Inspired Puig Into Olympic Final
Monica Puig continued her fairytale Olympic run with an emotional three-set win over Petra Kvitova in the semifinals.
Monica Puig continued her fairytale Olympic run with an emotional three-set win over Petra Kvitova in the semifinals.
MIAMI, FL, USA – Ashleigh Barty picked up her first singles victory at the Miami Open in style, downing Eugenie Bouchard in three sets to set up a second-round clash with her countrywoman Samantha Stosur.
“It was a little bit scratchy today, but I’m happy to come through in the end and get a chance to play a second round here,” Barty told the crowd after the match.
“I love Miami and it’s the first time I’ve ever played singles here. So it’s certainly nice to play on a beautiful center court like this.”
The young Australian needed just over two hours to complete the 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Bouchard and extend the Canadian’s Miami losing streak to five matches in a row.
What a return!@GenieBouchard takes the second 7-5 to force a decider! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/ArCYLbBvs6
— WTA (@WTA) March 22, 2017
Barty employed the aggressive, solid tennis that led her to capture her maiden WTA title at the Alya WTA Malaysian Open three weeks ago, pouncing on a shaky Bouchard service game to break the Canadian six times during the encounter.
After narrowly dropping the opening set, Bouchard reigned in the unforced errors to rally back in the second. But the strong Barty second serve bailed the Aussie out of trouble time and again, keeping Bouchard out of the rallies. Bouchard posted 26 winners to 55 unforced errors against Barty’s 21 and 40.
“I think I was able to be very aggressive on the returns and use my forehand,” Barty explained. “I made a few errors as well but I knew I needed to be aggressive to give myself a chance, and I think I did that today.”
.@AshBar96 picks up FIRST @MiamiOpen win!
Outlasts Bouchard 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to set all-?? Second round vs @bambamsam30! pic.twitter.com/kNB1nBEiP3
— WTA (@WTA) March 22, 2017
Awaiting in the second round will be No.14 seed Samantha Stosur, a fellow Aussie and one whose game Barty knows quite well.
“It’ll be nice to take on Sam, we’ve practice together a lot in the past even though we’ve never played against each other. I think I’ll have to be very aggressive off the return and try to take the serve away from her.
“I think it’ll be a little bit of a ‘battle of the forehands’ from us, but we’ll see how we go.”
.@AjlaTom beats Linette 6-2, 1-6, 6-2!
Meets Indian Wells champ @EVesnina001 in @MiamiOpen Second round! pic.twitter.com/e23WVRMdT3
— WTA (@WTA) March 22, 2017
Also in action on Day 2, a number of qualifiers recorded strong performances to make their way into the second round. Qualifiers Risa Ozaki (def. Louisa Chirico 3-6, 7-5, 6-1), Patricia Maria Tig (def. Heather Watson 7-6(4), 6-1), Taylor Townsend (def. Amanda Anisimova 2-6, 6-2, 6-3), Anett Kontaveit (def. Kurumi Nara 6-2, 6-1), Aliaksandra Sasnovich (def. Alizé Cornet 6-4, 1-6, 6-4), Varvara Lepchenko (6-3, 6-3), Veronica Cepede Royg (def. 6-2, 6-4), Jana Cepelova (def. Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-4) and Madison Brengle (def. Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 3-6, 6-2) all advanced.
Also through to the second round is wildcard Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who recorded her first win of 2017 to advance past Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Qiang Wang came back from a first-set shutout to knock out qualifier Donna Vekic 0-6, 6-4, 6-2. Lucie Safarova defeated Yanina Wickmayer 7-6(2), 6-4, while France’s Pauline Parmentier knocked out her countrywoman Oceane Dodin 6-2, 6-1 and Shelby Rogers edged past qualifier Marina Erakovic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic survived a rollercoaster against lucky loser Magda Linette to advance 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.
Last year’s WTA Can Challenge champion Carla Suárez Navarro is taking on a new challenge. How well did she do in the WTA Frame Challenge?
Serena Williams must advance to the quarterfinals to secure the No.1 ranking.
With the top spot on the WTA rankings in play this week, World No.1 Serena took a late wildcard into the tournament. The scenarios are simple. If Serena makes the quarterfinal she will hold onto the No.1 ranking heading into the US Open. If she loses before the quarterfinal stage, No.2 Angelique Kerber can overtake her by winning the title.
A two-time defending champion here, Serena leads the top half and she could open her tournament against the woman how knocked her out of the Olympic tennis event last week: Elina Svitolina. Svitolina would have to get past Christina McHale in the first round to book a rematch with the 22-time Grand Slam champion. Serena could then play either Karolina Pliskova or Jelena Ostapenko, with Svetlana Kuznetsova or Timea Bacsinszky looming in the quarterfinals.
Click here to check out the full draw.
As for Kerber, anything less than the title means she will remain at No.2 heading into New York. She is into the Gold Medal match at the Olympics, which will be played on Saturday, but as a Top 16 seed she’ll have a bye into the second round. The question is how much will she have left in the tank?
Kerber will play either Kristina Mladenovic or a qualifier in the second round and could play either Sam Stosur or Barbora Strycova in the Round of 16.
Rio Redux.
Serena and Kvitova will both have an opportunity to avenge their Olympic losses. For Serena that could come in her first match against Svitolina, while Kvitova could play Monica Puig in her first match of the tournament. Puig, who is also into the Gold Medal match against Kerber, opens her tournament against American wildcard Louisa Chirico.
Simona Halep gets back to work.
After skipping Rio, Halep spent the week training with coach Darren Cahill and famed fitness trainer Gil Reyes. The Rogers Cup champion will look to continue her winning ways in Cincinnati. With a significant number of points on the line over the next four weeks – Halep made the final here last year and the semifinals of the US Open – defending those points would set up a significant rankings push in Asia this fall.
Halep has won 23 of her last 26 matches dating back to her title run at the Mutua Madrid Open, and she’s currently riding a 10-match win streak. The No.3 seed here, she got the toughest draw of any of the top four seeds, landing in a quarter with No.5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska. She will open her tournament against either Yulia Putintseva or a qualifier and could then face Belinda Bencic, who is returning from injury, or Caroline Garcia.
Agnieszka Radwanska has work to do.
The No.5 has not made a semifinal since April (Porsche Tennis Grand Prix) and has struggled to put together a confidence boosting run over the last few months. It won’t be easy this week in Cincinnati, where she has never made it past the quarterfinals. She will play either Andrea Petkovic or Lucie Safarova in the second round, with Johanna Konta potentially looming in the third round. All that to get to a possible quarterfinal against Halep.
The qualifying draw is stacked.
The Cincinnati qualifying draw, which begins on Saturday, would be a strong International-level event in and of itself. The main draw cut-off was at No.41, meaning a host of top notch players will have to play their way into the main draw.
Eugenie Bouchard took a wildcard into qualifying, and she’s alongside a list of exciting players like Alizé Cornet, Daria Gavrilova, Misaki Doi, Sabine Lisicki, Camila Giorgi, Sorana Cirstea and more. It will be a tough weekend of qualifying matches and the complexion of the draw could change dramatically depending on who makes it through and where they end up being placed.
Follow the qualifying draw here.
Top seeds in the top half: Serena Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Dominika Cibulkova.
Top seeds in the bottom half: Angelique Kerber, Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Roberta Vinci.
Projected quarterfinals: Serena Williams vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Garbiñe Muguruza vs. Dominika Cibulkova, Simona Halep vs. Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber vs. Carla Suárez Navarro.
First round matches to watch: Andrea Petkovic vs. Lucie Safarova, Elina Svitolina vs. Christina McHale, Sara Errani vs. CoCo Vandeweghe, Louisa Chirico vs. Monica Puig.
Potential second round matches to watch: Serena Williams vs. Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova vs. Jelena Ostapenko, Garbiñe Muguruza vs. CoCo Vandeweghe, Petra Kvitova vs. Monica Puig, Johanna Konta vs. Ana Ivanovic, Belinda Bencic vs. Caroline Garcia, Simona Halep vs. Yulia Putintseva.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Madison Keys headed back to school in Miami this week – to host the latest of her ‘girl summits’ and announce plans for a partnership combating social media bullying.
The top WTA stars discuss overcoming adversity and becoming strong than those who didn’t believe in them.
Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina pulled off an emphatic win over World Co-No.1 Martina Hingis and partner Timea Bacsinszky to win gold in women’s doubles.
Top-seeded Angelique Kerber and third-seeded Simona Halep hope to hit the ground running at the Miami Open on Friday. We preview the must-see matchups.
Friday
Second round
[1] Angelique Kerber (GER #1) vs. Duan Ying-Ying (CHN #66)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Duan owns a 0-6 lifetime record against the Top 10.
Another week, another chance for Angelique Kerber to return to the form that saw her rocket to the top of the rankings in 2016. The German has struggled mightily in 2016, dropping all six of her matches against Top 35 opponents while failing to reach a final. Will Kerber find her missing mojo in Miami? Every week is a new chance to shine, she says. “I’m not looking back on the tournaments. You know, it’s a completely new year, new tournament, and every tournament starts from zero,” Kerber said after falling to Elena Vesnina in straight sets at Indian Wells. “For me, I think I got used to the pressure and everything. So I start every tournament from zero. I am going out there to play my matches, trying to win it.”
Kerber, a semifinalist here in Miami last year, will begin her week with a first-time matchup against China’s Duan Ying-Ying. The 27-year-old notched an impressive win over Germany’s Laura Siegemund on Wednesday and will be gunning for glory in her first ever match against a Top 2 opponent.
Pick: Kerber in three
[3] Simona Halep (ROU #3) vs. Naomi Osaka (JPN #49)
Head-to-head: Halep leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Halep owns a 12-5 lifetime record at Miami.
Like Kerber, Simona Halep has had a challenging year in 2017. She has gone 3-3 and had to miss five weeks due to a knee injury. At Indian Wells, Halep shook off some rust in a second-round win over Donna Vekic but she was defeated easily by Kristina Mladenovic in the third round. In Miami, Halep will look to continue to build some positive momentum, but it won’t be easy against Japan’s Naomi Osaka. The 19-year-old pushed Halep to the brink at Roland Garros last year and will be bidding for her biggest career win against Halep. Though she is 0-5 against the Top 10 for her career, Osaka has lost three of those matches in deciding sets, and two of them in deciding set tiebreakers. Will Osaka get over the hump against Halep today, or will the Romanian hit the ground running in Miami?
Pick: Halep in two
[8] Madison Keys (USA #9) vs. Viktorija Golubic (SUI #53)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Keys reached the quarterfinals at Miami last season.
Madison Keys made a successful return to the tour at Indian Wells after missing the first two months of the season while rehabbing her surgically repaired left wrist. Now she wants to take it a step further. “I feel like I’ve gotten some of the rust out,” Keys told reporters on Wednesday. “I also think the expectation that I have from myself is now a little bit higher. So I’m definitely trying to manage the excitement levels and also just what I’m expecting from myself.”
Keys will battle a talented 24-year-old from Switzerland who has not found her best tennis yet this season. After her most successful season on tour, Viktorija Golubic has struggled to win in 2017, but she did pick up her second win of the season on Wednesday, defeating Tsvetana Pironkova in three sets.
Pick: Keys in two
[11] Venus Williams (USA #12) vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA #166)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Williams won the title at Miami in 2001.
Venus Williams has more Top 20 wins at the Miami Open (11) than most players have matches and the 36-year-old is eager to tack on a few more wins in 2017. The 2001 Miami Open champion will open accounts with a second-round matchup with Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia. The 20-year-old Brazilian Wild Card got her first tour-level win since 2015 when Lesia Tsurenko retired early in the first set of their first-round match. She’ll hope to play the match of her life against Williams on Friday while Williams will look to stretch her winning streak against players outside of the Top 100 to six, and notch her 44th career Miami Open win.
Pick: Williams in three
Around the Grounds:
No.7-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova upset Serena Williams en route to a runner-up finish at Miami last year. She’ll open accounts with a second-round tussle with Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella. No.14-seeded Samantha Stosur, a two-time quarterfinalist at Miami, will face 20-year-old Ashleigh Barty in an all-Aussie Derby. It will be the first meeting between the two compatriots. No.10-seeded Johanna Konta, a quarterfinalist last year, will square off with qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, while No.31-seeded Daria Kasatkina will tangle with American Shelby Rogers for the right to face the Kerber-Ying-Ying winner.
Victoria Azarenka will look to continue her torrid form down under on Day 10, but she’ll face her toughest test to date. We preview both quarterfinals from the lower half of the draw here.
Wednesday, Day 10
Quarterfinals
[7] Angelique Kerber (GER #6) vs. [14] Victoria Azarenka (BLR # 16)
Head-to-head: Azarenka leads, 6-0
Key Stat: Azarenka has conceded just 11 games in four rounds.
All signs in Melbourne point to Victoria Azarenka’s first trip to a Grand Slam semifinal since the 2013 US Open. One simply can’t deny that the Belarusian, a two-time champion here, has had a stiff wind in her sails since the season began. She’s reeled off her first 18 sets of 2016 and only once dropped more than three games in a set. Azarenka’s scintillating form and burgeoning confidence adds up to a very stiff challenge on Wednesday for No.7-seeded Angelique Kerber. The German will face Azarenka for the seventh time on Wednesday, and she’s hoping to reverse her fortune in what has been a very lopsided head-to-head up until now. But hope springs eternal for Kerber, who is playing with house money after saving a match point in her first-round match against Japan’s Misaki Doi. “I was actually with one leg on the plane back home, but I won the first match with the match point down,” Kerber said on Monday after reaching her first career Australian Open quarterfinal. “So, yeah, and then after I was playing much better. I’m feeling good, and right now I will try to take my next match and play again good tennis.”
It’s been all Azarenka on the scoreboard for these two thus far, but the No.14 seed does not for one second underestimate the danger of facing a perpetually engaged fighter like Kerber. And she surely remembers that Kerber pushed her to the brink in a thrilling three-set encounter at the US Open last September. “It’s exciting,” said Azarenka of the upcoming tussle. “I always look forward to play against her. She gives me always tough matches. I prepare myself for a very tough match because she’s very solid, very consistent, and an amazing fighter. I have to play my best game to beat her, for sure.”
Pick: Azarenka in three
Zhang Shuai (CHN #133) vs. Johanna Konta (GBR # 47)
Head-to-head: Tied, 1-1
Key Stat: Zhang is the first qualifier to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open since 1990.
Tear up your predictions, crack open your WTA media guides, and get ready for some crazy emotions, because Day 10’s second quarterfinal features a pair of relatively unknown talents who have already made history in Melbourne. Johanna Konta became Great Britain’s first Grand Slam quarterfinalist in 33 years when she defeated Ekaterina Makarova in the round of 16. Nowhere near the Top 100 at this time last year, Konta has reached the second week of the last two majors and is projected to reach the Top 30 if she reaches the semifinals. But standing in her way will be China’s suddenly surging Zhang Shuai. The 27-year-old was 0-14 at majors prior to qualifying for this year’s Australian Open, but she’s racked up four wins—including a first-round upset of No.2-seeded Simona Halep—to reach the quarterfinals. Can Zhang possibly keep this dream run going? Or is Konta’s ascension set to continue?
Buoyed by her improbable run, Zhang is starting to believe that a deeper run is her destiny. “This time feeling like maybe God will bless me,” an elated Zhang told reporters of her eight-year wait for Grand Slam success. “If I can wait for long time, eight years, I can one time win a lot of matches at a Grand Slam.” Though also thrilled with her recent rise, Konta is less surprised that her time has come. “I’ve always said I do not believe in kind of a light switch moment,” she told reporters. “Everything happens for a reason. My journey has been the way it has been for a reason. That’s to accumulate the experiences that I’ve had. I cannot give you a moment where I said, Oh, yeah, that’s where it started, because it’s been ongoing ever since I started playing.”
Pick: Konta in three
World No.1 Angelique Kerber and Venus Williams both captured emphatic opening round wins at the Miami Open, each advancing in to the third round in straight sets.