Miami: Bacsinszky Interview
An interview with Timea Bacsinszky after her win in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open.
An interview with Timea Bacsinszky after her win in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open.
MIAMI, FL, USA – Victoria Azarenka continued her march towards a third Miami Open title with a straight set win over Johanna Konta in Wednesday’s quarterfinal.
Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Miami right here on wtatennis.com!
In a high-quality encounter, Azarenka withstood some early pressure before raising her game to prevail, 6-4, 6-2.
“She’s such a great player and it’s interesting to see what sort of player she was last year and playing well here, so I see a lot of potential,” Azarenka told ESPN’s Mary Joe Fernandez afterwards. “I couldn’t actually get a read on her serve in the beginning – it was tough for me to adjust – but then I got a bit lower and tried to get more returns in, be a bit more aggressive.”
Playing her first match on Crandon Park’s cavernous Stadium court, Konta started brightly, breezing through her first two service games whilst exerting early pressure with some aggressive returning.
But in the seventh game, Azarenka created an opportunity of her own, punching away a volley to earn her first break points. Konta produced some smart play to reach the safety of deuce only to succumb two points later when she double faulted for the first time.
This lapse proved a costly one, Azarenka’s serve holding firm to close out the set in a fraction under an hour. With Konta’s level dropping, Azarenka began to pile on the pressure, a brilliant stretching forehand return bringing up three break points early in the second set.
Once again, Konta’s serve wilted, a second double fault putting the No.13 seed in the driving seat. She soon stretched this lead to 5-1 and despite some spirited late resistance eventually crossed the finish line to register her 11th straight victory.
“I think there are adjustments every day; it depends on the opponent you play, the conditions you play – I’ve played some night matches, I played some matches where it was really hot, today it’s really windy – so I think it’s all about adaptation every single day and for me focusing on my recovery because I’ve been playing a lot of tennis!”
After her Indian Wells triumph, the Belarusian remains on course to become just the third player to win Indian Wells and Miami in the same season. However, Azarenka, who lifted Miami titles in 2009 and 2011, refused to get drawn on her chances of becoming first player since Kim Clijsters to complete the feat: “Right now I’m looking forward to the semifinal. If I can make it, it’s great. Right now it seems so close but I want to stay in the present and continue to fight and keep getting better.”
Meeting Azarenka for a place in the final will be the winner of the evening encounter between Madison Keys and No.2 seed Angelique Kerber.
It was a pleasure to share the court with you @vika7 https://t.co/JXkFvNjzJD
— Johanna Konta (@JoKonta91) March 30, 2016
An interview with Svetlana Kuznetsova after her win in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open.
MIAMI, FL, USA – No.2 seed Angelique Kerber put on a comprehensive display against No.22 seed Madison Keys, dispatching the young American, 6-3, 6-2 and reach her first career semifinal at the Miami Open.
Watch highlights, interviews and more video from Miami right here on wtatennis.com!
Kerber came to Miami without a WTA win since capturing her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, but a few tense matches – most notably a third set comeback over Timea Babos in the fourth round – appears to have helped the German rediscover her confidence.
“It’s nice to play a match like this,” Kerber said after the match. “I was feeling good. Madison is always a tough opponent. I know this because we had a lot of tough battles in the past.
“I knew that I must play very good to beat her because she played very well here in the last few matches. So it’s good. It’s good.”
Playing in her signature style, she drew 39 errors from Keys, who had taken Kerber to three sets in their last two meetings.
Racing out to a 4-0 lead in the second set, the 2015 Australian Open semifinalist could do little more than force her more experienced opponent to serve out the victory in just over an hour. Speaking to media following the win, Kerber admitted to feeling overwhelmed after her big breakthrough in Melbourne.
“Actually, it was not so easy after, you know, because I had so many things to do, and also after Indian Wells where I was still not feeling 100%. I had few days before coming here to focus again on my practice, on my work on court, and to playing here good matches.
“I had also had a tough match in the last round. Today I was feeling much better, and I think that the matches here. They give me more confidence for the next tournaments and that I’m still on a good way.”
Looming next for Kerber is former No.1 and BNP Paribas Open champion Victoria Azarenka. The Belarusian, who defeated top-ranked Brit Johanna Konta earlier in the day, had looked the clear favorite to reach the final Down Under with a title in Brisbane and a 6-0 head-to-head against Kerber heading into their quarterfinal.
Kerber nonetheless turned the tables on the two-time Australian Open champion and earned her first win in their rivalry in straight sets, going on to defeat World No.1 Serena Williams in the final.
“I went out there and trying to be really aggressive from the first point, trying to really believe in myself, because until this time I never won the match against her,” she said of that fateful match in January. “It was 0-6; now it’s 1-6. I will try to go out there again like in Australia and try to believe in my game and myself and, yeah, trying to challenge her.
“It will be not easy. It will be tough match. But this is for what I am practicing, for the big matches out there, to really show what, yeah, we can do and playing the best tennis.
“So I’m really looking forward to play against her again this year.”
Kerber & Azarenka will be No.1 & 2 atop Road to Singapore on Monday. Order could change pending results, but the two best in 2016 so far
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 31, 2016
The winner of Kerber’s semifinal with Azarenka will reach their third final of the season; Kerber will be keen to nab her first WTA title since capturing Grand Slam glory while Azarenka is a mere two matches from becoming the third woman in WTA history to complete the Indian Wells-Miami “Sunshine” Double. Steffi Graf twice won both titles in 1994 and 1996, while Kim Clijsters most recently achieved the feat in 2005.
More to come…
Great hustle from @AngeliqueKerber! ? https://t.co/fCbLR0GtbT
— WTA (@WTA) March 31, 2016
MIAMI, FL, USA – Everyone needs a little bit of luck sometimes. For No.20 Timea Bacsinszky, she’s had one of the best athletes in the world cheering her on in Miami and it’s paid dividends.
Bacsinszky backed up her big win over No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska with another stunner just 24 hours later, beating No.5 Simona Halep, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the semifinals of the Miami Open on Tuesday. In the stands supporting her all week was Switzerland’s Lara Gut, the No.1 Alpine skier in the world, who just two weeks ago won the Alpine Skiing World Cup. The 24-year-old became the first Swiss woman since 1995 to win.
“She wrote me the Friday before, so it wasn’t official that she was going to be in Miami,” Bacsinszky told WTA Insider. “But she finished her competition on Sunday for the Crystal Globes, and she wrote me on Friday like, ‘Hey, it would be fun if I could come watch you in Miami,’ so I knew she was coming to Miami anyway. It was actually a big thing in Switzerland; no one knew where she was, and I was reading Swiss news headlines that were asking, ‘Where Has Lara Gone For Holidays?'”
“I finished my season last Sunday and it was important for me to have a break,” Gut told WTA Insider after Bacsinszky’s quarterfinal win. “I decided to come to Miami and I found out there was a tennis tournament. So I contacted Timea and she got me a badge. I started coming the first day and I got interested and she was playing so well that I came the second day and she was still winning. I was supposed to fly home yesterday but since she won I tried to stay here for one more day. She’s playing awesome and it’s really fun to watch.”
And the winner is… @TimeaOfficial !! Yeeeeeeeees! ??#WTA @MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/TaFJQUlsMX
— Lara Gut (@Laragut) March 29, 2016
Bacsinszky and Gut first met in 2009 but have become closer recently after Gut began working with Bacsinszky’s manager. Gut was scheduled to leave for Switzerland after Bacsinszky’s win over Radwanska but she knew she couldn’t leave her friend out in the cold.
“Yesterday after Timea’s win I had to call Swiss Air to see if they could change my flight,” Gut said. “I could stay here one day longer because I’m supposed to leave tomorrow for training. So it’s going to be a bit stressful when I come home but it was more important to stay here and cheer on Timea than have more time to pack.”
“In Switzerland it’s a small country. We have a chance to meet other athletes. We have such strong athletes like Timea, Roger, Stan, and Belinda. We were still kids when we first met. It’s cool to see what she has done all these years and that she’s still improving.”
Getting the credential for Gut proved slightly more difficult than Bacsinszky expected. Switzerland may be a skiing-mad country, but trying to explain the situation in Miami proved a little tricky.
“In Switzerland, she can’t walk around, everyone knows her,” Bacsinszky said. “Here too, she didn’t want to attract attention. I know Lindsey Vonn is well-known, but the No.1 [skier] is at your tournament and no one knows it.
“When I asked for a badge for her at accreditation I said, ‘You know Lindsey Vonn?’ and they said, ‘Yeah, yeah,’ and I said, ‘Well, the girl who’s just in front of her in the rankings and just won the Crystal Globe is coming, so provide it now,” she said laughing. “Just Google her name.”
Bacsinszky will play Svetlana Kuznetsova on Thursday for a spot in the Miami Open final. After a slow start to the season after rehabbing from a bad knee injury, Bacsinszky has played herself into form, reaching her best result since the China Open final last fall. A title in Miami would boost her back in the Top 10. It’s all clicking for Bacsinszky and having a great champion in her box this week certainly hasn’t hurt.
“It’s funny to talk about sport and to like exchange what you feel during a race, what do I feel during a match,” Bacsinszky said. “We have so many things to talk about. It gives many, many new [perspectives], views on sports. It was really, really interesting for me. Yeah, lucky charm for sure.”
I am so happy and proud of you Timea Bacsinszky ! It was a pleasure to see you playing and I think my job as your lucky charm wasn't that bad either 😉 See you soon and have fun on that tennis court :*
Posted by Lara Gut on Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Serena Williams had Monday’s shot of the day at the Miami Open.
MIAMI, FL, USA – No.3 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova are moving on in the Miami Open after booking their spot in the doubles semifinals with a win over the No.5 seeded team of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, 7-5, 6-3.
The Mattek-Sands and Safarova partnership had a very successful 2015, winning two WTA titles and two Grand Slams as well as qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. This year the pair took some time apart, though, as Safarova focused on her singles game and Mattek-Sands put together her bid for a spot on the US Olympic team with CoCo Vandeweghe.
They picked up right where they left off as they reunited for Miami, flying through all of their matches en route to the quarterfinals in straight sets. They faced more resistance in the form of the No.5 seeded Czech duo, longtime partners who earlier this year reached the final of the Australian Open.
Hlavackova and Hradecka – known to their fans as ‘The Silent Hs’ – broke Mattek-Sands and Safarova (‘Bucie’) early on to go up 4-2 in the first set. They had a chance to break again to extend their lead but the No.3 seeds halted their progress, winning three straight games to dig out of the hole and take back the lead at 5-4. The two teams stayed on pace until Mattek-Sands and Safarova struck again, breaking once more to take the first set.
Team Bucie was more clinical in the second set – they broke the Silent Hs twice right away to go up 5-1. They quelled any ideas of a late comeback from the Czechs to claim the match in just over an hour and fifteen minutes and advance to the Miami Open semifinals.
Teamwork makes the dream work.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova are on to semis! (? via @tennis_shots) pic.twitter.com/pwQqdXeVey
— Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) March 30, 2016
Also into the semifinals are No.4 seeded Kazakh-Hungarian duo of Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova, who knocked out the Ukrainian pairing Kateryna Bondarenko and Olga Savchuk 6-2, 6-4.
Babos and Shvedova were dominant from the start, going up a double break and getting off to a 4-1 lead. Though Bondarenko and Savchuk broke back to narrow the gap, but the No.4 seeds broke a third time to take the first set 6-2. They broke the Ukrainian’s serve one last time in the second set and stayed steady to close out the match.
Timea Bacsinszky takes on Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round of the Miami Open.
MIAMI, FL, USA – For so long her Achilles heel, Victoria Azarenka’s serve has become a real weapon of late.
It is an improvement that, allied with her exceptional returning, has helped the Belarusian re-establish herself as a contender at the game’s flagship events; in Indian Wells, she outplayed Serena Williams to collect her biggest title since being crowned Australian Open champion, and earlier this week in Miami she got the better of the next generation’s brightest star, Garbiñe Muguruza, over two enthralling sets.
Pivotal to her success against Muguruza was the serve. The statistics made pleasant reading for the Azarenka camp, nine aces and a solitary double fault helping her win 58 of 83 (69%) points on serve – WTA leader Serena Williams’ 2016 figure is 66.4%* – and restrict the Spaniard to two breaks.
“I think it was a high-quality match for both of us. It was a lot of good striking, a lot of winners, and both of us taking opportunities,” Azarenka said in her post-match press conference. “I think today I served really well, and I played to win in important moments. Momentum shifting, I think I was a little better today.”
The story was a similar one in the Indian Wells final, where her approach and execution withstood the sternest of examinations from one of the best returners in the history of the sport. Williams carved out 12 break points (three times as many as Azarenka) yet could convert only one.
“Well, I have to go for it. She’s not a type of player that if you going to play safe she’s going to give it to you or she’s going to miss,” the 26-year-old said afterwards. “You really have to go out there and take away, because there is nothing coming easy.
“My mentality was just to stay calm, do what I think is right, play aggressive, play my game, and figure it out from there. I just really try to stay in the moment. Whatever I can do, you know, whatever the score is, the next-best point what I can play.”
This unflappability bears stark contrast to previous seasons, when Azarenka’s serve often unraveled at the most inopportune of moments. Nowhere was this more apparent than during her encounter with Williams at last year’s Mutua Madrid Open. Leading 6-5, 40-0 in the final set, Azarenka fell to pieces, double faulting three times to precipitate a dramatic collapse that culminated in tie-break heartache.
Similar problems would haunt her for the rest of the campaign, which featured more false dawns than she would care to remember. Charged with finding a solution was coach Wim Fissette, who targeted cheap gains as crucial to improving his charge’s fortunes.
“I worked a lot on my serve to be able to create easier serving games and going for my shots, developing power speed, and now need to work a little bit more on accuracy,” Azarenka said after her Indian Wells victory over Samantha Stosur, a match in which she struck a healthy 10 aces.
In her Hawk-Eye tracked matches in 2015, Azarenka was averaging 96mph on her first serve and 84mph on the second. While her service speed has not risen noticeably in 2016 – she is averaging 100mph and 86mph on first and second serves, respectively – there has been a marked jump in the number of points won – 66% compared to 55% in 2015.
The knock-on effect has been a more confident player, better equipped to make that long-overdue charge up the rankings: “I think I’m a better player right now just the way I handle myself on the court. I improved a lot my serve and just stronger in the tougher moments. I feel happier on the court, so that’s very important, to be able to go out there and perform in a difficult fight.
“I think my game is developing with pretty big progress right now, and that’s what I’m most happy about, is being able to add a little bit more every time I play. That’s for me the main goal of this season, to keep improving.”
* Information accurate as of March 21, 2016
