Tennis News

ROME, Italy – World No.1 Serena Williams will have to run the gauntlet if she is to recapture the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, after Friday’s draw placed her in the same section as several title rivals.

After her last-minute withdrawal from Madrid because of flu, Williams will begin her clay court campaign at the Foro Italico, a venue that holds many fond memories; three times the American has been crowned champion in the Eternal City (2002, 2013 and 2014), and on the first two occasions she followed it up with French Open glory.

As one of the top eight seeds, Williams receives a first-round bye, before taking on either Anna Karolina Schmiedlova or Anna-Lena Friedsam in her clay court opener. Should she clear this opening hurdle, Williams is projected to meet Ana Ivanovic in the third round, Simona Halep in the quarterfinals, then Victoria Azarenka in the last four.

No.4 seed Azarenka is still nursing the back injury that forced her out of Madrid and will begin with the winner of Margarita Gasparyan and Irina-Camelia Begu. Also keeping her company in arguably the most open section of the draw are Roberta Vinci, Karolina Pliskova and Lucie Safarova.

Like Williams, No.2 seed Angelique Kerber has been placed in a tricky quarter. Awaiting her in the second round will be either Jelena Jankovic or Eugenie Bouchard, before a likely third-round date with one of the WTA’s finest clay courters, Sara Errani. Should she negotiate the treacherous path to the last eight, Petra Kvitova or Venus Williams could lie in wait.

Looking to bounce back from her Madrid disappointment, No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza will need to watch out for another banana skin; Ekaterina Makarova, Kristina Mladenovic and Elina Svitolina are all capable of scuppering her all-Spanish quarterfinal against Carla Suárez Navarro in the quarterfinals.

Click here to see the draw in full.

Notable 1Rs @InteBNLdItalia:

Keys-Petkovic (winner plays Kvitova)
Pliskova-Kasatkina
Venus-Vandeweghe
Jankovic-Bouchard
Gavrilova-Lisicki

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) 6 May 2016

MADRID, Spain – Simona Halep returned to the final of the Mutua Madrid Open after outclassing Samantha Stosur on Friday evening.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!

Fifty-one minutes was all it took for Halep to romp home, 6-2, 6-0, and advance to her first final since last summer. There she will face Dominika Cibulkova, who won an equally one-sided encounter against Louisa Chirico earlier in the day.

There was little in the opening quarter of an hour on court to suggest the emphatic scoreline that was to follow, the players splitting the first four games as they traded on equal terms from the back of the court.

When Stosur moved 30-0 ahead in the next game, another hold looked on the cards. However, a couple of wayward forehands left the door ajar for Halep to break and with it change the feel of the match.

Less than 10 minutes later, Halep was serving for the set, confidently closing it out to love. The Romanian was now the one dictating the points, expertly sliding to flick a crosscourt backhand in the opening game of the second set. This display of dexterity brought up break point and she converted with an equally confident forehand.

All facets of Halep’s game were now purring as she hurtled towards the finishing line, dropping only four more points before wrapping up victory with her fourth ace of the match.

The other statistics bore equally pleasant reading, as she finished with an 80% first serve percentage and did not face a single break point. “It looked like the perfect game,” Halep told the press after the match. “In the morning actually I was a little bit sore from all the matches this week. Then I warmed up and I felt really well.

“I knew how she would play – I’ve played many times against her – and her game suits mine very well.”

A tougher challenge is likely to await in the final. Cibulkova has come out on top in three of their four career meetings, most recently in a one-sided Australian Open quarterfinal in 2014.

“Her game is fast. She hits the balls. She is moving very well. Of course I think she really wants it tomorrow, to win. We are in the same position. Everyone will fight for it.

“But it’s a big challenge for me. Another match, another day, a different day as well, so we will see. I just want to stay focused like today and to do everything I have in my gameplan.”

Halep seals it with her fourth ace of the match. Outaced Stosur 4-1. 80% 1st serves, lost 7 pts on serve, 5/5 on BPs. Fantastic performance.

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) 6 May 2016

ROME, Italy – Daria Gavrilova continues to save her best tennis for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia; looking to back up her run to last year’s semifinals, the Aussie outlasted Mutua Madrid Open winner Simona Halep, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, to reach the third round.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Madrid right here on wtatennis.com!

“I played pretty well the whole match,” Gavrilova said after her win. “It was always going to be a tough battle because we’re pretty similar players.

“A few years back, I was watching her play thinking, ‘I could play like her,’ and beating her today was an unreal feeling. I was super happy. After the rain delay, I could reset and come out there playing very good!”

Halep needed three sets to defeat Gavrilova in their only previous encounter at the 2015 BNP Paribas Open, and the match was headed to another photo finish when a rain delay halted proceedings at one set apiece.

“Maybe if it wouldn’t rain, maybe I would have played better,” Halep said in her post-match press conference. “But that’s it. I cannot change anything. If it’s raining, it’s raining. If I lose, you lose. I won a lot of matches last week, so I don’t give up now that I lost one match.”

Play has been suspended due to rain ☔️ #ibi16 https://t.co/HBmfgHoqMu

— WTA (@WTA) May 11, 2016

Working her way through an even contest, the 2009 French Open junior finalist looked to be fading, but quickly caught fire after saving a break point in the fourth game.

Showing off the sort of boundless energy that has become her signature, the unseeded Aussie promptly broke serve in the next game and all but ran away with the match from there. Surviving a brief hiccup when serving for it, she broke once more at love to clinch the match in just under two hours, hitting 30 winners to 31 unforced errors.

The win was Gavrilova’s first over a Top 5 player this season, and second of her career – having previously defeated then-World No.2 Maria Sharapova in the second round of last year’s Miami Open ahead of her Roman run.

Though Halep didn’t display the form that took her to a second career Premier Mandatory title in Madrid, the Romanian nonetheless hit 29 winners of her own, but wasn’t able to make up for her 33 unforced errors hit over the course of three sets.

“It’s not a big drama that I lost today,” Halep said. “But it still was a loss and it’s not easy.

“I take just a positive from last week. Today was tough for me to adapt, but still I could play better, but that’s it. I’m still confident, but I have to keep working to go to French Open.”

Up next for Gavrilova is No.9 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova on Pietrangeli Court; the Russian eased past Madrid semifinalist Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 6-4, just before the rain delay. Growing uo in Russia, the 2009 French Open champion is a player she knows well.

“When I was little, my first coach was telling us about her childhood. She was our hero, as well as Maria. I have so much respect for her. It’s exciting, and I’m pretty sure she likes clay!”

.@Daria_Gav with the incredible volley passing shot! #ibi16 https://t.co/jk2NRBozGx

— WTA (@WTA) May 11, 2016

ROME, Italy – Trailing by an early break, top seed Serena Williams saved a set point to outlast countrywoman Christina McHale and ease into the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d”Italia, 7-6(7), 6-1.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Rome right here on wtatennis.com!

“I feel good, because I feel like she hits a lot of balls back,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I wanted to get a match in like that where she gets a lot of balls back and see how I was able to do against that and see how I was physically after that, too.

“I think physically, you know, every day is a new day for me, and I just try to see when I wake up. I just go from there.”

A three-time champion in Rome, Williams was looking to reach her first clay court final of the season, but first had to rise to the challenge of solving McHale, who had pushed her to three sets at the Miami Open and outlasted former No.1 Ana Ivanovic in the previous round.

McHale served for the set in the ninth game – having converted her eighth break point opportunity at 2-2 – but Williams stepped up at that crucial moment, racing out to a 0-40 lead and eventually leveling the set three points later.

“Anyone can win on any day, and everyone’s going and gunning. No one is coming out and saying, Oh, I play a seed so I’m going to lose. They are saying, Oh, I play a seed so I’m going to win this match. And I think that’s what we need in tennis.”

Still, the young American wasn’t done fighting, saving two set points and holding one of her own in the ensuing tie-break before the 21-time Grand Slam champion shut the door.

Playing far more consistent tennis in the second set, Williams broke three times to end the contest on her second match point, hitting 21 winners to 35 unforced errors throughout the 101 minute encounter. For her part, McHale stayed within reach on the stats sheet, making seven fewer mistakes but also three fewer winners, but was held back by her break point conversion rate – 1/10 against the big-serving Serena.

Up next for the World No.1 is Svetlana Kuznetsova, the last woman to beat her back in the round of 16 in Miami; the Russian survived an up-and-down affair with 2015 Rome semifinalist Daria Gavrilova, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

“I think right now she’s probably one of the best clay-court players. I couldn’t ask for a better match going into Roland Garros, so this is a perfect opportunity for me, win or lose, to see where I am and get ready for what I’m ready for, which is the main event.

“In my mind I’m always No. 1, and I think I have always thought that since I have turned pro. And in everyone else’s mind, even when I was injured they are like, You’re No. 1. I’m like, Yeah, sure. So everyone else thinks it.”

? and ? from World No.1 @SerenaWilliams. #ibi16 pic.twitter.com/Rn2bBtkQ6D

— WTA (@WTA) May 12, 2016