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News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MIAMI, FL, USA – Former World No.1 Venus Williams played stellar tennis from start to finish to upset top-ranked Angelique Kerber, 7-5, 6-3, to reach the semifinals of the Miami Open.

“It was an interesting match,” she said in her press conference. “I was controlling it. I had more errors than I like and lower first serve percentage than I would like. For me, I’m looking at it from a standpoint of how can I get better.

“I have to play well against the No. 1 in the world. She’s on top of her game and she played well, so I had to find a way to play a little better.”

Williams and Kerber last played in the semifinals of Wimbledon last summer, where the German won in straight sets, and appeared on course for a similar decision at the start as she broke to open the match.

But Venus employed a hyper-aggressive gameplan throughout the one hour and 39 minute match, striking crisp groundstrokes and finishing quite a few points at the net to stay ahead of last year’s Australian Open and US Open champion.

Kerber tried to find her way back in the second set, staying within one break and saving four match points – three with searing forehand winners – but Venus ultimately proved too strong, striking 32 winners to 27 from the German.

“She was really aggressive from the beginning, and was hitting the balls really hard,” Kerber said after the match. “I think I didn’t move too well today, and made a lot of mistakes, which isn’t normal for my game. It wasn’t my best game, but she deserved to win because she played really well tonight.

“This wasn’t the best start I would have wished for,” she added of her season, “but it’s not a drama because I’m still playing good and winning matches. I’m looking forward to playing again.”

Up next for the American is British No.1 Johanna Konta, who enjoyed a comeback win over No.3 seed Simona Halep earlier on Wednesday.

“She played well, served well,” Venus said of their last meeting, which Konta won in the Bank of the West Classic final. “Tomorrow is an opportunity for me to come out and play hopefully better than today. There are a few things I would like to work on. Outside of that, just come out fresh eyes, fresh feet, and big shots.

“That’s my plan.”

Someone particularly proud of Venus tweeted her support after the match; it was none other than little sister and 23-time Grand Slam champion, Serena Williams:

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Azarenka Holds Off Stosur

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Victoria Azarenka tamped down a second-set surge from Samantha Stosur to extend her head-to-head dominance over the Australian and book herself a spot in the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals.

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Indian Wells Wednesday: QF Classics

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Serena Williams will lead a distinguished field of four top-level talents in Wednesday’s top-half quarterfinal matches. We preview both must-see matches here.

Wednesday, Quarterfinals

[1] Serena Williams (USA # 1) vs. [5] Simona Halep (ROU # 5)
Head-to-head: Williams leads, 6-1
Key Stat: Williams and Halep are two of three former champions to have reached the quarterfinals here, along with Azarenka.
In four career appearances at the BNP Paribas Open, Serena Williams has won the title twice. Will she make it three out of five this weekend? To do so she’ll have to get past a recently rejuvenated defending champion in Simona Halep. Halep has all the respect in the world for Williams, but that doesn’t mean that she thinks she can’t win this high-stakes encounter. “I feel that I have the game to play against her,” Halep said on Tuesday, after getting past Barbora Strycova, 6-3, 1-0 (ret). “We will see tomorrow. It’s tough. She’s No. 1 in the world – it’s good experience for me to play against her and also big challenge.”

Williams eased past Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday to improve her career record to 21-1 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. “I’m just happy to be in the quarters after three matches, so I feel all right,” Williams said. Though Williams has won six of seven against Halep, the World No.1 says she took her lopsided loss to Halep at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global in 2014 as a sign that she better be on alert when facing the Romanian. “She killed me at one point, so I definitely have to be ready,” Williams told reporters on Tuesday.

Like Halep, Williams believes that Tuesday’s encounter will function as a good indicator of the current status of her game. “It will be a really good match I think for both of us to kind of see where we want to be at this point in the year,” she said.

Pick: Williams in three

[3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #3) vs. [8] Petra Kvitova (CZE #9)
Head-to-head: Kvitova leads, 6-3
Key Stat: Radwanska can take the No.2 ranking from Angelique Kerber with a trip to the semifinals at Indian Wells.

Two longtime rivals will get reacquainted on Stadium 1 on Tuesday as Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska will meet for the tenth time with a spot in the BNP Paribas Open semifinals on the line. Of their ten meetings, nine have come on a hardcourt, but here at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Radwanska seems to have done a better job at adapting to the tricky playing conditions. She’s reached the quarterfinals six times – amassing a 27-9 career record at the event – but the Pole isn’t satisfied with those numbers whatsoever. “Definitely I want to do better than the quarters, obviously,” the 2014 runner-up said. “The goal is always to win.”

As far as facing Kvitova’s dangerous first-strike tactics and booming ground game, Radwanska knows she will have to have her feet moving from the get-go. “I just hope I can really play my good tennis against her, because otherwise I will be in big trouble,” she said. “But I think always against her you really have to play good tennis and be careful, definitely on her serve.”

Kvitova has had to battle through three tough three-setters this week, but the Czech says it is working in her favor to have more time on court. “I think every [match] is very important for me right now,” Kvitova said after taking out Nicole Gibbs in three sets on Tuesday. “Definitely this big fight which I had during this tournament helped me a lot. I just really need the matches. So probably two-and-a-half hours – it’s great practice for me, too.”

Pick: Radwanska in three

-Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor

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