WTA Wednesday

With the next Fed Cup round coming up and the Olympics being on home turf this year I thought I would take a look at the prominent British WTA players!

Elena Baltacha

 Anne Keothavong

Heather Watson

 

Laura Robson

Naomi Broady

Although the Fed Cup team consists of only Baltacha, Keothavong, Watson and Robson I felt it was only fair to include all players in the top 200, Naomi Broady is the sister to Liam Broady who last year was runner up in the junior women's title. 

Robson is most famous for her Junior Wimbledon win and Watson is famous for advancing to the second round of the French Open. They have teamed up for doubles and they appear to be the rising stars of British women's tennis, no doubt as they get older they will be able to hold their own and creep up the rankings.

Elena Baltacha has reached a career high of World No. 49 and has consistently been the British number 1, she has beaten players in the top 10 (e.g. Li Na). Anne Keothavong has also been British number 1 and has reached the third round in the 2008 US Open, and the second round of Wimbledon on three occasions.

These women have provided Britain with a steady place in the world of women's tennis, although there has been no Grand Slam winner to come out of this generation (yet!) they have each achieved relative success and I look forward to seeing the development of women's tennis in Britain, in particular if the appointment of Judy Murray as Fed Cup Captain!

WTA Wednesday

Venus William's return to tennis was marked by a special landmark, she reached her 600th career win! Only 13 other players in the Open Era have achieved this and I am sure that Venus is specially proud of this as she has been stuck on 598 wins since August, due to battling with Sjögren's Syndrome.

Now with 602 wins she sits at the bottom of the list of 14 but I am sure she will work her way up, as long as her health remains decent!

 There are only 3 active players with at least 500, sister Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Tamarine Tanasurgan.  

She still has a way to go before she beats Martina Navratilova's record!

Sjogren's syndrome is a disorder of the immune system (the body’s defence system against infection). White blood cells attack the body’s tear and saliva glands, which reduces the amount of saliva and tears produced. This causes a dry mouth and dry eyes, along with other related symptoms.

WTA Wednesday

You have been getting a lot of Murray news so now it's time for your weekly fix of women's tennis!

A few weeks back we looked at the 4 German women in the top 20 so I thought it was only fair to mention the 3 Russian women in the top 20! Russia has been churning out top female tennis players for a while now and many of them are within the top 100, while the top Russian ATP player is number 35 Mikhail Youzhny, a Russian women claims the top spot - yes you've all heard of her - Maria Sharapova!

But she is joined by 2 other women on the top of their game (in the top 20):

2) Maria Sharapova

  9) Vera Zvonareva

 20) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

In Russia tennis is definitely a women's sport, I bet they fancy their chances in the Fed Cup and Olympics this year! A very glamorous set of women with a fantastic ability, certainly they would all make the perfect poster girls for the 'strong is beautiful' campaign!

WTA Wednesday

Rory Mcllroy makes a surprise appearance in this weeks WTA Wednesday!

Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova were playing an exhibition match in Madison Square garden, Wozniacki may have lost 6-3, 6-4 but I think she enjoyed herself, particularly when her boyfriend joined her on court!

 

Mcllory pretended to play the best way he knows how but once he got into the swing of it he managed to win a point from Sharapova, although it wasn't enough to bring Wozniacki back into the game. Earlier in the match Sharapova danced with a fan, I think the crowd certainly got the show they wanted!

Watch all the action in the video below.

 

 

WTA Wednesday

It's not everyday that the women of tennis get to be glammed up but the Academy Awards provided three of the biggest fashionistas on court with an opportunity to do just that.

Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams and Venus Williams all made appearances at the Vanity Fair Oscars party and I must say they all looked pretty good!

Serena and Venus obviously felt the more colourful the better! It's lovely to see Venus again and of course Serena who has been expressing doubt over her future as a player claiming she isn't enjoying it as much.

While the Williams' sisters dominance of the game is beginning to dwindle, Maria Sharapova seems to be near reaching the best form of her career, we will all be watching to see if she can get her hands on another Grand Slam! She looks Wimbledon ready here and certainly very radiant.

WTA Wednesday

This week I wanted to mention the rise of German tennis, particularly in the woman's! 4 women from Germany are now in the top 20 this is the first time since July 17 1988! 

These women are:

10) Andrea Petkovic

13) Sabine Lisicki

19) Julia Goerges

20) Angelique Kerber

Kerber was not even in the top 100 last August and has risen high extremely quickly!

These players will hopefully help to revive the state of tennis in Germany and trigger a response from other nations to beat these young, talented Germans. Many seem to believe women's tennis is no longer anything to be excited about but I believe when one nation can produce such talent, all competing to be the number one in their country (and in the world of course) it proves that the game is still competitive and has a lot to offer!

WTA Wednesday

This week I'm going to sum up the events of the Fed Cup first round for you!

The Fed Cup is the women's version of the Davies Cup,

 

World Group

Russia 3:2 Spain

   Belgium 2:3 Serbia                    

     Italy 3:2 Ukraine

    Germany 1:4 Czech Rep.

World Group II

            USA 5:0 Belarus

           Japan 5:0 Slovenia

Slovak Rep. 3:2 France

   Switzerland 1:4 Australia

Also notable is team GB's performance in Group 1 Europe/Africa, they won all three of their ties and are advancing to the play-offs for world group II.

Looking forward to see if they can advance and which nation will come out on top this year, who do you think will?

Don't forget to vote for your favourite girlfriend/wife of the ATP circuit!

P.s I am aware I missed out Murray Monday this week as I was on holiday so expect a double issue this Monday!