Sloane Stephens' persistence pays off in Charleston

Photo by Daniel Ward

Sloane Stephens had played five times at the Volvo Car Open (formerly, the Family Circle Cup) and had won only one match. After she won the whole thing today, she told members of the press that she had told a friend in Charleston to come to the tournament to see her as early as possible, since she had a tendency to not stay very long.

Photo by Daniel Ward

On a chilly, windy afternoon, Stephens--seeded 7th--defeated qualifier Elena Vesnina 7-6, 6-2. The first set was a thrilling affair, with both women trading huge groundstrokes, and both firing on-the-line winners, most notably
from the forehand side. Vesnina, who came back from being down 2-5, held a set point when she served at 6-5, but she was broken, and would go on to lose the tiebreak.

Photo by Daniel Ward

Every final has a backstory, and the Russian's part of the backstory is that she had already played seven matches (plus one doubles match, with Daria Kasatkkina) because she had to go through qualifying to get into the main draw. Throughout the opening set, she did not look like a player experiencing her eighth match. Still, one had the feeling that the tiebreak was a must-win deal for Vesnina--that the fatigue, mental if not physical--would have to set in.

It did. Midway through the second set, Vesnina hit the first of two poorly executed drop shots. The Russian player is capable of hitting outstanding drop shots, but the two she hit in this set were easy pickings, especially for someone as fast as Stephens.

Stephens went up 5-1 in almost no time, and while Vesnina fought back, she was no longer in a position to make the kind of comeback she had made in the first set. "At one point, I was thinking, 'she's everywhere,'" Vesnina said later of her opponent.

Vesnina spent almost twelve hours on the court, and became the first qualifier to reach the tournament final in the long history of the event. A shoulder injury took the Russian off of the tour for a long time, and her run to the Charleston final as a qualifier will be very helpful to her cause, in terms of ranking points.

Vesnina was also the runner-up in 2011, when she lost to Caroline Wozniacki in the final. That year, however, she and Sania Mirza won the doubles title.

Photo by Daniel Ward

Stephens has now won four WTA singles titles. Three of them, she won this year. The Charleston victory included a special surprise: Volvo, the tournament's new title sponsor, gave the champion a new limited-edition Volvo. It turned out to be the same one that Stephens--as one of the top seeds--had been loaned for use during the tournament. "I just won a car!" the stunned champion shouted to the crowd. When she thanked all of the sponsors, Stephens added, "And especially Volvo--they just gave me a car."

Garcia and Mladenovic win Volvo Car Open

Kiki Mladenovic (left) and Caroline Garcia (photo by Daniel Ward)

Photo by Daniel Ward

Photo by Daniel Ward

Earlier today, 3rd seeds Caroline Garcia and Kiki Mladenovic won the doubles title in Charleston, defeating top seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova 6-2, 7-5. The French team had lost two finals this year (Sydney and Dubai), so it was a relief for them to get this win. After the match, Garcia told the media that she was especially grateful to the Charleston crowd because they came out so faithfully for doubles matches, even the late ones held at night.

Today's title is the first for Garcia and Mladenovic as a team. Mladenovic has a total of thirteen doubles titles; Garcia has a total of three. Mladenovic won the Charleston doubles championship in 2013 with Lucie Safarova, who was her opponent today.

Vesnina wins seven matches, and now goes for the title

Elena Vesnina (photo by Daniel Ward)

The wind swirled, flags fluttered, dust rose, the players yelled--sometimes very loudly--and the crowd went wild. The Elena and Sara Show was the highlight of today's action at the Volvo Car Open, and as far as I'm concerned, it would probably have been the highlight even if Angelique Kerber hadn't retired in the first semifinal.

Sara Errani (photo by Daniel Ward)

Qualifier Elena Vesnina and 5th seed Sara Errani presented a clay court tennis clinic in their three-set, two-hour, twenty-minute match. The slid, they lobbed, they changed pace, they dropped. Oh, did they drop. It was as much a mind game as it was a physical battle between two very fit athletes, and the only glitch in the entire operation was that one of them had to lose. That turned out to be Errani, as Vesnina became the first qualifier in the history of the tournament to reach the final.

The resurgent Russian's 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory books her a spot on the other side of the net from 7th seed Sloane Stephens, who won the semifinal played earlier in the day. In contrast to Vesnina, who has played seven matches, Stephens (who received a bye in the first round) has played three+ matches.

Photo by Daniel Ward

Vesnina was the runner-up in 2011; she lost to Caroline Wozniacki in the final. However, she and Sania Mirza won the doubles title that year.

There will also be a doubles final played tomorrow. Top seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova will play 3rd seeds Caroline Garcia and Kiki Mladenovic.

Sloane Stephens advances to Charleston final

Photo by Daniel Ward

Sloane Stephens, seeded 7th at the Volvo Cup Open, advanced to the final today when her semifinal opponent, defending champion Angelique Kerber, retired with a viral illness when the score reached 6-1, 3-0. Kerber, who had her left thigh taped in Miami, took the tape off when she arrived on Daniel Island, and said that it felt good. However, Kerber was unable to push off or even bend during the first set of her match against Stephens. She also appeared quite sluggish. A viral illness, of course, would weaken any already-vulnerable part of her body, which is apparently what happened.

It didn't help Kerber's cause that Stephens performed beautifully, handling the wind with skill and not allowing her opponent's condition to disrupt her rhythm. This is Stephens' sixth trip to Charleston, where, previously, she had won only one match. She will play either 5th seed Sara Errani or qualifier 
(and 2011 runner-up) Elena Vesnina in the final tomorrow.

Photo by Daniel Ward

Prior to the singles match, the first doubles semifinal was played on Billie Jean King Stadium Court, and was won by 3rd seeds Caroline Garcia and Kiki Mladenovic. The French pair defeated Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Laura Siegemund 6-4, 6-3. In the final, Garcia and Mladenovic will play either top seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova or Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva.

Safarova adopts holistic, preventive plan to maintain her health

Photo by Daniel Ward

World number 15 Lucie Safarova was at the peak of her career last year when she had to be hospitalized for a serious bacterial infection. The Czech star won the 2015 Doha event, reached the final of the French Open, reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon, and played a leadership role in her Fed Cup team’s run to the championship. And that was just in singles. She and partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands won the Australian Open and the French Open doubles titles, and they also won in Stuttgart and Toronto.

Safarova then experienced the double curse that sometimes occurs with a bacterial infection; she developed reactive arthritis, also. Out for several months, the 29-year-old Czech is back on the tour and enjoying a good doubles run (with Mattek-Sands) in Charleston. I talked with her about the state of her health and the decisions she has made to manage her condition.

“There is a lot of work to do because there is not a precise cure,” Safarova explained. There are, of course, medical treatments which are the most effective in treating the pain, but, she added they “are not the  best option for your health.” For that reason, Safarova has chosen to utilize the least invasive treatments she can find to prevent and treat any recurring arthritic pain she may experience.

“I’ve been pretty good with my diet and everything my whole life, so I guess that’s helping me,” she said. She also noted that being an athlete made her more likely to maintain a higher level of health, and that her focus is to protect her immune system. She’s currently working with a dietician, and is open to the possibility of acupuncture treatment. Safarova, who has utilized yoga in the past, has recently begun practicing qigong.

“It’s kind of hard to decide because, obviously, you can try everything,” Safarova explained, “but it’s important, if you decide for treatment, that you trust, and if you’re in a state of trusting, it’s helping you a lot.”

Illness never comes at a good time, but Safarova’s came just as she was achieving milestones at the highest level of her career. “I felt like ‘everything is going great in my life’ and then suddenly, I’m stopped,” she recalled, noting the emotional challenge she faced.

“You just take it as it is,” the Czech star said. She is able to find some positive things about her time off—spending time with her family, reading and watching movies, and “sleeping in my own bed. It’s always nice because you never get to do it as a professional tennis player.”

Safarova said she never believed that she would do anything but recover. Her intent is to be patient and to maintain a positive attitude: “Negativity is not gonna move you forward.”

Angelique Kerber moves closer to 2016 Volvo Car Open final

Angelique Kerber (photo by Daniel Ward)

Angelique Kerber (photo by Daniel Ward)

Defending champion Angelique Kerber needed just over an hour and twelve minutes to defeat Irina-Camelia Begu in the first Volvo Car Open singles quarterfinal of the day. The pair met in

Sloane Stephens (photo by Daniel Ward)

last year's quarterfinals, too, and that was a somewhat different story. Kerber won, of course, but the score was 7-6, 7-6. Kerber said, after the match, that she had lost to Begu in Rome last year, so she was better prepared this time for the Romanian's game.

In the second match of the day, Sloane Stephens saved a match point and went on to defeat rapidly rising star Daria Kasatkina, 6-1, 5-7, 7-5. Both player struggled with the wind. Stephens served better, and--as the match went on--tended to win the longer points by making fewer errors.

The third quarterfinal match featured 2011 runner-up Elena Vesnina and Laura Siegemund. Vesnina entered the main draw this year as a qualifier, and so far, she has yet to drop a set. She defeated Siegemund 7-5, 6-4 in a match that featured a lot of aggression and some very good shot-making. Vesnina possesses a very good serve, but is not always able to access it (she served extremely well in 2011--until she played in the final). In the second set today, she went for her biggest serves, and the risk paid off repeatedly.

Siegemund, who is still in the doubles draw, reached a milestone by getting to her first premier-level quarterfinal.

Elena Vesnina (photo by Daniel Ward)

Sara Errani (photo by Daniel Ward)

The night match was a contest between Fighting Italian Sara Errani and Yulia Putintseva, who also knows how to bring the fight. The first set was very competitive. Putintseva held a set point, but Errani saved it, and went on to win the set in a tiebreak. The rest of the match was the Sara Errani Show, as the Italian quickly left Putintseva--who sustained a leg injury while moving on the court--behind, and won the set 6-1. Errani wound up with 21 winners and 18 unforced errors.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Lucie Safarova (photo by Daniel Ward)

There was also doubles action today. Top seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova advanced to the semifinals by defeating Gabriela Dabrowski and Darija Jurak 6-3, 7-6. A second quarterfinal match, featuring 4th seeds Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears, and the team of Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva, has just begun on Billie Jean King Stadium Court.

Another beautiful tennis day in Charleston

As I write this, an hour and a half before Volvo Car Open quarterfinal play begins, it's 59 degrees and sunny in Charleston. The forecast for today is 71 degrees, and skies are expected to be sunny or partly cloudy. However, around 2 p.m., wind speed is expected to increase to 17 mph and then continue to increase a bit for the next several hours.

Wind is always a factor in play on Daniel Island. Sometimes it's the expected wind that players learn how to manage according to the side of the net on which they're playing. But sometimes, like yesterday, the wind swirls in all directions, providing a particular challenge for competitors.

Singles play starts at 1p.m. today, when defending champion and top seed Angelique Kerber faces off against Irina-Cameia Begu. Last year, Kerber and Begu also played one another in the quarterfinals here, with Kerber winning 7-6, 7-6, after going down 1-5 in the first set. This was one of the best matches of the tournament, with the steady, creative Romanian throwing a clay court style book at the German. Begu may be a bit tired today: She spent almost two and a half hours last night, battling against Monica Puig, who held a match point in their third round encounter.

Doubles play begins at 10:30 a.m., with top seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova going against Gabriela Dabrowski and Darija Jurak.