Miami: Caroline Wozniacki's Shot Of The Day
Check out Caroline Wozniacki’s shot of the day against Lucie Safarova at the Miami Open.
Check out Caroline Wozniacki’s shot of the day against Lucie Safarova at the Miami Open.
MIAMI, FL, USA – Johanna Konta became the first British woman to reach the Miami Open semifinals after coming back from a set down to oust No.3 seed Simona Halep.
Putting an injury-plagued start of the season behind her, Halep came into the matchup after winning consecutive matches for the first time all season here in Miami. And in the quarterfinals, the Romanian even saved match point in her late-night thriller against Sam Stosur.
But she couldn’t pull off the escape once again against Konta, falling 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 after a rollercoaster two hours and thirty minutes.
.@JoKonta wins a mammoth tiebreak 9-7!
Into a decider… #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/TWpn1gbFnG
— WTA (@WTA) March 29, 2017
The Brit had to overcome a slow start against Halep, though, as the Romanian came out of the gates firing and would take an early break in the opening set. Loose unforced errors during the initial exchanges cost Konta, and Halep didn’t allow her to settle into a rhythm with her changes of pace.
Dropping the first set only galvanized Konta, as the Brit notched an emphatic break to love and a 3-0 lead. But that’s when things got complicated, and Halep dodged a pair of break points and leveled the match a few games later.
She served for the match at 5-4, and was two points away from victory when Konta denied her, keeping her serve under pressure and rewarded with loose errors.
Into a tiebreaker, Halep once again saw her lead erased as Konta came roaring back from 5-3 down and edged through 9-7.
.@JoKonta91 advances to @MiamiOpen Semifinals!
Battles past Halep 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2! pic.twitter.com/nm3n99u6s8
— WTA (@WTA) March 29, 2017
With the wind in her sails Konta grabbed the lead once again but this time didn’t allow Halep back in. She broke Halep twice to reel off the final five games and complete the comeback.
“It was a really tough match, very high level,” Halep told WTA Insider after the match. “I was so close to winning, I was two points away in the tiebreak, but she played very strong and deserved to win today.
“I’m happy to be here after the break that I had. I’m just disappointed I lost a match I had in my hands. But my confidence is there, the game is there – I just need to play matches.”
Konta be rewarded with a clash against the winner between World No.1 Angelique Kerber and Venus Williams for a chance to go even further and win a spot into her second career Premier Mandatory final.
Should she reach the final, she’s projected to return to the Top 10 after the WTA rankings are released on Monday.
“Whoever I’m playing, I’ll have a battle on my hands that’s for sure,” Konta said. “I’ve played Venus and Angie a few times. They’re going to have a tough battle tonight, and I’m looking forward to playing either of them. Either of them will be a great opportunity for different reasons.”
SINGAPORE – Most of the time, players tend to offer identical analysis of a tournament’s court speed. Clay is slower than hardcourts, which are, in turn, slower than grass and indoor courts. But within that hierarchy lies a maddening gradient of quick clay courts and slow hardcourts that can make it difficult to assess which court will favor a player on any given week.
Speaking at Saturday’s All-Access hour, Agnieszka Radwanska, Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Garbiñe Muguruza, Madison Keys, and Dominika Cibulkova were all asked to give their take on the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global’s Centre Court. The consensus was admittedly hard to gauge.
“I don’t remember last year, but I think it’s so slow,” Muguruza said. “It’s so slow. I think there’s going to be hard matches in that surface.
“But I love the court. It’s such a great show and environment, so we’ll put the effort there.”
Coming from the Generali Ladies Linz, Keys agreed that the court was slower than a player might find at the average indoor, but even that criticism is relative.
“They’re playing a little bit slower than what Linz was playing, but it was actually really nice to be able to go and play an indoor tournament and then come here. It feels pretty similar. The ball stays really low. Definitely a faster court, so I’m not complaining about that.”
Winning Linz to qualify for Singapore, Cibulkova thought it had less to do with speed and more to do with bounce, which will be crucial for the big-hitting Slovak to get her rhythm on Sunday’s first round robin match against Halep.
“I thought the surface would be pretty similar [to Linz], but it’s not. It’s very different. It bounces and it’s a little bit faster.
“So I still have to get used to it. It’s good that it’s at least indoor, that I don’t have to get used to indoor and outdoor.”
Runner-up in 2014, Halep pointed to the slowness of the court as one of the reasons why she liked playing at the WTA Finals, but Pliskova wasn’t sure the court played as slow as her colleagues insisted.
“I definitely wouldn’t say it’s fast, but it could be slower. I’ve played on slower surfaces so I was expecting it’s going to be even slower what I heard from last year from the girls.
“I would say it’s somewhere in the middle. For the serve I think it’s pretty fast, but when you play the rally it’s not that fast.
“Hopefully for the crowd they are going to see some rallies and good shots from the players.”
One would expect Radwanska, the defending champion, to have the definitive answer when it came to court speed. The Pole ultimately seemed as mystified as her peers, but if there’s one thing the shotmaker knows how to do on any surface, it’s improvise:
Q. You were here a couple days ago. One of earliest players here. Have you had a hit on court? Have the conditions changed from last year?
AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA: I think, of course, the surface is very similar [to last year]. It’s the same. I think it’s a bit faster because it’s already been used [this week]. But I don’t think it’s that slow as last year. That’s what I notice.
But, well, it’s always a little bit tough for us to play indoors. I think I just play one indoor tournament in Stuttgart and then here. It’s good to be here a couple days earlier to adjust to the conditions.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
ZHUHAI, China – The WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai has announced today the appointment of José Miguel Garcia from Madrid, Spain as Tournament Director for the year‐end WTA event held at the Hengqin Tennis Center Zhuhai.
Garcia brings 15 years of experience at professional tennis events, mainly at the Mutua Madrid Open where he remains a key member of the completion, operations and player services team.
“I am very excited by this new project,” Garcia said during his first visit to Zhuhai. “The facilities at the Hengqin Tennis Center Zhuhai are extremely impressive and I look forward to using my experiences from other major events I have been involved with and by working with the WTA and Zhuhai based event teams to continue to grow the event as it enters into its third year.”
In cooperation with the Mutua Madrid Open, Garcia will travel regularly to Zhuhai to coordinate the organization of the event with teams from the event operator and promoter Zhuhai Huafa Sports Operations Management Co. Ltd, the licensing owner APG and the WTA.
“We are very happy to have José Miguel Garcia as Tournament Director for the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, his international experience will be extremely valuable to the event and contribute to the development of the tournament,” said Peter Lv, Executive Director of Zhuhai Huafa Sports Operations Management Co. Ltd.
“We strongly believe José Miguel will be a great asset for the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai and will provide the support needed to take the event to the next level. We are proud to have him appointed as the Tournament Director for the event and look forward to seeing the event continue to grow successfully,” said Fabrice Chouquet, APG Chief Operating Officer.
The WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, established in 2015, features 11 of the top ranked singles players along with one wild card and four of the top ranked doubles teams and two team wild cards.
The $USD 2.28 million event to be held between October 31st – November 5th at the Hengqin Tennis Center Zhuhai, also sees up to 700 WTA ranking points awarded to the winner. Venus Williams won the title in 2015 and Petra Kvitova in 2016.
Day 10’s stat of the day from the Miami Open, presented with SAP.
In today’s SAP stat of the day, Johanna Konta writes her name in the British tennis history books yet again at the Miami Open.
Petra Kvitova takes on Louisa Chirico in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
The theme of the Abierto GNP Seguros player party was “glow in the dark,” and Caroline Garcia, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and plenty of WTA players were on hand to light up the night.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL, USA – The WTA announced on Tuesday that the Taiwan Open will move to Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, from 2017. The Taiwan Open will take place starting January 30, 2017 on hard court at the 10,000-seat indoor stadium, the Taipei Arena.
Venus Williams won the inaugural event with Taiwan’s Chan sisters taking the doubles title. Williams’ victory at the inaugural 2016 Taiwan Open tournament in an exciting final against Japan’s Misaki Doi, was her 49th WTA title win. This year’s inaugural event, attended by almost 10,000 fans, let the world focus on Taiwan through global broadcast coverage and is set to become a major drawcard for Taiwan which has developed brilliant professional female tennis players like Su-Wei Hsieh, Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan.
The Taiwan Open attracts the support of the corporate sector, the media and fans, as well as creates an inspirational pathway for talented young national players who aspire to one day compete in world-class professional tennis and play in their homeland at the Taiwan Open.
Mayor of Taipei, Ko Wen-Je, stated, “On behalf of Taipei City Government, I am pleased to announce that Taiwan Open will be held in Taipei next year. We are committed to bringing the best events to our global city and the decision to move the event to Taipei demonstrates the city’s ability to attract the best international sport events. We look forward to working with the WTA and the tournament organisers to make this an event all of Taiwan can be proud of.”
The Taiwan Open offers USD 500,000 in prize money and is committed to attracting the world’s top tennis talent and to making this event one of the most prestigious WTA International tournaments on the women’s tennis global calendar. The move to Taipei will result in increased government and sponsorship investment and make the event accessible to a larger fan base.
“This is an exciting time for APG as we continue to support and expand the footprint of women’s tennis across Asia,” said Stephen Duckitt, Director – Tournaments, APG. “Tennis has grown considerably in this region over the past few years and we are looking forward to stage another world-class tennis event in Taiwan, and are proud to be hosted by the Taipei City Government next year.”