Miami: Garbiñe Muguruza vs Caroline Wozniacki
Highlights from the match between Garbiñe Muguruza and Caroline Wozniacki.
Highlights from the match between Garbiñe Muguruza and Caroline Wozniacki.
Stat of the day from Day 7 of the Miami Open, presented with SAP.
Karolina Pliskova reflects on her performance against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni at the Miami Open.
MIAMI, FL, USA – Nearly two decades after her first Indian Wells/Miami “Sunshine Double,” former World No.1 Martina Hingis is on the precipice of a third with new partner and fellow top doubles star, Chan Yung-Jan.
Hingis’ first double came with two different partners back in 1999, winning the BNP Paribas Open with Anna Kournikova and the Miami Open with Jana Novotna; the Swiss Miss followed that up at long last with Sania Mirza in 2015, kickstarting what became the most dominant partnership of the last decade, foreshadowing a 41-match winning streak and a run through three straight major titles at Wimbledon, the US Open, and Australian Open.
The idea to partner with Chan first came about Down Under, when Hingis was still playing with CoCo Vandeweghe and the Taiwanese No.1 was one half of a sister act with Chan Hao-Ching.
on to the semis! @YungJan_Chan pic.twitter.com/NBuIhmUKJm
— Martina Hingis (@mhingis) March 29, 2017
“It started at a practice in Melbourne, when we were sharing a court,” Chan, who also goes by Latisha, told WTA Insider after their straight-set win over Andreja Klepac and María José Martínez Sánchez. “I was hitting with Angel, my sister. Martina and I stayed on the same side of court and played some points together.
“At one point, she said that if Angel can’t play with me because of injuries or some other reason, to give her a call, and she’d be happy to play with me. I was so flattered! But I didn’t tell her that.”
The sisters split after defending their home title in Chinese Taipei, and she found herself back on the same side as Hingis by the start of the Middle East Swing.
“My sister and I didn’t do well at the Australian Open and we started to talk about splitting up, and I think it was great timing.
“We still practice together and watch her matches. It’s kind of like three against two because we have Angel behind us against the other teams.”
great 2 weeks in Indian Wells! thanks to everyone for their support! see you in Miami next! #firsttitletogether pic.twitter.com/fU2qzt3Wcc
— Martina Hingis (@mhingis) March 19, 2017
The pair stuck through tough losses at the Qatar Total Open and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the former for which Hingis takes full responsibility.
“When we started in Doha, I wasn’t quite up to it in the super tie-break, and wasn’t much of a help,” Hingis said. “Otherwise, I think we could have done better there. But Doha and Dubai helped us get a feel for each other and to trust each other, so we know what to do on the court.”
On an eight-match winning streak since winning in Indian Wells, it was clear the duo were already in sync.
“It’s not fair for her to say she wasn’t playing well at the beginning,” Chan immediately disagrees. “I had a similar partner like her, a net player. For me it was easier to adapt, but for her, I might be a little bit different than her previous partners, so she needed more time to understand and get a rhythm.”
“It was good to know that there was actually some consistency from somebody,” Hingis banters back. “I could trust with her, that she was going to put the ball in!”
celebrating our win with a cheesecake! @YungJan_Chan pic.twitter.com/UlOuzL4DPP
— Martina Hingis (@mhingis) March 19, 2017
Both agreed that the fortnight in the California desert was key for their confidence, winning the title without dropping a set against tough teams like Mirza and Barbora Strycova, and World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.
“In Indian Wells, we got two weeks to practice and be together, having cheesecake and going shopping!” Hingis laughed. “That helped a lot with our communication, and that brought us closer together. That’s why we won and that’s why we’re in the semifinals here.”
Standing between them and a second straight final is Mirza and Strycova in a rematch of last week’s quarterfinal.
“Playing them, it’s one of the best teams out there. We have to take it seriously, and I know they’ll probably want to get back at us from Indian Wells…” Hingis started.
“Everyone around here is going to give you a tough match, and they’re very strong,” Chan finished.
“We’ll just try to play our best tennis and we’ll see how it goes.”
The winning wiggle ????????? pic.twitter.com/db1AYkhLfL
— 詹詠然～YungJan Chan (@YungJan_Chan) March 19, 2017
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
If Johanna Konta is to keep up her meteoric rise and pull off what would be a hugely popular home victory at Wimbledon this year, she would be following in some distinguished footsteps, emulating Wimbledon’s last female British champion, Virginia Wade.
This summer marks the 40th anniversary of that famous day on which Wade defeated Betty Stove to lift the most coveted of titles back in 1977 on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee.
Now a resident of New York, Wade reflects in an interview with the Daily Mail on the day that elevated her to tennis superstardom.
Having battled past Chris Evert in a tough three-set semifinal, Wade found herself matched against a seemingly easier opponent in the final and yet many people forget that she lost the opening set to Stove after a nervy start.
“I knew I had to find my courage after the first set,” said Wade. “But I was always aware that Betty was not sure how to beat me. I had fought through some tough matches against her before and won, and I knew I had left some scar tissue on her. I was fine from when I went 3-0 up in the second set.”
From then on, Wade dominated the final set and, with Stove’s spirit broken, she romped home to secure a famous 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 victory.
“I couldn’t hear what the Queen was saying because there was such a commotion and the crowd were singing ‘For she’s a jolly good fellow’, I’ve still no idea why. That night I went with a large group of family and friends to a lovely Indian restaurant opposite Harrods.
“Then there was the Champions’ Dinner at the Savoy. It was the first year that they abandoned the dance between the champions, so I never got to dance with Bjorn (Borg).”
Wade was only days short of her 32nd birthday when she won Wimbledon in 1977 so Johanna Konta knows she certainly has her best years ahead of her. Especially considering that she plays Venus Williams in the semifinal of the Miami Open, the American rediscovering some of her very best tennis at 36 years of age, 11 years Konta’s senior.
Highlights from the quarterfinal clash between Caroline Wozniacki and Karolina Pliskova.
ZHUHAI, China – Asian No.1 Zhang Shuai has received a wildcard for the second edition of the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
The wildcard is result of a highly impressive campaign, which has seen Zhang fly up the rankings. This week, the 27-year-old upset Simona Halep and Samantha Stosur en route to the quarterfinals of the China Open, a result which guarantees she will break into the Top 30 in Monday’s new rankings
Zhang, who contemplated walking away from tennis 12 months ago, began the season ranked No.133. However, at the Australian Open she ended her long-running Grand Slam hoodoo by making it through qualifying and into the quarterfinals.
The Chinese player’s sole WTA singles title came three years ago in Guangzhou, but she has threatened to add to her collection in recent weeks, reaching the semifinals in Seoul and Tokyo, following an encouraging third-round run at the US Open.
“We are delighted to announce Zhang Shuai as our singles wildcard at this year’s Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai,” Peter Johnston, the Tournament Director of Huajin Security WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai 2016, said. “She has been in fantastic form this year and throughout her career has been a great ambassador for women’s tennis in China. I am sure the fans in Zhuhai are going to welcome her here to see her compete against the best of the best on the WTA Tour.”
Zhang was equally excited about the opportunity: “It’s an honor to be awarded the wildcard for 2016 Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, especially as a Chinese player. I’m very happy to get to play in my homeland in front of all Chinese fans. I heard that last’s first edition of WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai was a great success. I can’t wait to play 2016 WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai and meet the fans from Zhuhai there!”
BEIJING, China – Johanna Konta upset Madison Keys to reach the final of the China Open and become the first British player in 32 years to reach the Top 10.
Watch live action from Beijing on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
This summer in Montréal, Konta had the chance to reach the Top 10 only to slip to a surprise defeat at the hands of World No.121 Kristina Kucova. However, this time she rose to the occasion magnificently, withstanding a mid-match comeback from Keys to complete a 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-4 win.
“I’m definitely enjoying my time here. It’s my first time in Beijing and I hope to play many more times here. It’s an amazing atmosphere, such a beautiful stadium, it’s a real pleasure to play here,” Konta said in her on-court interview.
Keys had produced one of the performances of her career 24 hours earlier to defeat Petra Kvitova, but failed to scale those heights against Konta, committing 47 unforced errors in their two and a half hours on court. Nevertheless, she still had her chances and looked to be headed for victory when she skipped around a return to break in the first game of the deciding set.
Instead it was Konta that took charge, drawing level immediately and threatening further breaks. Keys’ serve bailed her out on several occasions, but she finally buckled at 5-4 to send Konta into her first Premier Mandatory final.
“I don’t really think there was a secret [to winning],” Konta added. “She’s such a high-quality player, has such a weight of shot -I’m pretty sure I was cleaning the back of the court there! I just tried to run down as many balls as I could and tried to take the chances I got.”
Konta can now look forward to a meeting against 2011 Beijing champion Agnieszka Radwanska.
“It’s really special. As I said I’m just enjoying being here and trying to prolong it as long as possible and I feel very blessed to be coming back tomorrow for the final.”
On Monday she will also become the 121st different player to reach the Top 10 since the WTA Rankings were introduced on November 3, 1975. She is the fourth Briton to achieve the feat, following in the footsteps of Virginia Wade, Sue Barker and, most recently, Jo Durie (August, 1984).
Johanna Konta talks through her victory in the final of the Miami Open.