Tennis News

MELBOURNE, Australia – Revenge is the name of the game on Day 5 at the Australian Open: No.7 seed Garbiñe Muguruza is set to face Anastasija Sevastova, who sent her crashing out in the second round of last year’s US Open. Also in action is World No.1 Angelique Kerber, taking on another big-serving Czech, while Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic are facing off for the 14th time in their careers.

We preview all the day’s biggest matchups right here on wtatennis.com.

Friday, Third Round

[32] Anastasija Sevastova (LAT #33) vs [7] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #7)
Head-to-head: Series tied at 1-1
Key Stat: Muguruza (No.3) is the highest ranked player Sevastova has ever defeated

When Anastasija Sevastova had her big breakthrough at last year’s US Open, Garbiñe Muguruza was the first one to find out. Then ranked No.48, the Latvian stunned Muguruza in the second round en route to the quarterfinals, her best showing ever at a Grand Slam.

Though the Spaniard eventually got her revenge at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, seeing Sevastova’s name in her corner of the draw has to sting. But this time she comes into the matchup with building rhythm and a pair of hard-fought victories under her belt.

“Honestly, I think every match is completely different,” Muguruza told press after her straight-sets victory over Samantha Crawford. “For sure it helps [having two matches under my belt].

“But my next round is a tricky match, I look forward for it. It helped me, playing two matches. I’m going to try to use that.”

Jelena Jankovic (SRB #54) vs [8] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #10)
Head-to-head: Jankovic leads 8-6
Key Stat: Jankovic holds the longest active streak for consecutive Grand Slam main draw appearances (53)

Svetlana Kuznetsova faces her first big test in this Australian Open in the form of long-time rival Jelena Jankovic. Having dropped a combined four games across her previous two matches, Kuznetsova has eased into the third round and conserved precious energy under the draining Aussie summer sun.

But that joyride will get much tougher against fellow WTA veteran and former World No.1 Jankovic as they square up for the 15th time in their careers. Jankovic holds the edge in their head-to-head record at 8-6, but their last match came in 2015 and with Kuznetsova now back inside the Top 10, the Russian is looking to narrow the gap between them.

“My career has been… too long!” Kuznetsova reflected in an on-court interview. “I’ve only been to Australia like 17 times, each January. I just enjoy the game, I have passion for it and still it’s great.”

[1] Angelique Kerber (GER #1) vs Kristyna Pliskova (CZE #58)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Kerber is bidding to be the first player to defend her Australian Open title since Azarenka in 2012-2013

Angelique Kerber is set to face down the booming Pliskova serve once again, but this time it’s not the one she’s used to seeing. Her third-round opponent is Kristyna Pliskova, twin sister of World No.5 Karolina Pliskova.

Apart from the famously powerful serve that runs in the family, it’ll be a whole different match for Kerber. For one, Kristyna is a lefty (Karolina is right-handed) and, ranked No.58, Kristyna has never reached the same heights that her twin has achieved in her career. Without that giant-killing experience under her belt, it’ll be a tough ask for the Czech to complete the huge upset on Rod Laver Arena.

“I don’t know if it’s weird,” Kerber contemplated the prospect of playing against twins. “I mean, [Karolina] is right and [Kristyna] is left-handed. So this is the difference.

“I know that she has a great serve, as well. So, yeah, will looking forward to play against her.”

– Zhang Shuai knocks out Caroline Wozniacki in thriller: It took three hours and 24 minutes, but Zhang Shuai pulled off yet another upset in her splendid season, beating Caroline Wozniacki 4-6, 7-6(8), 7-5 to make the third round. Zhang told WTA Insider that she planned her post-Australian Open around the BNP Paribas Open, which she says is her favorite tournament.

“Last year in Tokyo my target was I wanted to come to Indian Wells and Miami because this tournament is my favorite,” Zhang told WTA Insider. “I like to see the mountains, so beautiful. At the courts, and everyone is like family. But the last two years I had really bad luck. I could not come. I had injuries or something.

“So this year I did not go to Dubai, Doha, or Kuala Lumpur or Taiwan because I want to come here. I want to be 100% ready for this tournament. Very happy and thanks to Mr. Raymond Moore for giving me the wildcard. At the Australian Open we contact him. He was very fast to reply the email but we didn’t tell everybody. That’s why we go to [the $50K ITF in] Rancho Santa Fe to prepare for this tournament.

“If I stay in China or if I go to Dubai or Doha I have a long trip and big time change. I need some time to keep relaxed, not always in the tour, to not play too much. I almost [retired], so I want to be happy in the tour, not to play every week. A few years ago, at the big tournaments I was so tired or with injury. Now I want to focus on the big tournaments.”

Zhang says she’ll play the Miami Open and Volvo Cars Open in Charleston before returning to China to rest for the clay season.

“I really like Charleston,” she said. “Nice town, really nice everything. After Charleston I need a rest like after the Australian Open. I’m not young anymore. [I need to] keep healthy. I want high quality every tournament, not many tournaments but low quality, no points. And also I want more time to stay home with family and enjoy the life.”

Talk about enjoying life: Zhang told me she’s been powered by legendary California burger chain In & Out all week. I saw her at a nearby In & Out around midnight after her hard-earned win. Much deserved.

– Christina McHale’s burgeoning confidence: Since the Australian Open, McHale is now 11-3 at all levels after upsetting No.4 Garbiñe Muguruza 7-5, 6-1. It was McHale’s first win over a Top 5 player in four years. Her last win came over Petra Kvitova right here in Indian Wells in 2012.

“I thought I had a really good offseason,” McHale said after being asked about her form in 2016. “I put in a lot of work both in the gym and off the court. Unfortunately in Australia, I had a tough draw there, but I really wanted to get matches. So then I went after the second week and played a [ITF $50K] in Hawaii and got some matches there. That really helped.

“I just have played a bunch the last few weeks. I think that’s given me confidence. Playing matches is what I needed, and being healthy this year. I had a shoulder injury at the start of last year. Just being able to play a lot I think has helped.”

McHale reached a career-high No.24 in 2012 but has been out of the Top 50 for much of the last three years. “I definitely feel like there were a lot of matches where I was really close to maybe having some big wins and they kind of, yeah, just didn’t get that win,” McHale said when asked about her dip in results.

“But I feel like I have been working extremely hard all these years. I think it’s a combination of being healthy and just getting a lot of matches in and kind of getting into a groove.

“It wasn’t like I felt like I was playing poorly these past couple years, though. I think I just had a few tight matches that didn’t go my way that maybe could have changed some things.”

Safety First: Here’s why @ChristinaMcHale plays in long sleeves as much as she can: pic.twitter.com/UN5HSozoUP

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 13, 2016

– Eugenie Bouchard rolls back the clock: The Canadian continued her resurgent form, earning her first Top 25 win since the 2014 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open by beating No.22 Sloane Stephens 7-5, 7-5. With Wayne Gretzky cheering from her player’s box, Bouchard notched her tour-leading 15th win of the season. She had 12 wins in the entirety of 2015.

“It’s important to me because it’s kind of on my comeback as I have kind of called this year,” Bouchard said. “It gives me confidence looking forward. You know, I don’t want to look back or don’t want to think about 2014 or 2015 really, so this one is important. It’s kind of a step forward, and I just want to keep going.”

– 16 of 32 seeds fall in the second round: The unpredictability continued in Indian Wells after another day of upsets. No.2 Angelique Kerber bowed out to Denisa Allertova, as other notable seeds – Garbiñe Muguruza, Caroline Wozniacki, and Carla Suárez Navarro (withdrew with an ankle injury) suffered an early exit.

– German Exodus: Nine German women were in the draw. They went winless.

– Sloane Stephens rues her missed opportunities: Stephens had multiple chances to close out the second set to force a third against Bouchard, none better than a short forehand at the net that flew wildly long. The tour leader in titles just couldn’t find her best when she needed it.

“There are always things to work on, obviously,” she said. “I played pretty good this year so far. Today was just unfortunate. Like I said, I played to protect. When you get out there you have to play to win. It was unfortunate, but this whole tennis thing it’s definitely a learning process. So I know that I have things to work on, and hopefully going into next week I can get myself together and have a good week next week.”

– Victoria Azarenka hits the tape: Azarenka won her opening match, 6-3, 6-2 over Zarina Diyas. She’s says she’s able to play pain free after withdrawing from Acapulco with a wrist injury.

I asked Azarenka whether she’s been able to put her Australian Open quarterfinal loss behind her. “Yeah, it wasn’t pleasant, that’s for sure,” she said. “I think the most difficult was to rewatch that match.” So what did she see on the rewatch?

“That it was my match to win, and that’s painful to see sometimes.”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.