Beijing: Shot Of The Day (Tuesday)
Petra Kvitova had Tuesday’s shot of the day at the China Open.
Petra Kvitova had Tuesday’s shot of the day at the China Open.
MIAMI, FL, USA – No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza needed less than an hour to defeat American wildcard Nicole Gibbs, 6-1, 6-0, to reach the fourth round of the Miami Open.
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The 2015 Wimbledon finalist, Muguruza has struggled to find consistency thus far this season – narrowly edging past Dominika Cibulkova on Friday – but the young Spaniard had none of those problems on Sunday night, hitting four aces and 20 winners – to only eight from the fast-rising Stanford All-American – and dropping just one game in the 57 minute match.
“I’m so happy about my match today; I felt great on court, so that’s amazing,” she told Andrew Krasny during her on-court interview.
“I tried to be very aggressive, but be very concentrated and just play my game.”
Clinical stuff from Muguruza combined with a slightly off Gibbs and it’s 61 to the Spaniard. #MiamiOpen
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 28, 2016
Muguruza first attracted notice when, as a wildcard, she burst onto the scene in 2012 when she upset then-World No.9 Vera Zvonareva, following up the upset with another big win over Flavia Pennetta en route to the fourth round. The Spaniard has since become a mainstay in the Top 10, pushing World No.1 Serena Williams through a high-octane Wimbledon final last summer and winning all three of her round robin matches at her BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global debut last fall.
“I have great memories. The Miami Open was my breakthrough and this is my second home with this amazing crowd that supports me. I don’t know what to say, it all feels great!”
Up next for Muguruza is former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka, whose hot streak continued against Magda Linette earlier in the day.
Also into the fourth round is No.26 seed Johanna Konta. The Brit became the highest ranked from her country since 1987 (Jo Durie) by cracking the Top 25 last week, and showed off all the grit and determination that has taken her so far, so fast with a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(3) win over qualifier Elena Vesnina.
“I am very happy to be able to come back tomorrow to compete again,” Konta said after winning a match in which she hit a stunning 12 aces – six in the second set alone. “I knew going into the match that she was playing at a very good level so I knew there’d be very little in it, whichever way the match at the end. I’m very happy to be sitting here with a chance to play tomorrow.”
Vesnina was coming off of a big win over former No.1 Venus Williams, and though she fought hard throughout, Konta continued to play her best tennis when it matters most over the last 10 months.
“I really tried to play the same as I had throughout the whole match. There’s obviously ebbs and flows in a match – I was playing better in parts and not so good in parts – but I really just tried to stay offensive and have things end on my terms as much as possible, but also being humble enough to know that she was playing at a good level so not to get too disheartened or down on myself if she plays well too.”
Standing between Konta and a possible quarterfinal encounter with either Muguruza or Azarenka is No.32 seed Monica Niculescu, who eased past CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-4, 6-1.
“We’ve only played once before and that was last year in Nottingham. It was a very tough match there, and I know she’s one of the trickiest players on tour and one of the best competitors as well.
“At the end I think it’ll be a match where there’ll be very little in it and I’m just going to my best to fight every single point and hopefully be able to leave the court knowing that I did my best.”
“I have great memories here, the @MiamiOpen was my breakthrough and it's my second home.” -@GarbiMuguruza https://t.co/5sqBvtEGMM
— WTA (@WTA) March 28, 2016
Petra Kvitova takes on Garbiñe Muguruza in the third round of the China Open.
Margarita Gasparyan and Monica Niculescu dealt Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, the World No.1 doubles team, their most comprehensive loss of the year to advance to the quarterfinals in Miami.
BEIJING, China – Petra Kvitova put on a stunning performance to close out Wednesday’s night session at the China Open, decisively dispatching defending champion Garbiñe Muguruza, 6-1, 6-4, to not only reach the quarterfinals in Beijing, but also preserve her hopes of earning a late berth to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
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Kvitova came into the match on a seven-match winning streak, having won the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open for the second time in three years. Playing emphatic tennis throughout the 72 minute encounter, the Olympic Bronze medalist struck 27 winners to just 15 unforced errors against Muguruza, the 2015 winner, who hit only five winners of her own.
“I’ve played eight matches in 10 or 11 days, and I’m still going!” Kvitova joked with WTA Insider. “For sure, I’m feeling it; I do feel a few spots, but when I’m standing on the court, the adrenaline is there. I’m feeling very mentally tough right now, and that’s my strength, for sure.
“I know my game is there, which helps a lot with confidence; I just have to hit it how I can, and that’s most important.”
Breaking serve three times, the former World No.2 saved the only break point she faced to book a rematch with No.8 seed Madison Keys, whom she defeated for the bronze medal in Rio.
“That was a great match, for sure. It was a great battle, and both of us had a great level of game last time. I think it’ll be the same when we play again. I know she’s serving well, so that’ll probably be key for me to stay on my serve and wait for my chances and return – somehow!
“I think she’s similar to Garbiñe, or even me, so that helps.”
A WTA Finals champion in 2011, Kvitova was looking like a longshot to make her sixth career appearance at the year-end championships before catching fire after the Olympics, making the second week of the US Open – where she fell to eventual champion and future World No.1 Angelique Kerber – and blitzing the field in Wuhan, avenging the loss to Kerber and dropping a combined five games against Simona Halep and Dominika Cibulkova to win the title.
Should she win a second title in two weeks, the two-time Wimbledon winner would enter the Top 8 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, but rest and recovery will be the main priority during a well-deserved day off.
“I’ll probably just go to the gym tomorrow; I’ve had a lot of hours of play, and even my racquets and shoes are tired. They need a rest!”
MIAMI, FL, USA – Former World No.2 Svetlana Kuznetsova recovered from a hotly contested opening set to earn her first victory over top seed Serena Williams since 2009, upsetting the 21-time Grand Slam champion in the fourth round of the Miami Open, 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-2.
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“I’m really thrilled,” Kuznetsova told Andrew Krasny during her on-court interview. “I’m sorry, fans who are disappointed that Serena’s not going to keep playing, but for sure she’ll be at more events than here.
“I’m really happy with my performance; I tried to stay at a good level the whole game, put as many balls back. I think I did that pretty well and I’m happy with the way I served today.”
Beginning the season with a title at the Apia International Sydney, the two-time Grand Slam champion hadn’t defeated a reigning World No.1 since winning the French Open almost seven years ago and needed three sets to beat both Carina Witthoeft and Caroline Garcia just to reach the fourth round. Narrowly missed out on a one-set lead after dropping the tie-break 7-3, a strong service game to start the second set her up in good stead against the American, going on to win 10 straight points between the second and third sets.
Serena gets one break back as Kuznetsova floats FH slice long. 3-1*.
Last time Serena lost as early as R16 in Miami: 2000 (l. Capriati).
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 28, 2016
Williams had reached the final in each of her two WTA appearances this season, but struggled to find her best form at a tournament she was looking to win for a ninth time. Earning two hard-foughts wins over Christina McHale and Zarina Diyas, she hit 43 winners on Monday but was undone by 50 unforced errors in the two hour match.
Kuznetsova was far more consistent throughout, hitting 27 winners to only 13 unforced and surviving a hiccup in the middle of the decider to serve out the upset on the first time of asking – starting the game with one of her eight aces.
“It’s my profession; I play tennis and I have to do my job on the court. I was just focused on my game, just trying to do what I do best.”
Into the quarterfinals for the first time since 2009, Kuznetsova next plays the winner of No.12 seed Elina Svitolina and No.30 seed Ekaterina Makarova – neither of whom had made their WTA main draw debut when the Russian last won in Miami in 2006.
“I’m too old! It was 10 years ago. I’ve been on this court many times. I love playing on this stage; the fans in my Miami are great. I love being back here and I’m really happy with my performance.”
Great hustle from @SvetlanaK27! ?? pic.twitter.com/IjnqLGTfxq
— WTA (@WTA) March 28, 2016
BEIJING, China – World No.36 Zhang Shuai thrilled Chinese fans with a dominant upset over the No.4 seed Simona Halep to become the first Chinese woman to reach the quarterfinals of the China Open since Li Na in 2013.
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In a rematch of their Australian Open encounter – where Zhang shocked Halep in the first round on her way to her Cinderella run to the quarterfinals – Zhang similarly seemed to have all the answers against her No.5-ranked opponent. Undaunted by playing in front of her home crowd, she needed just 58 minutes to advance 6-0, 6-3.
“I feel I played much more better today than in Australia Open because I have more confidence,” Zhang said after the match. “Especially because we are in the China Open, my favorite tournament, so I’m really happy.”
The key to Zhang’s victory was keeping Halep out of position, leaving the Romanian always a step behind in rallies. As a result Halep struck twelve winners but 23 unforced errors, compared to Zhang’s neat and tidy nine winners and just three unforced errors. Halep’s serve also put her in trouble – she hit six double faults during the match.
For Zhang, the win brings together a full circle moment; at this stage last year, a No.191-ranked Zhang considered retiring from tennis after losing in the first round. Her family convinced her to play one last tournament, the Australian Open, and the rest has been a steady rise to the top.
“Last year I was feeling really down. I was feeling really sad. I felt I was working hard but never won, never play good, never play well,” Zhang reflected.
“This year everything change. I am feeling much more confident on court. When I want to go cross-court, the ball go cross-court. When I want to go down the line, they go down the line. I can control everything on court.
“I feeling everything working, yeah. Feeling good. I like this tennis.”
“I don't want to stop now, I want to keep going.” -@ZhangShuai121 ready for @ChinaOpen Quarterfinals pic.twitter.com/HIm4QmawNu
— WTA (@WTA) October 6, 2016
MIAMI, FL, USA – Margarita Gasparyan and Monica Niculescu produced a stirring second set comeback against Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva to become the first team into the doubles semifinals at the Miami Open.
Twenty-four hours earlier, Gasparyan and Niculescu had sent shockwaves through the draw by outclassing top seeds and defending champions Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza. However, when they slipped 5-2 behind in the second set, hopes of building on this upset looked to be hanging in the balance.
The seeming inevitability of a match tie-break seemed to liberate the Eastern Europeans who played some swashbuckling tennis in far from ideal conditions to draw level then close out a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory.
“I think we played our best match today, it was a very good win,” Niculescu said. “I was thinking it was going to be a very tough match. It’s not easy to beat No.1s in the world yesterday and then to come here – we know King won two Grand Slams.
“We’re happy to come back – it was a good win, we stayed focused, tried to stay aggressive. It was starting to rain a bit and was also very windy and now we’re in the semifinals! I’m so happy!”
Gasparyan and Niculescu’s previous two outings together ended in second-round defeats in Doha and Indian Wells, and the identity of their semifinal foes will not be revealed until Wednesday, when No.4 seeds Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova take on Kateryna Bondarenko and Olga Savchuk.
In the bottom half, Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai face Ekaterina Makarova and Barbora Strycova, while in the opening match on Stadium court No.3 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova take on fellow Grand Slam winners Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.
September was packed with plenty of amazing shots – we narrowed it down to the five best.
In the end, it was Kirsten Flipkens, who played a key role in the rally Agnieszka Radwanska won to clinch August’s Shot Of The Month, after showing off more of her signature variety at the Korea Open in Seoul. On her way to beating Kristyna Pliskova in three tough sets, the Belgian pulled out all the stops to beat her powerful opponent, including a behind-the-back backhand stab to pass Pliskova at net.
Click here to watch all of September’s finalists.
Final Results for September’s WTA Shot Of The Month
1. Kirsten Flipkens (47%)
2. Agnieszka Radwanska (39%)
3. Simona Halep (6%)
4. Caroline Wozniacki (4%)
5. Angelique Kerber (3%)
2016 WTA Shot of the Month Winners
January: Caroline Wozniacki
February: Agnieszka Radwanska
March: Agnieszka Radwanska
April: Monica Niculescu
May: Simona Halep
June: Agnieszka Radwanska
July: Simona Halep
August: Agnieszka Radwanska
How it works:
Five shots are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com
Victoria Azarenka will look to continue her winning ways on Wednesday as the lower half of the draw contests its quarterfinals matches. We preview the matchups here.
Wednesday, Quarterfinals
[13] Victoria Azarenka (BLR #8) vs. [24] Johanna Konta (GBR #23)
Head-to-head: Konta leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Azarenka is bidding to become the first player to complete the Indian Wells-Miami double since 2005 (Clijsters).
Victoria Azarenka is back in the Top 10, riding a nine-match winning streak, and showing no signs of slowing down ahead of her quarterfinal with Great Britain’s Johanna Konta. With memories of her last two injury-marred seasons rapidly vanishing in the rearview mirror, the two-time Miami champion is oozing positive energy. “I think I’m a better player right now, just the way I handle myself on the court,” Azarenka said after handling Garbiñe Muguruza in two tight sets on Monday. “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.” Trying to keep Azarenka from adding to her winning streak is one of the surprise stories of 2016 in Johanna Konta. The 24-year-old, already the first British woman to reach the quarterfinals in the history of this event, is looking to reach the semifinals on her debut. Konta is energized by her latest achievement, but aims only to look forward. “It’s a wonderful thing to have on paper and for other people to recognize,” Konta told the BBC of her latest milestone. “But I am very much in the moment in this tournament and it’s not over for me.”
Pick: Azarenka in two
[2] Angelique Kerber (GER #3) vs. [22] Madison Keys (USA #24)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 3-1
Key Stat: At 21 years old, Keys is the youngest player remaining in the draw.
Angelique Kerber is finding it difficult to replicate her Australian Open magic on a nightly basis, but whether she’s playing flawless tennis or not, the German is never without her trademark grit. The 28-year-old used every ounce of her mental toughness – and some match point magic – to battle past Hungary’s Timea Babos on Monday night, rallying from a break down in the third set to claim her spot in the quarterfinals. Waiting for her there is the last American standing, the talented, powerful Madison Keys. Keys has been on fire in Miami, winning more than 70 percent of her service points and not dropping serve once in three straight-sets victories. The 21-year-old may be relatively inexperienced compared to Kerber, but she’s had plenty of time to contemplate what it takes to beat the German. Keys has met Kerber in the only two Tour-level finals of her career, and has faced her on three different surfaces. Though Kerber holds the lifetime 3-1 edge, their last two meetings have been nip-and-tuck three-set affairs. Will Keys and her block-rocking ground game unlock the mystery of Kerber, or will the German dial up her defenses and reach the last four?
Pick: Keys in three
-Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor