Google Play App Download

Tennis News

From around the world

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Eugenie Bouchard and Monica Puig will bid for first-round victories on Wednesday at the Crandon Park Tennis Center. We preview the must-see Miami Open matchups right here at wtatennis.com.

Wednesday

First round

Monica Puig (PUR #40) vs. Sorana Cirstea (ROU #65)
Head-to-head: Cirstea leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Puig is bidding for her 10th tour-level win of the season on Wednesday.

Monica Puig will have the chance to take her solid 2017 to the next level at the Miami Open, and that challenge begins with a first-round matchup with Romania’s Sorana Cirstea. It will not be an easy task as Cirstea has defeated Puig in their lone meeting, but the Romanian has now lost five straight since reaching the round of 16 at the Australian Open and she has gone 3-8 lifetime at Miami with losses in her last three matches.

Puig has a semifinal (Doha) and a quarterfinal (Acapulco) to her name this season, but the Puerto Rican is still searching for a follow-through to her breakout Gold Medal performance at last year’s Olympics. Could it happen this year in Miami, where Puig has only won two previous matches but will no doubt receive a warm reception from her fans?

Pick: Puig in three

Eugenie Bouchard (CAN #56) vs. [WC] Ashleigh Barty (AUS #91)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Ashleigh Barty is the only player in 2017 to win the singles and doubles title at the same event, doing so at Kuala Lumpur.

Eugenie Bouchard had a relatively promising start to 2017 that saw her reach a semifinal at Sydney and advance to the third round at the Australian Open. But since then the Canadian has lost three straight. She’ll look to get her season on track again when she meets one of the surprising stories of 2017 in Australia’s Ashleigh Barty.

Barty has already doubled her 2016 tour-level win total and she claimed her first career title at Kuala Lumpur where she qualified before reeling off five straight victories. Bouchard will have her hands full with the upwardly mobile Aussie and she’ll have to be sharp with her passing game, as she’ll be contending with frequent forays to the net from Barty.

Pick: Bouchard in three

Ajla Tomjlanovic (CRO #594) vs. CiCi Bellis (USA #55)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Bellis reached the third round on her Miami Open debut in 2015.

Ajla Tomljanovic made her inspiring return to tennis after a year on the sidelines due to a shoulder injury by defeating Eugenie Bouchard in her first match in over a year at Acapulco. Since then she has lost two in a row but the good news for the powerful 23-year-old is that she’s finally in good health again and ready to start improving her ranking and fulfilling her vast potential on tour. But Tomjlanovic will have to contend with one of the feistiest young players in the game to get a win in Miami when she faces 17-year-old CiCi Bellis, who reached the third round as a 15-year-old Wildcard here in 2015.

Bellis started her season late due to a lower body injury but the California native reached the quarterfinals at Dubai in her first event, notching her first career Top 10 win over Agnieszka Radwanska in the process. Is Tomljanovic ready to contend with the all-out intensity of Bellis, or will it be Bellis who notches another impressive win in this young season?

Pick: Bellis in three

Lucie Safarova (CZE #36) vs. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL #67)
Head-to-head: Safarova leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Safarova has gone 4-4 against players ranked outside the Top 50 at Miami.

Lucie Safarova will look to continue her climb back up the WTA rankings in a place that has given her significant trouble in recent years. The Czech has lost six of her last seven matches at the Miami Open and has never been beyond the third round in eleven career main draw appearances.

On Wednesday she’ll look to exact some revenge on the woman that knocked her out of last year’s draw, Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer. Safarova has already slipped by the Belgian once this year, defeating her in three sets at the Australian Open, but Wickmayer is a former quarterfinalist at Miami that also owns win over Kim Clijsters and Timea Bacsinszky at the event.

Pick: Safarova in two

By the Numbers:

1-4 – Eugenie’s lifetime record at Miami. The Canadian has lost four straight decisions here.

2016 – Though she fell in her first match last year, Lucie Safarova did claim the doubles title with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

5 – Ashleigh Barty is one of five WTA players to have claimed a maiden title in 2017. Lauren Davis (Auckland), Katerina Siniakova (Shenzhen), Elise Mertens (Hobart) and Kristina Mladenovic (St. Petersburg) are the other four.

Source link

News | WTA Tennis English

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MIAMI, FL, USA – World No.1 Angelique Kerber took a break from the hardcourts of the Miami Open to hit the hardwood at a Miami Heat game.

The German got the chance to take in the Heat’s 112-97 victory against the Phoenix Suns at the AmericanAirlines Arena, as well as hit some tennis balls into the crowd and rub shoulders with players and mascots.

She was also outfitted in a custom Heat jersey, complete with the roster number “1” – fitting for the No.1 player in the world.

Kerber will start her Miami Open campaign against Duan Ying-Ying on Friday.

In the meantime, here’s some of the best photos of Kerber at the Miami Heat game, courtesy of the Miami Open:

Angelique Kerber

Angelique Kerber

Angelique Kerber

Angelique Kerber

Source link

Serena Surges Past Putintseva

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – Defending champion and top seed Serena Williams was on the ropes for much of her quarterfinal encounter with Yulia Putintseva, but the American found a way to outgut the inspired young Kazakh, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, to reach the last four at the French Open.

Putintseva was playing her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, but the 21-year-old proved more that ready for primetime on Court Philippe Chatrier, winning three games in a row to capture her first set over Serena in three previous meetings.

Undaunted, the American appeared on course to quickly level the contest when she recovered from an early break to race out to a 4-1 lead in the second, but Putintseva dug deep to earn two break points in the ninth game, which would have given her the chance to serve for a spot in the semifinals.

“I just kept hitting balls out,” Serena told press, assessing her performance. “I just wasn’t firing the way I wanted to. I definitely knew I needed to do something different if I was going to stay in the tournament.

“I always try to have a plan B and C and go from there. But I felt like in the beginning of the second set, I started playing better, but then I let her come back.

“I also think she’s an incredible fighter, so she kind of came back through her will and making shots.

“Then after that I was like, I have to do something better and different if I’m going to stick around.”

Williams ultimately held firm and weathered one last surge late in the decider from the youngster – who saved three match points in a row in that final game – to advance in just over two hours, hitting 36 winners to 43 unforced errors.

“I think the match was very close and very far from being on my side,” Putintseva told press after the match. “I was trying to do everything what I can, to run, to cover, to attack when I can, to go forward. But it just was unlucky situation end of the second set for me.

“But it’s okay. I mean, still have some years to play Grand Slams.”

In all, Putintseva can be pleased with a clean score sheet, hitting 18 winners to 16 unforced, but wasn’t able to dicate play in the key moments against the World No.1 and 21-time Grand Slam champion.

“I had some great wins here. I win some really good matches in straight sets. I’m really happy with that. I’m really happy with the level that I was playing during all of this tournament.

“I got a lot of experience now. I played on center court here in Roland Garros, which is great. I just hope to come back stronger and next time to play better in important moments.”

Set to play Kiki Bertens – who upset No.8 seed Timea Bacsinszky on Court Suzanne Lenglen – in the semifinals, Serena stands just two wins away from tying Steffi Graf’s Grand Slam haul of 22 titles.

“I remember her being just really tough, and, you know, giving a good, tough performance,” Serena said about when she last played Bertens at the US Open. “I was happy to get through that match. Just, you know, every match counts and every match, you know, leads to a new one.

“I know she won the week before and she’s been playing really well. I saw a little bit of her match. We kind of finished around the same time so I didn’t get to see all of it, but I saw some of the highlights.

“She’s a really sweet girl. It’s always good to see someone like that do well.”

Source link

Insider Debates: Who Will Win In Paris

Insider Debates: Who Will Win In Paris

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Courtney Nguyen, Point: When World No.1 Serena Williams takes to Court Philippe Chatrier on Saturday for the Roland Garros final, she’ll be looking to match Stefanie Graf’s Open Era record of 22 major singles title, successfully defend her French Open title for the first time in her career, and capture her fourth French Open title. And she’ll be the underdog.

No really, bear with me.

Serena arrives at her second major final of the season on the slightest of sputters. In three of her last four matches she’s looked nervous, out-of-rhythm and, at times, injured. The World No.1 has dropped just one set en route to the final but looked far from convincing in her last two matches, a three-set win over Yulia Putintseva in the quarterfinals and a narrow straight-set win over Kiki Bertens in the semifinals.

After the semifinals she reluctantly confirmed a report that she was dealing with an adductor injury. Due to the rainouts and scheduling shuffles, Saturday’s final will be the 34-year-old’s fourth consecutive day of play.

Serena has not faced a Top 10 opponent all tournament and she’ll see a huge step up in quality when she faces No.4 Garbiñe Muguruza. The Spaniard brushed off a nervous, three-set opening win over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova to roll through her next five matches without losing a set. She is fit, she is healthy, and she is confident. And she has the confidence in knowing she handed Serena one of her worst losses ever at a Slam, a 6-2, 6-2 rout here in Paris two years ago. Muguruza is in-form. Serena has looked shaky.

 Serena Williams

But how much will that matter, if at all, in the final?

For all of Serena’s ups and downs, we know she wins on one significant metric: experience. That’s what got her through against Putintseva. The youngster from Kazakhstan was five points away from the win, but it was Serena who stood tall and found her best when her back was against the wall. Similarly, Bertens was up a break in both sets and held a set point in the tie-break. Serena snuffed out the charge by sheer force of will. Flash back to the third round when the American rallied from 2-5 down in the second set tiebreaker to Kristina Mladenovic to seal a 12-10 win.

This is simply what Serena Williams does. Even in a year when she’s perceived to be slumping, her run in Paris has vaulted her up to No.1 in the Road to Singapore Leaderboard.

“Obviously I want to do well and I would like to win tomorrow,” Serena said. “But, you know, I think Muguruza has been playing really well. She’s been playing a really aggressive game and going for her shots. Regardless, I think it will be a good match. I mean, last time we played here in France she was able to win the match.

“I learned so much from that match. I hate to lose, but when I do, you know, I hope it was worth it. That match was definitely one of those that was kind of needed and worth it.”

Serena Williams

Serena holds a 3-1 edge in her head-to-head against Muguruza. All their matches have come at the Slams, with the most recent being the 2015 Wimbledon final, which Serena won 6-4, 6-4. Muguruza gave her a tough test that day but again, Serena’s willpower, weapons, and yes, experience, led to the win. Muguruza was green then and she will be less green on Saturday when she competes in her second major final. But again, Serena has been here before. Many times. And more often than not she’s come through.

In fact, all Serena needs to look back on for inspiration is her title run here in Paris a year ago. On the brink of defeat match after match, and suffering from a virus, she won five three-set matches during the fortnight, four in which she dropped the first set, including three back-to-back to win the title. As Putintseva so eloquently put it after her three-set loss: “I think the match was very close and very far from being on my side.”

That’s the pressure you feel when you’re up against the sport’s greatest escape artist, who has at her disposal some of the greatest weapons the game has ever seen. Muguruza will no doubt come out firing. But with a 21-5 record in Slam finals, Serena has the resources she can count on to get to the finish line.

Garbine Muguruza

David Kane, Counterpoint: Garbiñe Muguruza’s two weeks on the terre battue could easily serve as a microcosm of her season thus far. A slow start in the first round against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova caused many to wonder whether the Spaniard was ready to win the requisite six matches to reach her second Grand Slam final.

But Muguruza recovered, and has looked better and better as the tournament progressed, easing past 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets and weathering the storms – both literal and figurative – to outlast Shelby Rogers in the quarterfinals.

The first Spanish woman in a French Open final since Conchita Martinez in 2000, Muguruza could become the second-ever from Spain to lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen after Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, who won the event three times (1989, 1994, 1998). But Muguruza admits she found herself idolizing another of her compatriots as she grew up and into the game.

“With Arantxa, the problem was that I was very young. I didn’t watch her. I watched her after, when I was, you know, more into tennis. But when I was that young I was not even watching tennis, so I didn’t catch her.

“But I caught more of Rafa when I was younger and like looking at him here, you know, every year winning, like, ‘No way! He did it again and he did it and he did it!’ So I think he inspired me more.”

Garbine Muguruza

Barring a slight hiccup when it came time to serve for the match, her semifinal victory over 2010 finalist and No.21 seed Samantha Stosur was her most emphatic of the fortnight, one that featured 20 winners and five aces, three of which arrived in the final game to extinguish a late Stosur surge.

Her biggest result may have been at Wimbledon, but her breakthrough came in Paris, when she stunned World No.1 Serena Williams in the second round en route to the quarterfinals. Her rivalry with Williams has been reserved for the game’s biggest stages, as all four of their matches have come at major tournaments; though the last two matches have gone the way of the American, Muguruza led by a set at last year’s Australian Open and played tough through two sets at the aforementioned All England Club encounter.

While Muguruza has soared, Serena has struggled, getting within five points of a loss to Yulia Putintseva in the quarterfinals and edging past an injured Kiki Bertens on Friday.

“I think that she and I are players who like dictating the game. We like dominating the game. I think I’m going to fight for each point. There will be moments when she’ll be dominating, and maybe at times I will be dominating.

“I think I can be a tough opponent, too.”

Garbine Muguruza

Muguruza has built a reputation for hot streaks throughout her surge up the rankings, yet her 2016 had been a season of subtle gains and steadily improving results, narrowly losing to Victoria Azarenka in Miami and Madison Keys in the semifinals of Rome.

Her coaching partnership with Sam Sumyk seems to have come into its own after a rocky start. Ahead of Saturday’s final, she could have few better in her corner than the former coach of Azarenka, who helped the Belarusian reach the No.1 ranking and earn back-to-back final wins against Serena in 2013.

“I have learned a lot how to control my emotions inside the court and outside the court. I think it’s very important, because sometimes it’s not too good to show them or to not be in control of them.”

The Spaniard has made no secret that the French Open is a tournament she grew up dreaming of winning, and at 22 years old, she just may be ready to make that dream come true.

“Here at Roland Garros, it’s special for Spanish people. I think for everyone, but Roland Garros in Spain is, like, everything. I don’t know. It’s like a second home here.”

-All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

Source link

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MIAMI, FL, USA – No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova wrapped up her straight sets win over Madison Brengle in just under an hour to move into the third round of the Miami Open, 6-1, 6-3.

Last year, Pliskova made a run to the Indian Wells semifinals and crashed out of Miami in her opening match. The Czech admitted at All-Access Hour that her biggest goal was to avoid the same fate again.

“I had this last year as well – I did semis last year and then I lost in first round here,” she said. “So I just want to change this. I know I struggle after I do a good result in one tournament and then coming to a different tournament after.

“I think I’m in good shape this year, so hopefully I can change it in this tournament, to not lose in the first round.”

With her first serve percentage dipping to 46%, Pliskova relied on her booming groundstrokes and strong returning to ensure that she’d fight another day. She bossed the rallies against the American, quickly breaking twice to reel off six straight games and take the opening set and a break to lead in the second.

Brengle put up a better fight in the second set as she attacked the Pliskova serve and earned herself her first break of the match, but Pliskova quickly reestablished the lead in the next game. They stayed on serve for the rest of the set with just a break separating the two players, and Brengle was unable to bring up a second break opportunity as Pliskova took the victory in just 59 minutes.

Pliskova dictated the rallies from start to finish, and it showed in the stats: she finished the match with 27 winners and 30 unforced errors to Brengle’s six winners and 24 unforced errors. She took five of the eight break opportunities she created, while the American was only able to convert one of two.

“The last few matches it’s not really about my serve because the percentage is a little low, but I’m happy that I have my game from the baseline,” Pliskova said after the match. “I was feeling the ball pretty well today.

“It was a tough one today against an American, she has the home crowd supporting here. So I’m just happy to be through.”

 

Source link

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MIAMI, FL, USA — She reached the quarterfinals in her Miami Open debut a year ago, and Johanna Konta’s 2017 tournament is off to a winning start after the No.10 seed survived a game effort by Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4 in the second round on Friday night.

“I’m definitely satisfied with how I came back in the third set and just competed,” Konta said after the match. “Basically just did the best that I could with what I had. It was very difficult conditions — not just the wind, but also the rain, quite a little bit of stop and start. It was about managing your expectations for any sort of level for the match but also any sort of frustrations that would arise because of the conditions — just keeping things in good perspective, fighting and competing. She played quite well, and I really had to fight hard and work for it in the end.”

Konta cruised in the 33-minute opener, winning four straight games from 2-2 to take a one-set lead. The Brit surrendered just seven points on serve in the first set, while winning 50 percent of the points on Sasnovich’s delivery. She remained in command for much of the early going in the second, building a 6-2, 4-2 lead, but Sasnovich got a foothold in the match with a key break of serve in the seventh game — her first of the match.

From there, the set went with serve until the tie-break, with Konta forced to save break points at 4-4 as Sasnovich looked to win a third straight game, before the qualifier found her forehand late, striking several winners to earn herself a deciding set.

After the pair traded breaks to begin the final set, a second break in the fifth game keyed the victory for Konta, as she held serve the rest of the way to emerge victorious in the two hour, 39 minute encounter.

Also through on Day 4 was Madison Keys, who surrendered just three games en route to dispatching Viktorija Golubic, 6-1, 6-2 in 67 minutes. Dropping serve just once, the No.8 seed broke five times to sail through to the third round.

“The key today was definitely staying calm, because the conditions were not great,” Keys told WTA Insider after the match. “[I was] staying focused on playing my game, having good serves, kind of just focusing on what I could control.”

Keys, who began her 2017 at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells following a lay-off from wrist surgery, reached the fourth round in her first tournament back, and feels as though it hasn’t taken her very long to get back in the swing of competitive tennis.

“I feel pretty good,” Keys said. “There’s obviously still some points where it’s more the mental, where it’s, ‘That was a bad decision’ — that’s where I feel like I’m still not 100 percent happy with myself all of the time. That’s one thing the one thing that I really want to look to improve on.”

Keys will next face Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena, who defeated No.28 seed Irina-Camelia Begu in three sets, but Patricia Maria Tig and Sorana Cirstea made it three Romanians in the third round behind a pair of second-round upsets of their own.

Tig recorded her first win against a top 20 player in defeating Kristina Mladenovic, 7-6(5), 6-2, while Cirstea was victorious in the conclusion of a rain-delayed match against No.19 seed Anastasija Sevastova, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3.

Tig also led a trio of qualifiers to advance to the third round, as Anett Kontaveit scored an upset over No.32 seed Ekaterina Makarova, 6-7(1), 6-2, 6-2 and American Taylor Townsend handled No.25 seed Roberta Vinci, 6-3, 6-2.

Source link

New Swiss Miss Captures Junior Crown

New Swiss Miss Captures Junior Crown

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

PARIS, France – 16-year-old Rebeka Masarova became the latest Swiss standout on Sunday, upsetting No.2 seed Amanda Anisimova, 7-5, 7-5, to win her first junior Grand Slam title at the French Open.

Anisimova is just 14 years old and made her first splash on the junior circuit last fall, when she made the semifinals of the Eddie Herr International Tennis Championships, but Masarova is coming off of a run to the semifinals of the Australian Open back in January, and emerged victorious from a 48 minute opening set in which she twice trailed by a break of serve.

Masarova edged ahead 5-2 in the second, but the young American broke back as the No.12 seed served for the match, leveling the contest at five games apiece. Undaunted, the Swiss youngster broke back once more to clinch the biggest title of her young career.

“I was really nervous in the beginning,” she said in her post-match press conference. “Then at the end I was 5-2 up in the second set and my opponent also was playing very good. I did some mistakes, and I went 5-5; she went to 5-5.

“I was really nervous. I knew I had to do break. But I held my serve and then I broke her in the end.”

Rebeka Masarova, Amanda Anisimova

Winning the junior French Open has proved to be quite auspicious as nearly every winner – including fellow Swiss stars Martina Hingis and Belinda Bencic – has gone on to transition into a successful career on the WTA tour.

“It sounds crazy to say I’m a Grand Slam champion; I’m so happy I won this slam. And, I don’t know, I still have to like realize it.

“My goal was to reach the Top 3 [on the ITF junior rankings]. I think I did it with this tournament. I will try to reach No.1 in juniors. I will play some pros and I will prepare for Wimbledon, as well.”

Watching from afar was Bencic herself; the 2013 girl’s singles champion and the youngest Top 10 debutante since Caroline Wozniacki is making her return at the Ricoh Open from a back injury that kept her out of the French Open, and tweeted out a congratulatory message to her young compatriot.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

Source link

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Third-round action begins in earnest on Saturday at the Crandon Park Tennis Center in Miami. We preview the day’s must-see matchups right here at WTATennis.com.

Saturday

Third round

[2] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #3) vs. [27] Yulia Putintseva (KAZ #32)
Head-to-head: Tied, 1-1
Key Stat: Pliskova is bidding for her 21st victory of the season. She would take over the WTA lead in that category with a win today.

Karolina Pliskova blasted past American Madison Brengle in the second round doing what she does best. She cracked 27 winners to just six for the American and took control of play early in rallies to cruise to a straight sets victory. She’ll look to do more of the same against fiery Yulia Putintseva on Saturday. Pliskova served 12 aces and raced by the 22-year-old Kazakh in straight sets in her first match of the season at the Brisbane International, and Pliskova will aim to continue that trend on Saturday. Putintseva won more than half of her return points against Germany’s Carina Witthoeft on Thursday, and broke serve six times in thirteen opportunities, but she’ll have her hands full against the WTA’s ace leader and will have to make the most of any opportunities she gets to pull the upset.

Pick: Pliskova in two

[4] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK #4) vs. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL #85)
Head-to-head: Cibulkova leads, 4-2
Key Stat: Cibulkova is playing at a career-high ranking of World No.4 this week.

2014 semifinalist Dominika Cibulkova improved to 15-9 at the Miami Open on Thursday with a straight-sets win over Paraguay’s Veronica Cepede Royg. On Saturday the No.4 seed will face the crafty stylings of Kirsten Flipkens, a savvy veteran that has made a living off of breaking the rhythm of the tour’s best players for years. In six previous meetings with the Belgian Cibulkova has had mixed results. But she won the pair’s last two meetings and will come in as the heavy favorite against the World No. 85, who has only won two of 21 lifetime meetings against Top 10 opponents on hardcourts.

Can Flipkens withstand the punishing ground game of Cibulkova and make enough traction with her eclectic blend of slice and dice, or will the indefatigable Cibulkova power past Flipkens and into the round of 16?

Pick: Cibulkova in two

[5] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #5) vs. [26] Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO #29)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Radwanska has won the singles title (2012) and the doubles title (2011) at Miami.

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni shocked Agnieszka Radwanska out of this year’s Australian Open and went on to reach a semifinal at a major for the first time since 1999. On Saturday the Croatian will try to summon the magic once again when she takes on the fifth-seeded Pole, who is a former champion and owns an impressive 29 career wins at Miami. As much as the 35-year-old Lucic-Baroni would like to bask in the glory of her colossal performance down under, she knows that Miami is another story, another chance for her to show the world that she can still play.

“Melbourne was exciting, it happened, but it already feels like it happened a long time ago,” Lucic-Baroni told WTA Insider after her three-set win over Kateryna Bondarenko on Thursday. “I definitely enjoyed it, but I don’t want to be stuck thinking about that. Look where we are: we’re in Miami, another big tournament. My feet are on the ground, and I’m fighting for every match.”

Radwanska will be fighting as well. After starting slowly in 2017, the Pole is eager to turn the page and make something special happen in Miami. “I think every tournament is different story,” Radwanska said before the tournament. “You just have to start from the beginning, and doesn’t matter what happened last week or two months ago. You just go on court and try and play your best.”

Pick: Radwanska in two

[6] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #6) vs. [30] Zhang Shuai (CHN #33)
Head-to-head: Zhang leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Muguruza improved to 6-1 in three-setters this season with her win over McHale on Friday.

After saving a match point and battling back from a break down in the third set to defeat American Christina McHale, Garbiñe Muguruza will now set her sights on matching her career-best performance at Miami. But to reach the round of 16 for the fourth time in six career appearances here, Muguruza will have to avenge a tough loss from earlier this season. Zhang defeated Muguruza, 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-5 in Doha in February, and the Chinese No.1 has now won three of her last five against the Top 10 after losing nine of eleven to start her career.

28-year-old Zhang is a remarkable story. After years of struggles she was contemplating retirement, but her fortunes have changed since the beginning of 2016 and she has risen over 100 spots in the WTA rankings in 15 months. Will she be able to continue her form against one of the game’s premier power players on Saturday, or will it be Muguruza who powers into the round of 16 with a new lease on life after saving match points on Friday?

Pick: Muguruza in three

By the Numbers:

20 – Karolina Pliskova is tied for the tour lead in wins with 20. The Czech did not score her 20th win until June last season.

5 – Agnieszka Radwanska has made the quarterfinal or better in five of her 11 appearances at Miami.

1 – Bethanie Mattek-Sands recorded her first win of the season on Thursday over No.9-seeded Elina Svitolina. It was also Mattek-Sand’s first Top 10 win since 2015.

13 – Ajla Tomljanovic’s win over No.13-ranked Elena Vesnina on Friday was her biggest win rankings-wise since 2014, when she defeated then World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska at Roland Garros.

Source link