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Romanian Fans to Descend on Low Country as @Simona_Halep Commits to 2020 @VolvoCarOpen

Posted by Admin on September 20, 2019
Posted in: Charleston, Volvo Car Open, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Simona Halep, Citi Open 2017 (Photo: Tennis Atlantic)

Simona Halep, Citi Open 2017 (Photo: Tennis Atlantic)


SIMONA HALEP TO MAKE VOLVO CAR OPEN DEBUT IN 2020

The two-time Grand Slam winner has been ranked within the WTA’s top 10 for six consecutive seasons

DANIEL ISLAND, S.C. – Reigning Wimbledon champion and Former World No. 1 Simona Halep will make her Volvo Car Open debut in 2020. The 27-year-old Romanian has been ranked within the WTA’s top 10 for the past six years.

The Volvo Car Open will take place April 4 – 12 on Daniel Island in Charleston, SC. Halep joins Belinda Bencic, Amanda Anisimova, Garbiñe Muguruza and defending champion Madison Keys in the growing player field.

“I am so looking forward to playing in Charleston for the first time in my career,” said Halep. “I have heard so many great things about it and am so pleased to have it on my calendar for 2020. I know the players always say they feel at home there, so I can’t wait to visit the city and make my debut on the green clay.”

Halep, New Haven

Halep has won 19 WTA tournaments in her career, including winning the 2019 Wimbledon title and 2018 French Open title. In addition to capturing her second Grand Slam title in 2019, she was a finalist in Doha and Madrid, a semifinalist in Miami and a quarterfinalist in Dubai, Paris, Eastbourne and Toronto.

simona-halep

Simona Halep

“Simona competing in the Volvo Car Open for the first time means so much to us,” said Eleanor Adams, Volvo Car Open Tournament Manager. “We will be celebrating our 20th year in Charleston and to finally have Simona join our storied roster of players… the timing couldn’t be better! Twice voted a WTA Fan Favorite, Simona has an aggressive, precise style of play; she’s powerful and fast. I am certain our fans will embrace her. Simona has been worth the wait!

Halep was also the 2018 Australian Open finalist and 2017 French Open finalist.

The Volvo Car Open will celebrate its 20th year in Charleston in 2020. The tournament relocated to Charleston from Hilton Head Island, where it was held from 1973 – 2000.

The nine-day Volvo Car Open is the largest women’s-only tennis tournament in North America. The event attracts an average of 90,000 attendees and more than 100 of the top singles and doubles tennis players to Charleston every year.

Patrons have the option to choose from individual tickets, ticket packages and travel packages. Ticket prices range from $25 for an individual session to $540 for an all-inclusive weeklong package with complimentary access into a private hospitality suite. The Volvo Car Open also offers packages that include premium seats, ticket savings and membership into the tournament’s Ace Club.

For more information on the tournament and ticket options, visit volvocaropen.com or call 843.856.7900.

About the Volvo Car Open:
The Volvo Car Open is North America’s largest women’s-only tennis tournament. The event, formerly known as the Family Circle Cup, moved to Charleston, S.C., in 2001 from Hilton Head Island, S.C., and will celebrate its 48th tournament in 2020. The Volvo Car Open welcomes more than 90,000 spectators each year. The tournament features a singles draw of 56 players, a qualifying draw of 32 players and a doubles draw of 16 players. In conjunction with Tennis Channel and WTA Media, the Volvo Car Open is showcased from the first ball struck in main draw competition to the last ball played in finals, throughout the U.S. and 174 international partners. The tournament receives more than 100 hours of tennis coverage; live from Charleston, broadcast across the globe to millions of fans. The tournament is operated by Charleston Tennis, LLC. For more information on the Volvo Car Open, visit http://www.VolvoCarOpen.com, call (843) 856-7900, email info@volvocaropen.com, Facebook (Volvo Car Open), Twitter (@VolvoCarOpen) or Instagram (VolvoCarOpen).

—A. Alpino, Volvo Car Open

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.@Ana_Bogdan Beats Defending @CitiOpen Champion Makarova; Exclusive Interview

Posted by Admin on July 31, 2018
Posted in: Citi Open, Washington, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Ana Bogdan Beats Defending Champion Makarova at Citi Open; Exclusive Interview
Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic

We first interviewed Romania’s Ana Bogdan when she qualified for her first grand slam main draw in New York in 2016.

Times have changed and just off of her career high, she won’t need to qualify for the US Open this year.

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And she took out the defending tournament champion tonight, the left-handed, top 30 Kate Makarova, 7-6(2), 6-3.

After the match, Bogdan told me, “When you play against players like her and top players, you have to give your best and maybe even more.” Makarova clawed back after going down early to Bogdan. “At 3-1, she started to put more pressure on me,” she said. “She started to hit the ball more deep and she took three games in a row with that kind of game, and then I realized what was happening, and I said ‘OK, let’s change something’ and maybe I should start putting pressure on her.”

“It worked.”

Later, she spoke with me about her goal to return to the Top 50, her support from Romanian tennis fans (“I really love them. Seriously.”) and her tattoo (in Latin). See, I’ve given you a reason to watch the video.

Bogdan faces Sveta Kuznetsova tomorrow in Washington.

Congrats to Bianca Andreescu @Bandreescu_, 2017 @TennisCanada Female Player of the Year

Posted by Admin on December 5, 2017
Posted in: Canada, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Congrats to Bianca Andreescu, 2017 Tennis Canada Female Player of the Year

Bianca Andreescu, 2017 Citi Open (Photo: Tennis Atlantic)

Bianca Andreescu, 2017 Citi Open (Photo: Tennis Atlantic)

Toronto, December 5, 2017 – Tennis Canada announced Tuesday that Bianca Andreescu has been named the 2017 Tennis Canada Female Player of the Year, in addition to receiving the singles player and junior player of the year honours. Rounding out the female high performance awards is Gabriela Dabrowski with the female doubles player recognition for the fifth straight year and Carol Zhao as most improved player.

Andreescu transitioned from the junior circuit this year to become one of the top up-and-coming players of the women’s tour. She captured two Slam titles at the Junior Australian Open and Junior French Open, winning the girls’ doubles trophies alongside fellow Canadian Carson Branstine. Andreescu also made her maiden Fed Cup appearance for Canada. First, she posted a 6-0 record in Americas Group I zonal action en route to receiving the Fed Cup Heart Award. In April, she earned the clinching win over world No. 51 Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan to send Canada to World Group II for 2018.

Bianca Andreescu, 2017 Citi Open (Photo: Tennis Atlantic)

Bianca Andreescu, 2017 Citi Open (Photo: Tennis Atlantic)

The 17-year-old was named WTA Breakthrough of the Month for July following her WTA main draw debut in Washington. There, she became the first player born in the 2000s to oust a Top 20 player, beating then-world No. 13 Kristina Mladenovic en route to the quarter-finals. She also made her Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon in July, won two $25,000 Challenger titles on the ITF Pro Circuit, and reached her first WTA doubles final at Quebec City with Branstine. She debuted in the Top 150 rankings at a high of No. 143 in August and is currently sitting at No. 189.

“I want to thank Tennis Canada for these amazing honours,” said Andreescu. “By its very nature winning all three of these awards this year tells you this was a transitional year for me. Honestly, the learning curve was intense and steep. However, when I look back at my two Grand Slam championships with Carson and qualifying for Wimbledon, my first WTA quarter-final, my first Rogers Cup main draw, an amazing Fed Cup victory on the WTA circuit and several ITF accomplishments, I am very pleased with the year overall. I want to thank my team of coaches and trainers for their support and hard work throughout the year. Without them this would not be possible.”

Dabrowski and Zhao recognized for their seasons as well 

At world No. 18, Dabrowski is Canada’s highest-ranked doubles player and one of the premier players on the WTA tour. She made history by becoming the first Canadian woman to win a Grand Slam in June when she captured the Roland Garros mixed doubles championship alongside India’s Rohan Bopanna. She won the biggest WTA title of her career at Miami in March and later added another trophy at New Haven to bring her grand total to five. Her best year on the circuit so far was capped off by qualifying for the season-ending WTA Finals with Xu Yifan as one of the Top 8 pairs of the year.

After starting the 2017 season at world No. 491, Zhao improved over 300 spots this year and currently sits at No. 147. She took home the biggest title of her career last month at the $100,000 Shenzhen Challenger in China. She also won her first pro singles title two months earlier at a $25,000 event in Nanao, Japan. The 22-year-old, a former standout NCAA player at Stanford University, also was a semifinalist at the $100,000 VanOpen in August.

“A big congratulations to Bianca, Gabriela, and Carol on phenomenal seasons,” said Michael Downey, president and CEO, Tennis Canada. “Bianca is a deserving player of the year, as she is proving herself to be one of the top players of her generation and at 17 years old she is just getting started. Gabriela and Carol had years to remember as well; we will never forget Gabriela’s history-making Roland Garros win while Carol’s dedication and persistence is shining through with her results this year. This was a benchmark season for all three athletes with much more to come in the future; we are excited to follow along in 2018.”

—Tennis Canada

ATP Shanghai, Brasov, St. Remy Challenger Previews, Predictions

Posted by Admin on September 2, 2014
Posted in: ATP, ATP Challenger, Shanghai. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

ATP Shanghai, Brasov, St. Remy Challenger Previews, Predictions
Jeff McMillan, Tennis East Coast

ATP Challenger Tour Official Page

Road To The Shanghai Rolex Masters
ATP Challenger Tour
Shanghai, China
August 31-Septmebr 7
Prize Money: $50,000

Seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1. Go Soeda (106)
2. Somdev Devvarman (143)
3. Yuki Bhambri (151)
4. James Duckworth (154)
5. Luca Vanni (170)
6. Ze Zhang (182)
7. Di Wu (210)
8. Thomas Fabbiano (224)

First round matchups to watch:

Danai Udomchoke vs Hyeon Chung
Battle of young vs old here as 33 year old veteran Udomchoke battles against 18-year-old rising star Chung. Chung is coming off a big challenger win in Bangkok last week where he beat Udomchoke 7-5 6-3 in the first round. These two will have a rare back-to-back week rematch here in Shanghai. It will be a big test for the 18-year-old’s stamina to see how he can cope with playing the very next week after a long week in Bangkok.

Go Soeda vs Jason Jung
Soeda is going through a very rough patch at the moment. He was blasted in US Open qualies by out of practice Oscar Hernandez. Despite being the 31 seed here in Shanghai, Soeda is largely not expected to win this title. He has a formidable test in round 1 vs gritty American Jason Jung. Jung, the former college player for the Michigan Wolverines, is good on hard courts and can give Soeda a tough test and potentially pull the upset over the top seed and end the Japanese’s run before it even begins.

Top half preview:

Soeda is the top seed in the top half but is in poor form, leaving the draw wide open for anyone to make a semifinal run. The top half also includes James Duckworth and Ze Zhang, two players who had disappointing losses in New York as they attempted to qualify for the US Open. It will be interesting to see if Zhang can put his heartbreaking loss to James McGee behind him and show up in his home country, where he has semifinal points from a year ago to defend.

The most interesting player in the top half of the draw is Yoshihito Nishioka, the Japanese youngster who just qualified for his first major at the US Open. He had to retire in his match vs Lorenzi in round 1 in NYC, but he is thought to be near 100% here in Shanghai. He is likely headed for a big 2nd round match with James Duckworth and then potentially a quarterfinal vs Ze Zhang.

Bottom Half Preview:

The more interesting half of the draw is the bottom half. It boasts the top two Indian players in the world, Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri, as well as Chinese #2 Di Wu, who will be playing close to home in Shanghai.

This section is another wide-open one, as just like the top half, the top seed in the half (#2 seed Somdev Devvarman) is in dreadful form. Despite the poor form, Devvarman has found himself in a soft quarter and should reach the quarters with little sweat and likely to face Di Wu, who is also in a soft quarter.

A potential sleeper in this section is Sanam Singh. The former elite college player at the University of Virginia has been on a roll lately. He won 8 matches just to get into the US Open qualies and qualified here. He is best on fast hard courts and could do damage here.

Predictions

Quarters:

Fabbiano def Uchiyama
Zhang def Duckworth
Bhambri def Singh
Wu def Devvarman

Semis:

Zhang def Fabbiano
Bhambri def Wu

Final:

Bhambri def Zhang

I look for Yuki Bhambri to get a big challenger win here in Shanghai. He has been in relatively good form and really needs this to boost himself closer towards the top 100. Wu and Zhang will give great efforts in their home countries but come up just short for the title. An all-Chinese final is not out of the question if Wu can get past Bhambri in the semifinals.

BRD Brasov Challenger
ATP Challenger Tour
Brasov, Romania
August 31-September 7
$45,950

Top 8 seeds (ATP ranking in parentheses):
1. Andreas Haider-Maurer (110)
2. Pere Riba (116)
3. Facundo Arguello (120)
4. Adrian Ungur (137)
5. Gerald Melzer (145)
6. Chase Buchanan (158)
7. Marius Copil (175)
8. Jarsolav Pospisil (195)

Top Half Preview:

The Top half is well balanced with a few players who could make a semi or final run. Haider-Maurer is the favorite to emerge from the section, but home country Romanian Adrian Ungur could be a spoiler in the section for the top seed. American and former Ohio State Buckeye player Chase Buchanan is in the top half, making an interesting choice to venture out and play on European clay after spending most of his career on American hard courts. It is hard to see him beating more experienced clay courters on European soil.

Bottom Half Preview:
The bottom half is the stronger of the two halves as even the unseeded players are dangerous. Players like Guillame Rufin and Lucas Pouille lurk, and they could be sleepers in this tournament. Despite the strength of the unseeded players, the seeds are favored to move on to the quarters here. Copil, Arguello, Melzer and Riba are all pretty good players on the dirt and make their livings grinding out European challenger events. How much advantage will the hometown venue and crowd give Copil here vs the more established clay players Arguello and Riba? That is the question in this part of the draw.

Predictions:

Quarters:

Haider-Maurer def Buchanan
Ungur def Veic
Arguello def Copil
Riba def Rufin

Semifinals:

Haider-Maurer def Ungur
Arguello def Riba

Final:

Haider-Maurer def Arguello

There will be some long 3 setters late in this tournament that will decide the winner. I expect Arguello vs Copil to be a war in the quarters as well as the semifinal. Coming off of two hard fought matches, Arguello will be a little bit too spent to overcome Haider-Maurer, who will have had an easier road to the final.

Trophee Des Alpilles
ATP Challenger Tour
St. Remy, France
September 2-September 7 2014
$55,763

Top Seeds: (ATP rank)
1. Paul Henri Mathieu (81)
2. Sergei Stakhovsky (93)
3. Nicolas Mahut (103)
4. Kenny De Schepper (105)
5. Evgeny Donskoy (118)
6. Norbert Gombos (129)
7. Pierre Herbert (136)
8. Hiroki Moriya (149)

First round matches to watch:

Paul-Henri Mathieu vs Alexander Zverev

ATP veteran Mathieu is the top seed here in St.Remy. He probably possesses the most ability of all the players in the draw, but his motivation can be questioned for a challenger event for a player used to ATP level matches. Meanwhile, Zverev is one of the hottest prospects in the game right now. The 17-year-old German burst onto the scene with a semifinal run in his hometown Hamburg 500 event in July and has had people talking since. This will be a very intriguing match to follow. Experience vs promise.

Top half Preview:

Mathieu is the top seed here and looms at the top of the draw. The rest of the seeds in this section are not the most intimidating, as Mahut is in poor form while Gombos and Herbert are very beatable despite their seeds. That leaves the door open for players like Josselin Ouanna and Fabrice Martin.

Bottom half Preview:

Stakhovsky is the favorite in this section, but dangerous floaters loom. Evgeny Donskoy has a good shot to get out of this section and to the final, as does unseeded Ruben Bemelmans. The winner of Donskoy vs Stakhovsky could very well win this whole tournament.

Predictions:

Quarterfinals:

Zverev def Herbert
Martin def Mahut
Bemelmans def De Schepper
Donskoy def Stakhovsky

Semifinals:

Martin def Zverev
Donskoy def Bemelmans

Final:

Donskoy def Martin

A little bit of a surprise here. Martin has no recent results to indicate he can make the final here, but the others in the section are either in poor form, lacking in proper motivation or too inexperienced and that is why Martin will emerge as the surprise finalist here. Donskoy overcomes Stakhovsky in a very tight match and from that big win will roll to the title herein St. Remy.

Simona Halep is a Fighter: Exclusive Interview #NHO13

Posted by Admin on August 21, 2013
Posted in: New Haven Open, US Open, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Simona Halep is a Fighter: Exclusive Interview

Simona Halep is a name that everyone is quickly learning if they didn’t know her before. But the only insight that she’ll give us is that she “likes to fight”. She brought that fact up twice in the brief interview with Tennis East Coast on Monday in New Haven.

Her terrific year has propelled her to a career high ranking of World #22. Since June alone, she’s won a stunning 3 WTA titles (Nurnberg, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Budapest). Halep speaks of her great run this summer and that of  Romanian compatriot Sorana Cirstea.

 

Simona Halep, New Haven

Simona Halep, New Haven

On Romanian WTA performance this summer:  “We played really good this year. Sorana played really good in Toronto. She had a really good result. I think we are fighting girls.”

She concluded by telling me that she’s “very relaxed on court now and I just like to play with pleasure.” And if I needed a reminder, I got it.

“I’m a normal girl and I like to fight”.

Halep will pick her next fight with Carla Suarez Navarro for a trip to the Quarterfinals at New Haven Open this afternoon.

Halep, New Haven

—Steve Fogleman

@Sorana_Cirstea Tears Through Toronto to Reach 1st Final in 5 Years @RogersCupTo

Posted by Admin on August 10, 2013
Posted in: Rogers Cup, Toronto, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Sorana Cirstea Tears Through Toronto to Reach 1st Final in 5 Years #RogersCupTo

Cirstea, Washington 2013

She’s been on the radar to some degree for a while now. This year alone, she made the semis at Pattaya and Stanford, the quarterfinals at Birmingham, and the Round of 16 at Charleston and Miami. Now everyone knows her name, but they still can’t pronounce it.

Today, Cirstea (Keer-stay-uh) advanced to her first final in five years in a solid 6-1, 7-6(5) beating of Na Li at Rogers Cup in Toronto. Tomorrow, she’ll face either Agnieszka Radwanska or Serena Williams in her first ever Premier 5 Final.

 

Cirstea was ranked #26 to begin the week, and will move into the top 20 as a result of trashing the Toronto field. She has torn through Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Jankovic, Petra Kvitova and Na Li, and that’s just since Monday. If anyone can stop the unstoppable Serena Williams, she has the best chance. Serena does have a 2-0 H2H against Cirstea, with Serena dominating both contests at 2012 Stanford and this year at Roland Garros. That record is a heck of a lot better than Radwanska’s 0-5 H2H against Serena.

 

Oh, yeah. She is a super-nice person to interview, she jumps out of planes for fun, and you think you can’t spell or pronounce her name? Well, last week she told me that Starbucks is the worst and that she’s just going to tell them her name is Mike or Bob the next time she goes for a latte in the little interview below.

You can call yourself whatever you like if you keep winning like this.

—S. Fogleman

 

Alison Riske/Sorana Cirstea Second Round Citi Open Preview

Posted by Admin on August 1, 2013
Posted in: Citi Open, Washington, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Alison Riske, WTA Washington CitiOpen

I’m hoping to do a similar interview with Alison today and ask the Pittsburgh native about her experiences with the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland and her impressive run on the grass courts of England this summer.

Riske should be a crowd favorite and has already mentioned on twitter how thankful she is for the fan support that JTCC members have given her thus far.

The match is scheduled after the 2 p.m. third set conclusion of the ATP match postponed last night between James Duckworth and Kevin Anderson, with Anderson up 6-3, 3-6, 5-4. That should end quickly.

All we can do now is hope the rain holds off.

Stay tuned!

All ACES

JTCC affiliated player Alison Riske will take on No. 5 seed Sorana Cirstea in the second round today at the Citi Open.  They are scheduled as the second match on Grandstand 2.

In their first round matches, Riske defeated Vania King, 6-3, 7-5 and Cirstea bounced Lesia Tsurenko, 7-5, 1-1 (ret.).

Last Meeting

The two faced off back in 2007 on the hard courts of the US Open.  Riske defeated Cirstea 6-2, 7-6(4).

Tale of the Tape

Alison Riske

 

Sorana Cirstea

23

Age

23

96

Ranking

28

5’ 9”

Height

5’ 9”

145 lbs

Weight

130 lbs

Right-handed

Plays

Right-handed

28/17

Year-To-Date Won/Lost

22/18

184/129

Career Won/Lost

290/186

$448,410

Career Prize Money

$2,239,442

1

Head-to-Head Series

Wimbledon: Lost in 3rd Round

Last Grand Slam ResultWimbledon: Lost in 2nd Round

The Road Ahead

The winner will be pitted against either the No. 4 seed Alize Cornet or Heather Watson…

View original post 33 more words

2013 @CitiOpen Feature Interview: Sorana Cirstea (@Sorana_Cirstea)

Posted by Admin on July 31, 2013
Posted in: Citi Open, Washington, WTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

@Citi Open Feature Interview: @Sorana_Cirstea
Steve Fogleman for Tennis Panorama

Sorana Cirstea, 2013 Citi Open

Sometimes words alone cannot capture the emotions of a human being as adequately as seeing and hearing the subject.

This is one of those times.

Sorana Cirstea is one happy tennis player.

I caught up with her yesterday after a 7-5, 1-1 over Lesia Tsurenko by retirement. She’ll face Alison Riske in the second round of the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. tomorrow for a spot in the quarters.

“I hope you don’t make me sing! I cannot sing!” she jokingly protested, as I handed her a microphone for the interview.

Sorana Cristea is so happy with her year so far and so excited to be in Washington for the first time that she comes across as one of the most genuine and well-balanced players I’ve ever met.

This is one of those times when I’m glad I’m about the only person who regularly shoots video interviews in the early rounds of the tournaments I attend. I know it’s more convenient to read a blog than watch a video on your Iphone or laptop. I mean, you might be at work or on a bus or watching a tennis match right now.

But please take time to hear Sorana’s infectious jubilance by watching the video at some point.

If you like Cirstea, you’ll like her even more. And if you don’t know anything about her, you’ll like her for the first time.

cirstea 1

The 23-year-old Romanian is just off her new career high of #23 in the world. She has been in the late rounds of every other tournament I follow.

She’s only won one WTA singles title, and that was five year ago in Tashkent, but this year alone, she has made the semis at Pattaya and Stanford, the quarterfinals at Birmingham, and the Round of 16 in Charleston and Miami. She also made the third round at Roland Garros before falling to eventual champion Serena Williams.

And yet, it seems, no one in the English-speaking world can pronounce her name.

She even changed the pronunciation of Cirstea because non-Romanian speakers simply cannot pronounce it.

“However people can say it, as long as they get Sorana fine, that’s all good. I find it funny.
The funniest thing of all is when I go to grab a coffee. That’s always the worst place they spell my name. So for now on, I will be something like Bob or Michael.

She’s definitely pleased with the results of her hard work on the circuit this year.

“It’s been a solid year. I’ve been quite consistent from tournament to tournament. I feel I am playing better and better from week to week. It’s nice knowing that when you put all that hard work in, you can see the results. I think that motivates. I’m just very excited and looking forward to what’s coming next.

I feel I’m ready. When I have a good day, I can beat anyone. I always say that the rankings show the truth. If I’m 28 right now, it means this is where I should be.”

This is her first time in Washington in any capacity. She’s thrilled with the beauty of the city and the friendliness of Citi Open staff.

“I’m very excited to be here for my first time in Washington. I’ve always wanted to come. It’s this thing about “The Capital”. I’ve been waiting 23 years to get here. As soon as I got in on Sunday night, we dropped our bags at the hotel and went to the White House.

There’s just so much history here. Hopefully, I’ll have some time to explore and be a tourist.”

I asked her if she might be a lawyer after her pro career concludes. She acknowledged that it might be too late to start schooling for such a job, and that she has some many interesting options after tennis.

“Once I have something in my mind, I try to put 100% in to make it.”

Of course, the reason I asked about a legal career was due to her brilliant closing arguments against bad calls in Stanford recently in a match with Dominkia Cibulkova. It was an argument she won, and won, and won, as the judges went her way six times in a single set.

“I think that’s more stubbornness!”, she joked. “Once I think I’m right, I usually go all the way. I knew I was right at that point. So I was really confident and I went for it. I have respect for the chair umpire and all the linesmen. The only reason why I argued is because I wanted that point. It was mine. I earned it. I’m one of those people where if something is mine, I won’t give it away.”

I don’t know if about her stubbornness, but I am impressed with her fearlessness. She took a maiden sky-diving jump last year and loved it so much she had to do it again recently.

“I loved it. I always wanted to do it and never had the opportunity.The second time around was ten times better, because I actually knew what to expect. Everyone should jump at least once in their life. It’s an experience worth living. Don’t be surprised if you see me jumping again.”

And don’t be surprised if you see her hoisting a trophy and winning another WTA title or two before the year is out.