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Miami Wednesday: Aussie Redux

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Victoria Azarenka will look to continue her winning ways on Wednesday as the lower half of the draw contests its quarterfinals matches. We preview the matchups here.

Wednesday, Quarterfinals

[13] Victoria Azarenka (BLR #8) vs. [24] Johanna Konta (GBR #23)
Head-to-head: Konta leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Azarenka is bidding to become the first player to complete the Indian Wells-Miami double since 2005 (Clijsters).
Victoria Azarenka is back in the Top 10, riding a nine-match winning streak, and showing no signs of slowing down ahead of her quarterfinal with Great Britain’s Johanna Konta. With memories of her last two injury-marred seasons rapidly vanishing in the rearview mirror, the two-time Miami champion is oozing positive energy. “I think I’m a better player right now, just the way I handle myself on the court,” Azarenka said after handling Garbiñe Muguruza in two tight sets on Monday. “I think my game is developing with pretty big progress right now, and that’s what I’m most happy about, is being able to add a little bit more every time I play.” Trying to keep Azarenka from adding to her winning streak is one of the surprise stories of 2016 in Johanna Konta. The 24-year-old, already the first British woman to reach the quarterfinals in the history of this event, is looking to reach the semifinals on her debut. Konta is energized by her latest achievement, but aims only to look forward. “It’s a wonderful thing to have on paper and for other people to recognize,” Konta told the BBC of her latest milestone. “But I am very much in the moment in this tournament and it’s not over for me.”

Pick: Azarenka in two

[2] Angelique Kerber (GER #3) vs. [22] Madison Keys (USA #24)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 3-1
Key Stat: At 21 years old, Keys is the youngest player remaining in the draw.
Angelique Kerber is finding it difficult to replicate her Australian Open magic on a nightly basis, but whether she’s playing flawless tennis or not, the German is never without her trademark grit. The 28-year-old used every ounce of her mental toughness – and some match point magic – to battle past Hungary’s Timea Babos on Monday night, rallying from a break down in the third set to claim her spot in the quarterfinals. Waiting for her there is the last American standing, the talented, powerful Madison Keys. Keys has been on fire in Miami, winning more than 70 percent of her service points and not dropping serve once in three straight-sets victories. The 21-year-old may be relatively inexperienced compared to Kerber, but she’s had plenty of time to contemplate what it takes to beat the German. Keys has met Kerber in the only two Tour-level finals of her career, and has faced her on three different surfaces. Though Kerber holds the lifetime 3-1 edge, their last two meetings have been nip-and-tuck three-set affairs. Will Keys and her block-rocking ground game unlock the mystery of Kerber, or will the German dial up her defenses and reach the last four?

Pick: Keys in three

-Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor

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3 Takeaways From Keys' Three-Set Thriller With Kvitova

3 Takeaways From Keys' Three-Set Thriller With Kvitova

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BEIJING, China – Madison Keys moved one step closer to qualifying for her first BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, edging a streaking Petra Kvitova, 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(5), to advance to her first Premier Mandatory semifinal at the China Open. Keys will play Johanna Konta on Saturday for a place in the final.

1. Keys’ improved resilience wins the day…again.

No single stat explains Madison Keys’ rise through the ranks in 2016 than her three-set record. In 2014 she was 6-10. In 2015 she was 7-8. In 2016? She’s now 17-5.

“You look at my scores, there’s lulls and stuff but I feel like before it would spiral really quickly,” Keys told WTA Insider earlier this week in Beijing. “Now I’m stopping it and getting better at that.

“I think it’s that confidence of knowing ‘Don’t panic, you can do this.’ I think the biggest thing is knowing that those thoughts of panic are probably going to go into your brain and just accepting it. So that’s been the biggest thing. Not fighting it and trying to think I’m going to have the perfect mentality the entire time. That’s not going to happen. So just knowing it and accepting it has been a huge thing for me.”

To succeed as a power player you have to be able to execute under pressure. Players who can grind out points have the luxury of being able to play for the next shot, prolonging rallies and using their defense to get themselves out of trouble. Players like Kvitova and Keys do not have that luxury. When the opening is there they have to execute. That becomes more and more difficult when the pressure is on.

Keys had multiple opportunities to let this match slip away. She served for the straight set win at 5-4 in the second set only to get broken and lose the tiebreaker. After building a quick 3-0 lead in the final set she let Kvitova back into the set at 3-3 and then had to fend off seven break points to get the match into a final set tie-break.

Then, on the biggest pressure point of the match at 5-5 in the tie-break, Kvitova maintained her discipline and kept the ball on Keys’ less dangerous backhand side before the American finally had enough.

“That was just like, we’re going to go for it and see what happens. Hope for the best,” Keys told reporters afterwards with a laugh. Indeed, Keys gripped and ripped a backhand down-the-line winner to earn match point. She only needed one.

“It was about one or two points in the end,” Kvitova told WTA Insider. “I had break points in the third and I don’t know, I didn’t really think I did anything really wrong. She served well and really went for it at 5-5 in the tiebreaker and put the backhand down the line. It was a great move from her.”

2. Kvitova’s resurgence in China could continue in Zhuhai.

Kvitova was understandably dejected after the loss, having come so close to extending her win-streak to nine matches.
“I felt like the first two sets I was the worst player until the last game of the second set when I break her and then the tie-break,” Kvitova said. “Then in the third I thought I was the better player, but that’s tennis.”

Kvitova was one for 11 on break points in the final set. Keys did well to save more than a handful on her own accord, but Kvitova had a relatively easy forehand on one that she put into the net.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have missed that forehand, but that’s just how it is,” she said. “I had more chances than that. I think both of us in the third were both mentally strong, it was just about the third and you never know how those tiebreaks will go.”

“It was a good fight and finally I am done here.”

Petra Kvitova

Kvitova finally found her game in China, winning the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open last week and making her third China Open quarterfinal. In all she went 8-1 through China to bring her ranking back up – she could return to the Top 10 next week depending on Konta’s results in Beijing – and finish the year strong. In all, Kvitova played nine matches in 12 days in China and a brief respite will do her good.

“I’m really tired and I just need to rest,” Kvitova said. “Especially when you lose you just feel more tired than normally.”

Kvitova will finish her regular season in Luxembourg next week and then will head to the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai to finish her WTA season. “We are playing the final of the Fed Cup so I think it will be good to play in Zhuhai,” Kvitova said.

3. Keys on the verge of qualifying for Singapore.

If she advances to the final she will lock down her Singapore spot*. The 21-year-old holds the keys to her own fate this week and Saturday’s semifinal looms particularly large considering she is not presently entered in any more tournaments before the WTA Finals. In other words, barring any last minute wildcards, Beijing is her last chance to earn points.

“It’s tough,” Keys told WTA Insider earlier in the week. “Do I use that as my motivation to try and figure it out or is that going to make me more nervous and put more pressure on me? It just depends on the day.

“Some days it’s like ‘No one say the word! We’re in Beijing, that’s all we’re doing, there’s no more tournaments for the rest of the year.’ Other days it’s like ‘This is really tough, grinding, it’s been a long season, but I’m that close.’ I want to put myself in the best position and I want to be able to walk away, qualifying or not, knowing that I did everything I could to get there.”

*Editor’s note: Karolina Pliskova has withdrawn from Linz and Garbiñe Muguruza has replaced her as a Top 10 direct entry into the main draw. In addition, Dominika Cibulkova and Keys have taken wildcards into Linz. As a result, while a win over Konta on Saturday will place Keys on the cusp of qualification, she will no longer automatically qualify for the WTA Finals by making the China Open final.

WTA Finals: Get Your Tickets!

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Kerber Zooms Into Miami Semifinal

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MIAMI, FL, USA – No.2 seed Angelique Kerber put on a comprehensive display against No.22 seed Madison Keys, dispatching the young American, 6-3, 6-2 and reach her first career semifinal at the Miami Open.

Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Miami right here on wtatennis.com!

Kerber came to Miami without a WTA win since capturing her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, but a few tense matches – most notably a third set comeback over Timea Babos in the fourth round – appears to have helped the German rediscover her confidence.

“It’s nice to play a match like this,” Kerber said after the match. “I was feeling good. Madison is always a tough opponent. I know this because we had a lot of tough battles in the past.

“I knew that I must play very good to beat her because she played very well here in the last few matches. So it’s good. It’s good.”

Playing in her signature style, she drew 39 errors from Keys, who had taken Kerber to three sets in their last two meetings.

Racing out to a 4-0 lead in the second set, the 2015 Australian Open semifinalist could do little more than force her more experienced opponent to serve out the victory in just over an hour. Speaking to media following the win, Kerber admitted to feeling overwhelmed after her big breakthrough in Melbourne.

“Actually, it was not so easy after, you know, because I had so many things to do, and also after Indian Wells where I was still not feeling 100%. I had few days before coming here to focus again on my practice, on my work on court, and to playing here good matches.

“I had also had a tough match in the last round. Today I was feeling much better, and I think that the matches here. They give me more confidence for the next tournaments and that I’m still on a good way.”

Looming next for Kerber is former No.1 and BNP Paribas Open champion Victoria Azarenka. The Belarusian, who defeated top-ranked Brit Johanna Konta earlier in the day, had looked the clear favorite to reach the final Down Under with a title in Brisbane and a 6-0 head-to-head against Kerber heading into their quarterfinal.

Kerber nonetheless turned the tables on the two-time Australian Open champion and earned her first win in their rivalry in straight sets, going on to defeat World No.1 Serena Williams in the final.

“I went out there and trying to be really aggressive from the first point, trying to really believe in myself, because until this time I never won the match against her,” she said of that fateful match in January. “It was 0-6; now it’s 1-6. I will try to go out there again like in Australia and try to believe in my game and myself and, yeah, trying to challenge her.

“It will be not easy. It will be tough match. But this is for what I am practicing, for the big matches out there, to really show what, yeah, we can do and playing the best tennis.

“So I’m really looking forward to play against her again this year.”

The winner of Kerber’s semifinal with Azarenka will reach their third final of the season; Kerber will be keen to nab her first WTA title since capturing Grand Slam glory while Azarenka is a mere two matches from becoming the third woman in WTA history to complete the Indian Wells-Miami “Sunshine” Double. Steffi Graf twice won both titles in 1994 and 1996, while Kim Clijsters most recently achieved the feat in 2005.

More to come…

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Kerber Primed For Ultimate Test

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MIAMI, FL, USA – In the wake of Angelique Kerber’s most unexpected of triumphs at this January’s Australian Open, the tennis world was intrigued to find out what was next for its newest major champion.

Would she quickly be sucked back into the pack or at 28 was she now ready to use this breakthrough as a springboard to elevate her game to the next level?

In her first outing as a Grand Slam champion, Kerber was brought back to earth with a bump, slumping to a shock defeat at the hands of Zheng Saisai at the Qatar Total Open. By her own admission, Kerber struggled to deal with the occasion, her metronomic groundstrokes breaking down under the strain.

Worse was to follow at the BNP Paribas Open, the German crashing out at the first hurdle to another unheralded opponent, Denisa Allertova. These sobering experiences provided a wake-up call, and she redoubled her efforts to rediscover the winning formula in Miami.

“Actually, it was not so easy because I had so many things to do, and also after Indian Wells where I was still not feeling 100%. Had like few days before coming here to focus again on my practice, on my work on court, and to make sure I play good matches here.”

A routine victory over Barbora Strycova was followed by more testing assignments against Kiki Bertens and Timea Babos, which she came through before playing her best tennis of the week to stymie the big-hitting Madison Keys in the quarterfinals.

“I had tough matches in the early rounds. Today I was feeling much better, and I think that the matches here give me again more confidence for the next tournaments and that my game’s still in a good way.”

And she will need to be firing on all cylinders against her next opponent, the WTA’s form player, Victoria Azarenka. “She had a great start of the year, of course. She is on fire I think right now. I will just trying to play my game go out and try to beat her. I mean, we played two times already this year and that’s the third time.

“I will try to enjoy it. I know that I must play really my best tennis to beat her because she won Indian Wells; she’s here now in the semis.”

The two are well acquainted with one another, having met twice at the start of year in Australia; Azarenka took the spoils on the first occasion in a one-sided Brisbane final before Kerber gained revenge en route to her Melbourne triumph.

This was Kerber’s first victory over Azarenka in seven attempts and she is planning to adopt a similarly positive approach for the rematch. “I went out there and trying to be really aggressive from the first point, trying to really believe in myself, because until this time I never won the match against her. It was 0-6; now it’s 1-6,” Kerber said.

“I will try to go out there again like in Australia and try to believe in my game and myself and, yeah, trying to challenge her. It will be not easy. It will be tough match. But this is for what I am practicing, for the big matches out there, to really show what, yeah, we can do and playing the best tennis.”

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Debutante Cibulkova Determined After Loss To Keys

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SINGAPORE – Dominika Cibulkova is staying optimistic. Even though she has lost her first two matches at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, she still has a slim chance of qualifying for the semifinals.

That’s if she can beat Simona Halep in straight sets – and that’s always going to be tough to do.

“I have to see it in a good way,” she said after her 6-1, 6-4 loss to Madison Keys. “If I see it in a bad way that I lost two matches then I will be really down.

“It’s a big challenge for me. [It’s my] first time playing here…I want to give 100 per cent on the court. Knowing this, that I can still go into semifinals, I will…be as positive as I can and to win my match against Halep.”

Cibulkova will need to be quick off the mark against the Romanian – and she struggled to do that against Keys.

“I tried,” she recalled. “In the second set I tried to change something. Even my coach came. He helped me with the strategy a little bit. [We] tried to change, but it was still not enough. Maybe I needed a little bit more time. It was too late when I started to get into the match the right way where I wanted.”

Cibulkova did not have the best start to her match against Keys when she forgot to walk out with her ball kid and had to go back for her.

“I was just waving to the people around and forgot!” she admitted. “I didn’t see the ball kid. And then from my box they tell me, like, ‘You forgot the ball kid.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, no way.’ So I went for her bag and I took her bag, so it was nice.”

She is, of course, enjoying the opportunity of competing in Singapore, but there is a hint of disappointment in her reflection on her matches so far – losing to Keys after having lost to Angelique Kerber

“I’m happy I’m experiencing this for the first time,” she explained. “It is different. You feel like, ‘Okay, this is only eight top players in the world,’ and you want to try to play your best tennis. Of course it’s different because you can lose two matches and now the situation – I can win the third one and still can go on [to the semifinals].

“So it’s [a] very new experience for me. I’m happy to be here and to see and to live it, but I’m hoping to win a match. I will do everything to win a match this year.”

 

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Makarova & Vesnina Safely Into Singapore SFs, Hingis & Mirza Await

Makarova & Vesnina Safely Into Singapore SFs, Hingis & Mirza Await

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SINGAPORE – No.4 seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina withstood a late fightback to defeat Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka and take their place in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

Watch interviews and highlights from Singapore on the WTA Facebook page!

A break in the penultimate game of the match allowed the Russians to close out a 6-2, 7-5 victory, setting up a showdown with defending champions, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza.

Makarova and Vesnina have been one of the form teams in the second half of 2016, winning Olympic gold and reaching the US Open semifinals, and their confidence was apparent from the off, threatening an immediate break with some typically forceful net play. In the end, the breakthrough owed more to good fortune, Hlavackova getting her feet in a muddle after Vesnina scraped a return back.

They made the most of this stroke of luck, forging ahead before Makarova closed out the first set with an ace down the middle.

The second set proved o be far more competitive. But just as a tie-break loomed, the gold medalists struck, Makarova swatting the ball away after wrong-footing Hradecka with the initial volley. Serving for the match, Makarova made no mistake, swinging a serve out wide on match point before calmly finding the open court.

“It’s bouncing so low, so we need to stay down and in the second set we had some tough moments,” Makarova said in her on-court interview with Andrew Krasny. “In the end, I said to Lena, ‘Let’s stay as low as we can all the time!'”

Runners-up three years ago, they will next take on the defending champions, Hingis and Mirza. Despite the high stakes, Vesnina is not envisaging a change in approach: “We’re obviously having fun on and off the court. Even if someone has a bad moment, we’re trying to support and it gives us so much help knowing we have this support.”

Official WTA Finals Mobile App, Created by SAP

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Hingis & Mirza Enjoy Reunion Victory, Ease Past Chan Sisters At WTA Finals

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

SINGAPORE – No.2 seeds and defending champions Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won their first match as a pair since splitting in August, defeating Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching, 7-6(10), 7-5, to reach the semifinals at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global and help keep Mirza’s hopes of finishing 2016 at World No.1 alive.

Watch interviews and highlights from Singapore on the WTA Facebook page!

“It’s great to be back in Singapore,” Mirza said during their on-court interview. “It’s also great to be back with Martina, and it’s good to get that win.”

The team formerly known as “Santina” started the season as the team to beat, riding a 41-match winning streak into the Middle East Swing and winning their third straight Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. Splitting in August, Hingis and Mirza vowed to defend their WTA Finals crown at year’s end, and the two were true to their word come Friday afternoon.

“Our bond is what made us so strong, to win those tough points in the past,” Hingis said. “No matter how you play, or what’s happening on the court, you have to work through the tough moments and get the momentum going. It’s been two months since we were last on court together, and it was great to be back out there with Sania.”

Across the net were the Chan sisters, who came to Singapore having won their third title of the season at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open; a formidable team in their own right, they were the last team to beat Hingis and Mirza before they began their aforementioned winning streak, the longest since Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova’s 44 in 1990.

The Chans pushed the No.2 seeds into a tense first set tie-break, one that saw each team engineer three set points before the defending champions converted to take the opening set in just over an hour.

“They’re a really tough team and we’ve played them a bunch of times,” Mirza said. “But it was so important to win that first set. The momentum was in our favor after that, but it so tough and we had to stay mentally tough. I’m glad we got through.”

Edging ahead an early break in the second, Santina appeared on course for a straightforward victory before the No.6 seeds roared back from a 2-4 deficit, winning three games in a row to get within one game of a match tie-break.

Undaunted, Hingis and Mirza won the last three games to advance into their second straight semifinal in Singapore. Awaiting them in the final four will be either Olympic Gold medalists and No.4 seeds, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, or 2012 WTA Finals runner-ups Andrea Hlavackova or Lucie Hradecka.

Battle For Year-End No.1 Continues

Friday’s win keeps Mirza in the hunt to retain her No.1 ranking through the end of the season,

Mirza is up against top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic along with No.3 seed Bethanie Mattek-Sands, all of whom have a change to take the top spot. 

The French must go one round better than Mirza, while Mattek-Sands will have to win the title to unseat the Indian star.

Garcia/Mladenovic and Mattek-Sands (with partner Lucie Safarova) all advanced into the semifinals on Thursday.

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