Title in Rome! [20.05.2012]
For the first time since 1985, an all-Italian team won in Rome. Sara and Roberta beat Makarova/Vesnina for the second time in a week in a final. Last week they needed a super tiebreak, but this week they did it in two sets: 6-2 7-5. After Monterrey, Acapulco, Barcelona and Madrid, this was already the 5th title of 2012 for Sara and Roberta, and the 10th together as a team. But of course this one was special: "This was a different, very special victory for us, to win here in Rome," Roberta said. "I think the secret to our success is we are such good friends too." Sara commented: "We played well this week and have been playing very well overall. We're very happy we could win this and we hope to continue playing like this."
On www.federtennis.it you can watch a video of the last point of the match and the celebration (including Sara showering the crowd in champagne...), and a video about Sara and Roberta as a team. On http://www.gazzetta.it there's a video interview with the girls. And of course there's also another batch of pictures from Rome in the photogallery.
Next week, Sara was supposed to play the Brussels Open, but she has withdrawn in order to rest the injury on her thigh that she sustained in the Madrid final last week. She will be going to Paris instead, to prepare for Roland Garros.
7th final of the year [19.05.2012]
Sara and Roberta have reached their 7th final of this year! In the semifinal, they beat the world #1, Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond, with ease: 6-1 6-3. Sara and Roberta played really well today, especially in the first set. In the second set, Huber and Raymond could keep up a bit longer than in the first set, but the break Sara and Roberta placed at 3-2 proved to be decisive.
The final will be a repeat from last weeks Madrid final, as they will once again meet Makarova and Vesnina.
Semifinal [18.05.2012]
The incredible year for Sara and Roberta continues as they reached yet another semifinal this week. Yesterday they beat Dulko/Suarez 6-4 6-3, and today they beat Kirilenko/Petrova 7-5 6-2. In the semifinal, they will play against world #1s Huber/Raymond.
Of course there are some more pictures from Rome in the photogallery. On the site of La Gazzetta dello Sport, you can watch a video interview with Sara, from yesterday.
Out of singles [16.05.2012]
It was a good match for Sara today, but unfortunately she just fell short to get her first top-10 win of her career; she lost 3-6 5-7 to Samantha Stosur. Sara's own thoughts about the match:
I could have done better, I had too many ups and downs. In the decisive phase of the first set, with wind in my favor, I had to push and instead I made too many mistakes. The match depended on Stosur, but also on me and this is a small step forward. It means that I can battle with players of her level. I have to believe more in myself. In the match I was closer to her than I thought. In this I have to improve. She did not play at a crazy level but I wasn't at my best either. Too bad. Now I hope to do well in double, although we face a strong team in Dulko-Suarez.
Through to 2nd round [15.05.2012]
Sara had an easy match in the first round in Rome. Her opponent, Timea Bacsinszky, retired when Sara was leading 6-0 3-0. She seemed to be hindered by a stomach muscle. Of course it's hard to say anything about a match against an injured opponent, but at least it seemed that Sara's thigh injury, which she sustained in the doubles final in Madrid, wasn't hindering her much. In the second round, Sara will play against world #5 Samantha Stosur.
Of course there are some pictures from today in the photogallery. You can also watch a video interview with Sara on http://www.federtennis.it.
If you haven't seen it yet, don't forget to check out the Italian site!
Rome [14.05.2012]
This week is an important week for all Italian players: it's the week of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, the biggest tournament that Italy hosts. Sara is unseeded and plays Timea Bacsinszky from Switzerland in the first round. If she wins, she'll play 5th seed Samanta Stosur in the next round.
In doubles, Sara and Roberta are 3rd seed, and have a bye in the first round.
Title! [13.05.2012]
With a 6-1 3-6 10-4 win over Makarova and Vesnina, Sara and Roberta won their 4th title of the year! It's their 9th title as a team, but the first one above International level. It shows how much they are growing as a team and what an amazing year they're having. The first set of the final went really well, very quick, "almost a perfect set", Sara said. The second set was tougher, Sara had an injury timeout for a muscle problem in her thigh, but could continue play. Unfortunately they got broken once, and that was enough to take the match to a supertiebreak. Because the court was very fast, Sara and Roberta decided to play the supertiebreak as aggressive as possible, and it worked out.
Because of this tournament win, Sara and Roberta will be #1 in the Race rankings (the rankings over 2012) next week. They will also move up to #8 and #9 in the regular doubles rankings - their first time in the top 10.
You can watch the oncourt interview after the final (in Spanish) here, or read the English translation underneath. There's another interview from after the final here. They talk about the final, about the problems with the court, and of course about the Olympics. Of course there are also pictures from the Madrid final in the photogallery.
Doubles final [12.05.2012]
Sara and Roberta are in the doubles final in Madrid! In the semifinal they beat Kirilenko/Petrova 7-5 6-7 10-5. They had no less thsan 14 breakpoints during the match, but they only took two, while Kirilenko and Petrova only needed 2 breakpoints to break and even the second set while Roberta was serving for the match. However, Sara and Roberta recovered very well, and took the matchtiebreak comfortably.
In the final, they will face another Russian team, Makarova/Vesnina. The final will be played tonight, second match after 7pm local time.
Streak ended [09.05.2012]
Sara's 16-matches winning streak on clay came to an end today, as she lost to Agnieszka Radwanska. In the first set, she had 8 breakchances on Radwanska's serve, but didn't take any of them, while Radwanska did take the chances she got. As a result, Sara lost the set 0-6. In the second set, Sara didn't get another chance to break, and though she did hold her serve once, it was nowhere near enough: 1-6. Even though the scoreline is harsh, Sara should be satisfied with the tournament, as she won the match she was supposed to win.
In doubles, things went better than in singles. Sara and Roberta made the quarterfinal, by beating Pavlyuchenkova/Safarova comfortably: 6-1 6-3. In the quarterfinal, they will play against Cibulkova/Husarova.
La Gazzetta dello Sport has posted a very nice video interview with Sara and Roberta Vinci from Madrid. Also, don't forget to check the photogallery.
1st round win [08.05.2012]
Sara has won her first round on the blue clay of Madrid, but it wasn't easy: 4-6 6-2 6-3 over Chanelle Scheepers. With this win, Sara now has 16 straight wins on clay, as much as Dinara Safina had in 2009 (noone equalled that before). On the site of La Gazzetta dello Sport you can watch a video interview with Sara about the match.
In the next round, Sara will play against world #3 Agnieszka Radwanska.
Madrid [06.05.2012]
While Sara was playing the final in Budapest, next weeks tournament had already started. The Mutua Madrid Open is a mandatory tournament, and started on saturday already. However, the tournament organisation lets Sara rest a little, and she gets to play her first round match on monday. She will face Chanelle Scheepers, whom she has beaten twice before. Both matches were tight, but the most recent one was in 2008.
Sara will also be back on the doubles court this week. Of course she plays with Roberta Vinci. They are 5th seed, and play Jans-Ignatik/Kudryavtseva in the first round.
A few pictures from Budapest have been added to the photogallery. Also, you can read what the Italian press had to say about Sara's 3rd win of the year here.
....and that's three! [05.05.2012]
Sara won her third title of the year in Budapest! Her opponent, Elena Vesnina, started the match really well, and took a double break lead. Sara got one break back right away, but at 5-3, Vesnina served for the set. However, she failed to do so, and from that point on, Sara won 7 games in a row to take a 7-5 3-0 lead. Vesnina got that break back, but at 5-4, Sara broke her again, including a double fault on matchpoint. Hence Sara won 7-5 6-4 and got her third trophy of the year. She said about the match: "Elena was playing really strong today - my congratulations to her for that. I had to run a lot and fight hard to keep up with her today." And about her year: "I didn't expect to win any titles this year, and now I have three!" And Vesnina said about the match: "I was playing very well at the beginning, but Sara is the kind of player who destroys your game and makes you feel uncomfortable on the court. I tried to play aggressively throughout the match but the slow court suited Sara's game better than mine, and all credit to her for winning."
Thanks to this win, Sara will move up to 24 in next weeks ranking, her first time in the top25.
Here's a nice article about Sara from yesterday.
Another final [04.05.2012]
After Acapulco and Barcelona, Sara made her 3rd final of this year in Budapest. In the semifinal, she had no problems with Anna Tatishvili from Georgia: 6-2 6-1. Sara broke Tatishvili 5 times, while she didn't get broken once. In the second set, she even lost only 2 points in her own servicegames. In the final, Sara will play against Elena Vesnina. They have never played before.
13 in a row [03.05.2012]
Sara has now won 13 matches in a row on clay, and is still unbeaten on the surface this year. Today, she beat het compatriot Alberta Brianti 6-4 6-0. The beginning of the match was tough for Sara, and Brianti took an early break. Sara broke back for 3-3, and then at 5-4, she broke again to win the first set. In the second set, Sara played better, while Brianti started making more errors. Sara didn't lose another game and won the set 6-0. In the semifinal she will play against Aleksandra Wozniak or Anna Tatishvili, who are playing their quarterfinal right now.
In the photogallery there are two pictures from yesterdays 2nd round match.
In the multimedia section, I have added a video from the Acapulco final and another video with highlights from Barcelona. One more thing that has been added is her live interview on Sky, in the show Obiettiva Londra. It's a 30 minutes long show, with an interview with Sara about her year, her goals and many other things. There are also short items and interviews with her brother, her first trainer, and some of the Italian players.
Quarterfinal [02.05.2012]
Sara has made her 6th quarterfinal of the year, by beating Melinda Czink in the second round of the Budapest Grand Prix. The win didn't come easy though: 6-4 1-6 6-1. About the loss of the second set, Sara said: "She started to play better in the second set and I got nervous. I had two games from 40-15 that I lost. In the third set, I tried to be calmer, to hit the ball deeper and push her outside the court, and that worked better."
In the quarterfinal, Sara will play against fellow Italian Alberta Brianti. They played once before, in Barcelona last year, and Sara won that match in 2 sets.
First round win [01.05.2012]
No problems for Sara today as she beat Mandy Minella in the first round in Budapest: 6-1 6-1. In the first set, Sara took an easy 5-0 lead. In the next few games, she struggled a little, but as soon as she had the lead in the second set, that went quickly too.
In the second round, Sara will play against Melinda Czink from Hungary. It will be their first meeting.
In the photogallery, you can find pictures from the photoshoot Sara did for Nike.
Budapest [29.04.2012]
Sara will play the Budapest Grand Prix this week. She is top seed, and in the first round she'll play against Mandy Minella. They have played twice before, most recently this year in Monterrey. Sara won both matches in two sets. You can see the full draw here.
