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Azarenka Wins, First Round Wraps Up

Azarenka Wins, First Round Wraps Up

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MELBOURNE, Australia – Victoria Azarenka, who won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013, didn’t drop a single game in the first match of her quest for a third title at the Happy Slam on Tuesday.

The No.14-seeded Azarenka was absolutely ruthless against Alison Van Uytvanck in the feature night match on Rod Laver Arena, rolling past the Belgian up-and-comer in just 53 minutes, 6-0, 6-0.

“I’m pretty happy – I don’t think I’m looking for perfection, I’m looking for effort. I’m looking for focus,” Azarenka told reporters afterwards. “I like that I was very composed today from the first point to the last point. Like it didn’t matter what the score was in the match, I was there on every point.

“So that’s what I’m very happy about today.”

The former World No.1 was asked whether she was sticking to the dab – the American Football-inspired post-match celebration she debuted during her run to the Brisbane title – this fortnight.

“For now, yeah,” she said, after which she was asked whether it was for luck.

“I just like doing it,” Azarenka replied. “I don’t believe in luck – I believe in hard work.”

Azarenka has gotten off to a perfect start to the 2016 season, not dropping a set en route to her first WTA title in almost two and a half years at the Brisbane International a few weeks ago – losing just 17 games in five matches, in fact – and she’s now 6-0 on the year after her first win in Melbourne.

Not all of the favorites flourished, though, with five more seeds going out, most notably No.2 seed Simona Halep, who was stunned by Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai, 6-4, 6-3 (read more here) and No.8 seed Venus Williams, who succumbed to British No.1 Johanna Konta, 6-4, 6-2 (read more here).

Johanna Larsson beat No.29 seed Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-3, 6-2, Varvara Lepchenko beat No.31 seed Lesia Tsurenko, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3, and Barbora Strycova outdid No.32 seed Caroline Garcia, 6-2, 6-4.

Most of the seeds in action moved through, though, including No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, who out-hit Anett Kontaveit, 6-0, 6-4, and No.7 seed Angelique Kerber, who won a thriller against Misaki Doi, saving a match point down 6-5 in the second set tie-break to survive, 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-3.

Other winners on Tuesday included No.9 seed Karolina Pliskova, No.11 seed Timea Bacsinszky, No.15 seed Madison Keys, No.18 seed Elina Svitolina, No.19 seed Jelena Jankovic, No.20 seed Ana Ivanovic (read about her win here), No.21 seed Ekaterina Makarova and No.30 seed Sabine Lisicki.

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Olympic QFs: By The Numbers

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

How many minutes has Madison Keys spent on court? Who has hit the most aces? And in whose famous footsteps is Johanna Konta looking to follow?

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Tuesday

Quarterfinals

[2] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #3) vs. [26] Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO #29)
Head-to-head: Tied, 3-3
Key Stat: Pliskova and Lucic-Baroni have played three-setters in each of their last three meetings.

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni has already matched her total of Top 10 wins from the previous four seasons by notching three in 2017 and, on Sunday, the 35-year-old will try to make it four when she meets No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova in her first Miami Open quarterfinal.

Pliskova, who is in the Miami quarterfinals for the second time, knows it will be a challenge. She was knocked off by Lucic-Baroni in January, falling 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to the Croatian in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, and their last three battles have all gone the distance.

“She’s always tough,” Pliskova told WTA Insider on Monday after easing past Barbora Strycova in straight sets. “She has a big game and it was close in Australia.”

The head-to-head points to a toss-up but Pliskova comes in as the favorite based on her ranking and the expectations she has set by becoming one of the most lethal players in the last 52 weeks. Now the No.1 Czech, Pliskova is expected to come through these types of matches and she certainly has the game to do it. But how can she keep her veteran opponent off balance so that her blistering groundstrokes don’t take over the match? It’s a task that has proved difficult for many this season and it will be interesting to see how Pliskova approaches playing Lucic-Baroni from a tactical perspective.

Lucic-Baroni, meanwhile, will approach the challenge of facing Pliskova’s game with no fear. She’s playing some of the best tennis of her life – why shouldn’t the fairytale continue?

“It’s always nice when you beat a top player and then beat them again not too long after, so it’s not a ‘fluke,'” Lucic-Baroni said last week in Miami after defeating No.5-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska for the second time this season. “I know people like to say stupid things sometimes. But I don’t pay attention to that. I know I can play some great tennis and that’s really all I care about doing.”

Pick: Pliskova in three

[12] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #14) vs. Lucie Safarova (CZE #36)
Head-to-head: Wozniacki leads, 4-3
Key Stat: Wozniacki’s 21 victories in 2017 place her second on tour.

Caroline Wozniacki is back in the last eight of the Miami Open for the fifth time overall and the first time since 2014, and the Dane faces a former Top 10 player on the rise in Lucie Safarova. The Czech secured her first Top 10 win since 2015 when she defeated World No.4 Dominika Cibulkova on Monday in straight sets. If that doesn’t give you an idea of what type of form the 30-year-old Czech is in, consider this: Safarova’s 16 wins in the first three months of the season are already more than she had in all of 2016. She has yet to drop a set this week and has reached the Miami Open quarterfinals for the first time on her 12th career appearance.

Can the southpaw take it a step further and shut down Wozniacki on Tuesday? It will be a difficult task. Wozniacki has won three of her last four against Safarova and is running hot as she prepares to play her sixth quarterfinal of the season. The match will likely hinge on how well Wozniacki can implement her return tactics against Safarova’s serve. The Czech entered the tournament ranked fourth in percentage of service games won this season, while Wozniacki ranked No.6 in percentage of return games won.

Pick: Wozniacki in three

By the Numbers
4 – Number of wins that Lucic-Baroni notched at Miami from 1998 to 2016. She will try to win her fourth match of the 2017 tournament against Pliskova.
22 – Pliskova took over the WTA lead in wins for 2017 with her 22nd win on Monday.
9 – Number of times that Caroline Wozniacki has reached at least the quarterfinal in her last ten tournaments.
16 – Lucie Safarova’s 16 wins (16-6) in 2017 have already surpassed her win total for all of 2016 (15-18).

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WTA Stars Pay Tribute To Hewitt

WTA Stars Pay Tribute To Hewitt

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

An emotional Lleyton Hewitt hung up the racquet after a two-decade long career that saw him win 30 ATP titles and two Grand Slams, as well as become the youngest ever No.1 ranked male player. The Aussie legend retired at his home slam after losing to David Ferrer in the men’s second round of the Australian Open. Well wishes and tears poured in for Hewitt after the match, and several WTA stars took to Twitter to pay tribute.

Here’s how they said goodbye to the two-time Grand Slam winner:

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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MADRID, Spain – All of the world’s best players have been confirmed to attend the 16th Mutua Madrid Open, which starts on May 6.

With the exception of the injured Petra Kvitova, the field is as strong as it possibly could be according to the WTA rankings – with the returning Maria Sharapova also granted a wildcard along with four other players, to be announced.

To complete the 64-player main draw for the Mutua Madrid Open, eight players will come through the qualifying stages.

Fifth seeded Simona Halep is the reigning champion in a recent roll of honour that has seen Serena Williams triumph twice (2012, 2013) and Sharapova in 2014. The tournament will mark Williams’ return to action, the former champion having struggled with a knee injury since winning the Australian Open.

Kvitova is also a two-time winner of the event and tournament director Manolo Santana used the announcement as an opportunity to dedicate a few words to the absent champion.

“I would like to send my best wishes and affection to Petra Kvitova, who is unable to play this year for reasons I am sure you are all aware of,” he said. “I have special admiration for Petra’s capacity to overcome adversity and I would love to see her back here fighting for her third title next year.”

The players registered for the Mutua Madrid Open are:

1. Angelique Kerber
2. Serena Williams
3. Karolina Pliskova
4. Dominika Cibulkova
5. Simona Halep
6. Garbiñe Muguruza
7. Svetlana Kuznetsova
8. Agnieszka Radwanska
9. Madison Keys
10. Elina Svitolina
11. Johanna Konta
12. Venus Williams
13. Elena Vesnina
14. Caroline Wozniacki
15. Timea Bacsinszky
16. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
17. Kristina Mladenovic
18. Samantha Stosur
19. Barbora Strycova
20. Kiki Bertens
21. Coco Vandeweghe
22. Caroline Garcia
23. Carla Suárez Navarro
24. Anastasija Sevastova
25. Daria Gavrilova
26. Timea Babos
27. Irina-Camelia Begu
28. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni
29. Roberta Vinci
30. Ana Konjuh
31. Yulia Putintseva
32. Zhang Shuai
33. Lauren Davis
34. Ekaterina Makarova
35. Lucie Safarova
36. Katerina Siniakova
37. Alison Riske
38. Laura Siegemund
39. Monica Puig
40. Lesia Tsurenko
41. Daria Kasatkina
42. Peng Shuai
43. Alizé Cornet
44. Monica Niculescu
45. Christina McHale
46. Julia Goerges
47. Naomi Osaka
48. Yaroslava Shvedova
49. Misaki Doi
50. Kristyna Pliskova
51. Viktorija Golubic

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