2021 U.S. Open women’s singles finalist Leylah Fernandez faced an early exit from the Australian Open on Tuesday, losing 6-2, 6-4 to wildcard Maddison Inglis in the first round. This is the first competitive match that Fernandez has played since finishing as runner up in the U.S. Open grand slam event.

“Today was just not a good day. Too many mistakes,” the 19-year-old Canadian stated following her loss.

Emma Raducanu, who defeated Fernandez to lift the U.S. Open trophy, beat former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-0, 2-6, 6-1 in what was a turbulent encounter. The British number 17th seed is scheduled to face number 98th ranked Danka Kovinic in the second round.

Third-seeded Garbine Muguruza will join the reigning US Open champion in the second round, having defeated the number 77th ranked Clara Burel 6-3 6-4. “Very happy the way I played and, of course, controlling the nerves,” Muguruza commented, referring to the importance of remaining cautious in the early stages of the tournament so as to avoid elimination.

Fernandez was not the only big name to face early elimination. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova also suffered a first-round defeat, losing 6-2 6-2 against Sorana Cirstea.

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In what has been a disappointing tournament for many of the big names in women’s tennis, three more former Grand Slam champions have all been knocked out in the first round at Flushing Meadows.

After reuniting with former coach Kamau Murray, 2017 US Open winner Sloane Stephens is yet to improve on what has been a poor season. The 11th seeded American lost 3-6 4-6 to the unseeded Anna Kalinskaya in front of her home crowd in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

While currently ranked 41 in the WTA rankings, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka is a two-time Australian Open winner and former world number one. Her career has taken a dive in recent years, and she is yet to show signs of a comeback following a 3-6 6-3 6-4 defeat to 9th seeded Aryna Sabalenka, a fellow Belarusian.

Another two-time Grand Slam winner is the Russian-born Svetlana Kuznetsova. While she impressed in the Cincinnati Masters, defeating Sloane Stephens, Karolina Pliskova and Ashleigh Barty en route to the final, her form has taken a turn for the worse following a 7-5 6-2 loss to American Kristie Ahn.

These are just some of the latest tennis veterans to fall at the first hurdle in what has already been a tournament of upsets.

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After parting ways at the end of 2018, WTA world number 11 Sloane Stephens has reunited with former coach Kamau Murray. This news comes after Stephens ended her partnership with coach Sven Groenveld, who is known for having coached the likes of Grand Slam winners such as Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic.

Murray coached Stephens from 2015 until the end of the 2018 season. Included in this time span was Stephen’s career highlight of being crowned 2017 US Open champion- a shock result due to the American being unseeded at the time. Under Murray’s guidance, Stephens attained a career-high WTA world ranking of 3.

Stephen’s and Murray’s separation was characterized by Murray stating that they were simply “on a break”, following which Stephens went through the first few months of the 2019 season without a coach, before securing the services of Groenveld prior to the French Open.

Apart from making it to the French Open quarter-final, Stephen’s form under Groenveld was disappointing overall, with the current world number 11 suffering a third-round exit at Wimbledon, a second-round loss in Cincinnati, and first-round exits in both the Rogers Cup and the Citi Open. Stephens will begin working with Murray at the US Open, in a bid to see her career be put back on track.

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Serena Williams is through to the US Open 2018 quarterfinals after a 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 win against Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi on Sunday night. The match with Kanepi, who previously eliminated No.1 Simona Halep, proved to be the first real challenge for Williams since she dropped her first set on the tournament. Still, the 36-year-old looked comfortable under pressure and showed why she is considered one of the favorites to go all the way.

“It wasn’t an easy match at all. She obviously knows how to play,” – said Williams, who won the US Open on six previous occasions. “I was just happy to get through it.“

Serena Williams will meet eight seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova in the next stage of the US Open 2018. Pliskova previously had an easy task against Ashleigh Barty, beating the Australian 6-4, 6-4.

Sloane Stephens joins Williams in the quarterfinals. The 25-year-old, who won US Open in 2017, advances after a 6-3, 6-3 win over Belgium’s Elise Mertens. Stephens efficiently dealt with Mertens, demonstrating a versatile playing style and ability to improvise.

In the US Open 2018 quarterfinals, Stephens will play against Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, the same player she faced in the quarterfinals of the last year’s tournament. Two women were engaged in a nail-biting third set tie-breaker in 2017, so there is a good chance that we will witness another great match.

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The Australian Open title definitely won’t stay in the Williams family. After Serena Williams, reigning champion of Australian Open, decided not to participate in the first Grand Slam of the season, her sister Venus quickly finished her participation in the tournament with a 6-3, 7-5 loss against 78th ranked women tennis player in the world, Belinda Bencic.

Although Bencic failed to take a set from Williams in their previous 4 matches, this time she stepped up and defeated one of the tournament’s biggest stars.

“I think I had a little bit too much respect, played a little bit careful and safe,” – said Bencic. “This time I really tried to come out and hit it big.“

Williams had a bad match with 26 unforced errors and just couldn’t find an answer for Bencic’s play.

“I don’t think I played a bad match. She just played above and beyond,” – said Williams. “I just have to give her credit for that.“

Things didn’t go well for other U.S. women at the tournament since they’ve lost nine out of their 10 matches in the first round. This included the U.S. Open champion, Sloane Stephens, who now lost eight straight matches. This time, she was defeated by 34th ranked Zhang Shuai.

“Tennis is definitely a roller coaster,” – said Stephens after the loss. “But I have learned to just not panic. It will be OK.“

CoCo Vandeweghe was a semifinalist in both Australian Open and U.S. Open in the last year loss against Timea Babos in a frustrating match. Irina Falconi, CiCi Bellis, Sofia Kenin, Alison Riske, Taylor Townsend and Jennifer Brady are also out of the tournament. Nicole Gibbs managed to break the U.S. women losing streak by defeating Viktoriya Tomova.

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US Open 2017 has come to an end, with Rafael Nadal winning the men’s singles and Sloane Stephens taking the women’s singles title. Rafael Nadal faced South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in the finals and cruised through 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 match winning his 3rd US Open and 16th Grand Slam title. On the other side, Sloane Stephens also didn’t sweat too much against Madison Keys, winning the finals with 6-3, 6-0 to claim her first Grand Slam. Men’s doubles saw Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecău ending on the winning side of the 6-4, 6-3 match against Spanish duo Feliciano López and Marc López. Chan Yung-jan and Martina Hingis defeated Lucie Hradecká and Kateřina Siniaková in women’s doubles finals clash.

This was the second Grand Slam title for Rafael Nadal, who previously won the French Open as well. The Spaniard rarely looked out of comfort in the tournament, never playing 5 sets during his road to the title and winning the likes of Andrey Rublev and Juan Martin del Potro. “For me personally, it’s just unbelievable what happened to me this year after a couple of years with some troubles: injuries, moments playing not good. From the beginning of the season, it has been very emotional.” – said Nadal after his win.

Unseeded Sloane Stephens celebrated an unlikely win against Keys and ended her comeback in a spectacular way. Stephens had to withdraw from US Open 2016 due to right foot injury, which eventually made take a break from tennis for 11 months. Sloane Stephens managed to defeat Dominika Cibulková, Anastasija Sevastova and Venus Williams on her road to the finals. “I had surgery in January and if someone had told me then that I would win the US Open, I would have said it was impossible. This journey has been incredible and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”- said Stephens after the match. By winning the US Open 2017, she became the first American women outside the Williams family to win a major’s single’s title.

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The US Open 2017 women’s singles are turning out to be full of surprises. The latest one was directed by 20th seeded Coco Vandeweghe.She won the match against the top seeded and No. 1 ranked tennis player on WTA, Karolina Pliskova, and secured herself a spot in the US Open 2017 Semi-Finals. To make the feat more impressive, Vandeweghe finished the job in 2 sets, with the final score being 7-6(4), 6-3. The loss against Vandeweghe meant Pliskova will lose her top spot on WTA, which will go to Spain’s Garbine Muguruza.

Vandeweghe was ecstatic after the match saying: “When I won this event as junior at 16 I always dreamed of being on the main stage. It is a process and here I am. I couldn’t wish for anything better.“

Coco Vandeweghe’s victory meant she joined Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens in the semifinals. Everyone then waited for the outcome of the match between Madison Keys and Kaia Kanepi. Keys won the match with 6-3, 6-3 and ensured that there will be All-American semi-finals of US Open 2017. This is the first time since 1981 that there are all four American players in the final four of US Open.

Vandeweghe will face Keys in the first match of the semi-finals, while the second match will see the clash between Williams and Stephens. This means that only Venus Williams is left standing from the Top 10 seeded players in the US Open 2017.

Alongside Vandeweghe’s win against Pliskova, another major upset we saw in this year’s tournament is defending US Open champion and 6th seeded Angelique Kerber being defeated by Japan’s Naomi Osaka in the first round. This was the first time since 2005 that the defending champion didn’t make it past the first round.

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2021 U.S. Open women’s singles finalist Leylah Fernandez faced an early exit from the Australian Open on Tuesday, losing 6-2, 6-4 to wildcard Maddison Inglis in the first round. This is the first competitive match that Fernandez has played since finishing as runner up in the U.S. Open grand slam event.

“Today was just not a good day. Too many mistakes,” the 19-year-old Canadian stated following her loss.

Emma Raducanu, who defeated Fernandez to lift the U.S. Open trophy, beat former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-0, 2-6, 6-1 in what was a turbulent encounter. The British number 17th seed is scheduled to face number 98th ranked Danka Kovinic in the second round.

Third-seeded Garbine Muguruza will join the reigning US Open champion in the second round, having defeated the number 77th ranked Clara Burel 6-3 6-4. “Very happy the way I played and, of course, controlling the nerves,” Muguruza commented, referring to the importance of remaining cautious in the early stages of the tournament so as to avoid elimination.

Fernandez was not the only big name to face early elimination. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova also suffered a first-round defeat, losing 6-2 6-2 against Sorana Cirstea.

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In what has been a disappointing tournament for many of the big names in women’s tennis, three more former Grand Slam champions have all been knocked out in the first round at Flushing Meadows.

After reuniting with former coach Kamau Murray, 2017 US Open winner Sloane Stephens is yet to improve on what has been a poor season. The 11th seeded American lost 3-6 4-6 to the unseeded Anna Kalinskaya in front of her home crowd in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

While currently ranked 41 in the WTA rankings, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka is a two-time Australian Open winner and former world number one. Her career has taken a dive in recent years, and she is yet to show signs of a comeback following a 3-6 6-3 6-4 defeat to 9th seeded Aryna Sabalenka, a fellow Belarusian.

Another two-time Grand Slam winner is the Russian-born Svetlana Kuznetsova. While she impressed in the Cincinnati Masters, defeating Sloane Stephens, Karolina Pliskova and Ashleigh Barty en route to the final, her form has taken a turn for the worse following a 7-5 6-2 loss to American Kristie Ahn.

These are just some of the latest tennis veterans to fall at the first hurdle in what has already been a tournament of upsets.

The post Azarenka, Kuznetsova, Stephens Eliminated From US Open appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After parting ways at the end of 2018, WTA world number 11 Sloane Stephens has reunited with former coach Kamau Murray. This news comes after Stephens ended her partnership with coach Sven Groenveld, who is known for having coached the likes of Grand Slam winners such as Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic.

Murray coached Stephens from 2015 until the end of the 2018 season. Included in this time span was Stephen’s career highlight of being crowned 2017 US Open champion- a shock result due to the American being unseeded at the time. Under Murray’s guidance, Stephens attained a career-high WTA world ranking of 3.

Stephen’s and Murray’s separation was characterized by Murray stating that they were simply “on a break”, following which Stephens went through the first few months of the 2019 season without a coach, before securing the services of Groenveld prior to the French Open.

Apart from making it to the French Open quarter-final, Stephen’s form under Groenveld was disappointing overall, with the current world number 11 suffering a third-round exit at Wimbledon, a second-round loss in Cincinnati, and first-round exits in both the Rogers Cup and the Citi Open. Stephens will begin working with Murray at the US Open, in a bid to see her career be put back on track.

The post Previous US Open Champ Sloane Stephens Reunites With Former Coach appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Serena Williams is through to the US Open 2018 quarterfinals after a 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 win against Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi on Sunday night. The match with Kanepi, who previously eliminated No.1 Simona Halep, proved to be the first real challenge for Williams since she dropped her first set on the tournament. Still, the 36-year-old looked comfortable under pressure and showed why she is considered one of the favorites to go all the way.

“It wasn’t an easy match at all. She obviously knows how to play,” – said Williams, who won the US Open on six previous occasions. “I was just happy to get through it.“

Serena Williams will meet eight seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova in the next stage of the US Open 2018. Pliskova previously had an easy task against Ashleigh Barty, beating the Australian 6-4, 6-4.

Sloane Stephens joins Williams in the quarterfinals. The 25-year-old, who won US Open in 2017, advances after a 6-3, 6-3 win over Belgium’s Elise Mertens. Stephens efficiently dealt with Mertens, demonstrating a versatile playing style and ability to improvise.

In the US Open 2018 quarterfinals, Stephens will play against Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, the same player she faced in the quarterfinals of the last year’s tournament. Two women were engaged in a nail-biting third set tie-breaker in 2017, so there is a good chance that we will witness another great match.

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The Australian Open title definitely won’t stay in the Williams family. After Serena Williams, reigning champion of Australian Open, decided not to participate in the first Grand Slam of the season, her sister Venus quickly finished her participation in the tournament with a 6-3, 7-5 loss against 78th ranked women tennis player in the world, Belinda Bencic.

Although Bencic failed to take a set from Williams in their previous 4 matches, this time she stepped up and defeated one of the tournament’s biggest stars.

“I think I had a little bit too much respect, played a little bit careful and safe,” – said Bencic. “This time I really tried to come out and hit it big.“

Williams had a bad match with 26 unforced errors and just couldn’t find an answer for Bencic’s play.

“I don’t think I played a bad match. She just played above and beyond,” – said Williams. “I just have to give her credit for that.“

Things didn’t go well for other U.S. women at the tournament since they’ve lost nine out of their 10 matches in the first round. This included the U.S. Open champion, Sloane Stephens, who now lost eight straight matches. This time, she was defeated by 34th ranked Zhang Shuai.

“Tennis is definitely a roller coaster,” – said Stephens after the loss. “But I have learned to just not panic. It will be OK.“

CoCo Vandeweghe was a semifinalist in both Australian Open and U.S. Open in the last year loss against Timea Babos in a frustrating match. Irina Falconi, CiCi Bellis, Sofia Kenin, Alison Riske, Taylor Townsend and Jennifer Brady are also out of the tournament. Nicole Gibbs managed to break the U.S. women losing streak by defeating Viktoriya Tomova.

The post Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens Out of Australian Open after the First Round appeared first on SportzBonanza.

US Open 2017 has come to an end, with Rafael Nadal winning the men’s singles and Sloane Stephens taking the women’s singles title. Rafael Nadal faced South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in the finals and cruised through 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 match winning his 3rd US Open and 16th Grand Slam title. On the other side, Sloane Stephens also didn’t sweat too much against Madison Keys, winning the finals with 6-3, 6-0 to claim her first Grand Slam. Men’s doubles saw Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecău ending on the winning side of the 6-4, 6-3 match against Spanish duo Feliciano López and Marc López. Chan Yung-jan and Martina Hingis defeated Lucie Hradecká and Kateřina Siniaková in women’s doubles finals clash.

This was the second Grand Slam title for Rafael Nadal, who previously won the French Open as well. The Spaniard rarely looked out of comfort in the tournament, never playing 5 sets during his road to the title and winning the likes of Andrey Rublev and Juan Martin del Potro. “For me personally, it’s just unbelievable what happened to me this year after a couple of years with some troubles: injuries, moments playing not good. From the beginning of the season, it has been very emotional.” – said Nadal after his win.

Unseeded Sloane Stephens celebrated an unlikely win against Keys and ended her comeback in a spectacular way. Stephens had to withdraw from US Open 2016 due to right foot injury, which eventually made take a break from tennis for 11 months. Sloane Stephens managed to defeat Dominika Cibulková, Anastasija Sevastova and Venus Williams on her road to the finals. “I had surgery in January and if someone had told me then that I would win the US Open, I would have said it was impossible. This journey has been incredible and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”- said Stephens after the match. By winning the US Open 2017, she became the first American women outside the Williams family to win a major’s single’s title.

The post Rafael Nadal and Sloane Stephens Are Your New US Open Champions appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The US Open 2017 women’s singles are turning out to be full of surprises. The latest one was directed by 20th seeded Coco Vandeweghe.She won the match against the top seeded and No. 1 ranked tennis player on WTA, Karolina Pliskova, and secured herself a spot in the US Open 2017 Semi-Finals. To make the feat more impressive, Vandeweghe finished the job in 2 sets, with the final score being 7-6(4), 6-3. The loss against Vandeweghe meant Pliskova will lose her top spot on WTA, which will go to Spain’s Garbine Muguruza.

Vandeweghe was ecstatic after the match saying: “When I won this event as junior at 16 I always dreamed of being on the main stage. It is a process and here I am. I couldn’t wish for anything better.“

Coco Vandeweghe’s victory meant she joined Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens in the semifinals. Everyone then waited for the outcome of the match between Madison Keys and Kaia Kanepi. Keys won the match with 6-3, 6-3 and ensured that there will be All-American semi-finals of US Open 2017. This is the first time since 1981 that there are all four American players in the final four of US Open.

Vandeweghe will face Keys in the first match of the semi-finals, while the second match will see the clash between Williams and Stephens. This means that only Venus Williams is left standing from the Top 10 seeded players in the US Open 2017.

Alongside Vandeweghe’s win against Pliskova, another major upset we saw in this year’s tournament is defending US Open champion and 6th seeded Angelique Kerber being defeated by Japan’s Naomi Osaka in the first round. This was the first time since 2005 that the defending champion didn’t make it past the first round.

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