Miami: Angelique Kerber Pre-Tournament Interview
Hear what new World No.1 Angelique Kerber has to say before the Miami Open.
Hear what new World No.1 Angelique Kerber has to say before the Miami Open.
Top 10 debuts on the WTA these days are like London buses: wait ages for one, then two come along at once.
Hot on the heels of Belinda Bencic onto the Top 10 bus is the evergreen Roberta Vinci, who – in spite of an early exit at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – hopped aboard on Monday.
Having closed in on the Top 10 with victory in St. Petersburg, Carla Suárez Navarro’s second-round loss in Dubai and the absences of Lucie Safarova and Venus Williams saw Vinci leapfrog her previous highest ranking of No.11.
It is the latest highlight of a remarkable return to form for Vinci, who last summer was ranked as low as No.58 before reviving her career with that run at the US Open.
The Italian, who turned 33 last week, is the 117th – and oldest – player to make their Top 10 debut and on Monday celebrated her ascent by dismissing Lesia Tsurenko, 6-2, 6-1, in the first round of the Qatar Total Open.
At the Australian Open, Vinci dropped hints on potential retirement dates, but with relatively few points to defend between now and August, this topic of conversation is likely to be shelved for the foreseeable future.
And Vinci is not the only upwardly mobile Italian.
Sara Errani (+5, No.22 to No.17): On Saturday, Sara Errani defeated Barbora Strycova in the Dubai final to lift the ninth, and most significant, title of her career. After slipping down the rankings following two wins in her first three tournaments of the year, the 28-year-old’s return to form takes her back into the Top 20.
Barbora Strycova (+9, No.47 to No.38): Errani’s victim in the final also enjoyed a productive week, victories over Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Garcia taking her back into the Top 40 for the first time since August.
Francesca Schavone (+38 No.132 to No.94): Having been an ever-present just shy of 15 years, last summer, Francesca Schiavone finally surrendered her place in the Top 100. However, at the Rio Open the 36-year-old rolled back the years to lift her first title since 2013 and jump back to No.94 in the rankings.
Shelby Rogers (+23, No.131 to No.108): Also enjoying a productive first outing of the year on clay was Shelby Rogers, who saw off No.8 seed Andreea Mitu and former World No.21 Sorana Cirstea before being edged out by Schiavone in the final.
See how 2012 champion Agnieszka Radwanska got on at the Miami Open against Wang Qiang.
The highlights from World No.1 Angelique Kerber’s clash with Duan Ying-Ying at the Miami Open.
An interview with Carla Suárez Navarro before the start of the Qatar Total Open.
Madison Keys had Friday’s shot of the day on Day 4 of the Miami Open.
Elena Vesnina takes on Simona Halep in the second round of the Qatar Total Open.
Svetlana Kuznetsova took a dip into South Florida with a trip to Miami Beach, making new friends and challenging her team to feats of strength. Check out the video here!
Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep and more of the top seeds at the Qatar Total Open hit the practice courts before the start of the tournament.
MIAMI, FL, USA – Top seed Angelique Kerber recovered from breaks in both sets against big-hitting American Shelby Rogers to advance, 6-4, 7-5, and reach the fourth round of the Miami Open.
“It was a good match,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I was trying to feel my game again. I was moving good, but it was not so easy because she didn’t play badly. I was trying to stay positive and play my tennis.”
Kerber was playing her first match since her late-night victory against Duan Ying-Ying, and suffered a slow start to Rogers, who reached the French Open quarterfinals last spring and began 2017 with a win over Simona Halep at the Australian Open.
.@AngeliqueKerber with a peach of a backhand!
She wins FOUR straight games! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/nWfsB3sQ22
— WTA (@WTA) March 26, 2017
The German reclaimed World No.1 from Serena Williams at the start of the fortnight in Florida, and showed some of why the two-time Grand Slam champion has been so tough to beat in the last year, rolling through six of the next seven games from a break down to take the opening set.
“It’s always good to have close sets, especially when you win them at the end because they give you confidence that you can go out in your next match knowing you can win close matches because you’ve just done it a day ago. I’m looking forward to the next match.”
Incredible pass from @AngeliqueKerber! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/1bkzF8lYCE
— WTA (@WTA) March 26, 2017
Rogers kept fighting, however, and fought off multiple break points in the fifth game to engineer another service break. Much like the first set, Kerber took control from there, winning five of the final six games to seal the hometown favorite in just under 90 minutes.
“If you win the match, you’re always happy about your performance. In the second set, she was 4-2 up and we’d played a long game. That was important because she was playing well, but I was staying positive and believing in my chances. I think that was the key to the match.”
In all, Kerber struck 17 winners to only 22 unforced errors; Rogers took far more risks throughout, her 34 winners were ultimately undone by 51 unforced errors.
.@AngeliqueKerber eases into @MiamiOpen Round of 16!
Defeats Rogers 6-4, 7-5! pic.twitter.com/JpmYBoSegY
— WTA (@WTA) March 26, 2017
Up next for top seed is Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki. Ozaki was already enjoying her best-ever result at a Premier Mandatory tournament when she broke new ground on Sunday, besting Kerber’s countrywoman Julia Goerges, 7-6(5), 6-3.
“I’ve never played against her, but I saw a little bit on TV because she played Julia today. I think she’s playing good here, coming from qualies, so she has a lot of matches and confidence.
“She has nothing to lose, so it’ll be another good match.”