Former US Open champion Sloane Stephens yesterday blasted organizers of this week’s Brisbane International, accusing them of favoring the male players and not respecting the women.
The WTA tournament is being run alongside the Brisbane leg of the men’s inaugural ATP Cup, which has monopolized the Queensland Tennis Centre’s center court since it began on Friday.
The ATP Cup’s last round-robin matches in Brisbane are to be played today, meaning that women’s matches are to be relegated to the outside courts until tomorrow.
Photo: AFP
While most women’s players have been reluctant to comment on their treatment this year, Stephens, who is on the WTA players’ council, was not so reticent.
“I think there have been a lot of challenges just because it’s a new event, combined with the girls,” she said. “When you’re a No. 1 player in the world who is going to play on the side court, I don’t think that is that great. I think it’s kind of a respect thing.”
Stephens spoke after her first round loss to Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova.
AUCKLAND CLASSIC
Serena Williams yesterday found her power game after a sluggish start as she overcame qualifier Camila Giorgi to open her 2020 season with a straight-sets victory at the Auckland WTA Classic.
With an eye on the Australian Open later this month, the 38-year-old worked her way into a blistering performance that proved too much for the 167cm Italian.
“I feel really good. It was fun to be out there,” Williams said after sealing her 6-3, 6-2 victory with her eighth ace against the 99th-ranked Giorgi. “It’s really good that I still have some power left in my arms and my legs.”
At 3-3 in the first set, Williams found her range and the result was never in doubt from there on.
Auckland is an important tournament for the veteran as she prepares for the Australian Open.
Williams has been joined in Auckland by the new wave of US tennis stars, headed by the tournament third seed Amanda Anisimova, who did not disappoint.
The 18-year-old, who captured world attention reaching the semi-finals of the French Open last year, took 78 minutes to beat the Ukraine’s Kateryna Kozlova 6-3, 6-4.
SHENZHEN OPEN
Reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka and top seed Belinda Bencic yesterday suffered shock defeats at the Shenzhen Open, dealing a setback to their Australian Open preparations.
World No. 11 Sabalenka lost 6-4, 6-4 to the Czech left-hander Kristyna Pliskova, as the Belarusian’s title defense came to a juddering halt in the second round.
Earlier, on a day of upsets in southern China, world No. 8 Bencic — the top seed in southern China — was defeated in her opening match of the year.
The Swiss was a surprise loser to the 58th-ranked Anna Blinkova, the Russian coming back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
“I didn’t feel great in the beginning of the match,” the 21-year-old Blinkova told reporters. “I didn’t play bad, but I managed to increase the level of my game slowly, step by step.”
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two