WTA WEEK 1 REARVIEW MIRROR

Auckland

Venus Williams d. Caroline Wozniacki 2-6, 6-3, 6-3

courtesy WTA

What an exciting time to be a fan of Venus Williams.  After losing the first set, I felt for sure that Venus fans would be in for another round of  disappointment but it was not to be.  She took control of the match in the second set and never looked back.  If you have not seen the trophy ceremony, it is certainly worth the time and effort to listen to these 2 ambassadors of women's tennis and to listen to how receptive both the fans and the organisers were with both women.  Her acceptance speech was amazing and is a must listen.  It was great to see Williams incorporating her off season work with Katrina Adams by forcing herself into the forecourt at every given opportunity.  Well done.

Brisbane

(1) Maria Sharapova d (2) Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-7, 6-3

Sharapova started the year off with a bang.  Winning a tournament at which she has fallen well short in the past puts her on the road to claiming her second Australian Open title.  Her serve seems to be clicking and her movement and court coverage was excellent.  One thing that did strike me was her willingness to move forward and not just to hit swing volleys.  She has added a fair amount of variety in her game and I wish people would start giving her credit for that. 

 Hobart

Simona Halep d. Timea Bacsinszky 6-2, 6-2

Halep was clinical in beating Bacsinszky.  She did not put a foot wrong and it was great to see her start the season with no tape.  Bacsinszky  is to be commended for working hard and getting herself back into the top 40. 

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Venus Williams for winning her 46 Tour title at the age of 34 beating someone 10 years her junior. 

Honourable mentions:

Timea Bazsincky for backing up her great play from last season into a final run and taking out the No. 2 seed and current Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova.

Lauren Davis from coming from a set down in back to back matches.

Varvara Lepchenko for coming from 5-1 down in the third set against home girl Stosur, and saving match points in the process to win her match.

DOUBLES DOUBLES

Errani and Vinci continued their winning ways taking home the Auckland title, while down in Brisbane, the team of Sabine Lisicki and Martina Hingis took home the trophy.