Rome: Shot Of The Day (Saturday)
Madison Keys has Saturday’s shot of the day at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Madison Keys has Saturday’s shot of the day at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Capturing the Indian Wells-Miami “Sunshine Double” is no easy feat, but Victoria Azarenka and Bethanie Mattek-Sands made it look easy in March, taking home both titles at the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open in singles and doubles (with CoCo Vandeweghe and Lucie Safarova), respectively. Who else made waves in the midst of the Sunshine Swing?
Azarenka’s Spring Surge
The former No.1 started 2016 ranked outside the Top 20, but Azarenka was on a mission from first ball at Indian Wells, roaring to her biggest career title and first Premier Mandatory crown since 2012.
After double bageling Magdalena Rybarikova in the last eight, she survived a topsy-turvy semifinal encounter with future US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova before stunning then-World No.1 Serena Williams, who was playing her first final in the California desert since 2001.
Azarenka says her forehand return has improved, can hit more angles, winners from that side. Other game tweaks: pic.twitter.com/k2z4vkokuV
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 16, 2016
“I believe I’m a stronger, faster, and a smarter player,” she told WTA Insider after the final. “I find ways to win when some other things don’t work. I’ve improved my serve a lot. I’m mentally way happier, and I have people with whom I see no limitations.”
The win brought her back into the Top 10 for the first time in nearly two years, and put her in position for the elusive Sunshine Double.
Azarenka Strikes Two In Miami
Azarenka was even more emphatic in Miami, winning her third title of the season without dropping a set in sunny Florida.
The most impressive match came against eventual Roland Garros champion Garbiñe Muguruza, whom the Belarusian narrowly eliminated in a pair of tie-breaks. Azarenka went on to avenge her Australian Open defeat to Angelique Kerber in the semifinals and dismiss surprise finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets.
Champagne taste and caviar dreams for @vika7 @MiamiOpen. pic.twitter.com/fCH9do3e2J
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) April 2, 2016
Back in the Top 5, she appeared on course to challenge for even bigger titles as the tour turned to clay.
“It’s been a really long month and to be able to contain this determination and that intensity throughout all the matches is definitely not an easy task,” she told WTA Insider. “The last couple of days especially has been a lot of expectations and pressure from the outside to complete the Sunshine Double.
“I’m very proud that I kept myself present, kept myself really focused and focused on the job before anything else.”
Mattek-Sands Serves Double Trouble
While Azarenka dominated a compelling month of singles, Mattek-Sands was cleaning things up in doubles with two different partners across Indian Wells and Miami.
First partnering up with CoCo Vandeweghe, the Americans upset No.2 seeds Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching and No.3 seeds Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova en route to the final, where they narrowly outlasted Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova, 6-4, 4-6, 10-6.
Women's doubles champs Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova have a special message for their fans. #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/ZibcZlUNTN
— Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) April 3, 2016
Moving to Miami, Mattek-Sands reunited with former partner Lucie Safarova (with whom she’d captured the Australian Open and French Open last year), and ran the table to win the tournament without dropping a set, defeating Babos and Shvedova in the final.
The second half of the Sunshine Double proved ample foreshadowing for Mattek-Sands, who went on to win the US Open with Safarova and ride an 18-match winning streak into the final of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Elsewhere…
A trio of veterans struck gold through the post-Aussie Indoor and Middle East Swing, with Roberta Vinci, Carla Suárez Navarro, and Sara Errani taking home titles in St. Petersburg, Doha, and Dubai, respectively. Vinci’s run in Russia helped her become the oldest Top 10 debutante in WTA history, while runner-up Belinda Bencic became the youngest since 2009 to make her Top 10 debut. Suárez Navarro earned the biggest title of her career, outlasting the charge of young hotshot Jelena Ostapenko, while Errani won a battle of veterans by knocking out Barbora Strycova in Dubai.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Serena Williams takes on Madison Keys in the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
It took her a few tries, but Peng Shuai finally got a hang of the WTA Frame Challenge. How well did she do? Well, that’s a different story…
STRASBOURG, France – No.3 seed Samantha Stosur clinched a second set tie-break to sweep aside Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-3, 7-6(3), to join Alla Kudryavtseva in the quarterfinals of the Internationaux de Strasbourg.
Stosur recovered from an early break in the opening set, and the disappointment of missing the opportunity to end the match in the tenth game of the second.
“I served for it at 5-4 then lost serve,” she told wtatennis.com after the match. “You just need to knuckle down and keep focused, think about what had been working in the match and get back to those things.
“It would have been hard having been serving for the match then playing a third set, and I lost serve again at 6-5. Then it was all about a good start in the tie-break.”
Stosur had never dropped a set in her two previous matches against the former doubles No.1; the pattern held in the ensuing tie-break, which the 2011 US Open champion won to clinch the match in an hour and 37 minutes.
“I don’t remember the other encounters with Su-Wei. Just the scores. They were in different conditions. My coach had a look but two years is a pretty long time in tennis.
“It was another good match against a tricky opponent. It was closer than the score looked.”
Up next for the Aussie is No.10 seed Caroline Garcia, who eased past Jil Teichmann, 7-6(5), 6-3.
Kudryavtseva was the first into the final eight with a thrilling 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) win over Zarina Diyas. The Russian hadn’t reached a WTA quarterfinal since her run at last year’s Brisbane International as a lucky loser, and had to recover from a 5-3 final set deficit to defeat Diyas, and set up a match with either Alison Riske or No.4 seed Kristina Mladenovic, whose match was postponed due to darkness.
Elena Vesnina and Sloane Stephens were the last into the second round in Strasbourg on Tuesday; Vesnina was victorious in the fifth longest match of 2016, taking out Zheng Saisai, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(5), while Stephens captured a one-set shoot-out with Donna Vekic, completing a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 win.
Le soleil revient aux #IS2016 ! pic.twitter.com/SqFj1kB9Ig
— WTA Strasbourg (@WTA_Strasbourg) May 17, 2016
Evgeniya Rodina defeated Chang Kai-Chen in Sunday’s final of the OEC Taipei WTA Challenge to lift the biggest title of her career.
Madison Keys might be the youngest member of the WTA’s Top 10, but in 2016 she proved that she has the game to stay at the top. Watch all of Keys’ best shots of the year, right here!
Can Caroline Garcia pull off the upset of the tournament in front of her home crowd against World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska? Check out the Day 4 preview at wtatennis.com.
The entry list is out for the Hobart International, which begins on January 8th, with French Open semifinalist and World No.22 Kiki Bertens leading the International field that includes defending champion Alizé Cornet and fan favorites Jelena Jankovic and Andrea Petkovic. Last season, Cornet rolled to her first title in nearly two years, beating Eugenie Bouchard, 6-1, 6-2 in the final.
The field also includes two of the tour’s top teenagers, in No.47 Ana Konjuh and No. 48 Naomi Osaka.
Full Hobart Entry List:
No.22 Kiki Bertens
No.34 Anastasija Sevastova
No.38 Monica Niculescu
No.39 Alison Riske
No.40 Misaki Doi
No.41 Alizé Cornet
No.42 Kristina Mladenovic
No.47 Ana Konjuh
No.48 Naomi Osaka
No.49 Sara Errani
No.50 Johanna Larsson
No.51 Annika Beck
No.52 Katerina Siniakova
No.53 Julia Goerges
No.54 Jelena Jankovic
No.55 Andrea Petkovic
No.56 Viktorija Golubic
No.57 Lesia Tsurenko
No.59 Shelby Rogers
No.60 Kristyna Pliskova
No.62 Lucie Safarova
No.64 Galina Voskoboeva (SR)
No.65 Kirsten Flipkens