Tennis News

MIAMI, FL, USA – The Miami Open doubles tournament kicked into high gear on Saturday as two of the Top 4 seeds took the court to begin their respective campaigns. Before the storm clouds rolled in for the third straight day, No.2 seeds Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina and No.4 seeds Andrea Hlavackova & Peng Shuai both advanced into the second round, each in straight sets.

The two teams last met in the finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which the Russians won in a tense match tie-break, and could potentially meet in the semifinals of Miami.

Hlavackova and Peng have nonetheless enjoyed a strong start to 2017, reaching the finals of the Australian Open and briefly leading the pack at the top of the Road to Singapore leaderboard.

“The doubles game is improving a lot,” Hlavackova told WTA Insider. “A lot of singles players are playing doubles, and most of the top teams are made up of singles players, so it’s very tough competition. We are very happy to start the season so well; I think it’s pretty special to start the team so well as a new team. We just want to keep going.”

Up against a young team in Naomi Osaka and Monica Puig, the duo edged through a close opening set to roll through, 7-6(6), 6-1, and book a second round clash with Shuko Aoyama and Yang Zhaoxuan.

“They started very strong in the first set. They served really fast and played a very fast baseline game. It was very important to not panic and keep playing and find out time and moment. We got the tie-break and started from there, even better.”

Osaka and Puig each produced exciting results in singles last year, but have yet to hit the same heights on the doubles court.

“They’re young; when they get to our age, they’ll have experience!” joked Peng.

“I think they’re a great team. They play strong and fast. In the first set, we were almost lucky to get the tie-break, but in the second set, we got a break quickly, so the feeling was different.”

Earlier in the day, Makarova and Vesnina each shrugged off tough singles losses on Friday to power through their first doubles match in Miami, ousting Oksana Kalashnikova and Asia Muhammad, 6-0, 6-2.

“We both had crazy singles matches yesterday,” Vesnina said. “I texted her after the match, because I knew she was crying and she was tired. I told her, ‘Katya, don’t even put yourself down. We have a tough sport, but it’s not the end of the world. Cry for another five, ten minutes, and just pack your stuff, go back to the hotel, get sleep, and tomorrow we’ll kick some asses on the court!’

“We needed to regroup and forget our tough losses because it’s tough. You can have a black line in your life, white line in your life, and there can be moments where there are more black lines than white, but you still need to find the positivity though the negative. Sometimes, what doesn’t kill you makes you strong.”

The dynamic duo are set to celebrate their fifth anniversary of doubles at the Mutua Madrid Open, but may leave Crandon Park with an unexpected present; should they win the tournament, they will rise to Co-World No.1 – as long as Bethanie Mattek-Sands falls before the semifinals and Kristina Mladenovic fails to reach the final.

“Before you told me, I didn’t even know! We’ll take it match by match. Katya and I always do that; we’ll just focus on our doubles. We lost our singles, so we’ll try our best to do good in doubles because this is a big tournament.

“Miami is very prestigious and it’s a huge event; we’ve been in the final twice. This year we’ll try to go all the way.”

Up next for the Olympic Gold medalists and reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champions is the unseeded and dangeous pairing of Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Kveta Peschke.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

TIANJIN, China – Agnieszka Radwanska stunned Tianjin when she withdrew from the tournament with a right thigh injury – shortly after showing just why she was the top seed.

The defending champion had taken Evgeniya Rodina apart, 6-1, 6-1, to progress to the quarterfinals, where she was to face Peng Shuai.

The Chinese wildcard had earlier beaten qualifier Chang Kai-Chen of Taipei 6-3, 6-2.

Radwanska is also the defending champion at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. “It’s the end of the season – I guess everyone is struggling with something,” she said afterwards.

She added that the injury had worsened over time and that she had decided to withdraw in order to give herself the best chance of recovering in time for Singapore.

“I’m very sorry I had to withdraw…I just hope I can see my fans [here] next year — it was a pleasure to come here again,” she said.

Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig had a straightforward time of it, beating Lara Arruabarrena of Spain, 6-4, 6-2.

Alison Riske also progressed in straight sets – but Poland’s Magda Linette did her utmost to take it to a decider, eventually losing out on a tie-break, 6-3, 7-6(2).

LINZ, Austria – Madison Keys made short work of Océane Dodin to sprint through to the semifinals of the Generali Ladies Linz.

She beat Dodin, 6-3, 6-3, in just under an hour – and will now face Garbiñe Muguruza.

“I’m not feeling great, but I’m happy I got the win today,” admitted Keys. “[Dodin] is a tough player, she can hit some really, really good shots.”

Earlier, Carla Suárez Navarro fought through against Denisa Allertova, winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

In a match that lasted just under two hours, the Spaniard had moments when she looked a little nervy – and that led to her losing the second set as her opponent hit back. But she regrouped to take the decider to secure herself a match with Dominika Cibulkova.

“I think I played really good at the end of the match,” reflected Suárez Navarro afterwards. “I like the court – I like everything of the tournament.”

 CHARLESTON, SC – Eugenie Bouchard and Madison Keys hit the center court at the Family Circle Tennis Center for the second installment of Workout With USANA.

Caroline Wozniacki and Sam Stosur hosted the first installment of the Workout With USANA series at Indian Wells, where they showed fans their best resistance and flexibility exercises. This time, USANA brand ambassadors Genie and Madison grabbed a pair of young fans from the crowd and walked them through their go-to shots.

“It was my first experience coaching so I was trying to explain my favorite shot, which is my backhand cross court,” said Genie.

“It was super fun, I hope the kids learned something!”

For Madison, her go-to shot was her booming serve, and she gave fans a step-by-step instruction on how to hit it.

“I love that we were able to bring someone out from the crowd,” she said. “She was very good, I was really impressed!”

Check out the best photos from Workout With USANA, and see how well Genie and Madison did in coaching their young protégés, Paige and Haynes!

USANA is the Official Vitamin & Supplement Supplier of the WTA, and over 170 Athletes – including 8 out of the Top 10 and 15 out of the Top 20 use USANA products. Former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, Samantha Stosur, Eugenie Bouchard, and Madison Keys are among several USANA ambassadors, and 2016 marks the 10th Anniversary of the USANA-WTA partnership. Check them out on Instagram at @USANAInc.

HONG KONG, SAR – Angelique Kerber has crashed out of the Prudential Hong Kong Open, succumbing 6-3, 6-1 to Daria Gavrilova in the quarterfinals to throw her status as year-end World No.1 in doubt.

The German started the match at a canter, holding easily before breaking thanks to a pair of wayward forehands from the Australian after pushing her to deuce.

However, Kerber’s set collapsed from there, losing five games, surrendering her lead thanks to a forehand into the tramline. Kerber squandered four break points in Gavrilova’s next game before the 21-year-old moved ahead.

A second break, confirmed with an emphatic volley, put Gavrilova firmly in the ascendancy and though Kerber halved her deficit, the eighth seed took the set by breaking once more.

The first three games of the second set went with serve before Kerber sent down a double fault to give Gavrilova a break. There was little sign of a comeback from there. Though the US Open champion squandered two break points in the next game, she was broken to love thanks to a series of unforced errors to give the underdog a 5-1 lead.

The youngster made no mistake from there, wrapping up a big-name scalp, with Kerber sending yet another shot into the net.

“[I was not surprised by Gavrilova] because I know how she is playing but I was not playing my best tennis and my serve wasn’t working well and I can just say that I was not at my best, that’s for sure,” Kerber said after the match.

“It’s a long season and we’ve been playing for 10 months. I’ve been playing a lot of matches this year, and I think I need a few days off to get ready for Singapore because I am tired and I need a lot of treatment to get ready for the next one. I was not serving at my best, I made a lot of double faults which is not normal for my game.”

Gavrilova, meanwhile, was delighted after recording her first career win over Kerber.

“I guess I’m really excited, I’ve played Angie six times and now I’ve finally won, it’s really exciting,” she said. 

“I was prepared for a battle. I think Angie has had a long season. I didn’t expect to win that easily but I was ready to turn it around and get a win against her.”

Linz, Austria – Dominika Cibulkova has bagged her third title of 2016 thanks to victory over Viktorija Golubic at the Generali Ladies Linz.

The Slovakian has now qualified for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for the first time in her career thanks to her 6-3, 7-5 win.

Cibulkova sidelined for 5mos last year w/ heel surgery. Fell out of Top 50, finished at No.38.

2016: 3 titles + 3 finals + Top 10 return.

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) October 16, 2016

Cibulkova had started the brighter of the two players, coming close to breaking in Golubic’s opening service game but squandering two break points.

The 27-year-old continued probing for the advantage, letting another two opportunities slip before finally going 5-3 ahead and serving out the first set.

It was Cibulkova who made all the running in the final set, taking a commanding lead by breaking to love in Golubic’s second service game before being unexpectedly pegged back by the World No.62, who converted her first break point.

For the first time, Golubic began to pose a threat to Cibulkova but failed to take any of her seven set points before losing her serve and allowing the No.2 seed to complete her victory.