Tennis News

For the first time in nearly three years, Samantha Stosur and Sloane Stephens will cross paths on the professional tour to determine who will advance to the final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg. It is just the second overall meeting between the two foes, as they met in the 2012 French Open. Stosur leads the head-to-head series 1-0 and will look to remain undefeated against her American opponent.

On Thursday afternoon, Stosur advanced to the semi-final stage in Strasbourg with a three-set victory against Ajla Tomljanovic. She won the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 and managed to withstand 14 aces by winning 80% of her first service points to close out the match in two hours and four minutes.

“It was a very tough match, I thought we both played a very good level of tennis an there wasn’t much in it,” Stosur said in her on-court interview. “I think Ajla, in the second and third sets, started serving very well and I just had to take my chances when I had them and hang in there when I couldn’t.”

Later on in the day, Sloane Stephens advanced to the final four by losing only one game in her match against Jelena Jankovic. Her Serbian adversary was forced to retire from the match after dropping the opening set 6-1 in 34 minutes.

“Sloane can do anything on the court – she’s a very talented player – and even though her ranking has dropped a bit lately she still has the capability to play very well,” she added. “I think looking past your opponent at this stage is a trap that you can fall into. Of course if you’re still there in the semifinals there’s a very good chance that you could win the tournament.

“The next match is going to be very difficult and I have to be 100% focused on that. I need to go out there and play and if I find myself in the final that’ll be fantastic and I’ll be very excited. So far I’m playing well.”

This is just the second time that Stephens and Stosur will cross paths on the professional tour, with the Australian leading the head-to-head series 1-0. It has been years since their most recent encounter, yet the odds still favour the more consistent Stosur, even though Stephens appears to be regaining form.

Top seed Novak Djokovic secured a straight sets win over David Ferrer to put himself one win away from a fourth title in Rome. He beat the Spaniard 6-4, 6-4 in a contest where he struck 26 winners to close out the match in one hour and 35 minutes.

“He’s a great competitor [and] he always makes you play an extra ball,” said Djokovic. “I did face a couple of break points, especially in the second set where maybe I was a little bit fortunate. I just found the way to dig my way through and [I] just played well enough to break him in both sets when it was most needed.”

While he had to deal with a thunderous start from Stan Wawrinka, Federer was anle to weather the storm early and never looked back en route to the straight sets win. After going down 0-3 in the opening set, Federer won six of the next seven games to snatch the set before cruising through the second set to close out the match 6-4, 6-2.

“Stan played well in the first set,” said Federer. “In the second set he had a sort of breakdown. He wasn’t serving his best. I was definitely able to take advantage of it. He’s got a good opportunity next week (in Geneva). He’s in the right direction and obviously the win against Rafa was massive for him and his confidence. His game is there. I was very happy how I played. I was able to impose my game. I had a sort of breakdown too but I’ll try not to let it happen tomorrow.”

The latest chapter in the remarkable rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will be written on Sunday afternoon in Rome, as the two top competitors will cross paths once again in the final of the tournament.They’ve already met twice this season and have split those meetings; Federer won the Dubai title while Djokovic lifted the Indian Wells trophy. Now they will contest a mini-rubber match to determine who will take the lead in their series this season and steal the momentum edge ahead of Roland Garros.

Russian superstar Maria Sharapova is through to the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where she will contest another enthralling encounter against a player that has really come into her own in 2015: Carla Suarez Navarro. This marks the fifth time they cross paths on the WTA tour, with Sharapova leading the head to head series 3-1.

Not only did Sharapova exact revenge on Saturday afternoon against an opponent who upset her earlier this season, she regained her spot as world No. 2 ahead of the French Open in three weeks. The Russian star defeated her fellow countrywoman Daria Gavrilova in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 to secure her spot in the tournament final. Gavrilova did manage to break in the second set but Sharapova rallied back to win the following five consecutive games to close out the match in one hour and 48 minutes.

“She loves this surface. She grew up on clay. I’ve beaten her the last couple of times, but I’ve had losses against her too,” Sharapova said about the upcoming final against Carla. “I know what a difficult player she can be, and she seems like she’s playing with a lot of confidence right now, especially after her win in the semifinals today.

“She has one of the best one-handed backhands on the tour. It’s going to be a tough final.”

Sharapova will come up against Carla Suarez Navarro, who reached the final by beating Simona Halep in three sets. She won 56% of her first service points and converted nine break points to close out the match 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in two hours and 29 minutes.

“Maria is very good mentally,” Suárez Navarro said. “She plays aggressive in the important moments, and serves really well in the important moments. She focuses so well, which is really important.”

This marks the fifth time that these two competitors meet on the professional tour, with Sharapova leading the series 3-1. Her sole loss against the Spaniard was at the Rogers Cup last year in Montreal, where Sharapova lost to Navarro in three sets. This is set to be their first ever meeting on clay.

For the first time this season, the Swiss stars Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka will cross paths on the professional tour, this time to determine who will advance to the final of the Rome Masters 100 event. Federer leads the overall head to head series 15-2.

With little fuss, Roger Federer found himself in the semi-final stage in Rome following a straight sets victory against Tomas Berdych. Federer hit 15 winners to close out the match 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 7 minutes of court time.

“From the baseline I was playing very well,” said Federer. “My serve was not quite there in the beginning. I had to go through too many second serves and he was able to take advantage of that and break early. For me, it was important to pick it up on the serve, which is maybe the easiest thing to do.

“I felt good again on the return, moving well. As it went on, I think I got into the match better and better. The wind picked up in the second set. That’s why I think Tomas didn’t play so well anymore and I was able to get the job done. So I’m very pleased how the match went.”

In one of the more surprising matches on court this past Friday, Stan Wawrinka produced one of his best matches of the season to hand Nadal his fifth loss on clay this season. It was a match-up that Wawrinka closed out in straight sets 7-6(7), 6-2. He won 59% of his first service points and stuck 25 winners to close out his first win against Nadal on clay in two hours and five minutes. The story of the match was the Swiss No. 2’s volley’s, as he came to the net 28 times and used it as a marvelous strategy to not only mount a comeback from 2-6 down in the first set tiebreak, but use it to propel himself to match point shortly thereafter.

This marks the 18th time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Federer leading the head-to-head series 15-2. Federer won their most recent encounter en route to the World Tour Finals last season but also lost their most recent clay court encounter at last year’s Monte Carlo final. It will be interesting to see if Stan, who is coming off one of his best clay court wins to date, can carry that momentum forward.

Following a pair of impressive matches on Friday, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer will cross paths for a 20th time on the ATP World Tour to determine who will advance to the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 14-5, including wins in their last eight consecutive meetings dating back to 2011.

The top seed at this year’s Rome Masters continued to struggle and plod his way through the draw, this time with yet another three set encounter against Kei Nishikori. While Djokovic began the match in top form, he was unable to maintain that momentum and dropped the second set before recovering to close out the match 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Djokovic hit three aces, won 84% of his first service points and converted three break points to win the match in one hour and 48 minutes to extend his record at this event to 32-5.

In a match that required three sets to be completed, David Ferrer defeated David Goffin to reach the semi-final round of the Rome Masters 1000 event. He struck six aces, won 72% of his first service points and converted five break points to close out the match 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and nine minutes. He will now go on to face Djokovic for a place in the final.

Considering Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 14-5, there should be little doubt that he will control the contest en route to the final round of the tournament. While Ferrer is coming off a strong week, he is unlikely to be able to stop the Serbian star, as he has not managed that feat since 2011. He is 0-8 in their last eight meetings on the tour. However, Ferrer holds a 3-2 lead on clay, even though he lost their two most recent meetings on that surface, including a loss at this very event last year.

Following an impressive on-court display from both ladies, Simona Halep and Carla Suarez Navarro will meet to determine who will advance to the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Saturday. This is a close and competitive series, as Halep leads the head-to-head series 5-4. However, Navarro has won all four of their clay court encounters.

Seeded second at this year’s tournament, Simona Halep reached the semi-final stage of the Rome Open when she defeated Alexandra Dulgheru in straight sets to secure her spot. It was a dominant showing on court, as Halep defeated her opponent 6-1, 6-0 in four minutes under an hour of court time. Through three matches this week, Halep has dropped just seven games in total, which is quite a remarkable stat.

“Today it was a pretty good match, I was very solid,” Halep said. “She was tired as well because she had many long matches before today, so I had an advantage over her.

“It’s not easy to play against one Romanian, but during the match you forget against who you play, just go on court and do your job.”

In an exceptionally impressive performance on Friday afternoon, Carla Suarez Navarro toppled fourth seed Petra Kvitova in straight sets to upset her way into the tournament final. She won 74% of her first service points, saved five break points and converted five of her own to close out the match 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 13 minutes.

This marks the tenth time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour. Halep leads the head-to-head series 5-4 but it should also be noted that all four of her losses to the Spaniard were on clay. Given Navarro’s remarkable showing on Friday against Kvitova, it is very likely that she will find her way into the tournament final.

A fantastic match-up is scheduled to take place in the quarter-final round of the Rome Open, as world No. 3 Maria Sharapova and two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka will cross paths for the 13th time on the professional tour. The head-to-head series is tied 7-7, although Sharapova has won their three most recent clashes.

Seeded third at this year’s tournament, Sharapova continued her relatively straightforward path to the tournament final, as she defeated Bojana Jovanovski on Thursday afternoon in straight sets to set up the meeting with Azarenka. She won the match 6-3,6-3 with little fuss and a solid game that comprised of three aces, winning 66 percent of her first service points and converting six break points to win the match in a total of one hour and 31 minutes.

“Today I just had to be very patient and solid,” Sharapova said. “I had a tricky opponent and not easy conditions – the wind was pretty swirly out on the court, so I just had to stay steady.

“Despite a couple of breaks back and forth in the second set, I was really happy to finish so strongly.”

In a more competitive third round match-up, Victoria Azarenka needed three sets to get past Irina Camelia Begu to secure her spot in the final eight of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. She won 75 percent of her first service points and broke serve seven times to close out the match 6-4,5-7,6-1 in two hours and 14 minutes.

Sharapova and Azarenka have crossed paths on 14 previous occasions, with the series tied 7-7. However, the Russian adversary won their three most recent meetings on the tour, and will look to extend that streak on Friday.While Azarenka has improved tremendously over the past few months, she is yet to prove that she can topple Sharapova since her injury.