Insider Podcast: Safarova Spills The Tea During #coffeewithlucie Chat
WTA Insider David Kane | Catch up with former World No.5 and one half of the hottest doubles team around, Lucie Safarova after a comprehensive win at the Miami Open.
WTA Insider David Kane | Catch up with former World No.5 and one half of the hottest doubles team around, Lucie Safarova after a comprehensive win at the Miami Open.
MIAMI, FL, USA – Mirjana Lucic-Baroni put together a near-perfect performance to upset the No.5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the third round of the Miami Open.
She needed just over an hour to complete the comprehensive, 6-0, 6-3 victory and book a fourth-round battle with American wildcard Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
“It was a great match today, she’s obviously a top player and has been for many years,” Lucic-Baroni told WTA Insider after the match. “I know what I had to do when I walked into the court. It’s always a matter of executing the plan, and I was able to do that great today.
“Today, I did a flawless job, a really beautiful performance. I’m proud of myself.”
INCREDIBLE!
Lucic-Baroni wraps up the bagel on Radwanska in under 20 minutes! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/m5Ulcmhvfw
— WTA (@WTA) March 25, 2017
Radwanska came into the matchup with the Croat with a 2-1 lead in the pair’s overall head-to-head record, but she hadn’t won a set against her in almost a year. And in their most recent match, Lucic-Baroni sent Radwanska crashing out of the Australian Open in the second round on her way to a dream run to the semifinals.
Lucic-Baroni kept the trend going in Miami, taking less than 20 minutes to drop a bagel on Radwanska and snatch away the opening set. The Pole had little answers for Lucic-Baroni’s barrage of winners; Radwanska finished the match with five winners and just a single unforced error, but Lucic-Baroni fired 38 winners past her and made only five unforced errors.
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni does it! Again!
Knocks out 2012 champ Radwanska 6-0, 6-3! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/RPl0QQtZSo
— WTA (@WTA) March 25, 2017
In the second set, Lucic-Baroni came away with the edge after weathering seven breaks of serve. She notched two vital holds of serve, keeping the vulnerable Radwanska serve under pressure throughout the match, ensuring that the Pole didn’t hold serve once during the encounter.
“She was playing unbelievable tennis today,” Radwanska told WTA Insider. “She was very solid from the beginning, very aggressive, hitting everything with unbelievable speed. I couldn’t do much.
“The first set went so quickly, and in the second set I had chances, but I didn’t come back and unfortunately I missed the chance to stay in the match. She was just too good today.”
BRISBANE, Australia – Victoria Azarenka continued her relentless march towards a second Brisbane International title with a quick-fire quarterfinal win over Roberta Vinci on Thursday night.
Watch live action from Brisbane & Auckland on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Having dropped just seven games across the opening two rounds, Azarenka put No.8 seed Vinci to the sword in similarly ruthless fashion, running out a 6-1, 6-2 winner.
Azarenka set her stall out on the opening point, arrowing a backhand return into the corner. The break swiftly followed and while she was unable to hold onto this for long, she was soon ahead once more thanks to a fizzing double-handed winner.
Twenty minutes later she swatted another backhand away to take the set. In the second, it was the forehand that came to the fore, a brilliant stretching passing shot and a crisp down-the-line winner creating the vital breakthrough in the sixth game.
“I’m pretty pleased with tonight,” Azarenka said. “Thank you for the full crowd – you guys make me play much better, that’s for sure!
“I feel like I was really focused from the beginning and I knew she wasn’t going to give anything away so I had to take control and really dictate the play. I’m glad I stayed strong and focused in the difficult situations and really fought for every point.”
Meeting Azarenka in the last four will be the tournament’s surprise package, Samantha Crawford, who earlier in the day defeated Andrea Petkovic, 6-3, 6-0.
“Nobody gets into the semifinals without playing well so I’ll need to rise to this challenge – it’s a new experience – but I’m just happy to be back in the semifinals and doing something I love,” Azarenka, the 2009 champion, added when asked about meeting Crawford for the first time.
On the other side of the draw, No.4 seed Angelique Kerber continued to play herself into form ahead of the Australian Open with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. While Carla Suárez Navarro came through a topsy-turvy encounter with Varvara Lepchenko, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Dominika Cibulkova on the practice courts at the Miami Open.
Carla Suárez Navarro takes on Varvara Lepchenko in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International.
Highlights from the Miami Open clash between Simona Halep and Anett Kontaveit.
Samantha Crawford has Thursday’s shot of the day at the Brisbane International.
Sun, sand and gorgeous ocean views: that’s what springs to mind when one hears “Miami,” and WTA stars have enjoyed plenty of that during the fortnight at the Miami Open! (© Getty Images)
Kristina Mladenovic and Daria Kasatkina took to the beach for a bit of football – but it’s not quite the kind they’re used to. (© Getty Images)
Joined by the ATP’s Jamie Murray, Bruno Soares and Joao Sousa, they got a crash course in “footvolley”. (© Getty Images)
A couple of World Footvolley pros were on hand to teach the tennis players a few moves. (© Getty Images)
Looks like Kiki’s got the hang of it! (© Getty Images)
Everyone gave footvolley a try – and it looks like they all enjoyed it! (© Getty Images)
Over in Wynwood, Elina Svitolina paid a visit to Miami’s iconic Wynwood Walls for a promotional photoshoot. (© Getty Images)
Wynwood Walls is famous for its diverse collection of street art and graffiti – which covers over 80,000 square feet of walls and features artists from all over the globe. (© Getty Images)
Elina got the chance to take in some of the colorful graffiti art… (© Getty Images)
…as well as take some photos of her own! (© Getty Images)
Back in Crandon Park, Ashleigh Barty delighted fans as she signed dozens of autographs at the Itaú Bank Booth. (© Getty Images)
The Aussie is enjoying a successful return to tennis after a sabbatical pursuing professional cricket. (© Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Dominika Cibulkova got a special visitor at her Miami Open practice session. (© Getty Images)
UFC fighter Joanna Jedrzejczyk of Poland was visiting the tournament and stopped by to meet the World No.4. (© Getty Images)
Domi tried to give fighting a go… (© Getty Images)
…and then Joanna tried Domi’s sport – good form on the forehand! (© Getty Images)
Johanna also did the coin toss during a couple of WTA matches – looks like she had fun! (© Getty Images)
WTA Insider | Keep up with the WTA’s very own Monday March Madness with an all-star slate of Round of 16 matches at the Miami Open on the WTA Insider Live Blog.
Dominika Cibulkova, Madison Keys and Angelique Kerber share their tips for travel to Miami, presented by Cambridge Global Payments.