Tennis News

– Zhang Shuai knocks out Caroline Wozniacki in thriller: It took three hours and 24 minutes, but Zhang Shuai pulled off yet another upset in her splendid season, beating Caroline Wozniacki 4-6, 7-6(8), 7-5 to make the third round. Zhang told WTA Insider that she planned her post-Australian Open around the BNP Paribas Open, which she says is her favorite tournament.

“Last year in Tokyo my target was I wanted to come to Indian Wells and Miami because this tournament is my favorite,” Zhang told WTA Insider. “I like to see the mountains, so beautiful. At the courts, and everyone is like family. But the last two years I had really bad luck. I could not come. I had injuries or something.

“So this year I did not go to Dubai, Doha, or Kuala Lumpur or Taiwan because I want to come here. I want to be 100% ready for this tournament. Very happy and thanks to Mr. Raymond Moore for giving me the wildcard. At the Australian Open we contact him. He was very fast to reply the email but we didn’t tell everybody. That’s why we go to [the $50K ITF in] Rancho Santa Fe to prepare for this tournament.

“If I stay in China or if I go to Dubai or Doha I have a long trip and big time change. I need some time to keep relaxed, not always in the tour, to not play too much. I almost [retired], so I want to be happy in the tour, not to play every week. A few years ago, at the big tournaments I was so tired or with injury. Now I want to focus on the big tournaments.”

Zhang says she’ll play the Miami Open and Volvo Cars Open in Charleston before returning to China to rest for the clay season.

“I really like Charleston,” she said. “Nice town, really nice everything. After Charleston I need a rest like after the Australian Open. I’m not young anymore. [I need to] keep healthy. I want high quality every tournament, not many tournaments but low quality, no points. And also I want more time to stay home with family and enjoy the life.”

Talk about enjoying life: Zhang told me she’s been powered by legendary California burger chain In & Out all week. I saw her at a nearby In & Out around midnight after her hard-earned win. Much deserved.

– Christina McHale’s burgeoning confidence: Since the Australian Open, McHale is now 11-3 at all levels after upsetting No.4 Garbiñe Muguruza 7-5, 6-1. It was McHale’s first win over a Top 5 player in four years. Her last win came over Petra Kvitova right here in Indian Wells in 2012.

“I thought I had a really good offseason,” McHale said after being asked about her form in 2016. “I put in a lot of work both in the gym and off the court. Unfortunately in Australia, I had a tough draw there, but I really wanted to get matches. So then I went after the second week and played a [ITF $50K] in Hawaii and got some matches there. That really helped.

“I just have played a bunch the last few weeks. I think that’s given me confidence. Playing matches is what I needed, and being healthy this year. I had a shoulder injury at the start of last year. Just being able to play a lot I think has helped.”

McHale reached a career-high No.24 in 2012 but has been out of the Top 50 for much of the last three years. “I definitely feel like there were a lot of matches where I was really close to maybe having some big wins and they kind of, yeah, just didn’t get that win,” McHale said when asked about her dip in results.

“But I feel like I have been working extremely hard all these years. I think it’s a combination of being healthy and just getting a lot of matches in and kind of getting into a groove.

“It wasn’t like I felt like I was playing poorly these past couple years, though. I think I just had a few tight matches that didn’t go my way that maybe could have changed some things.”

Safety First: Here’s why @ChristinaMcHale plays in long sleeves as much as she can: pic.twitter.com/UN5HSozoUP

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 13, 2016

– Eugenie Bouchard rolls back the clock: The Canadian continued her resurgent form, earning her first Top 25 win since the 2014 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open by beating No.22 Sloane Stephens 7-5, 7-5. With Wayne Gretzky cheering from her player’s box, Bouchard notched her tour-leading 15th win of the season. She had 12 wins in the entirety of 2015.

“It’s important to me because it’s kind of on my comeback as I have kind of called this year,” Bouchard said. “It gives me confidence looking forward. You know, I don’t want to look back or don’t want to think about 2014 or 2015 really, so this one is important. It’s kind of a step forward, and I just want to keep going.”

– 16 of 32 seeds fall in the second round: The unpredictability continued in Indian Wells after another day of upsets. No.2 Angelique Kerber bowed out to Denisa Allertova, as other notable seeds – Garbiñe Muguruza, Caroline Wozniacki, and Carla Suárez Navarro (withdrew with an ankle injury) suffered an early exit.

– German Exodus: Nine German women were in the draw. They went winless.

– Sloane Stephens rues her missed opportunities: Stephens had multiple chances to close out the second set to force a third against Bouchard, none better than a short forehand at the net that flew wildly long. The tour leader in titles just couldn’t find her best when she needed it.

“There are always things to work on, obviously,” she said. “I played pretty good this year so far. Today was just unfortunate. Like I said, I played to protect. When you get out there you have to play to win. It was unfortunate, but this whole tennis thing it’s definitely a learning process. So I know that I have things to work on, and hopefully going into next week I can get myself together and have a good week next week.”

– Victoria Azarenka hits the tape: Azarenka won her opening match, 6-3, 6-2 over Zarina Diyas. She’s says she’s able to play pain free after withdrawing from Acapulco with a wrist injury.

I asked Azarenka whether she’s been able to put her Australian Open quarterfinal loss behind her. “Yeah, it wasn’t pleasant, that’s for sure,” she said. “I think the most difficult was to rewatch that match.” So what did she see on the rewatch?

“That it was my match to win, and that’s painful to see sometimes.”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – A year ago, Venus Williams sat at home in Florida, never thinking that in 12 months time she would be walking back out onto Stadium Court at the BNP Paribas Open. But there she was on Friday afternoon, being greeted by a raucous standing ovation as the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” blasted from the stadium speakers.

Oh baby, give me one more chance (To show you that I love you)
Won’t you please let me back in your heart

And as the message became clear – yes, this crowd very much wanted her back – an impossibly wide, genuine, unbreakable smile spread wide across Venus’ face.

“I’m a person that’s not into the spotlight so much, so I guess such a warm welcome I actually felt a little shy,” Venus said after the match. “It’s been a wonderful moment. Fifteen years later to have such a joyous return is more than I could have ever. It’s such a blessing.”

Venus’ return to Indian Wells for the first time in 15 years was in stark contrast to Serena’s last year. While Serena kept her head down as the thunderous applause came, Venus looked up to the rafters and waved. Serena struggled (and failed) to hold back tears as she tried to settle into her chair. Venus beamed and sat triumphantly in her chair and took a moment to let it all wash over her.

She leaned back, smiled, and let out a huge sigh of relief as she soaked in the moment she never thought would come.

Welcome back! ? ? ?@VenusesWilliams returns to the @BNPParibasOpen after 15 years! #WTA https://t.co/wr7FU9gZ9X

— WTA (@WTA) March 12, 2016

“It was wonderful to be able to enjoy a moment. As an athlete you’re so focused that you don’t really realize the circumstances and how awesome it is to play in big stadiums like this until it’s all done because you’re just so focused. To have the moment and be able to enjoy it even for a few moments is worth a lifetime of memories.”

Venus’ return was a tag-team effort. When Serena told her last year she was thinking of returning to the desert after 14 years away, Venus did not actually believe her. She knew her sister was thinking about it, but Venus confessed on Friday that she never thought her kid sister would go through with it.

“Obviously I saw Serena come back last year, so that was really a wonderful moment,” Venus said. “Then just being here, just being on the practice court and on-site has been so positive and such a great experience.

“It just shows that you can always come back home, I guess. You can always go home.

“I did get emotional. When we were doing the coin toss I got a little watery eyed. Your opponent, you don’t want to give them any more encouragement. It was wonderful. I think I smiled the whole warm-up. I had to get my game face on. It was tough to do.”

Venus was unable to get the result she wanted, losing 6-4, 6-3 to Kurumi Nara in the second round. The match was played in cold and windy conditions, interrupted once by a lengthy rain delay. Nara played a smart, consistent match, while Venus struggled to get her big serve going in the wind.

“I think it wasn’t about winning,” Serena said after beating Laura Siegemund 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the third round. “When I come here, even to this day it’s not about winning. It’s just about closing that chapter in my life and her life and our lives and try to move on with our heads up, as we always had our heads up. But just continue to do that.”

“Not everything can end in a fairy tale,” Venus said. “It’s enough of a fairy tale to be here. Sometimes there’s a little bit of a glitch. Doesn’t mean that I can’t come back next year and try to do even better.”

In a thoughtful press conference after the match, Venus elaborated on what kept her away from the tournament since 2001.

“I’m definitely not an angry person, so I wouldn’t characterize it as anger, but I would characterize it as, you know, if you feel like there is a place where you don’t feel that welcome, then you can choose not to go somewhere where you don’t feel comfortable being,” she said. “At the time I didn’t feel comfortable. I wouldn’t have felt comfortable coming back through those doors. The very next year would have just been too overwhelming.

“So at the time it was just about being able to play in circumstances that are – and we’re not even talking about favorable, but just normal circumstances. You try to put yourself in a position where you’re not facing any adverse circumstances. So that’s really what it was at the time.

“I wasn’t angry,” she repeated. “I’m not an angry person. I definitely probably hold on to stuff like anybody normal.

“I have watched the tournament on TV. Enjoyed the matches and thought it was a great tournament. It just didn’t seem like a tournament for me. That’s more or less what it was. I didn’t dwell on or boycott or not watch it and all those things. It wasn’t like that at all.”

Venus reiterated the theme of forgiveness that drove Serena’s decision to return last year. “I think it’s a two-way street,” she said. “We could have come back here and everyone could have picked up where they left off.

“But everyone was welcoming, and also for us, we could have never come back. But we came back. You know, change your attitude and those sort of things. The change of attitudes on both ends isn’t always easy, but it’s definitely was a two-way street. For it to work, both parties involved, both us and the fans and the city had to have a positive attitude towards toward it. That’s how it worked.

“I think after Serena came back last year and she had such a warm welcome, I definitely thought to myself, I’ve got no reason not to go anymore. It was time to be able to just move on and let the past be the past.”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.