Miami: Wednesday Highlights
Highlights from quarterfinal action at the Miami Open.
Agnieszka Radwanska takes on Johanna Konta in the final of the China Open.
See all of the best shots from this week at the China Open – right here!
For the 28th time in history Venus and Serena Williams will compete against each other. Take a look back at every single encounter of their historic rivalry, right here!
HONG KONG, SAR – Angelique Kerber will be forced to dig deep to reach the quarterfinals of the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open after a gutsy second-set performance from Louisa Chirico.
The World No.1 and top seed breezed through the first set, which she eventually won 6-2 after a series of unforced errors from the 20-year-old allowed the German to race into a 4-1 lead.
However, Chirico returned with renewed vigour in the second set and Kerber did not look the same after a brief rain delay. An error-strewn service game at 2-3 gave Chirico the break and she held on to her lead, only for rain to strike at 40-30 when she was serving for the set. After a lengthy delay, she held her nerve to force a decider, despite being dragged into an epic 37-shot rally.
Kerber’s out-of-sorts form continued in the first three games of the third set, which remains on serve although Chirico was set to defend a break point when the bad weather returned, forcing the postponement of play until Thursday.
Jelena Jankovic continued her defence of the tournament with a routine straight sets victory over fellow Serb Aleksandra Krunic.
Having held her own against the former World No.1, the 23-year-old faltered on serve at 4-4, with two double faults and two weak shots into the net giving Jankovic a first-set lead she did not surrender.
The two compatriots exchanged two breaks apiece at the start of the second set but, serving for a 4-3 lead, Krunic sent a wayward drop shot wide and a backhand into the net to give Jankovic the advantage. The 31-year-old made no mistake from there, holding and breaking once more to book her place in the next round.
Eighth seed Daria Gavrilova’s match with Katerina Siniakova fell victim to the rain with the Australian leading 6-2, 1-0, with a break of serve in the second set. Venus Williams’ match with Alizé Cornet was postponed due to the bad weather.
Venus Williams had nothing but praise for her younger sister Serena Williams after their Australian Open battle, and is taking only positives from her run to the final.
HONG KONG, SAR – There were contrasting emotions on display after Alizé Cornet beat Venus Williams 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in Hong Kong.
Cornet could not have been more delighted to reach the quarterfinals by beating a player who had always bested her previously.
“We have played many times and I was losing in straight sets. Now I can beat her in Hong Kong!” the French player enthused. “It means I used a good tactic, I played a very good match, and I believed in it.”
Her American opponent, unsurprisingly, was very downcast.
“My opponent played well, there wasn’t much I could do against her,” said Williams. “You work hard to win matches – it’s always disappointing [to lose].”
Cornet will face Jelena Jankovic next up — and is anticipating a very difficult match.
“I’m expecting a really tough battle,” she admitted. “She has a really solid baseline game. I expect some good rallies from both of us.”
Describing her current mood as “great, tired, happy”, Cornet said that she still had some trouble with the same heel issue that has plagued her for the past four years — but that she would be running with just as much energy in the morning.
She added that she was enjoying her time in Hong Kong — the city and the tournament.
“The welcome is really amazing and the city is great,” she said. “For me, every match [on tour] is the same intensity.”
Earlier in the day, Caroline Wozniacki took less than an hour and a half to secure her quarterfinal spot, beating Great Britain’s Heather Watson, 6-3, 6-3.
Neither player looked solid on her serve – Watson won three of her four break points, but Wozniacki broke her six times in return. Next up for Wozniacki is Wang Qiang, who received a walkover after Johanna Konta withdrew from the tournament with an abdominal injury.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Following her record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam triumph at the Australian Open, newly re-crowned World No.1 Serena Williams sat down with a small pool of reporters after her non-stop media duties, reflecting on her fortnight and look ahead at what’s to come:
Q: Setting aside Slam No.23, World No.1, how do you assess your two weeks here in Melbourne? How do you feel it sets you up for 2017?
Serena: I feel like my game is good. I was thinking yesterday on the practice court, ‘Gosh, I’m playing better than I have, maybe ever.’ I’m moving better – I’ve always been a fast mover, but I kind of stopped moving in the middle [of my career] thinking, ‘I don’t really have to move.’ But I was like, man, I’m hitting pretty well. So it felt pretty good to know that I’m playing better. I’m here to take this game pretty seriously.
Q: What’s the key difference? Is it a physical thing or a mental thing?
Serena: I don’t know. Every year I sit down with Patrick, and look at the things I want to improve. I want to do something better, and so we sat down this year to do the same thing. We said we wanted to do better, and we did better; we don’t want to stop, we want to continue to do better.
#SAPStatOfTheDay: @SerenaWilliams wins SIXTH Grand Slam without dropping a set all tournament! First time at the #AusOpen! pic.twitter.com/qpIhS4MiTy
— WTA (@WTA) January 28, 2017
Q: Did being No.2 motivate you at all to want to get back here and play your best? Did it piss you off?
Serena: It didn’t piss me off. I didn’t deserve to be No.1; I think Kerber played unbelievable. She was the most consistent, and she definitely deserved to have that position. That’s one thing about me, that when credit’s due, you have to give a person credit. She absolutely deserved it; it looked weird, because I never felt like No.2, but I think she definitely deserved to be No.1, she played well.
Q: We saw the genius of your father expressed this week. What was so special about him? What did he bring to your family, and as a dad?
Serena: Well, he’s brought everything. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him; this was his vision. It’s literally his vision, and he wrote this. He knew this would happen, us playing each other for yet another Grand Slam. He gave us the best games possible, that we could always build on; he gave us the best techniques possible. It’s crazy, really crazy. Another thing that’s so great is how our family is so important, and realizing that above all, we have to put each other first, way in front of a tennis ball. I think that’s something that I’ve always been able to appreciate. The older you get, the more you appreciate this.
Q: This is still very fresh, but after a performance, like that, how many more Slams do you think you can win?
Serena: I don’t think about that any more. At the next Grand Slam, I’m going to request you guys not to ask me about it again, because I just have to take it a day at a time [laughing].
What is a champion?
World No.1 and 23x Grand Slams, @SerenaWilliams! #MakeHistory pic.twitter.com/bUkH5Tbyto
— WTA (@WTA) January 28, 2017
I’ve been saying this since this tournament began: this is a bonus for me. I don’t have anything to prove; I don’t have to win another match. I can just relax, and that’s what I’m doing now. I’m going out there, relaxing and playing hard. I’m just enjoying my time, like this little fly over here [Note: A fly was buzzing around the small interview room].
Q: Talking about the last couple of years, you’ve been saying you have nothing to prove, and playing with house money. It seems like this tournament has been the one where you really lived that, as opposed to the last few tournaments where you’ve felt the tension.
Serena: I’ve been trying to live it for quite some time, but I definitely agree. I was really able to do it at this tournament. I’ve been trying to do it, and trying and trying. I don’t know why it worked now. I think having to play those matches in the first two rounds, I was like, ‘I have no choice but to be better.’
I was really just ok with, not losing, but I knew that I didn’t have to win here to make my career. For whatever reason, that settled with me this time. I don’t know why; I wish I could tell you, but I want to know because I definitely want to do it again next time. I need to figure that one out.
.@SerenaWilliams 23 Grand Slams!
7x @AustralianOpen ?
3x @RolandGarros ?
7x @Wimbledon ?
6x @USOpen ? pic.twitter.com/s5Bwpl35VG— WTA (@WTA) January 28, 2017
Q: By regaining the No.1 spot, do you think trying to stay No.1 will be more of a priority, and will you play extra tournaments outside of the regular schedule?
Serena: I don’t know. I honestly was thinking, ‘I should go to Dubai and try to get my No.1 ranking back.’ I had no idea I was going to be No.1 after this. I was thinking about it, but I’m enjoying my time on the court, my game, the style I’m playing. It’s been kind of refreshing, and I definitely want to keep the momentum going. I don’t know; I’m going to go home, take a deep breath, and then start from there.
HONG KONG, SAR – On Thursday the race for the final qualifying spots at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global took another twist when Johanna Konta withdrew from the Hong Kong Tennis Open.
Konta currently occupies the final qualifying berth for Singapore, just 10 points ahead of Dominika Cibulkova. However, after pulling out of Hong Kong with an abdominal injury Konta may now be left relying on other results to go her way if she is to reach Singapore.
“Obviously it’s never the ideal way to finish a tournament, and definitely never the intention when you come to play,” Konta said. “I really enjoy playing here in Hong Kong and I was really looking forward to making this week last as long as possible. Unfortunately it wasn’t as long as I would have liked but I need to look after my body first – I’ve only got one – so I really have to make sure I make the right decisions for my health.
“I’m looking forward to hopefully coming back next year and making it a full week here.”
Three places at the season-ending showpiece remain up for grabs. Garbiñe Muguruza, Madison Keys and Konta are in sixth, seventh and eighth place, respectively, while Cibulkova, Carla Suárez Navarro and Svetlana Kuznetsova remain hot on their heels.
All six contenders entered tournaments this week, and with Cibulkova and Carla Suárez Navarro also scheduled to play next week’s Kremlin Cup, in Moscow, for the second year in a row the battle is likely to go down to the wire…
• Cibulkova would need to reach the final in Linz this week to pass Konta
• A semifinal for Cibulkova in Linz would put Konta and Cibulkova in a tie*
• Cibulkova’s 16th best result is currently 100 points, so she would need to reach the semifinals at Moscow to add any points to her total
• Suárez Navarro can also pass Konta, but will need to add points in both Linz (where she is through to the quarterfinals) and Moscow
• If Cibulkova loses in Linz and Muguruza can qualify for the WTA Finals by beating Monica Niculescu on Thursday
* When two or more players have the same number of ranking points, the first tie-break is the player with the most combined points from Grand Slams, Premier Mandatory, Premier 5 and WTA Finals (as outlined on pg.215 of the Rule Book). In this regard, Konta (2685) has the edge over Cibulkova (2180)
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Unseeded and looming Daria Gavrilova enjoyed a strong start at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, dispatching Russian wildcard Anna Kalinskaya, 6-4, 7-5, to reach the second round.
“It was a tough match,” the Aussie said after the match. “I felt like I didn’t play my best tennis but I’m happy with the way I fought. I got the win but I think that I need to up my level.”
Gavrilova burst onto the scene as a junior prodigy, winning the 2010 girl’s singles title at the US Open and the Youth Olympic Gold medal; it was a full circle moment then for the now-22-year-old to face Kalinskaya, a runner-up at 2015’s junior Wimbledon.
“She’s four years younger than me. I didn’t actually know before that the gap was that big – I asked her and was surprised.
“I asked around because didn’t know how she played, which isn’t very easy. I asked a few girls but they didn’t give me much! My coach watched some videos and gave me some notes.”
Coming off another run to the second week of the Australian Open, Gavrilova battled through several long games to seal a 52-minute opening set, and recovered from a 3-5 deficit in the second to win the final four games and book a meeting against No.3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.
“It’s not easy but I felt that I should be confident with my game. I had some long matches in Australia so I was feeling pretty confident.”
Gavrilova last played Kuznetsova last fall in Russia, where she made the final of the Kremlin Cup in singles and doubles; this is her first time the Moscow native is playing in St. Peterburg, which celebrated its inaugural event last year.
“I actually don’t remember when I was last in St. Petersburg. But I’m really enjoying being here and the organizers and sponsors did well with the hotel – it’s one of the best I’ve stayed in.”
Earlier in the day, Andrea Petkovic booked her spot in the main draw with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Anastasiya Komardina, while Kirsten Flipkens needed three sets to dispatch Donna Vekic, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.