Miami Buzz: Breakfast, Birthday Cake And Burritos
As we reach the business end of the Miami Open, there’s plenty going on – on court and on social media. Lucie Safarova, Sorana Cirstea and more have been posting their pics!
As we reach the business end of the Miami Open, there’s plenty going on – on court and on social media. Lucie Safarova, Sorana Cirstea and more have been posting their pics!
LOS ANGELES, CA, USA – Maria Sharapova held a press conference on Monday to announce she has tested positive for meldonium. Sharapova told reporters she received a letter from the ITF after the Australian Open notifying her of the failed drug test.
“I failed the test and I take full responsibility for it,” Sharapova said. “For the past 10 years, I have been given a medicine called Mildronate by my family doctor, and a few days ago after I received the ITF letter, I found out that it also has another name of Meldonium, which I did not know.
“It’s very important for you to understand that for 10 years, this medicine was not on WADA’s ban list, and I had been legally taking the medicine for the past 10 years.”
Sharapova said she was prescribed the medication for health issues dating back to 2006, including magnesium deficiency, an irregular heartbeat, and a family history of diabetes.
“Throughout my long career, I have been very open and honest about many things, and I take great responsibility and professionalism in my job every single day, and I made a huge mistake,” Sharapova said. “I let my fans down, and this sport down that I’ve been playing since the age of four and that I love so deeply.
“I know that with this, I face consequences, and I don’t want to end my career this way and I really hope that I will be given another chance to play this game.”
Sharapova said she does not know what the consequences will be yet. “I just received the letter a few days ago and I will be working with the ITF,” Sharapova said.
“I am very saddened to hear this news about Maria,” WTA CEO Steve Simon said in a statement. “Maria is a leader and I have always known her to be a woman of great integrity. Nevertheless, as Maria acknowledged, it is every player’s responsibility to know what they put in their body and to know if it is permissible. This matter is now in the hands of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program and its standard procedures. The WTA will support the decisions reached through this process.”
Following the announcement, WADA released the following statement:
“WADA is aware of the ongoing case. As is our normal process, and in order to protect the integrity of the case, WADA will refrain from commenting further until a decision has been issued by the ITF. Following that, WADA will review the reasons for the decision and subsequently decide whether or not to use its independent right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
We can confirm that meldonium was added to the 2016 Prohibited List which took effect on 1 January 2016, having previously been on WADA’s monitoring program for the duration of 2015.
Meldonium was added [to the Prohibited List] because of evidence of its use by athletes with the intention of enhancing performance.”
Johanna Konta reflects on her performance at the Miami Open.
Check out Venus Williams’s shot of the day against Angelique Kerber at the Miami Open.
Full Circle For Santina: Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza paired up for the very first time at last year’s BNP Paribas Open, winning the event and prompting a 15-match winning streak through Miami and Charleston. The summer following their first Grand Slam victory at Wimbledon proved even more fruitful, taking Santina on a 41-match win streak that included nine titles and two more majors at the US Open and Australian Open.
That incredible run came to an end in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open, three matches shy of tying the longest winning streak since 1990 – when Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova won 44 matches in a row – forcing Hingis and Mirza to celebrate their one year anniversary on a decidedly unexpected one-match losing streak.
Turning that around won’t be an easy ask for the best team in the world; in a jam-packed draw, Santina are set to play a first round against Casey Dellacqua – the current World No.4 who reached the US Open final with Yaroslava Shvedova – and former No.1 Samantha Stosur. Also in their section are Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina, the very team who beat them in Doha.
But bear in mind: Hingis and Mirza haven’t done a whole lot of losing in the last 12 months; should they pass these early hurdles, they could easily catch fire once more and capture their fifth title of 2016.
Olympic Fever: Dellacqua/Stosur and Vesnina/Kasatkina aren’t the only mono-country pairings to form this season, as half of the Indian Wells doubles field is comprised of women playing with their compatriots.
Four of them – No.4 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, No.7 seeds Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro, No.8 seeds Raquel Atawo (née Kops-Jones) and Abigail Spears, and No.2 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan – qualified for BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global just a few months ago.
The Czechs have the most experience under their belts, including two Grand Slams and an Olympic silver medal, while the Spaniards finished runner-up to Hingis and Mirza in Singapore, and the Americans played some of their best tennis in 2015. The Chan sisters were the story of the second half of the season, and reversed a slow start with back-to-back titles in Taiwan and Doha.
No.6 seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic were both in Singapore with other partners – Katarina Srebotnik and Timea Babos, respectively – but teamed up to start the season with the Olympics in mind. The two have already reached two finals in Sydney and Doha – beating the Chans and pushing Santina to a match tie-break in the former.
A trio of potential Olympic pairs remain unseeded and looming in the California desert. Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja came together on a more permanent basis last summer, and have been bastions of consistency throughout 2016. Making the semifinals or better at seven of their last eight events, the Spaniards – who open against Mladenovic and Garcia – swept the Central American swing with titles in Acapulco and Monterrey.
By contrast, wildcards Andrea Petkovic and reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber are playing just their second tournament together and will have to hit the ground running against the Chans, but they may yet build on their reputation as the “best worst team ever,” one that took them into the finals of the Brisbane International.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands has been in search of a consistent partner since injuries and illness felled partner and co-Australian and French Open champion, Lucie Safarova. The Czech is back in action at Indian Wells, but instead playing with Ekaterina Makarova – Vesnina’s former partner. Mattek-Sands began the year alongside Sabine Lisicki and Yaroslava Shvedova, but is revisiting a successful Fed Cup partnership with CoCo Vandeweghe; the Americans won their doubles rubber against Poland’s Paula Kania and Klaudia Jans-Ignacik in straight sets.
Equal and Opposite: With 2015 partners Dellacqua and Mladenovic chasing after Olympic glory, Shevedova and Babos have decided to team up for the time being. Babos had enjoyed success with Julia Goerges in the Middle East, but after opting out of her original arrangement with Katarina Srebotnik, the Hungarian youngster admitted it was tough to find a consistent partner at this point in the season.
“I still have big goals in doubles, and we had a goal with Kata,” she told WTA Insider in Monterrey, “But after two tournaments, we realized it wouldn’t be so easy to make it, and our games weren’t matching so well. After Australia, I tried to find someone who I could play with every week, but it’s not easy to find someone who is still free and can be a good partner when the season’s already started.”
Comeback Kids: Peng Shuai began her wade back into the competitive pool in Australia, playing doubles in her first tournaments since a back enjury ended her 2015 season at the French Open. Making her highly-anticipated singles return at the BNP Paribas Open, Peng is also reforming her most successful partnership by reuniting with Hsieh Su-Wei.
The former No.1s burst onto the scene nearly three years ago with wins at Wimbledon, the French Open, and the WTA Finals. Unseeded in the Mladenovic/Garcia section, Peng and Hsieh drew Sara Errani and Oksana Kalashnikova – Hsieh’s most recent partner. Errani is coming off of a solid Middle East Swing, reaching the finals of Doha with Suárez Navarro.
Elsewhere in the draw is Galina Voskoboeva, who made her WTA return at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in doubles with Anastasia Rodionova. Winning one match before losing in a valiant effort to Hobart International champions Christina McHale and Han Xinyun, Voskoboeva had been off the tour for almost two years and has solid history with the Aussie, reaching the semifinals of the Rogers Cup back in 2012. Their tournament begins with a first round encounter with Kasatkina and Vesnina.
Finally, Vania King is back at Indian Wells for the first time since 2014 – when she played, oddly enough, with Voskoboeva. Using her protected ranking, King is coming off of a run to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open with Alla Kudryavtseva, where they earned consecutive upsets over Shvedova and Stosur and Vesnina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. In the Santina section of the draw, King and Kudryavtseva will play their first round against Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Barbora Strycova.
All photos courtesy of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy and Getty Images.
Britain’s Johanna Konta will play Caroline Wozniacki in the Miami Open final after overcoming former champion Venus Williams in a tight, straight sets battle.
MIAMI, FL, USA – After more than a week of compelling tennis, Johanna Konta and Caroline Wozniacki are the last two standing at the Miami Open, as both women look to raise the trophy for the first time at the WTA Premier Mandatory event.
Here are 10 things to know before Saturday’s championship showdown.
Johanna Konta (GBR #11) vs. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #14)
Head-to-head: Konta leads, 1-0
1) Maiden (in) Miami.
Both players will break new ground in their careers when they set foot on court on Saturday, as each is competing in her first-ever final at the Miami Open. Playing in Miami for the 10th time, Wozniacki’s best result previously came in 2012, when she reached the semifinals. Konta is playing in Miami for just the second time in her career, and reached the quarterfinals in her 2016 debut.
2) Wozniacki Goes Four for Four.
Wozniacki has reached the final of all four Premier Mandatory events in her career with her success in Miami this week. The former World No.1 first was runner-up at the 2009 Mutua Madrid Open; won the BNP Paribas Open in 2011; and won the China Open in 2010. Konta will contest her second final at Premier Mandatory level out of her last three, finishing runner-up to Agnieszka Radwanska in Beijing last fall.
Caroline Wozniacki has now made the final of all 4 Premier Mandatories, 6 in all.
More: https://t.co/vkUOl0CPfY pic.twitter.com/LUgZPYo3Q8
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 30, 2017
3) Comebacks – and upsets (on paper).
Over the course of the week, both women have recorded wins over higher-ranked players en route to the final. Konta ousted No.3 seed Simona Halep in a marathon quarterfinal match, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2, after the Romanian served for the match in the second set, and was two points away from victory. Wozniacki also rallied from a set down to defeat No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova in Thursday’s semifinals.
.@JoKonta91 advances to @MiamiOpen Semifinals!
Battles past Halep 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2! pic.twitter.com/nm3n99u6s8
— WTA (@WTA) March 29, 2017
4) Third Time’s the Charm?
While Miami marks both Wozniacki and Konta’s first Premier Mandatory final of the season, both players have already reached finals this year. Wozniacki will contest her third final of 2017 after Doha and Dubai, the most on tour this season. While the Dane is looking to win her first title of the year, Konta is appearing in her second final after winning the Apia International Sydney.
5) Lucky Number…45.
With this result, Wozniacki becomes just the fourth active player to reach 45 career finals on the WTA Tour; the 26-year-old has reached at least one final every year since the 2008 season.
#SAPStatOfTheDay: @CaroWozniacki reaches 45th career #WTA Final! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/cLjFZidk2X
— WTA (@WTA) March 31, 2017
6) Recent History, Down Under.
The two have only met once before just two months ago at the Australian Open. In the third round match, Konta broke serve four times en route to a 6-3, 6-1 victory in one hour, 17 minutes.
7) Top 10 Implications.
Regardless of Saturday’s result, Konta is assured of returning to the WTA Top 10. With a victory, the Brit will rise to a new career-high of No.7, bettering her previous of No.9 from last fall. For Wozniacki, only a victory in the final will get her back inside the Top 10 for the first time since 2015, with a rise to No.8 in the rankings.
By advancing to @MiamiOpen final, @JoKonta91 will re-enter the Top 10 on Monday. Venus also moves into Top 10 UNLESS Woz wins the title.
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 31, 2017
8) The Road to the Final.
Combined, both players have dropped three sets this week. Konta had a battle on her hands in her first match of the week against qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich before her quarterfinal comeback against Halep. By contrast, Wozniacki rolled through her first four matches without losing a set until the semifinals.
9) A Bit of British History.
Konta is looking to become the first British woman to not only win the title in Miami, but also win a WTA Premier Mandatory event.
.@JoKonta91 is the first ?? to make a @MiamiOpen Final! pic.twitter.com/6hSG38HiaI
— WTA (@WTA) March 31, 2017
10) Singapore Shakeup.
A win for Wozniacki would see her rise to No.1 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, ahead of Karolina Pliskova and Serena Williams, while Konta would sit in fifth. Should Konta win the title, she will sit behind Pliskova in second, while Wozniacki will rise to third.
Unseeded and looming Gabriela Dabrowski and Xu Yifan knocked out four of the Top 8 seeds en route to their biggest career title at the Miami Open.
MIAMI, FL, USA – The British media celebrated Johanna Konta’s win at the Miami Open with plenty of print space and air time – and are hoping she’ll rise even further up the rankings than her current career high of No.7.
Konta said in her post-match press conference that she hoped her journey in the tournament would garner lots of attention for the sport.
“If the coverage has been good then it’s great for us,” said the British No.1. “It’s promoting tennis, and hopefully promoting more people to play.”
And so it has proved – starting with a front-page splash in the Sunday Times.
No stunts required – win as big as Konta is starting to, it gets attention. Front page of the Sunday Times. pic.twitter.com/VQKgSUsnt9
— DavidLaw (@DavidLawTennis) April 2, 2017
Comparisons are inevitably being drawn with Virginia Wade, Britain’s last female singles Slam winner – but Konta has played that down, although she admitted she would love to win Wimbledon.
The Daily Mail reported that she said: “It does sound quite monumental but winning Wimbledon is a dream and hopefully one day I will get an opportunity to play for such a title.”
An unforgettable two weeks for @JoKonta91 at the @MiamiOpen! ? pic.twitter.com/XuN5Snv16F
— WTA (@WTA) April 2, 2017
The Daily Telegraph’s tennis correspondent Simon Briggs assessed Konta’s chances of a Slam title thus: “How much further, then, can this late-blooming champion climb? Two years ago, Konta was ranked around the 150-mark, which did not even earn her a spot in the qualifying tournament here. Now she stands alongside Pliskova and world No 1 Angelique Kerber as one of the women most likely to worry Serena Williams.”
In the Guardian, Kevin Mitchell wrote: “Konta was clearly the better player in this match as well as the one in Melbourne. That was such a clear indicator of how far the British No1 has come in a relatively short time. There would not have been many takers backing Konta to beat Wozniacki even a couple of years ago. Now she has to set her sights higher.”
And of course Konta’s Fed Cup teammates were also thrilled for her – Naomi Broady and Heather Watson were straight on Twitter to publicly congratulate their friend.
She came, she saw, she 'kontad' ? best tweet I've seen today! Killing it JK ? @JoKonta91
— Naomi Broady (@NaomiBroady) April 2, 2017
Congrats @JoKonta91 ! ?????? #killinit
— Heather Watson (@HeatherWatson92) April 1, 2017
Hear from Samantha Stosur prior to the tournament.