Google Play App Download

Tennis News

From around the world

Miami Open: Simona Halep defeats Oceane Dodin in second round

  • Posted: Mar 22, 2018

World number one Simona Halep fought back from a set down to defeat France’s Oceane Dodin in the second round of the Miami Open.

The 26-year-old Romanian beat the world number 98 3-6 6-3 7-6.

Halep received treatment on her neck twice during the match and eventually rallied to win in two hours and seven minutes.

She will face Agnieszka Radwanska next after the Pole beat Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

German 10th seed Angelique Kerber breezed past Sweden’s Johanna Larsson 6-2 6-2, while Czech Karolina Pliskova beat Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova 7-5 7-5.

In the women’s doubles, British duo Heather Watson and Johanna Konta reached the second round with a 6-2 4-6 10-3 win over America’s Nicole Melichar and Czech Kveta Peschke.

  • Live scores & results

Determined Halep overcomes Dodin

Halep, who reached the semi-finals in Indian Wells last week, created two break opportunities in a five-minute long opening game.

She was unable to take advantage and it was Dodin who got the first break of the game as a Halep backhand drifted out.

Halep broke back straight away but looked below par, and she was broken at 4-2 before the Frenchwoman served out the set at the third attempt.

A trainer was called for Halep during the changeover as she struggled with her neck and again after Dodin broke back to level the second set.

She came out on top in a scrappy second set but received a warning in the third set when, trailing 2-1 and facing a break point, she threw her racquet to the ground in frustration.

A break in the 11th game of the final set was enough for Halep to secure victory, while Dodin was left to rue 16 double faults.

Source link

Shapovalov Made To Work On Miami Debut

  • Posted: Mar 22, 2018

Shapovalov Made To Work On Miami Debut

Mar222018

#NextGenATP players out in force at Crandon Park

#NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov was made to work hard on Thursday as he made a winning start on his Miami Open presented by Itau debut. The 18-year-old led Viktor Troicki of Serbia 5-1 in the third set and required six match points to wrap up a 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(6) victory in two hours and 27 minutes. He’ll now prepare to meet No. 24 seed Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia & Herzegovina in the second round.

Troicki, who reached the fourth round in 2009 and 2011, lost six first-service points in the first two sets, but Shapovalov regained the momentum by winning four games in a row from 1-1 in the decider. The World No. 46 then failed to convert two match point opportunities at 5-1 and, in a tense end to the third set, Troicki worked his way back – recovering from 0/40 and a further three match points in the 10th game. The pair’s second meeting (2017 Rolex Shanghai Masters) was decided on a tie-break, which saw Shapovalov win the first three points.

Watch Hot Shot: Troicki Strikes Backhand Pass

Watch Live

 Watch Full Match Replays

Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka started his Miami campaign in confident fashion by beating #NextGenATP Australian qualifier Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-4 in 77 minutes. He will now square-off against tenth-seeded Czech and 2010 finalist Tomas Berdych, who Nishioka beat en route to the 2017 BNP Paribas Open fourth round.

Elsewhere, Spanish wild card Nicola Kuhn recorded his first ATP World Tour match win in a hard-fought 7-6(4), 6-4 victory over Darian King of Barbados in one hour and 42 minutes for a second-round clash against Italian No. 15 seed Fabio Fognini, the Brasil Open titlist in February.

Source link

Returning Serve: The Long & Short Of It

  • Posted: Mar 22, 2018

Returning Serve: The Long & Short Of It

Mar222018

Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers highlights return depth on Deuce and Ad courts

Directing first serves out wide in the Ad court will bring significantly more shorter returns than hitting them wide in the Deuce court.

The primary reason is that right-handed returners must hit a backhand return in the Ad court, and we now know that depth is a real issue with this specific shot from out wide. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of more than 17,000 wide returns against first serves in both the Deuce and Ad courts hit by current players in the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings uncovers this hidden strategic anomaly.

The data set of 17,705 wide first serve returns comes from ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events and Nitto ATP Finals from 2011-2018. Return depth is divided up into three categories.

1. Short = In the service box.
2. Middle = Behind the service line (but closer to the service line than baseline).
3. Deep = Closer to the baseline than the service line.

You May Also Like: Delpo’s Big Rise Built On Small Margins

Return depth to the middle area was the most constant between the Deuce and Ad courts, only varying 1.9 percentage points (49.7% to 47.8%).

The larger percentage swings were primarily from short returns in the service box and deep returns back near the baseline. There was a significant 5.4 percentage difference in short returns, and a 3.6 percentage point swing in deep returns hit between the Deuce and Ad courts.

Wide Return Location Deuce Ct & Ad Ct: Return Depth = Short / Middle / Long

Wide Return Location Short Middle Deep
Ad Court 29.3% 47.8% 22.8%
Deuce Court 23.9% 49.7% 26.4%

Quite clearly, making first serves out wide in the Ad court (to a right hander’s backhand return) will bring a lot more short, attackable balls back in the service box for the server to feast on.

Deuce Court Wide Returns
Former World No. 1s Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are at either ends of the spectrum regarding return depth from the Deuce court. Out of the current Top 20, Nadal hit the most amount of short returns in the service box (his backhand return) at 31.8 per cent, while Djokovic hits the least, at only 17.9 per cent.

Deuce Court: Return Depth from Wide Serves

Ranking Player Short Middle Deep Total
7 Dominic Thiem 21.3% 45.1% 33.7% 315
13 Tomas Berdych 22.5% 47.2% 30.4% 632
4 Grigor Dimitrov 20.2% 50.3% 29.5% 461
6 Juan Martin Del Potro 24.4% 46.2% 29.4% 320
12 Novak Djokovic 17.9% 53.3% 28.8% 1404
16 Diego Schwartzman 27.4% 43.9% 28.7% 157
15 Roberto Bautista Agut 21.2% 50.7% 28.1% 288
1 Roger Federer 19.6% 52.8% 27.6% 815
17 John Isner 24.3% 48.1% 27.6% 536
19 Pablo Carreno Busta 18.6% 54.0% 27.4% 113
8 Kevin Anderson 20.9% 52.2% 26.9% 364
20 Nick Kyrgios 18.7% 54.5% 26.8% 198
11 Jack Sock 23.9% 49.7% 26.4% 318
10 Lucas Pouille 26.5% 47.7% 25.8% 132
9 David Goffin 21.3% 53.9% 24.8% 408
3 Marin Cilic 23.5% 52.8% 23.7% 443
18 Fabio Fognini 23.7% 53.2% 23.1% 363
5 Alexander Zverev 30.5% 47.3% 22.3% 256
2 Rafael Nadal 31.8% 46.2% 22.1% 1395
14 Sam Querrey 30.0% 49.3% 20.7% 213
– AVERAGE 23.8% 50.3% 25.9% 7723

Dominic Thiem hit the highest amount of deep returns, at 33.7 per cent, while Sam Querrey struggled the most to get Deuce court forehand returns deep, averaging only 20.7 per cent.

Ad Court Wide Returns
Djokovic was also the peak performer in keeping his first serve returns out of the service box in the Ad court, only hitting 21.6 per cent of his returns there. The Serb also hit the most amount in the deep section (28.9%), followed by Kevin Anderson (26.9%), Grigor Dimitrov (26.4%) and Dominic Thiem (26.1%).

Ad Court: Return Depth from Wide Serves

Ranking Player Short Middle Deep Total
12 Novak Djokovic 21.6% 49.5% 28.9% 1163
8 Kevin Anderson 26.9% 46.2% 26.9% 320
4 Grigor Dimitrov 25.6% 48.0% 26.4% 473
7 Dominic Thiem 27.9% 46.0% 26.1% 398
9 David Goffin 23.2% 51.1% 25.7% 323
18 Fabio Fognini 26.9% 47.4% 25.6% 386
13 Tomas Berdych 26.4% 48.6% 25.0% 591
17 John Isner 26.0% 49.2% 24.8% 508
1 Roger Federer 26.4% 50.2% 23.4% 1163
3 Marin Cilic 31.1% 46.0% 22.9% 402
14 Sam Querrey 37.6% 39.9% 22.5% 258
6 Juan Martin Del Potro 30.2% 47.9% 21.9% 388
16 Diego Schwartzman 28.7% 50.0% 21.3% 136
2 Rafael Nadal 34.7% 44.4% 20.9% 759
11 Jack Sock 33.5% 46.1% 20.4% 358
10 Lucas Pouille 28.7% 51.2% 20.0% 160
5 Alexander Zverev 30.8% 49.8% 19.4% 227
15 Roberto Bautista Agut 32.0% 48.8% 19.2% 291
19 Pablo Carreno Busta 33.1% 49.2% 17.8% 118
20 Nick Kyrgios 34.9% 47.4% 17.8% 152
– AVERAGE 29.3% 47.8% 22.8% 8574

What’s the action plan from this insightful new data? Make sure you have got a solid wide first serve in the Ad court to take advantage of short backhand returns, and if you are on the receiving side of the equation, add a little more height to your Ad court return to give it the extra wings it needs to make it deep back near the baseline.

Source link

Williams knocked out of Miami Open

  • Posted: Mar 22, 2018

Serena Williams was knocked out of the Miami Open in the first round by Naomi Osaka as the 23-time Grand Slam winner continues her return after pregnancy.

Williams, unseeded after taking 13 months off to have her first child, was beaten 6-3 6-2 by the Japanese, 20.

The American lost serve twice in each set and was unable to break back.

Her defeat comes after the Miami Open director said seeding rules for players coming back after maternity leave were a “punishment” and “should be changed”.

Osaka is herself also unseeded but last week claimed her maiden title at Indian Wells to move up to 22 in the world.

  • Serena should have been top seed at Indian Wells – Halep
  • ‘Long way to go’ after defeat by Venus – Serena Williams
  • GB’s Norrie and Boulter knocked out in Miami first round

Her powerful serve and relentless returning proved too much for Williams, who was broken at 3-3 and 5-3 in the first set and again at 3-1 in the second.

Osaka clinched victory when Williams sprayed a wide open forehand long, and will now face world number four Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the second round.

“I was extremely nervous coming on to the court. I don’t know if anybody knows this but Serena is my favourite player,” Osaka said.

“So just playing against her is kind of like a dream for me. I’m very grateful I was able to play her and it is even better that I was able to win.”

Williams, 36, made her return to the WTA Tour at Indian Wells earlier this month, losing to sister Venus in the third round.

She has no official ranking, which means she cannot be seeded for WTA events.

However, she can gain entry to eight tournaments in 12 months – including two Grand Slams – with her protected world number one ranking.

Azarenka & Muguruza go through

Two-time grand slam winner Victoria Azarenka marked her fourth event since giving birth with a 6-3 6-0 win over American Cici Bellis.

The Belarusian pulled out of the US Open and the Fed Cup final earlier last year because of a custody dispute over her young son.

Azarenka, who made her first appearance of the year at Indian Wells last week, took just over an hour to brush past the 18-year-old.

Meanwhile, Bethanie Mattek-Sands lost in her first WTA Tour match since dislocating her right kneecap and rupturing a tendon at Wimbledon last year.

The 32-year-old doubles specialist had been awarded a wild card but slipped to a 6-2 7-5 defeat at the hands of France’s Alize Cornet.

And third seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain progressed after her opponent, 16-year-old American Amanda Anisimova, withdrew due to injury.

Source link

Shapovalov Leads #NextGenATP Charge In Miami Thursday

  • Posted: Mar 22, 2018

Shapovalov Leads #NextGenATP Charge In Miami Thursday

Mar222018

Seven promising #NextGenATP players bid for second-round berths on Thursday

Denis Shapovalov vs. Viktor Troicki
Seven months after announcing his presence with back-to-back wins over Juan Martin Del Potro and Rafael Nadal en route to the Coupe Rogers semi-finals, Denis Shapovalov will make his Miami Open presented by Itau debut on Thursday. The #NextGenATP Canadian reached his second ATP World Tour semi-final at the Delray Beach Open (l. to eventual champion Tiafoe) in February. Three of his losses this season have come against Top 15 opponents. The 18-year-old, at No. 46 in the ATP Rankings, fell in the second round in Indian Wells (l. to Cuevas) leading in. Troicki, No. 68 in the ATP Rankings, leads the duo’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series 1-0 after a three-set triumph in Shanghai last. The Serbian won his sixth straight victory in a five-set match at the Australian Open to start his year (d. Bolt, l. to Kyrgios in 2R). Bosnian 24th seed Damir Dzumhur awaits the winner in round two.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following matches from the 2018 Miami Open presented by Itaú & vote for who you think will win! 
Shapovalov vs Troicki | Medvedev vs Tsitsipas | de Minaur vs Nishioka

 

Frances Tiafoe vs. Nicolas Kicker
Coming off a maiden ATP World Tour title last month, #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe will appear in his second Miami main draw. The World No. 63 takes on 25-year-old Argentine Nicolas Kicker for the first time in his opening match. The 20-year-old Tiafoe downed Shapovalov, Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung and his childhood idol Juan Martin Del Potro en route to the Delray Beach Open title before a first-round exit against compatriot Ernest Escobedo in Indian Wells. Kicker defeated No. 26 seed Dzumhur on his way to the third round in Indian Wells before he narrowly went down to No. 7 seed Kevin Anderson. Kicker stands at No. 87 in the ATP Rankings. The winner will take on No. 21 seed Kyle Edmund.

Alex De Minaur vs. Yoshihito Nishioka
The 18-year-old Aussie, Alex De Minaur, made a blistering start to 2018 on home turf with a semi-final run in Brisbane (l. to Harrison) before his first ATP World Tour final in Sydney (l. to Medvedev). For the second time in as many ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, De Minaur won through qualifying to take his place in the main draw. In his Indian Wells leading in, he had his first Masters 1000 win (d. Struff) before falling to eventual champion Del Potro. His 22-year-old opponent Yoshihito Nishioka tore his ACL at the 2017 Miami Open. The Japanese player’s best result this year is a five-set first-round upset of No. 27 seed Phlipp Kohlschreiber at the Australian Open. No. 10 seed Tomas Berdych will take on the winner in the second round.

You May Also Like: Del Potro Bids To Join Rare Company In Miami

 

Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Daniil Medvedev
#NextGenATP 19-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas took a set off No. 5 seed Dominic Thiem in their second-round clash in Indian Wells debut leading in. The No. 70 in the ATP Rankings will square off against 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier Daniil Medvedev for the first time in the pair’s Miami debut on Thursday. The 19-year-old Greek reached the quarter-finals in Doha to open his season (l. to Thiem). Earlier this month, he beat No. 6 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber en route to the quarter-finals in Dubai. Medvedev, the World No. 52, started the season in a flurry when he claimed seven straight matches to win his first ATP World Tour title in Sydney (d. De Minaur) as a 21-year-old qualifier. The winner will face No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev.

Thanasi Kokkinakis vs. Calvin Hemery
Continuing his steady climb back from injury, #NextGenATP Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis takes on fellow qualifier Calvin Hemery of France. The 21-year-old Kokkinakis reached his first ATP World Tour final in Los Cabos last season (l. to Querrey) as a 454th-ranked wild card at the time. Now with his ATP Ranking back up to No. 175 he will meet Hemery for the first time. The 23-year-old Frenchman reached an ATP Challenger Tour semi-final (l. to Vatutin) in Quimper, France in January. The reward for the winner is a date with top seed and defending champion Roger Federer.

Watch Live

Denis Istomin vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
ATPWorldTour.com rated Denis Istomin’s second-round win over defending champion Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open as the biggest upset of 2017. The 31-year-old Uzbekistani, No. 85 in the ATP Rankings, has endured a tougher start to 2018 with injuries ending his Brisbane International quarter-final against Ryan Harrison and forcing his withdrawal before his scheduled match against Peter Gojowczyk in Indian Wells leading in. #NextGenATP wild card Miomir Kecmanovic will face Istomin for the first time on Thursday. The 18-year-old Serbian beat Tiafoe in the ATP Challenger Tour event in Newport in January, and counts wins over #NextGenATP American Michael Mmoh, Aussie Jordan Thompson and Spaniard Marcel Granollers in his three respective Challenger tournaments leading in. No. 16 seed Pablo Carreno Busta awaits in the second round.

Nicola Kuhn vs. Darian King
In just his second ATP World Tour main draw event, #NextGenATP Spaniard Nicola Kuhn will take on Darian King of Barbados for the first time. The 18-year-old Kuhn, the son of a German father and a Russian mother, reached the boys’ singles final at Roland Garros last year (l. to Popyrin). King won through qualifying and reached the final of the Indian Wells Challenger (l. to Klizan) prior to the BNP Paribas Open. The winner will meet No. 15 seed Fabio Fognini in round two.

Source link