My Performance: Venus Williams
Venus Williams reflects on her performance against Patricia Maria Tig at the Miami Open.
Venus Williams reflects on her performance against Patricia Maria Tig at the Miami Open.
MIAMI, FL, USA – No.3 seed Simona Halep was pushed to the brink in a late night epic against Sam Stosur, needing to come back from a set down and save match point to book her spot into the Miami Open quarterfinals.
Halep books a blockbuster battle against Johanna Konta after emerging victorious in the two-hour-and-ten minute thriller, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
“It was a tough match, like I expected,” Halep told press after the match. “But the comeback was pretty good, and I’m really happy about that.
“The last comeback like this for me was in 2014, my first match in Doha against Kanepi. Match point down and I came back. I’m happy about this, shows I can still play some tennis.”
3rd Set!!@Simona_Halep saves a match point to force a decider vs Stosur 4-6, 7-5! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/s103xofKtn
— WTA (@WTA) 28 de marzo de 2017
The Romanian targeted the Aussie’s backhand throughout the early exchanges in the opening set, and was rewarded with an early break. She built up a solid 4-2 lead and looked set to wrap up the opening set, but Stosur had other plans.
Stosur got her heavy topspin forehand going and wreaking havoc on Halep’s game plan, and reeled off four straight games to snatch away the opening set. She went on a tear in the second, recovering from an early break and winning five of the next six games to serve for the match.
She even held a match point, at 5-4 on Halep’s serve, but the Romanian chose that moment to start mounting her epic comeback. A handful of loose errors from Stosur on key moments let Halep back into the set, and she took the next seven games in a row to take the second set and a break lead in the third.
With Stosur flagging and letting her aggression dip slightly, it was Halep who bossed the rallies and dictated play to extend the lead to 4-1. The Aussie didn’t have another comeback left in her, and Halep completed the comeback to move into the Miami quarterfinals.
Comeback Complete✔️@Simona_Halep saves a MATCH POINT to edge Stosur 4-6, 7-5, 6-2! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/0qeasy9VQ4
— WTA (@WTA) 28 de marzo de 2017
“When I was down, I wasn’t thinking about anything, nothing about the score,” Halep said. “I just wanted to fight. I didn’t give up, and I believed in my chance. I was maybe a little bit lucky because I came back from match point down, but still I fought for this.”
Halep will be rewarded for her efforts with another battle in the next round, this time against Britain’s No.1, Konta.
“It will be tough. She’s in a good form now, she’s near Top 10. And she plays great. It’s going to be a tough one, but here every match is tough so I don’t expect an easy one.
“I have my chance here to try my best and try to win, and of course tomorrow will help me to recover. Then I will go on court with confidence.”
MIAMI, FL, USA – No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova took down an on-form Mirjana Lucic-Baroni to book the first spot into the Miami Open semifinals, notching a 6-2, 6-4 victory after an hour and 12 minutes.
The win sends her into the Miami semifinals for the first time, where she awaits the winner between No.12 seed Caroline Wozniacki and Lucie Safarova.
She also gets her hard-earned revenge on the player who knocked her out of the Australian Open, where she fell 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to the Croatian in the quarterfinals.
.@KaPliskova seals the first set 6-3! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/QmSdSzhHFj
— WTA (@WTA) March 28, 2017
“I think I played much better here than I was playing [in Melbourne],” Pliskova said in her post-match press conference. “Also, the conditions here are different, and she was playing better tennis there because it was faster. It suited her better in Australia.
“So definitely I was feeling more confident with this match. I had a different game plan today.”
For her part, Lucic-Baroni – who was into her second Miami quarterfinal and the first since the tournament became a Premier Mandatory – made a strong start to the match, which featured lots of short rallies and plenty of first-strike tennis.
Lucic-Baroni’s fearless returning helped her neutralize powerful Pliskova serve during the early exchanges, but she wasn’t able to back it up with her own serves. She hit nine double faults during the opening set – including on set point – and was broken four times to surrender the first set in 28 minutes.
Not a bad way to save break point @KaPliskova! ? #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/drHjF0D8tI
— WTA (@WTA) March 28, 2017
The Croat continued to attack Pliskova’s serve emphatically and was rewarded with the first break of the second set, building up a 4-2 lead as her service game began to click.
But with her serve under fire, Pliskova relied on her other weapons – her big forehand and her improved court movement – and bailed herself out of trouble. The Czech reeled off four games in a row to erase Lucic-Baroni’s lead and close out the match.
“The difference was in the first set,” Lucic-Baroni told WTA Insider afterwards. “I started out great but then I couldn’t find my serve. The more I was making mistakes the worse I was getting.
“I was able to calm down and fix it in the second, but then I just had a lot of bad luck after 4-2. But she played great, a pretty flawless match. It was still pretty close, but it just didn’t go my way today.”
.@KaPliskova is first through to the @MiamiOpen Semifinals!
Skips past Lucic-Baroni 6-3, 6-4! pic.twitter.com/XybPo6IfNJ
— WTA (@WTA) March 28, 2017
With the win Pliskova is through to her fourth semifinal of 2017, and she’ll face either Safarova or Wozniacki for a spot in the final.
“Lucie obviously I know pretty well,” Pliskova assessed. “It will not be something really surprising for me there. I will be really confident coming into this one but it’s Czech against Czech so anything can happen.
“Obviously against Caroline, we played in Doha also, so a little bit different conditions than here. I would expect tough one because I know she has been playing quite good here in last few years.”
Jarmila Wolfe has announced that she and her husband are expecting a baby.
The Australian revealed the news on social media.
This is one of my favorite post I could share with y'all! With joy and pride we would love to share that there will be a little Wolfe soon ❤ pic.twitter.com/JNEIpeNSeL
— Jarmila Wolfe (@tennis_jarkag) March 28, 2017
Unsurprisingly, she was immediately deluged with congratulations.
Congratulations Jarka and Adam! We can't wait to meet the little Wolfe ? https://t.co/6cZdpqGDTN
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) March 29, 2017
Wolfe retired from tennis at the start of 2017.
Highlights from the quarterfinal clash between Venus Williams and Angelique Kerber.
It’s semifinal time on Thursday in Miami. We preview both of today’s must-see matchups at wtatennis.com.
Thursday
Semifinals
[10] Johanna Konta (GBR #11) vs. [11] Venus Williams (USA #12)
Head-to-head: Konta leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Konta became the first British woman to reach the Miami semifinals with her win over Simona Halep on Wednesday.
The last time Venus Williams and Johanna Konta locked horns it was an historic day for the British No.1. Konta claimed a three-set victory over the legendary American last summer to claim her first career title and become the first British woman to win the Bank of the West Classic title since 1977. Afterwards Konta summed up the experience aptly. “I wanted to leave it all out there, but also absorb everything that I could possibly reinvest in my career moving forward,” she said. “I’ve played her twice before and knew I’d be playing a magnitude of experience. Venus Williams doesn’t need an introduction.”
Williams and Konta split 144 points evenly in that entertaining final, but in the midst of her breakout season it was Konta who won the bigger points. Their fourth career battle should be similarly close, and if Williams’ form in her last two matches is any indication, she’s going to aggressively attack Konta and look to get to net often. The American became the oldest player to take out a reigning No.1 in WTA history on Wednesday night when she worked her way past Angelique Kerber, 7-5, 6-3, and while it’s easy—and inspiring—to focus on the fact that Williams is 36, the caliber of tennis she is playing belies her age. The three-time Miami Open champion has played brilliantly to reach the semifinals here for the eighth time, not dropping a single set and knocking off back-to-back Top 10 opponents in the process.
Will Williams take it a step further and avenge her loss in Stanford to Konta? The American will have her chances, but she’ll have to improve on her 45 percent first-serve percentage from her quarterfinal win over Kerber to do so. Konta picked apart Halep’s second-serve on Wednesday in her three-set victory over the Romanian, and Williams will need to keep the Dangerous 25-year-old on the back foot as much as she can to succeed.
Pick: Konta in three
[2] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #3) vs. [12] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #14)
Head-to-head: Wozniacki leads, 3-1
Key Stat: Pliskova leads the WTA with 23 wins in 2017
They are very different stylistically, but Karolina Pliskova and Caroline Wozniacki share the same sinister approach to tennis warfare. Both are calm, composed and ruthless—eager to expose their opponent’s liabilities and unflappable under duress. That’s why Thursday’s matchup between the No.2-seeded Czech and the No.12-seeded Dane is so intriguing. The experienced, wily and extremely well-rounded Wozniacki will look to keep the powerful, blossoming Pliskova at bay, and she knows she’ll have to pull out all the stops to do it.
“She beat me last time we played, so she’s clearly in good shape,” Wozniacki said on Tuesday after defeating Lucie Safarova for her 22nd win of the season. “I’m looking forward to getting another try, to see if I can beat her this time.”
Wozniacki won the first three times she faced Pliskova, but the Czech hit back earlier this season breaking Wozniacki’s serve four times in a 6-3, 6-4 win at this year’s Doha final. Despite that loss, Wozniacki is pretty confident that she has a good read on the towering Czech’s game. “I know her game, what her strengths and weaknesses are,” Wozniacki told reporters on Tuesday after her quarterfinal win.
Like Wozniacki, Pliskova has yet to drop a set this week in Miami. But she knows things will get tougher as the stakes get higher. “Anything can happen in the next semi,” she told reporters on Tuesday. “I would expect a tough one because I know she has been playing quite good here in last few years. … It’s the last tournament on hard court, so I just want to enjoy it.”
Pick: Pliskova in two
By the Numbers
7-1 – Konta’s lifetime record at Miami. She reached the quarterfinals on her debut last year.
2 – Pliskova is the only player left in the draw that has won multiple titles this season.
22 – Wozniacki has dropped just 22 games in her four matches en route to the semis. Pliskova, who has also yet to drop a set, has lost 24 games. Williams has dropped 27 games, and also not dropped a set.
14 – Number of wins that Williams has notched over reigning World No.1 players, including her win over Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals.
49 – Number of career titles for Venus Williams, which is 14 more than the other three semifinalists’ career titles combined (Wozniacki, 25, Pliskova, 8, Konta, 2).
April 03, 2017
Kirsten Flipkens, Elena Vesnina, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Venus Williams, and Caroline Wozniacki – who will win March’s WTA Shot Of The Month presented by Cambridge Global Payments? Vote now!
WTA Insider | Courtney Nguyen and David Kane reconvene to decide who will win their first Miami Open title: Johanna Konta or Caroline Wozniacki?
MIAMI, FL, USA – Winning the Miami Open trophy after a rollercoaster two weeks of action was hard enough, but Johanna Konta’s work wasn’t done yet – there’s always the traditional champions Key Biscayne photo shoot.
After a quick chat with WTA Insider on the way to the shoot, Konta was ready to relax and pose in front of a throng of photographers as she celebrated the win at Cape Florida Light, Key Biscayne’s iconic lighthouse.
Here’s a few photos of Konta with the Miami Open trophy, all courtesy of Getty Images:
