Tennis News

Canadian No. 1 Milos Raonic successfully commenced his 2015 season on the ATP World Tour with a straightforward victory to arrive at the quarter-final stage of the Brisbane International. He will next face Sam Groth, whom he has encountered one previously on the professional circuit. Raonic leads the head-to-head series 1-0.

The world No. 8 had a relatively routine encounter against Mikhail Kulushkin on Thursday afternoon, as he dispatched the world no. 69 6-3, 6-4. The contest lasted exactly 60 minutes and saw Raonic hit 17 aces and win 90% of his first service points. He also won 71% of his second serve points and did not face a single break point throughout the entire encounter.

“I served well… We finished last year and we definitely thought I could do a lot better with my serve, so we spent a lot of time this off season and I’m happy that it’s going well,” he said. “I’ve put a lot of work in technically so I feel better as tennis player. I feel much stronger and fitter. I also spent a lot of time discussing and consulting with my team about the mental side, what I need to do to make the next step forward, especially in the big events. So I’m trying to incorporate that and see where it takes me.”

His opponent, Sam Groth, began his week with an upset of Lleyton Hewitt and has since managed to work his way to the quarter-final round of the event. Against Lukasz Kubot, he struck 21 aces, won 78% of his first service points and saved both break points faced on serve to close out the match in two hours and 29 minutes.

This marks just the second time these two competitors will meet on the ATP World Tour, with Raonic leading the series 1-0. That contest took place in the 2013 DC Open in Washington, which the Canadian won 7-5, 6-4. Given that both these players are big hitters, this could make for an intriguing affair.

Prediction: Milos Raonic in Straight Sets

After completing an impressive 2014 – a season that culminated with him winning the Davis Cup for the first time in his career – Roger Federer will look to start off the new year with some of the leftover momentum from November. He will begin his campaign at the Brisbane International with a second round match-up against John Millman, whom he has never previously encountered on the professional tour.

A finalist at last year’s Brisbane International, Federer looked impressive and comfortable on the surface until he came up against champion Lleyton Hewitt in the final. However, his season only got better as the year progressed, as he reached the final of the Wimbledon Championships and picked up several Masters 1000 titles along the way. Now ranked world No. 2, Federer will likely set his sights on another major championship over the course of the year, but not without some solid performances along the way.

“Overall, it was a great season for me,” admitted Federer. “I was consistent and I was playing positive, attacking tennis, the exact way I want to play. I gave myself quite a few chances at the Slams. I want to go one step further, because being close is not quite good enough.”

However, his short-term ambitions are slightly simpler.

“I would love to win this event,” Federer told reporters Saturday on the banks of the Brisbane River. “I was close last year, after I had had a good week. I always like lifting trophies in a place that I have never been able to. I am unbelievably pumped up for this week. It’s a really good field, with a lot of promising players.”

World No. 153 John Millman, a native of Brisbane, will look to follow up on his 6-3, 6-1 win over Rhyne Williams with the biggest win of his career on Thursday when he faces the 17-time Grand Slam champion. Considering this is their first head-to-head encounter, and that Federer is playing his first match of the season, this is as good a time as any for Millman.

Prediction: Roger Federer in Straight Sets

After dropping just one game so far in 2015, Russian superstar Maria Sharapova already through to the quarter-final stage of the Brisbane International, where she will contest another enthralling encounter against a player that has tormented her over the past couple of years: Carla Suarez Navarro. This marks the fourth time they cross paths on the WTA tour, with Sharapova leading the head to head series 2-1.

On Tuesday afternoon, it was abundantly clear that Maria Sharapova was in no mood to make friends on court, as she stormed through the opening set 6-0 in just 23 minutes against Yaroslava Shvedova. She allowed Shvedova just one game in the second set to close out the contest just over half an hour later.

“To be honest, she’s capable of playing really tough tennis. She’s a big server, big strokes. Even though we haven’t played in a while, she does like to play the top players,” Sharapova said. “She swings quite freely. She has had good results against some good players in her career.”

Spain’s Cara Suarez Navarro needed three sets to dispatch Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. The contest lasted nearly two hours and 30 minutes and saw Navarro save 7 of 10 break point opportunities and withstand 10 aces from her opponent.

“It only gets tougher from here,” Sharapova said of her upcoming opponent. “I have a bit of a different opponent if Suárez Navarro wins the next one. A little bit of a different game. Gets a lot of balls back. Maybe a bit more of a physical match. We’ll see how that goes. Hopefully I continue to improve and take it a step further this year.”

This marks the fourth time that these two competitors meet on the professional tour, with Sharapova leading the series 2-1. Her sole stain against the Spaniard was at the Rogers Cup last year in Montreal, where Sharapova lost to Navarro in three sets. While Sharapova has had less time on court, it may actually benefit her this time around against a potentially fatigued Navarro.

Prediction: Maria Sharapova in Three Sets

Two victories into the New Year and former world No. 1 Venus Williams is already through to the quarter-final round of the ASB Classic in Auckland. The American will now contest a match against Elena Vesnina to secure a spot in the final four of the tournament. This marks the fourth time that the two competitors will step across the net from each other on the professional circuit, with Vesnina leading the series 2-1.

Venus only needed 65 minutes to close out her second round match-up against Japan’s Kurumi Nara 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday night. Williams struck two aces, won 74% of her first service points and managed six breaks of serve to secure the victory. The second half of the match particularly smooth for Venus, as she reeled off nine of the last ten games to end the match in emphatic fashion.

“Today was a different match than yesterday – not as straightforward,” Williams, who dropped just one game in her first round match, said. “I was playing an opponent with more experience. She’s very tenacious despite her size. She knows how to construct points, she plays great defense and can go on the offense as well, so it’s a good match to have under my belt this early on in the season.”

“I always had goals, but in life things never really work out the way you think they’re going to,” Williams said. “It’s been that way my whole career – you say, ‘I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do that,’ but sometimes you fall a little bit short, and sometimes you do more than you ever thought you could. So my goal for this year is to try and perform the way I know that I can on the court.”

Elena Vesnina also had a relatively simple match on court, as she routed Ana Konjuh in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarter-final round of her first tournament of the season.

Of their three previous encounters on the tour, Vesnina actually leads the head-to-o-head series 2-1. She won the first two meetings between the competitors, including one at the Wimbledon Championships, but it was Venus who won the most recent match last season. Considering her vast improvements over the past year, the American should be the competitor favoured for a spot in the semi-final.

Prediction: Venus Williams in Three Sets

In undoubtedly one of the more intriguing match-ups of the day, top seed Caroline Wozniacki will cross paths with American youngster Taylor Townsend in the second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland. This marks the first time the two competitors will meet on the WTA tour and could make for an enthralling encounter on Wednesday afternoon.

In her opening match of the season, Danish star Caroline Wozniacki faced a relatively simple challenge on court: Israeli qualifier Julia Glushko. Woz defeated her first-time opponent 6-3, 6-2 without breaking much of a sweat. Given this is just her second time playing this event, she is clearly happy with her performance and is motivated to live up to her billing as the top seed.

“Maybe it wasn’t the prettiest match, but I got through and I won it,” Wozniacki commented. “The first match is always tough. I served well, but I want to keep playing better as the week goes on. I love the crowd here, though. They made me feel very welcome. I love everybody here.”

“I love it here. I haven’t been back to Auckland for many years, but it’s such a great place to start the season, and I’m excited to play and get the 2015 season going here.”

Wozniacki’s upcoming opponent, Taylor Townsend, took part in a significant upset during the opening day of action, as she defeated former champion Yanina Wickmayer in the first round of the tournament. The wildcard entrant proved worthy of the tournament’s faith in her and dispatched her opponent in three stes, 7-5, 3-6, 6-0 to set up a second round clash with the top seed.

“Her game is very fun to play against, just because it makes you play every point – point to point to point,” she said about Wozniacki. “She doesn’t give you any mistakes.”

This is scheduled to be the first official meeting between Wozniacki and Townsend and is one of the main attention-grabbing matches at any of the four events on the tour this Wednesday. Given Townsend’s rise up the ranks and her clear potential, the pressure will be on Wozniacki to prove she is still the main player to watch out for in the draw.

Prediction: Caroline Wozniacki in Three Sets