Brisbane: Alizé Cornet’s Moment Of Victory Over Dominika Cibulkova
Here’s how Alizé Cornet reacted after pulling off a stunning upset over World No.5 Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International.
Here’s how Alizé Cornet reacted after pulling off a stunning upset over World No.5 Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International.
Agnieszka Radwanska takes on Elina Svitolina in the semifinals of the China Open.
Katerina Siniakova takes on Johanna Konta in the semifinal of the Shenzhen Open.
MIAMI, FL, USA – The second Premier Mandatory final of the 2016 season has arrived, and there is plenty on the line for multiple major champions Victoria Azarenka and Svetlana Kuznetsova – so here are 10 Things To Know about the Miami Open final.
(13) Victoria Azarenka (BLR #8) vs (15) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #19)
Head-To-Head: Series Tied, 4-4
1) An even rivalry revisited.
Azarenka and Kuznesova will lock horns for the first time since the 2013 Australian Open. Azarenka won on that occasion to level the rivalry at four wins apiece. She will start as most people’s favorite on Saturday, but the WTA’s form player is taking nothing for granted.
“She’s a very talented and diverse player,” Azarenka said when asked about Kuznetsova following her semifinal. “She is one of the players who knows how to handle big stages. I know she has her up and downs in her career, but she knows how to handle big stages. She is a two-time Grand Slam champion, so it speaks a lot.”
2) Azarenka is looking to join rarefied company by lifting the title for a third time.
Azarenka has won Miami twice before, in 2009 and 2011. Should she emerge triumphant against Kuznetsova she will become just the fourth player to lift the Miami title three or more times, after Graf (1987, 1988, 1994, 1995, 1996), Venus Williams (1998, 1999, 2001), and Serena Williams (2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015).
3) The trophy will also gain her entry into an even more exclusive club.
Victory in the final will see Azarenka complete the Indian Wells-Miami double. Since the inaugural staging of Indian Wells in 1989, Graf (1994, 1996) and Kim Clijsters (2005) are the only players to achieve the feat.
4) Kuznetsova is going for her biggest title since 2009.
After winning just one title in nearly five years, Kuznetsova has been rather prolific of late. At the end of last season, she delighted her home fans by lifting the Kremlin Cup, then opened 2016 with victory in Sydney. However, she has not lifted a Premier Mandatory title since 2009, when she defeated Agnieszka Radwanska from the China Open.
5) Azarenka is upwardly mobile on the WTA Rankings and Road To Singapore.
By virtue of her run to the semifinals, on Monday Azarenka will return to the Top 5 (at No.5) for the first time since May, 2014, at the expense of Simona Halep. Should she head for Europe with the trophy in her luggage, then she will also leapfrog Angelique Kerber to the summit of the Road To Singapore leaderboard.
6) Kuznetsova will also make big moves on both lists.
By reaching the final, Kuznetsova ensured she will rise to No.13 in the rankings – her highest position since August 2011. Should she upset Azarenka then a return to the Top 10 for the first time in nearly six years awaits. She will also jump into the Top 5 on the Road To Singapore leaderboard – No.4 with a title, No.5 without.
7) Kuznetsova looking to end Russian finals day curse.
Crandon Park has not been the happiest of hunting ground for the WTA’s Russian contingent. Since Anna Kournikova let a one set lead slip against Venus Williams in the 1998 final, Russians have finished as runners-up on six occasions. Kuznetsova is the only one to buck the trend, but even that came at the expense of a fellow Russian, Maria Sharapova, in 2006.
8) Marathon woman enters home stretch.
Kuznetsova told WTA Insider after her semifinal victory that she needs a few matches under her belt at a tournament before she can bring out her best tennis. She is certainly has that in Miami, playing four three set matches at the same event for just the second time in her career and spending over 11 hours on court.
9) Azarenka on easy street.
By contrast, Azarenka has taken seven hours and 52 minutes to reach the final. She remains on course to be the first player since Agnieszka Radwanska in 2012 to capture the title without dropping a set.
10) Money, money money.
Kuznetsova’s semifinal victory guaranteed that she will pass $20million in career prize money. In-form Azarenka, meanwhile, will have amassed over $2million in the opening three months of the season alone.
Highlights from all of Friday’s semifinals action at the Brisbane International
Svetlana Kuznetsova has Thursday’s shot of the day at the Miami Open.
SYDNEY, Australia – With the Australian Open just around the corner, six of the WTA’s Top 10 players are heading to the Apia International Sydney to fine-tune their preparations for the year’s first major.
The Sydney draw is out and Angelique Kerber, Agnieszka Radwanska, Dominika Cibulkova and Karolina Pliskova are all in action at the Premier-level event – here’s a rundown of what they’re up against this week.
Click here for the complete Sydney singles and doubles draws.
POSSIBLE QUARTERFINALS
[1] Angelique Kerber vs [6] Johanna KontaEARLY MATCHES TO WATCH
Sloane Stephens vs [4] Karolina Pliskova: Stephens is back in action for the first time since August after a left foot injury ended her season after the Olympic tennis event. But it won’t be an easy welcome back to the WTA as she’s drawn Brisbane champion Pliskova in the first round. Stephens leads their head-to-head record 2-0, but the pair haven’t played since late 2015.
[7] Elina Svitolina vs Monica Puig: Svitolina and Puig are set to meet for the second time in as many weeks, and this time it’s at a tournament where the Puerto Rican reached the final last year and is defending valuable points. Svitolina leads their head-to-head 2-1 after last week’s win in Brisbane.
As the top two seeds, Kerber and Radwanska received a bye into the second round. Kerber awaits the winner between Daria Kasatkina and Timea Babos, while Radwanska will face either Roberta Vinci or a qualifier in her first match.
KERBER & RADWANSKA’S ROAD TO THE FINAL:
Should World No.1 Kerber make it past her tricky second-round battle, she could face British No1 Johanna Konta in the quarterfinals. Precedent would be on her side, though, as Kerber’s won both of their previous two encounters in straight sets – including their semifinal clash at the 2016 Australian Open.
It doesn’t get any easier from there, with WTA Finals champ Dominika Cibulkova and defending Sydney champion Svetlana Kuznetsova potentially looming in the semifinals.
For 2013 champion Radwanska, it’s a more straight-forward road to the final but it’s littered with dangerous floaters.
A battle against longtime nemesis Caroline Wozniacki could await in the quarterfinals – though she trails their head-to-head 6-9, Radwanska’s come out on top in their last two matches in Wuhan and Beijing. After that, she could get the big hitting Pliskova in the semifinals.
Azarenka’s Near-Perfect Start: Former No.1 Victoria Azarenka continued her march back towards the top of the women’s game with a 20th career title at the Miami Open, becoming the third woman in WTA history to capture the Indian Wells-Miami “Sunshine” Double – joining Steffi Graf (1994, 1996) and Kim Clijsters (2005). With 22 of her 23 matches won thus far, Azarenka is in the midst of her best start to a season since her 23-match winning streak back in 2012. The Belarusian has won a tour-leading three titles and her only loss came in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open to eventual champion Angelique Kerber. Azarenka swiftly avenged the loss and didn’t drop a set en route to her third Miami title.
Just over a year ago, injuries and inconsistencies saw the two-time Australian Open champion fall as far as No.50, but her Sunshine Sweep not only takes her back into the Top 5 for the first time since 2014, but also helps her regain the top spot on the Road to Singapore leaderboard.
Kerber Rebounds For Strong Second: Though Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber struggled to regain the form that helped her defeat Azarenka and World No.1 Serena Williams to win her maiden Grand Slam title through the Middle East and Indian Wells – losing in her opening match in both the Qatar Total Open and the BNP Paribas Open to Zheng Saisai and Denisa Allertova, respectively – a solid fortnight in Miami brought her back to No.2 in the world and the Road to Singapore leaderboard. The German was down a set to Kiki Bertens in the third round and a break in the final set of her fourth round against Timea Babos, but was full of confidence in her quarterfinal against rival Madison Keys and came closest to pushing Azarenka to three sets in their semifinal.
Kerber next heads into what was her strongest part of last season, having won back-to-back titles in Charleston and Stuttgart. Top seed at the Volvo Car Open, she will have the opportunity to close what is only a 169 point gap between herself and Azarenka on the RTS leaderboard.
Serena Stays In Contention: World No.1 Serena Williams remains in search of a record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title and trails Azarenka and Kerber on the Road To Singapore leaderboard. Finishing runner-up at the Australian Open, the American appeared on course for her first BNP Paribas Open title since 2001, but the emotions of the moment undoubtedly played a factor in her straight-sets loss to the Belarusian in Indian Wells. Playing Indian Wells and Miami for only the second time in 15 years, Williams ran into an inspired Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round of the Miami Open, a tournament she has won an astounding eight times in her glittering career. The defending French Open champion will look to make up for lost ground in the clay court season, having reached the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open before triumphing on the terre battue in 2015.
Radwanska’s Semifinal Streak: Agnieszka Radwanska may have lost before the semifinals for the first time in 2016 at the Miami Open, but one cannot ignore the Pole’s stunning stretch of results; in fact, no player has won more matches since last year’s US Open than the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion, who reached the final four in Australia and Indian Wells. Radwanska reached the semifinals or better at four of her five events so far this year, lifting the tropy on her season debut at the Shenzhen Open. Her run in Miami came to a premature end at the hands of 2015 French Open semifinalis Timea Bacsinszky, causing her to drop back down to No.3 on the WTA rankings – after briefly reclaiming No.2 following Indian Wells – and settle for No.4 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard. Radwanska may prefer to be heading to grass courts to better capitalize on her good form, but clay court success is far from impossible for the 2012 Wimbledon runner-up, who made the semifinals in Madrid and quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia back in 2014.
Ones To Watch: An ankle injury interrupted Carla Suárez Navarro’s Sunshine Swing, but the Spaniard nonetheless had a first quarter to remember in 2016, reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and her first career Premier 5 title at the Qatar Total Open. Aiming to reach the Top 5, Suárez Navarro got within one spot of her season goal – and a career-high ranking – following her win in Doha, peaking at No.6 on the WTA rankings and currently rounds out the Top 5 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard. One of the many hoping to qualify for Singapore last fall, she narrowly missed out on a qualification berth when she lost in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup to Daria Kasatkina.
RTS No.6 Svetlana Kuznetsova has stealthily enjoyed a career renaissance since capturing the title in Moscow last fall, winning the Apia International Sydney and following up her Miami upset over Williams with a run to the final, losing to Azarenka in straight sets. The two-time Grand Slam champion was very close to returning to the Top 10 for the first time since 2010, but still managed to vault into the Top 8 on the RTS leaderboard. Kuznetsova hasn’t qualified for the WTA Finals since 2009, and never progressed past the round robin stage in five appearances.
British No.1 Johanna Konta refuses to rest on her laurals, backing up her run to the semifinals of the Australian Open by posting solid results through the WTA’s very own March Madness. The first set of her quarterfinal against Azarenka was one of the best of the tournament, one that truly tested the mettle of both women, who had only competed one other time last fall.
Ranked No.8 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard is Italian veteran Roberta Vinci, who captured the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy and became the oldest woman to debut in the Top 10 in WTA history. The 2015 US Open finalist was forced to pull out of the BNP Paribas Open with a right foot injury in the fourth round and won only one match in Miami before losing to Keys in straight sets.
On the bubble are Belinda Bencic and Barbora Strycova, ranked No.9 and No.10 respectively on the RTS leaderboard. Bencic made her own Top 10 debut after reaching the finals in St. Petersburg and boasted her best Australian Open finish with a run to the round of 16. Strycova has played some dangerous ball in 2016, herself, finishing runner-up at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and upset Garbiñe Muguruza in Melbourne.
Timea Bacsinszky is Bencic’s compatriot and the former World No.9 rocketed up the Road to Singapore leaderboard (no.64 to No.14) after she made the semifinals of the Miami Open with her first career Top 3 win over Agnieszka Radwanska, which she followed up by beating former No.2 Simona Halep in the quarterfinals.
Looking Ahead: The clay court season begins in earnest at the Volvo Car Open, which will be headlined by Kerber and Bencic; how many points are up for grabs leading up to the second Grand Slam of the year?
• In 2015, Kerber was the only player to win two clay court titles at the Premier level or higher.
• Serena Williams owns 12 clay-court titles, the most among active players
Caroline Wozniacki takes on Monica Puig in the first round of the Apia International Sydney.
An interview with Sara Errani before her opening round match at the Volvo Car Open.