA Surprise Performance of the Year #2: Elena Vesnina

Elena Vesnina had her resurgent season, breaking into the Top 20 and setting a new career-high ranking, and reaching her 1^st ever Grand Slam semifinal.

Vesnina in Brisbane. Photo by Getty Images

WTA Surprise Performance of the Year #3: Kiki Bertens

Kiki Bertens had the year of her life, breaking into the Top 30 for the first time in her career and reaching her first ever Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros. She also managed to help the Netherlands Fed Cup team to reach the semifinals of the Fed Cup competition, only to lose against France narrowly.

Kiki Bertens at the French Open. Photo by Getty Images

WTA Hawaiian Open: CiCi Bellis' amazing run

Catherine Bellis entered the Hawaiian Open as the No.4 seed, and coupled with a 9-match winning streak that saw her win 2 ITF $50,000 tournaments in Canada. With these 2 title runs, Bellis entered the Top 100 in the ranking for the first time, becoming the youngest player in the Top 100 of the rankings at 17 years old.

Bellis with her title in Saguenay. Photo from CiCi Bellis' instagram

Bellis with her 2nd consecutive title, in Toronto. Photo by Max Gao of VAVEL USA

Davis Cup Rubber 5 Review: Ivo Karlovic vs Federico Delbonis

Both players came into this match knowing that the winner of this match would win the tie, and the title. Therefore, this match holds a lot of meaning and importance. Karlovic comes into this match as the favourite as he is higher-ranked and has a 3-1 head to head record against Delbonis. The only win by Delbonis was also a retirement by Karlovic, so Karlovic was definitely the favourite here.

Argentinian Davis Cup team with the Davis Cup title. Photo from Eurosport website.

Davis Cup Rubber 4 Review: Marin Cilic vs Juan Martin del Potro

The Croatian team came into the final day of the final knowing that a single win would steer them to the title for the first time since 2005. The opening match on the final day would be contested by Marin Cilic and Juan Martin del Potro, both former US Open champions. Croatia comes into the final day as the favourites, especially with Argentina feeling the massive amount of pressure after being down 2-1. However, Del Potro would come into this match as the favourite because he has an 8-2 head to head record against Marin Cilic, and he would want to make it 9-2 after this match.

The battle of the former US Open champions. Photo by Getty Images

Davis Cup Rubber 3 Review: Marin Cilic / Ivan Dodig vs Juan Martin del Potro / Leonardo Mayer

The doubles rubber in the Davis Cup final was contested by Marin Cilic / Ivan Dodig and Juan Martin del Potro / Leonardo Mayer. Cilic and Dodig comes in as the favourite as Dodig is a doubles specialist and they have previously beaten the Bryan brothers and the No.1 pairing of Mahut and Herbert in Davis Cup competition this year. 

Davis Cup Rubber 2 Review: Ivo Karlovic vs Juan Martin del Potro

Croatia enters this tie with a 1-0 lead after Cilic came through in 5 sets against Federico Delbonis. Del Potro, who has came back from an injury early this year, has rose to the Top 100 in the rankings from No.1042 in February. Del Potro would be the favourite coming into this 2nd rubber, having a 5-1 head to head record against Ivo Karlovic.

Both players pose for a picture during the draw ceremony. Photo by La Nacion

Davis Cup Rubber 1 Review: Marin Cilic vs Federico Delbonis

Marin Cilic went up against Federico Delbonis in the first rubber of the Davis Cup, with Cilic being the heavy favourite having not lost a single set against Delbonis in their previous matches.

The Croatian team poses along with the trophy.Photo by AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic

Season Review: Angelique Kerber

Angelique Kerber, the World No.1. Photo by Getty Images

2016 has been a dream year for Angelique Kerber. Who would have expected her to win reach 3 Grand Slam finals and be the World No.1 before that? Certainly, no one would have expected that.

Welcome!

Hi all tennis fans!

Welcome to my blog, which is dedicated to tennis! On this blog, you can find news related to tennis, and previews/recaps about selected matches! Also, I am @tennisaddictdon on twitter, so give me a follow if you want! I have been a writer at https://thethirdserve.wordpress.com/, and have written a number of articles.

Photo by Getty Images

This blog would not really be active when school starts for me (😢), but I promise that there would be more articles coming your way during the holidays or during my free time!

I am a big fan of many players, most particularly the Russian players! Sharapova, Kuznetsova, Vesnina and Kerber have been my favourites since I started watching tennis, and they would continue being my favourites! Feel free to drop a message on twitter at @tennisaddictdon if you have any opinions of this blog!

You can also find me on instagram (@tennis.world.craze), an account dedicated to tennis too!


Don