Tennis News

Ready? Set. Go! It’s Round of 16 time at the Miami Open and we’re previewing all eight must-see matchups right here at WTATennis.com.

Monday

Round of 16

[2] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #3) vs. [15] Barbora Strycova (CZE #20)
Head-to-head: Tied, 1-1
Key Stat: Pliskova leads the tour with 175 aces in 22 matches thus far this season.

Karolina Pliskova took over the WTA lead with her 21st win of the season this weekend, and the 25-year-old is happy that she’s finding ways to win even when she isn’t playing her best tennis. She had to battle the ever feisty Yulia Putintseva and a three-hour rain delay on Saturday, eventually emerging with a 7-5, 6-3 victory.

“I’m happy that I went through, and think I need these matches, the hard ones,” she said after the match. “Not only to win easy matches, but also the ones were I don’t feel really well like today.”

Will she have another tough one on Monday when she faces fellow Czech Barbora Strycova? The 30-year-old has been steady all year, but has lost her last eight against the Top 10.

Pick: Pliskova in three

[4] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK #4) vs. Lucie Safarova (CZE #36)
Head-to-head: Cibulkova leads, 5-2
Key Stat: Cibulkova has won just four of nine three-set matches in 2017.

A pair of proven WTA commodities will look to sail into the quarterfinals on Monday when Dominika Cibulkova and Lucie Safarova square off for the eighth time. Cibulkova has held sway over the pair’s head-to-head, but since 2014 they’ve split their four meetings. Cibulkova breezed past Kirsten Flipkens in straight sets on Saturday while Safarova rolled past Ajla Tomljanovic behind six breaks of serve in eight return games. It is the Slovakian who carries the higher ranking into this meeting but don’t sleep on Safarova; the former World No.5 has racked up 15 wins already this season, and it feels like her best has yet to come.

Pick: Cibulkova in three

Dominika @Cibulkova did not let the three hour rain delay slow her down! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/tCrz3x4jlU

— WTA (@WTA) March 26, 2017

[26] Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO #29) vs. [WC] Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA #158)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Lucic-Baroni is tied for the WTA lead in Top-10 wins in 2017.

Two surprising veterans are making big waves at this year’s Miami Open, but one of them will be sent packing on Monday as Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Bethanie Mattek-Sands will match wits for the first time with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line. Mattek-Sands entered this year’s draw without a single tour-level win to her name in 2017. Three rounds later she has a Top 10 and a Top 20 scalp under belt.

Meanwhile, Lucic-Baroni’s fine form in 2017 continues. She blasted past No.5-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska behind 38 winners on Saturday to improve to 3-1 against the Top 10 this season and 11-4 overall.

Pick: Lucic-Baroni in three

[6] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #6) vs. [12] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #14)
Head-to-head: Muguruza leads, 3-1
Key Stat: Muguruza has gone 7-1 in deciders this season (was 8-7 in 2016).

Like Karolina Pliskova, Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza is taking comfort in her most difficult victories. At this year’s Miami Open she has already had a pair of them. She saved a match point on Friday to defeat Christina McHale and on Saturday she battled back from a set down to knock off China’s Zhang Shuai. While grueling, the wins have left Muguruza feeling confident about her abilities.

“Since I’ve started the year, I’ve had a lot of matches like this, and I’m expecting that every time I go on court,” Muguruza said. “A win is a win, I don’t wish to have matches this tough every day, but I’m very happy with the way I’m facing them.”

On Monday she’ll face another woman who knows a thing or two about grinding out hard-fought triumphs in No.12-seeded Caroline Wozniacki. The Dane comes in hot, having notched her 20th win of the season on Saturday night and should make life difficult for Muguruza yet again.

Pick: Muguruza in three

[1] Angelique Kerber (GER #1) vs. [Q] Risa Ozaki (JPN #87)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Kerber improved to 9-0 vs. players outside the Top 50 with her win over Shelby Rogers on Sunday.

Could it be that Angelique Kerber is starting to find that certain je ne sais quoi in her game? The World No.1 fought past American Shelby Rogers in straight sets and will look to continue her run against a surprise Round of 16 participant from Japan. 22-year-old Risa Ozaki qualified for the main draw and had to win two three-setters in a row before taking out Julia Goerges in straight sets on Sunday. On Monday her reward is her very first match against a Top 10 player. How will she handle the pressure? Whatever the outcome, Ozaki stands to benefit tremendously in the experience category from her run in Miami.

Pick: Kerber in two

[11] Venus Williams (USA #12) vs. [7] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #7)
Head-to-head: Kuznetsova leads, 5-4
Key Stat: Williams is bidding for her 60th Miami Open win today.

It has been a decade since Svetlana Kuznetsova won her lone Miami title in 2006 and more than fifteen years since Venus Williams won the last of her three Miami Open titles in 2001, but these two legends of the game are still gunning for the game’s most coveted hardware, and very much in the running to win it all. On Monday they will meet for the tenth time and just the second time in the last seven years. Kuznetsova recorded a straight-sets win over Williams at Wuhan last year, and the Russian also took the pair’s only meeting in Miami in 2008. Is it time for Williams to take a bit of revenge, or will last year’s runner-up keep rolling in Miami?

Pick: Kuznetsova in three

[3] Simona Halep (ROU #5) vs. [14] Sam Stosur (AUS #19)
Head-to-head: Tied, 4-4
Key Stat: Halep has won back-to-back matches for the first time all season here in Miami.

It hasn’t been a banner year for Simona Halep or Sam Stosur – yet – but each could change the tone of their season significantly with a win on Monday when they clash for the ninth time. The pair have split their eight previous meetings – with Halep holding the 3-1 edge on hardcourts, where she has won the last three meetings.

But more importantly, both Halep and Stosur could really use a nice run in Miami to kickstart the remainder of their season. Stosur went 0 for Australia and is 3-5 against the Top 50 this season, but she notched a gritty three-set win over Peng Shuai on Sunday. Halep has won back-to-back matches for the first time this season in Miami and says she is pain-free and beginning to feel her game. With a prestigious quarterfinal on the line, it will be interesting to see which player comes up with the goods and claims a big win.

Pick: Halep in three

“I played my best tennis this year” -@Simona_Halep #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/HNTVf8WywX

— WTA (@WTA) March 27, 2017

[10] Johanna Konta (GBR #11) vs. Lara Arruabarrena (ESP #72)
Head-to-head: Arruabarrena leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Konta improved to 15-3 in 2017 with her third-round win over Pauline Parmentier.

Great Britain’s Johanna Konta has quietly put up a very impressive record in 2017. In just five events she has already racked up 15 wins, a title in Sydney and a quarterfinal at the Australian Open. In short, Konta appears to be prepared to back up her breakout 2016 with another wildly successful campaign. She’ll look to continue her positive momentum when she meets Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena for the first time since 2011. The Spaniard, who upset No. 8-seeded Madison Keys on Sunday, won that meeting (at an ITF event on clay), but it is Konta who will come in as the heavy favorite, based on her impressive run of play for 52 weeks and the fact that she will meet Arruabarrena on her favorite surface this time.

Pick: Konta in two

By the Numbers

4 – Number of unseeded players to reach the round of 16. 1

58 – Mattek-Sands, a former World No.30, is the lowest-ranked player remaining in the draw.

2010 – The year in which a wildcard made the best ever run – Justine Henin reached the semifinals.

36 – The age of the oldest player in this year’s draw, Venus Williams.

7 – The number of thirtysomethings into the round of 16 in Miami (Venus Williams, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Sam Stosur, Barbora Strycova, Lucie Safarova)

WUHAN, China – In 2015 Garbiñe Muguruza arrived in China in the midst of a slump. She was compiling a breakthrough season, having made her first Slam final at Wimbledon a few months earlier, but the letdown during the North American hardcourt summer was severe.

China proved to be fertile ground for the Spaniard. It was this time last year that she hired coach Sam Sumyk after a disappointing exit at the US Open and the two went on to make the final at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, where she retired with a foot injury to Venus Williams, and then win her biggest title at the time at the China Open. That run served as a springboard for Singapore, where she romped to the semifinals in her BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global debut.

Muguruza’s 2016 season has seen similar, albeit with heightened patterns. In a season that saw her win her first major title at Roland Garros in May, the 22-year-old has struggled with her consistency ever since. She looked to be building momentum over the summer with a strong run to the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open, but a surprising opening round loss to Anastasija Sevastova in New York sent her back to the drawing board once again.

“That loss was tough for me,” Muguruza told reporters during Wuhan’s WTA All-Access Hour on Sunday. “I was sad about that match because I’m always very happy to be in a Grand Slam. That’s the tournament where I like to play and I’m really motivated there, but I played bad.

“I was too nervous. I wanted too much to win. I wanted [it] too much.”

Muguruza has worked hard over the last 12 months to control her negative emotions on court and has come to master an intimidating poker face. But don’t let it fool you. She’s roiling underneath the surface. “Sometimes I feel like there’s certain days where I look like she doesn’t look like maybe is super happy, but it’s because I want [it] too much, and it’s actually going the other way. So I think it’s as bad to want it too much than not to want it too much. It was tough for me.”

To the extent an early exit at a major can have a silver lining, Muguruza said the loss gave her more time to hit the practice court before the Asian swing. Now to see if it pays off. Ranked No.3 on the WTA rankings, Muguruza could face a tough opening test on Tuesday against either Guangzhou finalist Jelena Jankovic or the always dangerous Daria Gavrilova.

“This year I want to do everything I can so I can go on holiday happy,” Muguruza said. “I don’t want to have this on the back of my mind.”

“I feel nothing can be sad this year after winning a Grand Slam. No matter what happens for me, [it] is an incredible year already.”

Ni Hao Wuhan! ?? pic.twitter.com/WtUGbOzwQ5

— Garbiñe Muguruza (@GarbiMuguruza) September 25, 2016

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

The return of Caroline Wozniacki’s winning smile may be the tournament’s lasting image but the 2016 Toray Pan Pacific Open will also be remembered as Naomi Osaka’s coming out party.

While her talent has never been in doubt, the Japanese teenager has struggled to exhibit it as often as she would like. That all changed during her homeland’s flagship event, as Osaka dismantled Dominika Cibulkova and overpowered Elina Svitolina en route to her maiden WTA final.

Wozniacki – whose own feel-good story promoted her to No.22 – ensured there was no fairytale finish, but she was unable to stop Asian tennis’ star in waiting from becoming the youngest player inside the Top 50.

Many astute observers – including management group IMG – have been keeping a watchful eye on Osaka’s progress for some time. This year alone she has run both Simona Halep and Madison Keys close at majors, and the new World No.47 now looks to have the temperament to make the most of her spectacular shotmaking.

Osaka, though, was not the biggest mover in Monday’s new rankings…

Anastasija Sevastova (+5, No.35 to No.30): Although Sevastova was unable to repeat her US Open upset of Garbiñe Muguruza, by reaching the second round in Tokyo she secured a Top 30 debut. 

Lesia Tsurenko (+27, No.80 to No.53): On the other side of the Sea of Japan, Tsurenko continued the form that took her to the second week of the US Open by dethroning Jelena Jankovic in the final of the Guangzhou International Women’s Open. It was the Ukrainian’s second WTA title and puts her just 52 points away from reclaiming a Top 50 spot.

Lara Arruabarrena (+29, No.90 to No.61): Last week’s other title winner, Arruabarrena, did it the hard way coming back from the brink against Louisa Chirico, then winning a rollercoaster final with Monica Niculescu. This ended a four year wait for a second WTA title and also brought a new career-high ranking.