WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen | The second Insider Notebook of this year’s Australian Open takes in Lucie Safarova’s marathon, Serena Williams’ winning tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. and the weird world of Naomi Osaka.
MELBOURNE, Australia – No.7 seed Garbiñe Muguruza defeated Samantha Crawford in two tight sets on Wednesday evening to reach the third round of the Australian Open.
Breaks in the penultimate game of both sets proved the difference, Muguruza triumphing 7-5, 6-4 to book a meeting with Anastasija Sevastova.
Crawford, who first rose to prominence when she came through qualifying to reach the Brisbane semifinals 12 months ago, gave another good account of herself Down Under, overcoming a slow start to push the reigning French Open champion all the way.
Muguruza came out with her right thigh strapped after complaining of a sore leg during her first round, but showed few signs of sluggishness as she rattled off the first three games. Crawford began to settle into the contest and was soon back on level terms.
The pair exchanged a series of thundering baseline exchanges as the opening set reached its climax, Muguruza striking decisively with a backhand winner with Crawford serving at 5-5, 30-40. Mugurza went on to serve out the set. Muguruza held her nerve in an equally competitive second set to reach the last 32 for a fourth straight year.
“She was super-powerful and hit the ball very hard, which made it difficult,” Muguruza said. “Today, I had to concentrate and wait for my opportunity.”
“[My leg] is a little bit better. Honestly, I think the time is helping me. Hopefully now the next day is going to help me recover even more,” Muguruza said. “I definitely had a concern. But I knew I had to go out there and play with what I have. You know, I went, try to play my normal tennis, try to be focused. It was important match. Tough opponent actually. I’m very happy with this win.”
Madison Keys takes on Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinals of the China Open.
Johanna Konta takes on Naomi Osaka in the second round of the Australian Open.
An interview with Agnieszka Radwanska after her win in the semifinal of the China Open.
Serena Williams discusses what ‘being Serena’ means in her post-match press conference at the Australian Open.
Watch Daria Gavrilova’s practice session at the Australian Open.
MIAMI, FLORIDA, USA – On this special Dropshot episode of the WTA Insider Podcast, hear from WTA founder Billie Jean King and 18-time major champion Chris Evert. King and Evert held an impromptu press conference last week at the Miami Open to discuss the issue of equal prize money and equality, which were brought to the fore once again after former BNP Paribas Open CEO and tournament director Raymond Moore’s comments in which he told reporters the WTA Players “ride the coattails” of the ATP when it comes to prize money. Moore has since stepped down from his post.
King and Evert, along with current WTA player Nicole Gibbs, discussed their reaction to the comments, which triggered an unfortunate avalanche of discussion regarding the merits of equal prize money at tennis’ biggest tournaments. The 45-minute conversation was educational, enlightening, and inspiring, and given the fan interest in the press conference, we’re posting the discussion in full.
Evert on the progress in women’s tennis: “If there is a silver lining to all this that’s gone on in the last week, it’s the fact that there has been such outrage from the players and from the media and from the public defending the women’s game. I think from time to time we all need a reminder of the evolution of women’s tennis and the great (indiscernible) and sacrifices every generation has had to make, from Billie Jean to myself and Martina, Steffi to Monica, to Williams sisters. What we’ve done to get the credibility, the respect, and equality that we have now.”
King on the need for inclusion: “To have equal prize money in the majors sends a message. It’s not about the money, it’s about the message. Any time you discount another human being by gender, race, disability, however, we’re not helping ourselves. You want everyone to make a lot. At least I do. We want to make the pie bigger, the marketplace bigger for all, for all of you so you have jobs.
“To argue over the prize money issue, what about when Chris and Martina were playing and their ratings were better than the men? We didn’t go, Oh, we deserve more than the men. No. Let’s just keep it equal and help each other. It’s not a “he” thing or a “she” thing; it’s a “we” thing. I’m telling you, this is the only way the world is going to make it.”
Gibbs on carrying forth King’s message: “I think our generation is very privileged sometimes because we just kind of take it for granted. We think, Okay, it’s all better. We just have to focus on our tennis. That’s what we are told from a very young age, and very few of us feel a responsibility to continue on a path of equality. You have to use the platform to continue down that path of equality. Quality and fairness — many right now think we’re so far down the road and in reality we are not necessarily. There are still so many people, men and women both, making comments that are very counterproductive to our mission of growing the game of tennis, using it as a platform.”
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MELBOURNE, Australia – Six years after her four-hour epic against Francesca Schiavone at this very tournament, No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova came out on the winning side of Friday’s titanic three-setter against former No.1 Jelena Jankovic, 6-4, 5-7, 9-7, to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open.
“It was crazy,” Kuznetsova admitted in her inimitable way after the match. “I was up set and 4-1 with a double break. Then I found myself down 3-0 and 15-40 on my serve in third set.
“It was a bit insane, but it’s a tennis match, anything can happen; it’s never done until you shake the hand.”
Kuznetsova is no stranger to long matches in Australia, having narrowly lost to Schiavone, 6-4, 1-6, 16-14 in what remains the longest Grand Slam match in WTA history back at four hours and 44 minutes in 2011.
There were few signs from the outset that her encounter against Jankovic would approach that duration, as the Russian raced out to a set and double break lead, serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set. Jankovic turned the tables on Kuznetsova at the 11th hour to win the final three games of the second set and force a decider.
Serving second in the final set, the No.8 seed twice fell behind a break as Jankovic served for a 5-2 lead. Kuznetsova promptly broke back and earned a chance to serve out the match; not to be outdone, Jankovic leveled proceedings at five games apiece and kept things on serve until the fateful 15th game.
“It’s so tough, especially after three and a half hours of playing, that one of us had to lose,” Jankovic said after the match. “Unfortunately, it was me. I’m quite disappointed after such a battle, and it’s not easy to accept. I had my chances and I gave myself the opportunity to win the match.
“After 3-0, I wasn’t making as many first serves in; I don’t know if it was because I got tired spending a lot of hours out there. I haven’t competed much, and my percentage of first serves went down, so I couldn’t hold my serve for a while.
“I still have to work hard to get back to my best level, but at the end, Sveta was fitter than me in the end. I tried so hard, but I couldn’t move anymore and she was the one still standing.”
Svetlana #Kuznetsova is through after 3 hours and 36 mins #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/kMr2owinb5
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 20, 2017
The third time proved lucky for the three-time Australian Open quarterfinalist, who served out the win on her first match point after three hours and 36 minutes on court.
Up next for Kuznetsova is No.24 seed and compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who earned the biggest upset thus far on Day 5 by knocking out No.11 seed Elina Svitolina in three sets.
4R awaits Svetlana #Kuznetsova #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/qyd07fiQcp
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 20, 2017
MIAMI, FL, USA – Former No.1 Victoria Azarenka continues her climb back to the top, overpowering Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2 in the final to claim the Miami Open title and secure her return to the WTA Top 5.
Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Miami right here on wtatennis.com!
Azarenka, a two-time champion here in Miami, won her third title of 2016 in dominating fashion without dropping a set. Even more impressive, her back-to-back titles in Indian Wells and Miami complete the Sunshine Double, a feat last achieved 11 years ago.
The on-form Belarusian, who has only lost one match all year, broke in Kuznetsova’s opening service game and quickly held for a 2-0 lead. That lone hold of serve would turn out to be vital, as Azarenka was able to weather the seven consecutive breaks that followed and still hang on to the lead.
In the second set Azarenka’s powerful game came together as she wore down Kuznetsova from the baseline, running the Russian all over the court. Azarenka kept up the intensity throughout the match, hitting 23 winners to Kuznetsova’s 8 while Kuznetsova struck 22 unforced errors to her opponent’s 18.
Sunshine Double ☀️
Indian Wells AND Miami champion, @Vika7! ? #WTA https://t.co/hYMG1vBWcI
— WTA (@WTA) April 2, 2016
After Azarenka claimed the match and the Miami title in an hour and 17 minutes, Kuznetsova had nothing but praise for her in-form opponent in her runner-up speech.
“I’d like to congratulate Victoria for doing such a good job this year and in these four weeks,” Kuznetsova said, delighting the Miami crowd by delivering the speech in both English and Spanish.
Azarenka was similarly effusive in her praise for Kuznetsova, who she’s played nine times since 2007.
“I want congratulate Sveta for the great result,” Azarenka said. “I know you’ve had a lot of ups and downs in your career and I’m so happy to see you again in top form producing some great tennis.”
The Belarusian also had an emotional dedication for the win, her twentieth career title:
“I want to dedicate this win to my family, for my parents, who I don’t see very often but my parents taught me some really great things.
“They gave me roots so I always know where I come from and they gave me wings so I can fly, so I can be here. Thank you so much.”
With the win, Azarenka also cements her position as No.1 on the Road To Singapore Leaderboard, leapfrogging Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber for the top spot.
