Tennis News

DUBAI, UAE – Top seed Angelique Kerber came out on top of a much-anticipated Olympic rematch against Monica Puig, dispatching the Puerto Rican star, 6-2, 6-3 to reach her first quarterfinal at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

“It’s tough to play against Monica,” she said during her on-court interview. “I know we we played a very good match in Rio and she deserved to win in the end; she played an unbelievable match. Today I was really happy with my performance; I was trying to stay focused and play my game. I’m happy to be in the next round here!”

“I was really not thinking too much about our final in Rio, because it was a completely totally different match than today,” she later elaborated in press.

“Tonight it was a new match, new challenge for me. So I was focusing more on the day today than looking back to the last match.”

Amazing court coverage from @AngeliqueKerber! ? #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/QVoUiO8QDr

— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017

Puig is in the midst of playing her best tennis since capturing Puerto Rico’s first gold medal, having reached the semifinals of the Qatar Total Open just last week. But Kerber made the best of a difficult draw to pull off some of her own best on Wednesday night, hitting 14 winners to just 12 unforced errors in the 65 minute match.

.@AngeliqueKerber smashes it past Puig! ?? pic.twitter.com/mcVBksNXVF

— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017

“I was trying to keep focusing on the next point, serve and move as well as I could.”

The unseeded Puig nonetheless acquitted herself well on the center court, hitting 20 winners, but a combination of 25 unforced errors and a zero for five break point conversion rate proved her undoing. Kerber, by contrast, broke serve four times, including on match point in the last game.

How did @AngeliqueKerber do this?! ? #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/xyg4vRezPT

— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017

“I never played so well here, so I think things have changed a little bit this year. I feel really good on the court and I’m looking forward to playing my first quarterfinal.”

It’s been a tough start to the season for Kerber, who fell in her opening match in Doha last week to Daria Kasatkina – her second loss to the young Russian this season – but admitted to feeling under the weather during the tour’s stormy week in Qatar.

“I was a little bit sick last week. So that’s why I’m happy that I found my rhythm again. Yeah, I’m enjoying the tennis on court again.

“I was not sure how I was feeling on court because of the last week, and that’s why that was a little bit different.

“I was trying to just go out here, to make the transition from like I was practicing to the match, because I was practicing good in the last few weeks and also in the last few months.”

Up next for the former World No.1 is Croatian teen Ana Konjuh, who recovered from a set and a break down to upset No.8 seed Elena Vesnina, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4); Kerber won their only previous meeting back in 2015 at the Bank of the West Classic.

“She plays well; we’ve played a few matches in the past and I know it’ll be another tough one, but I think I’m ready to go out and win my next match.”

.@AngeliqueKerber advances to @DDFTennis Quarterfinals!

Cruises past Puig 6-2, 6-3! pic.twitter.com/UndZ60qinu

— WTA (@WTA) February 22, 2017

Into the last eight in Dubai, Kerber is just three wins away from wresting hte top spot back from Australian Open champion Serena Williams, but you won’t catch Kerber thinking too much about that prospect.

“I’m taking things match by match. I’m just trying to focus on playing good tennis and enjoying this week.”

“I am very happy how I played the last game – it was great,” the Latvian told press after winning in an hour and 21 minutes.

Anastasija Sevastova is first through to @DDFTennis Semifinals!

Slides past Wang 6-4, 7-5! pic.twitter.com/Wh9AeknZ44

— WTA (@WTA) February 23, 2017

Currently ranked No.35, she will reach a career high on Monday after her campaign in Dubai.

Yet she had struggled to dominate this quarterfinal thanks to her opponent’s battling spirit, and it was Wang who struck first, breaking serve to take a 3-1 lead in the opening set.

The 26-year-old hit right back, though, and went on to take the first set – but Wang was not ready to give up. Even after falling behind by a break of serve in the second set, she clawed her way right back into it to level up at 5-5.

Despite the Chinese player’s determination, Sevastova eventually managed to serve it out on her third match point to secured herself a deserved semifinal berth against either CiCi Bellis or Caroline Wozniacki.

“I’m going to watch the match,” Sevastova added. “CiCi played an amazing match yesterday, Caroline has a perfect record against me…we’ll see how it is tomorrow.”

MIAMI, FL, USA – No.5 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka stayed cool in the hot and heavy conditions of the Miami Open, needing only 66 minutes to dish out ice cold revenge on Qatar Total Open finalists Sara Errani and Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-4, 6-3.

Watch live action from Miami this fortnight on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

The 2012 Olympic Silver medalists and two-time Grand Slam champions had a bright start to 2016 with a run to the finals of the Australian Open and a semifinal finish in St. Petersburg, but fell to Errani in each of their last two events – first with Suárez Navarro and again last week with Oksana Kalashnikova.

“We lost to these girls in Doha, and lost to Errani last week in Indian Wells, so we were very motivated ot get this first win this year against her,” Hlavackova said after the match. “We played very well. They are a very solid and very good team and also played very well today, so it was a good match an we’re very happy to be through.”

Through difficult conditions, Hlavackova and Hradecka not only had to deal with extreme heat, but also a strong breeze that kept things interesting throughout.

“It was so humid, and a bit windy,” Hradecka said.

“Very windy,” Hlavackova added.

“I think we handled the conditions very well,” Hradecka continued. “We played aggressively. With the wind, we played unbelievably well. but even against the wind, we still had the power.”

Up next for the “Silent Hs,” who reunited at the end of 2014 and saw their first full season back together rewarded with a run to the semifinals of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global last fall, are two formidble teams in the recently reunited No.3 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova and Russians Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina, who ended Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza’s 41-match winning streak in Doha. 

“We’re definitely looking forward to playing one of these teams,” Hlavackova said. “We’re going to watch tomorrow; it’s actually good they play tomorrow so we can

We stick together as a team. We fight for every point. We’re pretty aggressive and have good communication. So far, it’s been working for us.

It’s easy to talk about things on and off the court and we mesh well on the court; I think we combine well together really well. Alla has good strength and I’m trying to be crafty and move around at the net. I think we pair well together and anything we feel like we need to work on, it’s easy for us to talk to each other about it and go out and do it.

It’s hot and humid, but we’re Miami; that’s nothing we didn’t expect. Drink a lot of water, hydrate, put on a lot of sunblock, which I didn’t do today, so I will pay for it tomorrow!

 scout a little, because we haven’t seen Kasatkina play. We’re very much looking forward because we feel very well here on the court, since we have two wins!”

Game, set and match.
Alla and Vania are moving on here in Miami. ?@AllaK11 @queen_v21 pic.twitter.com/Ms78ftm7oQ

— Christopher Levy (@tennis_shots) March 27, 2016

Earlier in the day, Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva – the only other team to defeat Hingis and Mirza since last summer last week at the BNP Paribas Open – reached their third straight quarterfinal in their third outing as a team with a 6-0, 7-6(1) win over Anastasia Rodionova and Galina Voskoboeva, who is only playing her second WTA tournament since a pair of foot injuries sidelined her two years ago.

“We stick together as a team,” Kudryavtseva said after the match. “We fight for every point. We’re pretty aggressive and have good communication. So far, it’s been working for us.”

“It’s easy to talk about things on and off the court and we mesh well on the court,” King added. “I think we combine well together really well. Alla has good strength and I’m trying to be crafty and move around at the net. I think we pair well together and anything we feel like we need to work on, it’s easy for us to talk to each other about it and go out and do it.”

First out on Court 7, the Australian Open quarterfinalists followed up on their dismissal of nemeses Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova – who ended each of their runs in Melbourne and Indian Wells – with a 75-minute win that came as a welcome relief from the already-tough conditions.

“It’s hot and humid, but we’re Miami; that’s nothing we didn’t expect,” Kudryavtseva said. “Drink a lot of water, hydrate, put on a lot of sunblock, which I didn’t do today, so I will pay for it tomorrow!”

Up next for King and Kudryavtseva could be a rematch of their Indian Wells encounter with Hingis and Mirza, who have only won two matches since seeing their streak end in Doha.

No.8 seeds Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai also reached the quarterfinals on Sunday, with a 3-6, 6-3, 10-4 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja, while Ekaterina Makarova and Barbora Strycova recovered from a set down to defeat former No.1s Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai, 5-7, 6-2, 10-6.

Happy campers !! ??@queen_v21 @AllaK11 pic.twitter.com/hZXzu1toLL

— Christopher Levy (@tennis_shots) March 27, 2016

DUBAI, UAE – No.7 seed Elina Svitolina is into the biggest final of her career after upsetting top seed Angelique Kerber in straight sets at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Friday; standing between her and her sixth career title is none other than 2011 champion and former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki.

Check out everything you need to know about this high-stakes affair right here on wtatennis.com!

1. Svitolina can crack the Top 10 if she wins on Saturday.
Svitolina has been on the cusp of making her Top 10 debut for quite some time, and the Ukrainian youngster can close the deal should she beat Wozniacki in the final.

2. The Ukrainian is riding an 11-match winning streak.
Svitolina recovered from a third round upset at the Australian Open in impressive fashion, picking up her fifth career title at the Taiwan Open, leading her country to a Fed Cup victory over Australia, and reaching the final in Dubai.

3. Wozniacki is definitely at home in Dubai.
A Dubai Duty Free ambassador, Wozniacki overtook former World No.1 Jelena Jankovic’s record total of match wins in Dubai on Friday, winning a 22nd match in seven appearances. She last reached the final in 2011, when she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova for the title.

4. The Dane is surging in 2017.
Wozniacki began this season much like she ended last; since reaching the semifinals of the US Open, she’s been on fire, reaching back-to-back finals in Doha and Dubai; the last time she did that was in 2014, when she reached two straight finals in Flushing and Tokyo at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

5. The No.2 spot on the Road to Singapore leaderboard is on the line.
Not only can Svitolina earn a career-high ranking, but a win on Saturday will also send her shooting up the RTS leaderboard, all the way to No.2. The runner-up will also be in the Top 8, ranked No.5. Svitolina would make be making her debut at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, while Wozniacki qualified four times, most recently in 2014.

6. Svitolina saves her best for the game’s best.
The No.7 seed not only defeated Kerber for the second time this season, but also owns a three-match winning streak on the former No.1, dating back to the China Open in Beijing. She also knocked then-No.1 Serena Williams out of the Olympic tennis event; in her last three encounters with World No.1s, Svitolina’s won two.

7. Wozniacki aims for Miami Open revenge.
Wozniacki and Svitolina played just once before, in the third round of the Miami Open; Svitolina recovered from a set down to defeat the Dane, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(1) in a late-night match.

8. Svitolina is one win from her biggest title yet.
Svitolina has already racked up five titles in her young career, but all on the International level. She finished runner-up at the Connecticut Open and the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai to Agnieszka Radwanska and Petra Kvitova, respectively, and reached the final four last fall in Beijing.

9. Wozniacki returns to the big time.
Barring the US Open final, Wozniacki hadn’t reached a Premier Mandatory or Premier 5 final since 2013 at the BNP Paribas Open. This would be her biggest title since beating Naomi Osaka in the Tokyo final last fall.

10. The final takes place after a rousing doubles championship match.
Before Wozniacki and Svitolina hit the courts, new Road to Singapore leaderboard No.1s Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai face Olympic Gold medalists Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. The Russians are into their second final of the season while Hlavackova are in their third, including the Australian Open.

It’s round of 16 time at the Miami Open. The matchups are set and the stakes are high. Who will get through? We preview the sweet sixteen here.

Monday, Round of 16

Top Half

[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. [15] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS # 19)
Head-to-head: Williams leads, 8-2
Key Stat: The pair have gone the distance in half of their meetings to date.
Fancy an old-school throwdown between former Miami Open champions on manic Monday? Tennis fans will be treated to a battle between two of the more accomplished and entertaining champions in the tournament’s history as Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova square off for the eleventh time. It’s a matchup that has been controlled by Williams but Kuznetsova has had her moments in the rivalry, too. The pair met at the round of 16 here last year, with Williams rolling to a 6-2, 6-3 victory en route to her record eighth career title at Key Biscayne. Will Williams maintain her domination of her elite foe, or will the 2006 Miami Champion produce more magic at Crandon Park?

Pick: Williams in three

[3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #2) vs. [19] Timea Bacsinszky (SUI #20)
Head-to-head: Bacsinszky leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Radwanska has been to the quarterfinals or better five times in Miami.
Agnieszka Radwanska has been red-hot all season, and the World No.2 leads the WTA in wins with 19. Timea Bacsinszky has a spring in her step after an invigorating performance against Ana Ivanovic in the third round in Miami. There couldn’t be a better time for these two special talents to meet. It won’t be the first time. Bacsinszky claimed an important 6-1, 6-1 victory over Radwanska in Fed Cup last April, and the Swiss will likely take confidence in that fact into Monday’s tilt. “I think I just played a really solid match and I made her doubt on what she had to do,” Bacsinszky at the time of her triumph in Poland. That was then, but what about now, against arguably the hottest player in tennis?

Pick: Radwanska in three

[12] Elina Svitolina (UKR #16) vs. [30] Ekaterina Makarova (RUS #31)
Head-to-head: Makarova leads, 3-0
Key Stat: Makarova has reached the round of 16 at Miami four times, but never the quarterfinals.
Ekaterina Makarova displayed dazzling form in taking down Petra Kvitova in straight sets in the third round on Saturday. It was the type of tennis that fans have come to know the Russian for: Strong, aggressive and confident. Could Makarova finally be rounding into top physical form after a slow start in 2016? She was in the Top-10 for six months last year but struggled and eventually pulled the plug on her season due to a lower leg injury right after the U.S. Open. Now at 31 in the world, Makarova will bid for her first Miami quarterfinal against steely Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. The 21-year-old lost all three battles with Makarova in 2015, and has never taken a set from the Russian. Could Monday be the day?

Pick: Makarova in two

[5] Simona Halep (ROU #5) vs. Heather Watson (GBR #69)
Head-to-head: Halep leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Halep needs to reach the quarterfinals to remain in the Top 5 of next week’s WTA rankings.
Simona Halep has eight wins in 2016 and six of them have come at Indian Wells and Miami. That tells us two things: One, Halep has had a difficult start to the season and, two, the Romanian is catching fire in the U.S. With her health concerns from the winter finally behind her Halep has looked like an energized player in the last few weeks. On Monday she will look to reach back-to-back Miami quarterfinals when she faces Heather Watson for the third time. Halep has won the pair’s two previous meetings but the 23-year-old Brit is playing with confidence, having won the Monterrey title in February and reached the round of 16 her for the first time.

Pick: Halep in three

Bottom Half

[2] Angelique Kerber (GER #3) vs. Timea Babos (HUN #49)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads 3-0
Key Stat: Kerber is attempting to match her career-best Miami performance by reaching the quarterfinals (2014).
Now that Angelique Kerber has won back-to-back matches for the first time since winning the Australian Open title, can we assume that Kerber is ready to start battling for big titles again? If so, she’ll have to get by a blossoming Timea Babos on Monday. The Hungarian reached the round of 16 at Miami for the first time with a 7-5, 6-0 takedown of Japan’s Naomi Osaka, and the longtime doubles star says she is thrilled to be making strides on the singles court. “Since November, I jumped around 40 spots, so it’s been a consistent improvement and I’m really happy,” Babos told WTATennis.com on Sunday. Babos owns a 1-8 lifetime record against the Top 10, and has dropped all three previous encounters with Kerber, but with a win over Karolina Pliskova under her belt at Miami, she’ll come out confident in her big-match abilities.

Pick: Kerber in two

[4] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #4) vs. [13] Victoria Azarenka (BLR #8)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Azarenka is one of four former Miami champions in action on Monday.
The long-awaited maiden matchup of one of the game’s rising stars and one of its tried-and-true champions will take place tomorrow on Grandstand, as Victoria Azarenka and Garbiñe Muguruza will meet for the first time. Azarenka, fresh off the Indian Wells title, has won eight in a row and 18 of 19 in 2016, and hopes to become the first woman since Kim Clijsters to capture the Indian Wells-Miami “Sunshine” Double in 2005. Muguruza has struggled at times this season, but she played unencumbered tennis in cruising past Nicole Gibbs on Sunday night. The Spaniard will look to reach the quarterfinals for the first time against a two-time champion that appears motivated to prove that she’s an elite force to be reckoned with once again. Carve out a few hours, pop your popcorn and be prepared to be entertained!

Pick: Azarenka in three

[24] Johanna Konta (GBR #23) vs. [32] Monica Niculescu (ROU #33)
Head-to-head: Niculescu leads 1-0
Key Stat: Konta is the first British woman to reach the round of 16 in Miami since 1988 (Durie).
Johanna Konta notched her best career performance at a Premier Mandatory by making the round of 16 at Indian Wells two weeks ago. On Monday Great Britain’s No.1 will try to take it a step further when she meets Monica Niculescu for the first time. Konta, ranked No.151 in the world last year, has been on the rise ever since she road a 16-match winning streak into the second week of the US Open last summer. Now the 24-year-old is closing in on the Top 20. But standing in her way is the spin doctor Monica Niculescu. The Romanian will try to throw off Konta’s rhythm with a steady diet of slice and dice. Will her plan work, or will steady Konta keep on rising?

Pick: Konta in three

[22] Madison Keys (USA #24) vs. Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU #35)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Begu is one of three Romanians in the round of 16; Keys is one of two Americans.
With Mats Wilander sitting in her coaches’ box, Madison Keys put forth one of her most impressive efforts in recent memory in taking down No.9 seed Roberta Vinci in straight sets on Sunday. Keys’ first Top-10 win in over a year featured 41 winners and served to remind everybody watching why the 21-year-old American is so highly touted by peers and pundits alike. Can Keys back up that big win when she faces Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu on Monday? The 25-year-old Romanian entered Miami with an underwhelming 1-4 record and was down 5-0 in the third set against Sabine Lisicki in the first round, but recovered to earn a career-best result here in Miami.

Pick: Keys in two

-Chris Oddo, wtennis.com contributor