Miami: Caroline Wozniacki vs Sorana Cirstea
Highlights from Caroline Wozniacki’s clash with Sorana Cirstea at the Miami Open.
Highlights from Caroline Wozniacki’s clash with Sorana Cirstea at the Miami Open.
NEW YORK, NY, USA – The high still hadn’t settled in for the No.48-ranked Anastasija Sevastova when she entered the press room late last night at the US Open.
Just hours earlier, she’d dealt Garbiñe Muguruza the biggest shock of the tournament, outing the No.3 seed and reigning French Open champion in straight sets.
It was definitely the win of Sevastova’s career, and certainly an occasion to celebrate. So did she have any big plans?
“I go to Five Guys maybe, eat a burger,” she answered with no hesitation, before bursting into laughter.
“I don’t know. Maybe have some drinks. My mom is here but she’s leaving tomorrow. It’s her first Grand Slam.”
“And my best friend [is here too]. We’ll maybe go somewhere. They will drink; I will watch.”
Burgers and peanuts seem like a modest plan for a player who’s just scored the win of her career and reached her best result at a Grand Slam in five years, but not for Sevastova.
Sevastova was a rising star back in 2011 when she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open at 20 years old. But injuries soon sapped the desire away from the young Latvian, who hung up her racquets two years later, and was off the tour for two years more.
So while last night’s win over the World No.3 stands as her biggest victory since her return, Sevastova is keen to stay grounded and keep the perspective she gained from her years away from the sport.
“It’s not like it’s my last match. It’s not like it’s over, the tournament,” she mused. “It’s only second round. The third round is in two days. Tomorrow I have to play doubles, so…
“Yeah, it’s a good feeling. We can enjoy it today, but tomorrow is a new day. There are other matches. Nobody thinks about the previous match. You have to think forward. But tonight I can enjoy.”
How will Anastasija Sevastova celebrate her big win? Hey @five_guys, you still open? #USOpen pic.twitter.com/TpE1dCs0Jr
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) September 1, 2016
Highlights of the third-round clash between Johanna Konta and Pauline Parmentier at the Miami Open.
NEW YORK, NY, USA – Venus Williams recorded her 70th match win at the US Open to sweep past Julia Goerges in straight sets and clinch a spot in the third round.
The No.6 seed shined in her first match under the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach the third round for the 15th time in her storied career, improving her record at her home Slam to 70-14.
“I’m grateful that I can still play the game I want to play right now,” the 36-year-old said. “As an athlete, as a tennis player, that’s what you want. You want to be out there and play the game you want to play.”
After trading breaks to opening the match, it was a decidedly one-sided affair as Williams took charge, covering the court and staying rock-solid at the net, allowing Goerges to commit the errors. She broke the German three more times to take the first set and a lead into the second.
When touch meets talent. @Venuseswilliams with the @evianwater Drop Shot of the Day. #usopen #DropsofGreatness https://t.co/onz1ljqyPD
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2016
Goerges’ aggressive returning brought up two break points just as Williams was serving out the match, but the American replied with a pair of huge serves into the body to jam her opponent and erase the opportunity. After masterfully chasing down a drop shot, Williams eased her way into the third round, winning 6-2, 6-3.
“I just felt like I had to dial it back a little bit, maybe play a little bit more percentage tennis, play within myself, keep my errors down,” Williams explained after the match. “Very happy that it worked out against an opponent who is seasoned, who can play, who can serve, who has a lot of big shots. So it was a nice test to come through.”
The 27-year-old German will likely rue her missed chances, having brought up five break opportunities but only able to convert one. Though their winner’s count was nearly the same – 18 for Venus and 17 for Goerges – they were separated by their unforced errors count, 17 for Venus and 22 for Goerges.
Williams awaits the winner in the match between No.26 Laura Siegemund and fellow American Nicole Gibbs.
Twirling into the third round. Congrats @Venuseswilliams. #usopen pic.twitter.com/zBEFg0oow4
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2016
More to come…
Highlights from Madison Keys’ matchup with Lara Arruabarrena at the Miami Open.
The US Open has undergone more than a few changes in the last year, and while the majority of players have given the improvements two thumbs up, few have been as effusive in their praise as Monica Niculescu.
“We have stands everywhere,” Niculescu told WTA Insider after her first round win over Babora Strycova. “We have Hawkeye on Court 5; it’s incredible. I haven’t played under the roof yet, but it looks great. We even have more money on the badge to eat! So I’m happy.
“I love Manhattan. If you’re out at 1AM, there are still people out on the street, having fun. There are all the shops on Fifth Avenue. I love New York, and I love the US Open; it’s the best, and I’m happy I can do well here.”
Niculescu has done very well thus far at the US Open; unseeded and ranked No.58, the Romanian recovered from a second set hiccup to knock out Strycova, seeded No.18, and raced out to a 6-0, 5-0 lead before ultimately dispatching compatriot Ana Bogdan in straight sets.
“I wasn’t happy about the draw, what can I say? Strycova had some great results before the US Open; she beat Stosur in Cincinnati and had a great match against Kerber. I knew it was going to be a tough one, and that’s why I’m happy about my game.”
Her signature slicing and dicing will face its biggest test yet as she opens Day 5 on Arthur Ashe Stadium against two-time finalist and former No.1 Carolina Wozniacki. The Dane has won all five of their previous encounters in straight sets, but the pair haven’t played since 2013. Plus, Niculescu has a secret weapon.
“There are many Romanians here,” she said when asked about the voracious crowd support. “They come to New York all the time.”
She also had the opportunity to play doubles with World No.1 Sania Mirza just last week at the Connecticut Open. An impressive doubles player in her own right, winning three titles with three different partners in 2016, the former World No.28 considered the week with Mirza to have been an absolute masterclass.
“It was amazing. Listen, I learned so much from that week, and she gave me so many tips on how to play certain girls and how to see the game. She has so much power and it was so nice to play with her; she was hitting so big and I just had to go to the net and do my stuff. I learned so many things. I want to thank her for playing with me, and I felt fantastic. I’m hoping to play again, when I can with her, because it was great.
“I think the doubles helped me a lot. I came here, played very good tennis, and that’s because I had so many matches in New Haven. It was difficult, and I had so many important moments; in doubles, you have to stay focused, and I think it helped me so much.”
Some retail therapy might also help ready the Romanian for her first trip to the US Open second week since 2011.
“It’s sad, but the thing I love doing most in New York is shopping. I love shopping, and I cannot wait to relax and do that.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Venus Williams won a battle of WTA veterans against Svetlana Kuznetsova, wrapping up the Monday night session and snatching the final Miami Open quarterfinal spot.
NEW YORK, NY, USA – It was a day for comebacks on Day 5 of the 2016 US Open.
Former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki continued her New York renaissance with a comprehensive victory over Monica Niculescu to reach the second week of a Grand Slam for just the second time since making the final here two years ago. The Dane is taking her biggest wins of the season in stride as she prepares to play Madison Keys for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Speaking of Keys, the No.8 seed had to fight back from a 1-5 final set deficit to Japan’s Naomi Osaka, one of the fastest rising stars on the game’s major stages. Hear from both Keys and Osaka as they reflect on their exciting showcase of next generation talent.
Plus, the WTA Insider team previews Day 6 as the Williams sisters headline the order of play, along with No.4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska and No.5 seed Simona Halep. It’s all happening on the latest Daily Dispatch:
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Tuesday
Quarterfinals
[2] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #3) vs. [26] Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO #29)
Head-to-head: Tied, 3-3
Key Stat: Pliskova and Lucic-Baroni have played three-setters in each of their last three meetings.
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni has already matched her total of Top 10 wins from the previous four seasons by notching three in 2017 and, on Sunday, the 35-year-old will try to make it four when she meets No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova in her first Miami Open quarterfinal.
Pliskova, who is in the Miami quarterfinals for the second time, knows it will be a challenge. She was knocked off by Lucic-Baroni in January, falling 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to the Croatian in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, and their last three battles have all gone the distance.
“She’s always tough,” Pliskova told WTA Insider on Monday after easing past Barbora Strycova in straight sets. “She has a big game and it was close in Australia.”
The head-to-head points to a toss-up but Pliskova comes in as the favorite based on her ranking and the expectations she has set by becoming one of the most lethal players in the last 52 weeks. Now the No.1 Czech, Pliskova is expected to come through these types of matches and she certainly has the game to do it. But how can she keep her veteran opponent off balance so that her blistering groundstrokes don’t take over the match? It’s a task that has proved difficult for many this season and it will be interesting to see how Pliskova approaches playing Lucic-Baroni from a tactical perspective.
Lucic-Baroni, meanwhile, will approach the challenge of facing Pliskova’s game with no fear. She’s playing some of the best tennis of her life – why shouldn’t the fairytale continue?
“It’s always nice when you beat a top player and then beat them again not too long after, so it’s not a ‘fluke,'” Lucic-Baroni said last week in Miami after defeating No.5-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska for the second time this season. “I know people like to say stupid things sometimes. But I don’t pay attention to that. I know I can play some great tennis and that’s really all I care about doing.”
Pick: Pliskova in three
First #WTA Premier Mandatory Quarterfinal!
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni downs Mattek-Sands at @MiamiOpen! pic.twitter.com/h4SjEMPJj3
— WTA (@WTA) March 27, 2017
[12] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #14) vs. Lucie Safarova (CZE #36)
Head-to-head: Wozniacki leads, 4-3
Key Stat: Wozniacki’s 21 victories in 2017 place her second on tour.
Caroline Wozniacki is back in the last eight of the Miami Open for the fifth time overall and the first time since 2014, and the Dane faces a former Top 10 player on the rise in Lucie Safarova. The Czech secured her first Top 10 win since 2015 when she defeated World No.4 Dominika Cibulkova on Monday in straight sets. If that doesn’t give you an idea of what type of form the 30-year-old Czech is in, consider this: Safarova’s 16 wins in the first three months of the season are already more than she had in all of 2016. She has yet to drop a set this week and has reached the Miami Open quarterfinals for the first time on her 12th career appearance.
Can the southpaw take it a step further and shut down Wozniacki on Tuesday? It will be a difficult task. Wozniacki has won three of her last four against Safarova and is running hot as she prepares to play her sixth quarterfinal of the season. The match will likely hinge on how well Wozniacki can implement her return tactics against Safarova’s serve. The Czech entered the tournament ranked fourth in percentage of service games won this season, while Wozniacki ranked No.6 in percentage of return games won.
Pick: Wozniacki in three
By the Numbers
4 – Number of wins that Lucic-Baroni notched at Miami from 1998 to 2016. She will try to win her fourth match of the 2017 tournament against Pliskova.
22 – Pliskova took over the WTA lead in wins for 2017 with her 22nd win on Monday.
9 – Number of times that Caroline Wozniacki has reached at least the quarterfinal in her last ten tournaments.
16 – Lucie Safarova’s 16 wins (16-6) in 2017 have already surpassed her win total for all of 2016 (15-18).
NEW YORK, NY, USA – A battle of elite southpaws highlights the Day 7 schedule in New York. We preview Sunday’s Round of 16 tilts at wtatennis.com.
Sunday
Round of 16
[2] Angelique Kerber (GER #2) vs. [14] Petra Kvitova (CZE #16)
Head-to-head: Tied, 4-4
Key Stat: Kerber will ascend to the No.1 ranking if Serena Williams does not reach the semifinals in New York.
Two talented southpaws and former Grand Slam champions will meet in one of the most heavily anticipated matches of the tournament on Day 7. Angelique Kerber is in hot pursuit of the No.1 ranking and she has been fit and focused in New York, dropping just ten games in three rounds. But Sunday’s task promises to be far more daunting than her first three challenges. Kerber will have to square off against a menacing lefty who is finally learning how to excel at the US Open. Kerber has faced Petra Kvitova eight times before, with the pair splitting the pot, but never have they met at a Grand Slam. “Playing against lefties is always a little bit different,” Kerber said on Friday after racing past 17-year-old American CiCi Bellis, 6-1, 6-1. “I played a lot of matches against Petra and we had great matches in the past, so I think it will be a good match. I will try to go for it, go out there to win the match.” Kerber has won 15 of 18 this hardcourt season and has every reason to like her chances on Sunday. “I’m confident. I will go out there and try to enjoy every moment here,” she said. But Kvitova is a confident player herself. A quarterfinalist for the first time at the US Open last season, Kvitova says she is finally starting to understand how to harness the energy of the Big Apple. “I feel that the crowd, it’s always, you know, cheering,” she said after defeating Elina Svitolina on Day 5. “I think finally I find the way how I should take the energy from them as well.”
Pick: Kvitova in three
[7] Roberta Vinci (ITA #8) vs. Lesia Tsurenko (UKR #99)
Head-to-head: Vinci leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Tsurenko is the lowest-ranked player left in the draw.
Roberta Vinci has been here before. The Italian who stunned Serena Williams in last year’s semifinals clearly is having a love affair with the US Open and it shows in the form of nine wins in her last ten matches in Queens. Lesia Tsurenko, on the other hand, is into uncharted waters. The Ukrainian reached the second week of a major for the first time on Friday when she shocked No.12-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in three sets. Tsurenko, playing at her lowest ranking in two years, entered the event with a four-match losing streak at majors and a lifetime 8-20 record at the Grand Slam level. But she’s a battler, and she has five career Top 10 wins to her name as well. But can Tsurenko take the play to an in-form Vinci that is playing her best tennis of the season? The Italian had only won five of her last 15 heading into New York, but she is clearly resonating with the place of her greatest Grand Slam achievement.
Pick: Vinci in two
[8] Madison Keys (USA #9) vs. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #74)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Keys owns a 14-4 record in three-setters in 2016.
Fresh off the greatest comeback of her young career, 21-year-old American Madison Keys will set her sights on reaching the US Open quarterfinals for the first time. But standing in her way is a suddenly resurgent two-time US Open runner-up who has always thrived in New York. Caroline Wozniacki is finally finding her form after a long and unspectacular season, and she will be a very dangerous opponent for the No.8-seeded Keys. But Keys is confident and feeling lucky after narrowly escaping defeat in two of her first three matches. “I think the biggest thing is I’m never giving up and I’m fighting to the very end,” Keys said after battling back from 5-1 down in the third set to defeat Japan’s Naomi Osaka on Day 5. “That’s something to pat myself on the back for.” Wozniacki has had to fight through her fair share of injuries in 2016, but she’s hoping it’s all behind her. “Every time I have come back something else has been hurting,” she said. “Knock on wood, right now I’m feeling good.” Does she feel good enough to deconstruct Keys’ lethal game or will it be the young American who moves on?
Pick: Keys in three
[13] Johanna Konta (GBR #14) vs. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT #48)
Head-to-head: Konta leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Konta owns a 27-10 hardcourt record in 2016.
The first British player to hold a Top 20 ranking in nearly 30 years will take a shot at reaching her first US Open quarterfinal on Sunday against an unlikely opponent. Johanna Konta and Anastasija Sevastova will meet for the first time in a main draw and the second time overall. Konta will be the favorite based on her higher ranking and impressive hardcourt record this season, but Sevastova is putting the cherry on top of a solid season by making her first run to the second week of a major in over five years. The Latvian No.1 shocked Garbiñe Muguruza on Day 3 and on Friday she won for the first time in four meetings against Kateryna Bondarenko. Konta, who nearly had to retire due to heat-related exhaustion in her second round win over Tsvetana Pironkova, rebounded smartly on Friday by trouncing Belinda Bencic, 6-2, 6-1. Having recovered fully, Konta looks set to make another deep run at a hardcourt major. Is there anything Sevastova can do to stop her?
Pick: Konta in three
By the Numbers:
1-0 – Wozniacki’s record against the Top 10 this season. The Dane defeated No.10 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round.
36-11 – Kvitova’s career record against left-handers. Kerber’s career record against lefties is 26-15.
1 – Number of players in Top 10 to have yet to play in a Grand Slam final (Madison Keys).