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Post by Admin on Feb 20, 2019 16:57:15 GMT
The Japanese won her first two Grand Slam titles consecutively, which had last happened on WTA Tour in 2001. "I think there is couple players can always play well. I know Serena (Williams) she maybe didn't win two in a row, but every year two or three Grand Slams. For sure, there are few players which are able to do this," said Pliskova. "I know she's, like, strong player, playing very good last few months already, then I think Indian Wells where she won the title. She could lose few times in the draw, so it's not like sure that you go and you win Grand Slams. Every match, it's still tough. You can even lose in the second round, third round after winning Grand Slam. It's still open, the draw. I was not close to beating her because it was still quite far, but the match was maybe about few points. I think there is chance for everybody, even Petra (Kvitova) now. She was close. It's very open, but the top players are always tough to beat." Looking ahead to her week in Dubai, Pliskova added: "Of course, I feel confident, especially about beating good players. I know I just have these matches. Especially at the beginning of the year, I think it's always important to have these matches.
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Post by Admin on Mar 1, 2019 18:28:15 GMT
Naomi Osaka has announced that she is adding Jermaine Jenkins to her team following a recent split with her coach. Writing on social media, Osaka thanked Jenkins for "coming on board" but did not specify his role. The former ATP player had recently been appointed a USTA coach and was previously a hitting partner for Venus Williams. Osaka's previous coach, Sascha Bajin, had been a hitting partner for Serena Williams and other top WTA players. While working with Bajin, Osaka won her first title and two Grand Slam events, but she said there was conflict off the court. The No. 1-ranked Osaka had said she wanted to find a coach by Indian Wells, which begins next week. Osaka is the tournament's defending champion.
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Post by Admin on Mar 3, 2019 18:33:30 GMT
Osaka has been dealing with a lot of expectations lately, and the controversial US Open final against Serena Williams, with the American arguing towards the umpire, did not help the Japanese according to the TV presenter Annabel Croft. Speaking to Khaleej Times in Dubai, Croft said: "I think it was noticeable how full the stands were in Dubai when she played. I think that was because the headlines the scenario at the US Open created took the sport off the back pages and it created a lot of hype. I think there's a lot of interest in her as a human being aside from tennis, so that's been a positive thing for women's tennis because it has created more interest. She is definitely one that can draw a lot of people in. But I think there are many other players that are coming up too." Croft also gave her opinion on the many unexpected results on the women's tour where it seems anybody can win against anybody: "I know it's a cliché, but it's the strength and depth in women's Tour. We have so many different Grand Slam winners now. You know somebody like (Jelena) Ostapenko, who had never won a Tour title, won the French Open two years ago ranked 20 something in the world. A win like that makes everybody else believe that they can win a Grand Slam. So it has given an enormous belief to some of the younger players. I think they are less intimidated when they go on court against some of the top players."
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Post by Admin on Mar 12, 2019 18:53:14 GMT
World No.1 Naomi Osaka continued her BNP Paribas Open title defense on Monday with a hard-fought win over Australian Open semifinalist Danielle Collins, 6-4, 6-2 to complete the Round of 16 line-up in the California desert.
Playing just her second tournament since winning her second Grand Slam title and taking the top spot on the WTA rankings, Osaka overcame another tricky opponent - having already avenged a Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships defeat to Kristina Mladenovic - to book her spot in the fourth round after 82 minutes on Stadium 1.
Osaka and Collins played for the first time last fall, where the Japanese youngster dropped just won game at the China Open; since then, Collins has gone from strength to strength, enjoying a breakthrough run in Melbourne to make her first major semifinal with wins over Caroline Garcia and Angelique Kerber.
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Post by Admin on Mar 19, 2019 20:53:49 GMT
Another day, another coaching drama for Women’s world No.1 Naomi Osaka, with the Japan star now being sued by a former junior coach. Just months after the Australian Open star parted ways with former mentor Sascha Bajin, a former coach from her early days has filed a lawsuit against her. Christophe Jean coached Osaka and her sister Mari when the siblings were teenagers in 2011, and claims that he is entitled to a 20 percent cut of their prize money for an “indefinite” period in an agreement he said he had with her father Leonard Francois. Jean is seeking at least US$2 million ($AUD2.8 million) in compensation after a report in the South Florida Sentinel highlighted the financial hardships Osaka and her sisters went through at the start of their tennis development, which resulted in heavy discounts being offered to her and her sister. Jean said he did not want to take legal action against Osaka but felt compelled to based on what he alleges was the last conversation he held with Francois. “I didn’t want to do this, but the last time I talked with Max (Leonard) he told me to go get a lawyer,” Jean told the Sun Sentinel.
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