Tennis News

MELBOURNE, Australia – Taking stock of the first two rounds of play at the Australian Open, where Serena Williams leads a class of players who look primed for a title run.

Fit and ready to fight.

Through the first two rounds of play, here are the players who look in-form and ready to make a real run at the Australian Open title.

Serena Williams

No one had a tougher draw in the first two rounds than Serena and she passed with flying colors, beating Belinda Bencic and Lucie Safarova in straight sets. Her win over Safarova on Thursday night was particularly impressive. Serena fired 15 aces and a total of 35 winners to 23 unforced errors and she was clutch when she needed to be. Serena faced down six break points and saved them all to win, 6-3, 6-4.

And you know it was good if she says it was good. Serena’s her harshest critic, which explains why she didn’t have much patience for anyone finding fault in her performance.

“Scrappy?”

Serena put in a top-notch performance tonight. So you can understand this response. #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/PJrvI4AAVH

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) January 19, 2017

Karolina Pliskova

Through two matches against, as she said, soft opponents, the World No.5 has lost just four games, dropping two bagel sets along the way. She has yet to be tested in the tournament, but she’s been striking the ball well and has been broken just once.

Johanna Konta

Konta continues her incredible form that was on display in her run to the Apia International Sydney title last week. She has not lost a set, beating Kirsten Flipkens and Naomi Osaka handily, and her level has been outstanding. If she wasn’t in Serena’s quarter of the draw she’d be a more than justifiable pick to make the semifinals, if not the final. That’s just how good Jo is playing right now.

Dominika Cibulkova

The No.6 seed has not lost a set but she’s been made to fight on court to beat Denisa Allertova and Hsieh Su-Wei. There have been some wobbles, but the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion has yet to panic, a true sign of her growing confidence. Cibulkova did not come into the tournament with many matches, and she may need a few more to fully round into form. But she’s been solid early.

Garbiñe Muguruza

The Spaniard insists that her abductor injury is getting better as time goes on, and her ability to pocket tough straight-set wins in the early going will only help. She did not have dominant wins over Marina Erakovic and Sam Crawford, but she’s shown the same resilience she showed at the Brisbane International to start the year. Muguruza is battle-tested and she’s playing well. The only question is whether her body holds up during the tournament.

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Much like Pliskova, the No.8 seed has yet to face a real test, losing just one game to Mariana Duque-Mariño and handling Aussie teenager Jamiee Fourlis easily.

Venus Williams

As I wrote before the tournament, Venus has a great draw to make the second week and possibly the semifinals. Through two matches she has looked far better than expected given the right arm injury she’s been managing. Much like Muguruza, we’ll be keeping an eye on how she’s doing physically – she withdrew from doubles so as to not aggravate the injury – but so far, so good for Venus.

The Dark Horse

Eugenie Bouchard looks primed to play spoiler in her section of the draw. Bouchard has been playing confident tennis in Melbourne and faced CoCo Vandeweghe on Friday. Get through that match and she could earn a shot at defending champion Angelique Kerber, who is still trying to find her form.

The Surprises

Jennifer Brady, Maria Sakkari, Nicole Gibbs, Mona Barthel, Ashleigh Barty, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Sorana Cirstea probably aren’t names many penciled into the third round.

Quote of the Day: “Sometimes people think you play a top player and you’ll go in there relaxed like you have nothing to lose. I don’t see it that way at all.”

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni pulled off the upset of the day, routing No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-2 in just 66 minutes. The 34-year-old fired 33 winners to just 20 unforced errors, and she left Radwanska playing the role of bystander. “Shooting – not playing – is the right word for that game,” Radwanska said. “In or out. That’s it. It went so quickly.”

“Sometimes people think you play a top player and you’ll go in there relaxed like you have nothing to lose,” Lucic-Baroni said. “I don’t see it that way at all. I know I have the game to beat top players so I came in there with a gameplan today to win the match. I didn’t go to see the court and enjoy. I’m way too old and I’ve been around way too long to just gain experience. I came there to win the match.”

It took the Croat 19 years to win her second match ever at the Australian Open, which came in the first round. Now, 48 hours later she scored her third.

“Feelings like tonight are incredible on court,” Lucic-Baroni said. “You can’t replicate it anywhere else in life.”

Jennifer Brady saves five match points to beat Heather Watson.

The American qualifier, ranked No.116, is playing just her second main draw at a Slam. Thanks to some clutch serving, she saved five match points to beat Watson, 2-6, 7-6(3), 10-8 in 2 hours and 43 minutes. She’ll face No.14 seed Elena Vesnina next. The Russian has a chance to make the second week without facing a player in the Top 100.

Brady told reporters she had no expectation of still being in the tournament in the third round. “I booked my hotel through the 20th,” Brady said. “Gotta change that now.”

Brady’s friends are pretty excited for her:

Spot the brat in the 3rd rd of @AustralianOpen!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/N07XJ7uqxG

— Grace Min (@GraceMin56) January 19, 2017

SakkAttack!

Greece’s Maria Sakkari won her first main draw match at a Slam here in Melbourne last year. Twelve months later she’s into her first third round, beating No.28 seed Alizé Cornet, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. With the massive Greek support here in Melbourne, Sakkari was left speechless when asked what this result means to her.

“I still cannot believe it. It’s a dream. I grew up watching all these players that I’m playing now and I could not imagine when I was young that I would be here in the third round playing against these players.”

“It’s something that not many people can do, around the world. I still cannot believe it so I cannot tell you what it feels like.”

Johanna Konta and Caroline Wozniacki set for a big third-round clash.

Both women won through easily on Thursday, setting up a must-watch match on Saturday. Clear your schedules. That’s the biggest third-round showdown of the tournament. It will be the first meeting between the two.

Dominika Cibulkova on the mental game.

Cibulkova started working with a sports psychologist in February of 2015 and she credits all the hard work they’ve done over the last two years for her on-court improvements. But she admits that she wasn’t sure about it when they first began working together.

“In the beginning I didn’t believe this was something that would help me achieve what I want,” she said. “But I started to work with him and I saw the results. So I started to believe once I tried it myself.”

Earlier in the week, CoCo Vandeweghe said she had tried working with a sports psychologist years ago but stopped because she found it too invasive. I asked Cibulkova why more players don’t work with a sports psychologist, especially in a high-pressure game like tennis.

“I think the best players, they work with a mental coach, they just don’t talk about it,” she said. “They just want to keep it for themselves. Who would want to say, ‘I’m doing this extra and it will help you too’?

“Three years ago I thought if I give 100% on the court then off the court it’s my time off and I don’t have to think about tennis and do other things. Now my coach led me to this mental coach and he said, ‘Domi, you need this because your game is so good but you need your head to be more stable and more strong.'”

Nicole Gibbs gets back to basics.

Gibbs is into the third round of a Slam for the first time since the US Open in 2014, and for just the second time in her career. She came through an All-American derby, beating Irina Falconi in straight sets.

Watching Gibbs early this season it’s clear that she’s been working on being more aggressive and looking to hit forehands with more pace and placement. Gibbs credits a racquet switch during the off-season, trading in her Wilson Burn for the new Wilson Blade. But she’s also getting back to the fundamentals of her game, which she felt she went away from last year.

“When my dad built my game he kind of modeled me after Justine Henin,” Gibbs said. “He wanted me running around backhands, looking for my forehand everywhere. His only regret was not giving me a one-handed backhand.

“That was the basis of my game and for the first time in a long time I have a coach that sees it that way as well. So we’re getting back to the foundational principles that my game was built around and I think that’s going to take me to the highest potential peak of my game.”

Naomi Osaka bows out.

For the first time in five Slams, Osaka failed to reach the third round, though in this case you can blame a tough draw against Konta. Asked about her goals for the season, the 19-year-old was pretty clear.

“Goals for the season, I wanted to get into the Top 20, win a tournament, and then get to the quarterfinals of a Slam.”

Serena is just…Serena.

“Overall I played really well. But unfortunately, Serena played…Serena.”

That was Lucie Safarova after playing a great match and still finding herself on the losing end of a straight-set loss to Serena.

“She’s not someone you see in a second-round match. I know that [French Open final against Safarova] was a tough three-set match. She never gives up. Like she’s just always fighting to come back. So I knew that I wanted to jump out in the lead.

“I knew that I wanted to just be Serena. That’s what I’m good at doing, is being Serena.”

So what exactly does it mean to “be Serena”?

“To me, it’s being a champion, but not only by the way I play, but the things I do off the court as well,” Serena said. “I know that being Serena on the court is in a way being calm, which is in my name, but always having that fire as well. I think, most of all, being confident. I should be confident ’cause there’s no other Serena. I mean, I’m Serena. Maybe there is another one, but she’s not in tennis.

“So I think sometimes I forget. I try to be so humble that I forget I have accomplished so much. I really wanted today to just have confidence when I was out there.”

Day 5 Matches to Watch:

Eugenie Bouchard vs. CoCo Vandeweghe (1st match, Rod Laver Arena)
Angelique Kerber vs. Kristyna Pliskova (2nd match, Rod Laver Arena)
Elina Svitolina vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (1st match, Margaret Court Arena)
Venus Williams vs. Duan Ying-Ying (3rd match, Margaret Court Arena)
Garbiñe Muguruza vs. Anastasija Sevastova (2nd night match, Margaret Court Arena)
Jelena Jankovic vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova (1st match, Hisense Arena)

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

Simona Halep began the French Open as a heavy favorite, but her tournament ended in heavy conditions and with heavier disappointment.

“It was impossible to play, in my opinion,” she said after her fourth round loss to Samantha Stosur. “And to play tennis matches during the rain, I think it’s a bit too much.”

The Romanian had been in control of the match before an 18-hour washout forced her and her Aussie opposition onto a drizzling court that her feeling pain in her back and Achilles. And those were just the physical effects.

“I was far to think about the title, but I think that I had a chance. If the courts are dry here I have a chance, because I like the conditions when it’s normal weather.

“In Madrid was different. That’s why I played so well. I like those conditions.”

From her press conference, it was clear that she felt robbed of a golden opportunity at what has been her most successful Grand Slam tournament. But the former World No.2 is hardly a clay court specialist.

Two weeks after narrowly losing to Maria Sharapova in the 2014 French Open final, the Romanian shrugged off the disappointment and channeled it into her best-ever Wimbledon result. In her first quarterfinal at the All England Club, she dismantled former finalist Sabine Lisicki before disaster struck against Eugenie Bouchard.

Up a break in the opening set, Halep took a heavy turn on her ankle, eventually fading in two sets and missing out on the chance to play Petra Kvitova – a player she had never lost to – for Wimbledon glory.

“It was difficult to continue because I twisted my ankle and it was very hard,” she said at the time. “I felt a big pain in the moment, and I couldn’t push anymore in my leg. My first serve was really bad after that. Yeah, it was difficult to continue.”

This year, Halep has shown steady improvements after a slow start to the season, but injury concerns in the form of a persistent Achilles injury ruled her out of the Aegon Classic.

“I started to feel it since I came here,” she said at the start of last week. “I have some fluid inside the tendon so the doctor says that I have to rest for a few days. It’s nothing serious but it’s a bit sore. I have almost two weeks to recover before Wimbledon so I will take a few days rest and then some treatment and then start to play again.

“This was my first tournament on grass and it was important to have some matches but I cannot change things. It’s important to take care of my body.”

Under the tutelage of reknowned coach Darren Cahill, Halep has been eager to match and surpass the heights she hit in her peak 2014 season. But while she won many matches throughout that auspicious year, she also prioritized her health above all other committments, frequently amending her schedule to ensure she was ready to perform on the game’s biggest stages.

Disappointed as she was to have left Paris without the trophy, the Romanian won’t feel her form cost her the chance. Taking the time to reset her body and mind ahead of what promises to be a stressful time of year may be the best decision the former semifinalist could have made. Fit and ready to wade past the undertow of uncertainty that cut her campaign short one year ago, Halep will be keen to ensure her preparation meets opportunity at Wimbledon.

Click here to read more about this year’s Wimbledon Contenders, courtesy of WTA Insider.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.