Tennis News

A blockbuster battle between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova highlights the Day 9 schedule in Melbourne as quarterfinal action begins. Here’s a preview of what’s on tap.

Tuesday, Day 9
Quarterfinals

[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. [5] Maria Sharapova (RUS # 5)
Head-to-head: Williams leads, 18-2
Key Stat: Williams has won 17 straight decisions against Sharapova, a streak that dates back more than a decade.

There’s no denying that the numbers make a case for a predictable outcome. Serena Williams has—quite remarkably—defeated Maria Sharapova on 17 consecutive occasions and only lost three of her last 37 sets against the Russian, and yet when these two iconic forces meet there is always an air of electricity surrounding the affair. That can be chalked up to several factors. One, starpower; Two, sheer athleticism; Three, competitive fire. Both Sharapova and Williams possess all three of the aforementioned entities in spades, and plenty of Grand Slam hardware to boot. And even though Williams has thoroughly dominated this rivalry over the last 11 years, the one-sidedness has not detracted from the intrigue. “Every match is new,” Williams said of the upcoming quarterfinal with Sharapova. “You know, she always brings in something new and something special.”

Williams remains confident in her game after four breezy wins in Melbourne but she admits that the psychology of having such a long winning streak against a formidable opponent creates a strange dynamic. “I think the person who is winning could definitely feel the pressure because there is a lot of expectations,” she says. Meanwhile, Sharapova enters the matchup with a sense of brimming hope. She’s serving as well as she ever has, as 37 aces in her last two matches can attest, and she’s upped the aggression in her ground game, which could help her avoid having her movement exposed by the quicker Williams. “You’re always trying to improve,” Sharapova said on Sunday after her fourth-round win over Belinda Bencic. “I got myself into the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam. There is no reason I shouldn’t be looking to improve and to getting my game in a better position.” Could these new wrinkles help Sharapova finally get over the hump against Williams? Or will Williams once again prove to be an unsolvable puzzle for the hard-hitting Russian?

Pick: Williams in three

[4] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #4) vs. [10] Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP # 11)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads, 3-1 (counting Fed Cup)
Key Stat: Radwanska is currently on a 12-match winning streak that dates back to last year’s WTA Finals in Singapore.

Two of the tour’s most cherished players will duke it out for a coveted semifinal slot at the year’s first major. Radwanska, a semifinalist in 2014 in Melbourne, has won three of four matches against Suárez Navarro, but dropped the pair’s last meeting in Miami last year. Though the Pole comes in as the hottest player on the WTA Tour at the moment, she knows she’ll be in for a tough, physical encounter against the resourceful Suárez Navarro. As for the 27-year-old Spaniard, she’s quite familiar with Radwanska’s tactics and form, and knows she’ll have to be on point in order to reach her first career Grand Slam semifinal. “We had really tough matches in the past,” Suárez Navarro said of matching up with Radwanska after dispatching Daria Gavrilova on Day 7. “I know it will be tough for me. I know that because of her style, you have to run a lot, you have to think every point what to do.”
Radwanska had to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat on Sunday, reeling off five consecutive games in the final set to defeat Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam, and the magical finish has her thinking that she could be destined for a career-best run down under. “I’m just very happy that I could win the last point,” she said, adding: “I just hope I can go further and do one step forward, make the final.”

Pick: Radwanska in three

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Four-time gold Olympic medalist Venus Williams is going for a record breaking fifth medal at the Olympic tennis event in Rio after booking a spot into the final of mixed doubles with partner Rajeev Ram. The pair will take on Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack sock in the all-American final.

“I’m used to doing this with Serena so it’s such a crazy feeling doing it with someone else,” Williams admitted after the match. “It’s like a wild emotion, to feel what I feel with Serena. I never thought that would happen.”

Williams and Ram had to fight back from a set down against Indian superstars Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna to make it into the final. They came back to dominate in the match tiebreak, rattling off eight points in a row to take the match 2-6, 6-2, 10-3.

Williams is going for a fifth gold medal, which would set a new record for most medals in Olympic tennis. By virtue of reaching the final, she’s already guaranteed a medal, making her the first tennis player to medal in all three tennis events (along with her singles and doubles medals in Sydney 2000).

“It is what you are hoping for and I gotta be honest I was secretly hoping to be in this position when we both got in,” Venus said. “I think we both were, if we admitted it.

“We kept saying we don’t know what’s going to happen, we’ve never played together, but then the thought of ‘Oh my God this just happened’. I don’t know, it’s so surreal.”

They’ll take on fellow Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock in the final after the pair edged past the Czech duo of Lucie Hradecka and Radek Stepanek, 6-4, 7-6(3).

MELBOURNE, Australia – She originally immigrated to the UK at the age of 14 because of the distance between Australia and her new tennis training base in Europe. But throughout the Australian Open fortnight, that same distance has served well to keep the pressure off of the shoulders of British semifinalist Johanna Konta.

“The UK is a number of thousands of miles away and a completely different time zone, which in this case it might be quite nice,” Konta said, speaking of the growing buzz around her wins Down Under. “I think whatever pressure or whatever buzz there is outside, it only affects me as much as I let it.”

The always-cool Konta might remain unaffected, but there’s good reason for all the buzz.

She was the first British player since Jo Durie in 1984 to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, and with her win over Zheng Shuai she’s matched another of Durie’s milestones: making a Grand Slam final four, which Durie achieved at the 1983 US Open.

Now, she’s one win away from becoming the first British finalist in a Slam since Virginia Wade won Wimbledon in 1977.

“I don’t know Jo Durie or Sue Barker or any of the others who’ve been this far,” Konta admitted to the press after her win against Zhang. “But I’ll definitely make a concerted effort to find out more about them. It’s on the to-do list to become more informed.”

Konta displayed her potential with her impressive 2015 performance, improving her ranking by 103 spots to end the year at No.47 and produced several upsets along the way, notching wins over Garbiñe Muguruza and Andrea Petkovic at the US Open and over Victoria Azarenka and Simona Halep in Wuhan.

But for Konta, who was nominated for WTA Most Improved Player, the focus isn’t on making history or headlines- just continuing her steady upward climb to the top.

“I’m not really thinking about accumulating ‘wow’ moments, just solid experiences,” Konta said. “I just look at the way I live every single day and the way I want to compete in every single match. It’s about doing my job.”

The last Brit to make the Australian Open semifinals was Sue Barker in 1977, back when the tournament was held in December and the 32-player draw was dominated by Australians.

How does Barker feel about Konta batting away so many long-held records?

“I feel sorry for her having so many records thrown at her and it’s upsetting that it has taken so long to break the ones that were set in my era,” Sue Barker said to The Times. “Most other countries would be upset if they didn’t have a woman in a quarterfinal for a couple of years.”

“There has been a void in British women’s tennis for so long but now Johanna Konta has filled it.”

CINCINNATI, OH, USA – Croatian qualifier Donna Vekic snapped a six-month long losing streak to knock out 2014 finalist Ana Ivanovic out of the Western & Southern Open in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.

Watch live action from Cincinnati this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

“I’m very happy – I’ve played a great three matches and I’m happy to be through to the second round,” Vekic said after the match.

The only previous time Vekic played Ivanovic, the match ended in a lopsided straight sets victory for the Serbian. But now with more experience, and with three matches in Cincinnati already under her belt in the qualifying rounds, Vekic came out looking more match fit and playing aggressively.

Vekic’s big forehand gave Ivanovic plenty of trouble throughout the match. The Croat earned a double break lead early on to build a 5-1 lead. Though the former No.1 eventually looked to be finding her rhythm and even got a break back to cut into Vekic’s lead, she wasn’t able to keep the unforced errors out of her game and Vekic took the first set 6-4.

She opened the following set with another break, punching back an Ivanovic volley with a deep cross court forehand. A lackadaisical backhand from Ivanovic drifted just wide and gave Vekic her first match point, on Ivanovic’s serve at 5-1, but the Serb held on after a pair of big serves and aggressive baseline play. Vekic took the match at the second time of asking, sealing it with a big inside-out forehand.

“I’ve played [Ivanovic] before and I know her,” Vekic said. “I just played my best tennis tonight and it was enough – I’m happy.”

Once ranked as high as No.62, Vekic has struggled with finding her form in recent months. With her win over Ivanovic, she’s well on her way to finding it again. She’s snapped a losing streak dating back to February – the 20-year-old hadn’t won a WTA-level main draw match since her first round win in Doha.

She faces another big task ahead in the form of British No.1 Johanna Konta in the second round. The No.10 seeded Konta sits at a career-high ranking of World No.13 after a spate of great results that has seen her reach the quarterfinals or better in seven events so far this year.

“I’m just gonna get back out there on the practice court and try to keep up my level,” Vekic said of the matchup. “Hopefully that’ll be enough again.”

MELBOURNE, Australia – The 2017 Australian Open begins on Monday in Melbourne, with World No.1 and defending champion Angelique Kerber headlining the first night session on Rod Laver Arena. What else do you need to know about your favorite WTA stars as the first Grand Slam tournament of the season gets underway?

1. Kerber contends for first-ever major title defense.
Kerber came away with an impressive haul of Grand Slam titles in 2016, bookending the season with wins Down Under and the US Open – taking the No.1 ranking at the latter. 2017 is a new ballgame for the German, who will seek to defend a major title for the first time in her career. Her first opponent is Lesia Tsurenko, with the likes of Eugenie Bouchard and Roberta Vinci looming in her section of the draw.

2. Serena could reclaim No.1 in Australia.
In the other half of the draw stands 22-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, who is firmly in the hunt for her seventh Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy in Melbourne. The American would have to reach the final to have a chance at wresting the No.1 ranking from Kerber; click here to find out how it would all have to shake out.

3. Radwanska feeling in Grand Slam rhythm.
Armed with a new racquet, No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska is the high seed in Serena’s half of the draw, projecting a rematch of their 2016 semifinal encounter Down Under. Radwanska shrugged off a tough week in Shenzhen to reach the final at the Apia International Sydney, but has a potentially tricky opener against Tsvetana Pironkova. The Bulgarian beat Radwanska in their most recent meeting at last year’s French Open.

4. Halep in hot pursuit of first major title.
No.4 seed Simona Halep also started her year in Shenzhen, but arrived last week for some early preparation in Melbourne on the advice of coach Darren Cahill. The Romanian opens against American Shelby Rogers, and is aiming to build on her pair of quarterfinal appearances earned in 2014 and 2015. 

5. Cibulkova seeking Singapore stepping stone.
No.5 seed Dominika Cibulkova ended 2016 on an all-time high, winning the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global and reaching a best-ever ranking of No.5. The Slovak’s biggest major success came in Melbourne, where she reached the final back in 2014.

6. Is this Pliskova’s breakthrough moment?
Karolina Pliskova fell before the second week in her first 17 Grand Slam appearances, but made up for lost time in style at the US Open, where she rolled past both Williams sisters en route to the final. The Czech looked just as tough in Brisbane to start 2017, winning the tournament alongside new coach David Kotyza and moving back up to a career-high of No.5.

7. Muguruza feeding off good Melbourne memories.
Garbiñe Muguruza enjoyed a strong start to the season before injury forced her to retire from the Brisbane International semifinals. Still, the the No.7 seed feels fit and fresh ahead of the Australian Open, starting off against New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic on Monday.

8. Kuznetsova rounds out Top 8.
Kuznetsova burned some serious rubber on the Road to Singapore last fall, narrowly qualifying to become the story of the tournament, reaching the semifinals. This year, Kuznetsova is feeling calm as she hopes to surpass the quarterfinals, her previous best finish in Australia.

9. Venus & Serena headline the doubles draw.
The Australian Open women’s doubles draw came out on Sunday, with Wimbledon winners Venus and Serena Williams coming in as the most dangerous floaters in the draw, seeded No.15. The pair could play No.2 seeds Lucie Safarova and new World No.1 Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the third round.

10. No.1 up for grabs in Australia.
The singles No.1 isn’t the only ranking under threat at the Australian Open. Mattek-Sands narrowly took the top spot from Sania Mirza in Brisbane, ending the Indian star’s 91-week reign. But Elena Vesnina and the French team of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic all have a shot of taking No.1 during the fortnight. Click here to find out how.