Tennis News

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Upsets reigned supreme in the top half of the draw on Friday at Indian Wells, with seeds going only 7-9. Will the chaos continue on Sunday? We preview today’s third-round matchups here.

Sunday, Third Round

[1] Serena Williams (USA # 1) vs. Yulia Putintseva (KAZ # 56)
Head-to-head: Williams leads 1-0
Key Stat: Williams will bid for her 20th career win at Indian Wells against just one loss.

After her second-round victory over Laura Siegemund of Germany, Williams admitted that she’s a lot less nervous than she was last year, when she ended her boycott and played in the desert for the first time since 2001. “I was really kind of stressed out last year,” Williams told reporters. “It was a lot of emotions last year. This year it was a lot easier. I mean, obviously there is still something there, but it’s a lot easier to just deal with everything.” A more relaxed Williams could spell big trouble for Yulia Putintseva, but don’t expect the 21-year-old to lay down and play dead. She’s as fiery as they come and she’ll come out ready to take her shots at the World No.1.

Pick: Williams in two

[3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #3) vs. [32] Monica Niculescu (ROU # 34)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Radwanska has reached the semis in all three events she has played in 2016.

Radwanska saved a match point in making a valiant comeback to dispatch Dominika Cibulkova on Friday. Next up, she’ll face a fellow slice-and-dicer in the quirky Monica Niculescu, who took out Heather Watson to reach the third round at Indian Wells for the first time. Though Radwanska comes in as the heavy favorite, Niculescu comes in with good form, having notched wins over Petra Kvitova, Sabine Lisicki and Jelena Jankovic this season.

Pick: Radwanska in two

[5] Simona Halep (ROU #5) vs. [30] Ekaterina Makarova (RUS # 32)
Head-to-head: Halep leads 2-1
Key Stat: Defending champion Halep was the WTA’s hardcourt match win leader in 2015 (41-11).

Jazzed after an inspiring hitting session with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf in Las Vegas last week, Simona Halep came out and blitzed Vania King to reach the third round. But the competition stiffens for the Romanian on Sunday as 30th-seeded Ekaterina Makarova steps up. Halep owns the head-to-head edge over the Russian but Makarova won their biggest match to date at the 2015 Australian Open. To be honest, neither player has played anywhere near their potential this year, but a big win on Sunday could do a lot for the confidence of either player.

Pick: Halep in three

[8] Petra Kvitova (CZE # 8) vs. Johanna Larsson (SWE # 66)
Head-to-head: Kvitova leads 2-0 (both meetings Challenger-level)
Key Stat: Kvitova has fallen against players ranked outside the Top 50 at her last two tournaments (Dubai/Brengle, Doha/Ostapenko).

Petra Kvitova narrowly avoided the upset in defeating Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic in a third-set tiebreaker on Friday, and on Sunday she’ll look win back-to-back matches for the first time in 2016. The serve is the glue that generally holds the Kvitova game together, but in her last two matches the Czech has faced 26 break points. That’s too many. Kvitova will have to take command of her service games to go deep into the tournament, but if she can tighten up her game she may be able to ride her favorable draw all the way to the semis or beyond.

Pick: Kvitova in two

[19] Jelena Jankovic (SRB #19) vs. CoCo Vandeweghe (USA # 38)
Head-to-head: Tied, 3-3
Key Stat: 2010 champion Jankovic snapped a three-match losing streak versus Vandeweghe with a straight-sets win in Sydney over the American in January.

CoCo Vandeweghe is a bit of a wild card, and she can be prone to inconsistency. But when the hard-serving 24-year-old is on, she can be a terror to face. On Sunday the American will try to get past last year’s runner-up Jelena Jankovic, but beating the Serb in the desert has always proven to be a difficult task. Jankovic owns 24 career wins here, but she’s struggled to find her form thus far in 2016, going 5-7. Meanwhile, Vandeweghe has won six of eight matches—three of which came against Top 20 opposition—since dropping her first three tilts of the season.

Pick: Vandeweghe in three

-Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Their 41-match winning streak had come to an end at the Qatar Total Open, but Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza’s hopes of claiming a second straight BNP Paribas Open title were halted by an unseeded but dangerous pair in Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva, 7-6(7), 6-4.

“We had a game plan and I feel like we executed it really well,” King, who won back-to-back Grand Slam titles with Yaroslava Shvedova at the 2010 Wimbledon and US Open, said after the match. “We tried to take control of the points and not let them dictate the match play, and I think we did that really well. That’s why we won.”

King and Kudryavtseva are playing just their second tournament of 2016 – King sat out much of 2015 with a back injury – but already have a Grand Slam quarterfinal under their belt at the Australian Open. After edging past the top seeds in a tense tie-break, the American/Russian duo raced out to a 5-2 lead in the second set – eventually breaking at love to hand Santina their first straight-sets loss since the summer of 2015 (Rogers Cup).

“I’m feeling very glad that I have a partner like Vania; she had a great game plan. We stuck with each other through the goods and the bads, and it pays off for a doubles team to do that,” Kudryavtseva said.

“That’s what I’m useful for; I just have good game plans, and that’s all!” King added with a laugh.

“And she has good energy, and she’s a fantastic, phenomenal tennis player,” Kudryavtseva continued. “She’s really motivated. It’s nice to be around someone who has so much positive energy and love for tennis. I think we’re really enjoying ourselves on the court, good chemistry.

“We obviously complement each other well; Vania moves a lot, and I try to move a lot. We have good returns.

“I feel like as a team, all the pieces kind of fit together, and it’s only our second tournament, and we obviously have a long way to go – hopefully – but we’re playing well and we’re enjoying each other’s company; it’s great.”

Into their second straight quarterfinal, fast-rising duo face a rematch of their Australian Open encounter with Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova; the big-hitting pair survived a tough match against Daria Kasatkina and Elena Vesnina – the very team who ended the Santina Streak in Doha – in a match tie-break, 6-1, 6-7(5), 10-4.

Deciding to pair up at the end of last season, Kudryavtseva has told WTA Insider that she and King are looking to make 2016 a season to remember; each have qualified for the WTA Finals before – King in 2010 and 2011, Kudryavtseva in 2014 – but are trying to keep a return to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global in the back of their minds for the time being.

“I think we have to take it match by match, tournament by tournament,” King said. “Our communication is really good, we get along on and off the court, which is important. We don’t feel any pressure to not say something to one another; we can easily talk to each other about how we feel on or off the court – if we want to work on something, or if one sees something and the other one doesn’t.

“Obviously we hope can get to Singapore. If we take it one match at a time, that’s how we will play our best at the end of the day, enjoying each day on the court, going for our shots and going from there.”

MIAMI, FL, USA – It was a personal milestone for Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella on Tuesday, as the 31-year-old won her first-ever main draw match at a Premier Mandatory event, defeating Kristyna Pliskova, 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-5 in the first round at the Miami Open.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match,” she told WTA Insider after the match. “I’ve played her once or twice before, and I knew she serves really well. She goes for her shots, and I struggled to return her first serve. It was a tough match and big battle. I’m really happy I won it in the end.”

Playing in her first-ever main draw in Miami in her fourth career appearance, Minella showed few signs of nerves in the early going. The World No.74 broke Pliskova at her first opportunity in the second game, taking a 3-0 lead at the first change of ends, later extending her lead to 5-2 with a pair of holds without allowing Pliskova a break point chance.

Outrageous way to save match point from @KrisPliskova! ? #MiamiOPen pic.twitter.com/I5Lk2RtPzX

— WTA (@WTA) March 21, 2017

However, the Czech staged a late comeback, breaking Minella as she served for the set and delivering an emphatic love hold to knot the set at 5-5. She held to love once more to force a first-set tiebreak, but Minella proved more effective on return as the tiebreak wore on. Neutralizing the left-hander’s delivery and winning four points on Pliskova’s serve in the tiebreak, Minella secured the 59-minute opener as one final Pliskova backhand went long.

“I’ve been really good physically lately. I’m in good shape and can last for long matches. That’s a good point in my favor. I struggled a little bit today because it was quite hot and there was a lot of running. The balls are quite heavy, so that means there’ll be a lot of rallies. It was definitely tough out there today.”

After managing to win just two points on Minella’s serve to begin the second set, Pliskova secured the break in a sixth game which saw her dig in at deuce to move ahead 4-2. However, Minella hit right back in the next, passing Pliskova twice at the net en route to an emphatic break that got the set back on serve. Neither player had a look at a break point again until the final game of the set, in which Pliskova took advantage of a trio of Minella double faults to square the match at one set all.

.@MandyMinella battles past Kristyna Pliskova 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-5!

Sets @MiamiOpen Second round vs @SvetlanaK27! pic.twitter.com/AQpf69rGBM

— WTA (@WTA) March 21, 2017

Playing a deciding set for the first time in three meetings, the duo traded breaks twice in the final set before Minella secured her third game off the Pliskova serve to put her in position to serve for the match. As the contest hit the two-hour, 30-minute mark, Minella brought up three match points on serve, only to see the Czech storm back and win the next five to level the match at 5-5, courtesy of some brilliant shot-making.

However, Minella kept her cool in the midday sun, breaking for a fourth time in the set and sealing the match on her fourth match point, closing out the two-hour, 38-minute victory as Pliskova’s final backhand return found the net.

“It’s good to start the season in this positive way; it gives you confidence for upcoming tournaments. I think I’m still on a roll, enjoying my tennis. I’m enjoying my matches and the traveling. I think that’s the reason I’ve been playing good, and because I love my sport.”

Minella, who improves to 3-0 lifetime against the left-handed Pliskova, advances to the second round where she’ll face No. 7 seed and BNP Paribas Open runner-up, Svetlana Kuznetsova.

“I think it’ll be really hard because she’s in great shape. She was in the Indian Wells final last week, and so I think she’s going to be ready. I’ll try my best to play as good as I can; I will fight, and will just try to do my best.”

The veteran has enjoyed a strong start to her season, reaching the semifinals of the Taiwan Open, but credits a career turn around by winning her first WTA 125K title in Bol, Croatia.

“Bol was where everything changed for me. I’d had some really miserable results up to that point, and I was about to stop my career at Wimbledon. I think I just relaxed and enjoyed being there. The city was fantastic; they had a nice hotel with a spa, and the sea was quiet. I really enjoyed it there, and it helped me play good enough to win my first title over there. It’ll always be in my memories for a long time.”

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Victoria Azarenka clinches a berth in the second week of the BNP Paribas Open for the fifth time in her career, holding off a surging Zhang Shuai, 6-4, 6-3.

The Chinese wildcard is in the midst of a career-best season, having reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open as a qualifier, and upset former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki less than 48 hours ago to set up the meeting with Azarenka, the 2012 champion in Indian Wells.

“She’s a very tricky opponent,” Azarenka admitted to Andrew Krasny after the match. “She’s playing with so much confidence and so free, and it’s the first time we’ve played each other. So, at the beginning it’s always a moment of adaptation, and she returned really well.

“I felt like I didn’t do enough on my service games and I had to step it up because she kept playing really aggressive and taking control. So, I’m glad I was able to put it in my hands.”

Adapt Azarenka did as the math unfolded, striking 27 winners to 13 from Zhang, and keeping her error count low, as well – 23 to 30. Edging ahead by an early break in the second set, Azarenka showed off some impressive gets in the last game to break Zhang once more to earn the final spot in the round of 16.

“Last year, I was a little slow. This year is definitely a different year. I’m glad I keep improving my speed; it’s so important in today’s tennis to be prepared physically so I’m really working on that.

“I’m glad that all the work off court is paying off on court.”

Up next for the former No.1 is No.26 seed and 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur, who outlasted a fiesty Christina McHale, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

As night fell on Indian Wells, 18-year-old Daria Kasatkina emerged victorious after a titanic effort against Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig; the young Russian led 3-0 in the final set but had to turn things around in a hurry when she found herself down match point at 4-5.

Making her BNP Paribas Open debut, Kasatkina broke Puig in that all-important tenth game and despite missing out on two match points of her own at 6-5, she displayed impressive tenacity in the final set tie-break, setting up a fourth round encounter with Timea Bacsinszky with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2) victory.

“I’m a little bit tired, but I’m happy because, even though I didn’t play my best tennis over three sets, in the last three games I started to play better, so it means that I’m improving,” she said after the match.

“From the first practice, I feel like my spins are flying and the balls are good, so I like to play here because it’s a good surface for me.”

Although fans are most familiar with SAP Tennis Analytics for Coaches powered by SAP HANA during on-court coaching breaks, it goes beyond the match to provide players and coaches with real-time insights throughout the season.

“Using SAP stats to review matches is an ongoing thing,” said Nicole Pratt, who coaches Daria Gavrilova. “We use it to prepare for the next match, for the next tournament, for the year ahead.”

SAP Tennis Analytics for Coaches allows for real-time statistics and data provided via Hawk-Eye during matches, with coaches now able to take an iPad tablet out on court during on-court coaching timeouts as well as practice sessions to deliver more detailed messages to their players.

Watch the video above to hear how Angelique Kerber, Lucie Safarova and Daria Gavrilova and their coaching teams use SAP Tennis Analytics to regroup after a match and prepare for the season ahead.

MIAMI, FL, USA – Down match point in the decider, Yaroslava Shvedova produced some of her best tennis to defeat 2008 runner-up Jelena Jankovic in the first round of the Miami Open on Wednesday, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3).

“It was an amazing match, a battle there on-court,” Shvedova told WTA Insider after the match. “Jelena is a great opponent, a tough opponent, and I’m happy I could manage to play well, relax and enjoy it, which I was missing a little bit for the beginning of the year.”

Snapping a seven-match skid that dated back to the quarterfinals of the China Open in Beijing last fall, Shvedova scored a victory in the matchup for the second time, and now both of her career victories against Jankovic have come in final set tiebreaks; the lone win for Shvedova in the pair’s previous five matches came 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(6) in the second round of the 2009 US Open.

Great return! @Jelena_Jankovic sneaks the first set 6-4! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/FQDmN1Bimq

— WTA (@WTA) March 22, 2017

In addition, the Kazakh handed the Serb her fourth straight defeat in the first round after Jankovic reached the semifinals in 2013. While the two hadn’t played since 2012 prior to Wednesday’s match, a tough battle was to be expected — the match was the fifth three-set affair between the two players as well.

“She’s a fighter and it’s always been tough to play against her,” Shvedova said. “I was talking with my coach after the match and he reminded me [of their three-setters]. Somehow, our games match-up and it’s not easy to finish quickly!”

In an opening set that went with serve for the first nine games, each player only carved out one break point opportunity and proved particularly successful behind their first deliveries — both won over 70 percent of the points played behind them in the set. However, Jankovic’s second break point chance in the set proved to be vital, as she rifled a backhand return winner down the line to seal the opener in 43 minutes.

The second set was nearly identical in both score and minutes played, but the path to pocketing the set proved different for the Kazakh. Shvedova hit back well in the second, winning over 40 percent of points on return and break twice to wrap up the middle set by an identical 6-4 score and send proceedings to a decider.

.@SlavaSays saves a match point to edge Jankovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3)!

Advances to @MiamiOpen Second round! pic.twitter.com/Bx87UD9el7

— WTA (@WTA) March 22, 2017

With Jankovic ahead 3-2 in the final set, the pair rattled off four straight breaks of serve, the last coming as Shvedova broke the Jankovic delivery to 15 as she served for the match. Facing match point at 30-40, Shvedova reeled off the next three and rifled a forehand winner past Jankovic to knot the set at 5-5.

Trailing by a mini-break in the tiebreak, Shvedova rallied to knot the action at 3-3 before winning the next four points to score the come-from-behind win.

Looking to build on her first win of the year in March, Shvedova advances to face No. 17 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round, against whom she is 2-3 overall.

“My preparation was not good because I got injured in the off-season and I couldn’t practice that well,” Shvedova said about her start to 2017. “I couldn’t get my feeling, my game, my confidence, everything — and I was just going to tournaments trying to get it. It was not easy sometimes, unlucky — now I’ve had some time to rest and relax and clear my mind, [and] I can start to go up from the bottom.”