Tennis News

ACAPULCO, Mexico – No.2 seed Kristina Mladenovic suffered no letdown after her three hour thriller against Heather Watson, dispatching Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens, 6-4, 6-3, to reach the final four at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.

“I’m very happy,” the French star said after the match. “I had great sensations when I woke up this morning; I was very satisfied with my effort last night because the work is paying off for me to win a three and a half hour battle and wake up pretty fine. My physio did a good job as well.

“We finished very late, but the advantage of playing here in Acapulco is getting to have most of the next day to work and rest. I came out very strong and didn’t even warm-up today – just fitness after three and a half hours of tennis.”

Mladenovic recovered well from playing the second longest match of the season, hitting 21 winners to just 13 unforced errors in the 82 minute match.

Solid slice from @KiKiMladenovic ? #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/dssgWkzPzp

— WTA (@WTA) March 3, 2017

“It was similar conditions today, and I think I played really good. I fixed the big problem I had on my serve yesterday, when I hit 20 double faults! Only five today! I think overall it was a great match; I had to be very consistent but also aggressive because Kirsten has a lot of variety, and it’s not easy to control her slices here.

“The ball is flying here, but I think I did a good job playing aggressive but also being patient with her tricky game. I’m just very happy to come back after yesterday’s tough win.”

The St. Petersburg champion earned big leads to start each set, winning the first three games of the match and racing out to a quick 4-0 lead to start the second set, but Flipkens – a 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist – gave Mladenovic all she could as the match headed to a dramatic conclusion.

Powerful backhand shot from @KiKiMladenovic ? #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/cywlI0Zhc3

— WTA (@WTA) March 3, 2017

“The first was very close, and I continued on the same path. She might have wanted to change her game at the start of the second, so she tried going for more and ended up giving me a few more unforced errors that made the difference.

“It gave me a big lead, but she kept fighting until the end, and came up with some incredible shots at the end. I had to really dig deep there, especially at 4-2 on my serve. I was in danger most of the game, but I survived and held, which was very important because had I lost serve, it would have been a different match.

JUST clips the line! ?

Impressive stuff from @FlipperKF! #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/H19v2cohLX

— WTA (@WTA) March 3, 2017

“The last game wasn’t easy to close out either; I could feel like she was playing freely at that point and she was going for her shots. It’s obviously a great feeling to be in the semifinals here, especially after such an epic match. It feels like I’ve been in the office all day long.”

.@KiKiMladenovic defeats Flipkens 6-4, 6-3!

Sets @AbiertoTelcel Semifinal vs @ChristinaMcHale! #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/nNfA4kVQzP

— WTA (@WTA) March 3, 2017

Up next for Mladenovic is Christina McHale, a 2014 finalist in Acapulco who ousted reigning Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig in straight sets in the first quarterfinal. The pair last played at this very tournament, with McHale winning en route to the final.

? & a ? from @KiKiMladenovic! #AMT2017 pic.twitter.com/JccEXKygn9

— WTA (@WTA) March 3, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Magda Linette will play Nao Hibino for a place in the Alya Malaysian Open final after seeing off Duan Ying-Ying in three sets, winning 7-6, 4-6, 6-1.

An extremely tight opening set saw not a single break point against the serve and it was no surprise to see it decided by a tiebreak. And it was the Pole who grabbed the opening mini-break before a piece of extraordinary luck saw her shot, going well wide, grip the net cord and divert back in court.

First Semifinal since 2015!@MagdaLinette edges Duan 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-1 for a spot in @alyawtamo Semifinals! pic.twitter.com/lkq9ZXIDYp

— WTA (@WTA) March 3, 2017

Despite her first serve percentage teetering at around 50%, Linette made the most of her good fortune to take the breaker 7-3 and with it the set as Duan fired long.

The pair had met just once previously, Linette coming out on top in straight sets in the 2015 Wuhan Open. But this was a much tighter affair and it was the fifth seed who grabbed the opening break of the match, sufficient for the Chinese to take it all the way.

Although the momentum was seemingly turning towards Duan, it was Linette who took the initiative in the decider, breaking twice in the final set to make only her second WTA final and perhaps even go one better than in the 2014 Tokyo Open.

During the match, Linette appeared to be irritated by a series of close calls that seemed to go against her and after the match she apologised for not reacting in the way she should have.

“It was difficult to stay focused, it was very late,” said Linette after the rain-interrupted tussle. “You go onto the court and then you go off the court. You think maybe you’re not going to play the match. It’s never easy like this and you could see I was very nervous and I was not behaving well but I’m glad that after the second set I could start from the beginning and actually show my best tennis at the end and make up a little bit for my bad behaviour.”

She next faces the challenge of Japan’s Hibino, a 7-6, 6-3 victor over qualifier Lesley Kerkhove.

“I haven’t played her before so I don’t know how she plays,” said Hibino. “I will talk with my coach and figure out a game plan.”

MIAMI, FL, USA – The second Premier Mandatory final of the 2016 season has arrived, and there is plenty on the line for multiple major champions Victoria Azarenka and Svetlana Kuznetsova – so here are 10 Things To Know about the Miami Open final.

(13) Victoria Azarenka (BLR #8) vs (15) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #19)
Head-To-Head: Series Tied, 4-4

1) An even rivalry revisited.
Azarenka and Kuznesova will lock horns for the first time since the 2013 Australian Open. Azarenka won on that occasion to level the rivalry at four wins apiece. She will start as most people’s favorite on Saturday, but the WTA’s form player is taking nothing for granted.

“She’s a very talented and diverse player,” Azarenka said when asked about Kuznetsova following her semifinal. “She is one of the players who knows how to handle big stages. I know she has her up and downs in her career, but she knows how to handle big stages. She is a two-time Grand Slam champion, so it speaks a lot.”

2) Azarenka is looking to join rarefied company by lifting the title for a third time.
Azarenka has won Miami twice before, in 2009 and 2011. Should she emerge triumphant against Kuznetsova she will become just the fourth player to lift the Miami title three or more times, after Graf (1987, 1988, 1994, 1995, 1996), Venus Williams (1998, 1999, 2001), and Serena Williams (2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015).

3) The trophy will also gain her entry into an even more exclusive club.
Victory in the final will see Azarenka complete the Indian Wells-Miami double. Since the inaugural staging of Indian Wells in 1989, Graf (1994, 1996) and Kim Clijsters (2005) are the only players to achieve the feat.

4) Kuznetsova is going for her biggest title since 2009.
After winning just one title in nearly five years, Kuznetsova has been rather prolific of late. At the end of last season, she delighted her home fans by lifting the Kremlin Cup, then opened 2016 with victory in Sydney. However, she has not lifted a Premier Mandatory title since 2009, when she defeated Agnieszka Radwanska from the China Open.

5) Azarenka is upwardly mobile on the WTA Rankings and Road To Singapore.
By virtue of her run to the semifinals, on Monday Azarenka will return to the Top 5 (at No.5) for the first time since May, 2014, at the expense of Simona Halep. Should she head for Europe with the trophy in her luggage, then she will also leapfrog Angelique Kerber to the summit of the Road To Singapore leaderboard.

6) Kuznetsova will also make big moves on both lists.
By reaching the final, Kuznetsova ensured she will rise to No.13 in the rankings – her highest position since August 2011. Should she upset Azarenka then a return to the Top 10 for the first time in nearly six years awaits. She will also jump into the Top 5 on the Road To Singapore leaderboard – No.4 with a title, No.5 without.

7) Kuznetsova looking to end Russian finals day curse.
Crandon Park has not been the happiest of hunting ground for the WTA’s Russian contingent. Since Anna Kournikova let a one set lead slip against Venus Williams in the 1998 final, Russians have finished as runners-up on six occasions. Kuznetsova is the only one to buck the trend, but even that came at the expense of a fellow Russian, Maria Sharapova, in 2006.

8) Marathon woman enters home stretch.
Kuznetsova told WTA Insider after her semifinal victory that she needs a few matches under her belt at a tournament before she can bring out her best tennis. She is certainly has that in Miami, playing four three set matches at the same event for just the second time in her career and spending over 11 hours on court.

9) Azarenka on easy street.
By contrast, Azarenka has taken seven hours and 52 minutes to reach the final. She remains on course to be the first player since Agnieszka Radwanska in 2012 to capture the title without dropping a set.

10) Money, money money.
Kuznetsova’s semifinal victory guaranteed that she will pass $20million in career prize money. In-form Azarenka, meanwhile, will have amassed over $2million in the opening three months of the season alone. 

Before walking out to Center Court on Monday night, I prepared myself for the worst case scenario. Moments before the match, on the TV monitor in the gym, I could see that there were still very few fans positioned in their seats. I prepped myself for a deflated walk-out scene and a distant – if not completely detached – crowd of a thousand in the massive 14,000 seat stadium.

This wasn’t a new prep routine for me. Coming from the challengers and qualifying rounds, I am very accustomed to empty seats, if not empty stadiums like this one. “It’s not about how many people are there or what the atmosphere is like, it’s about the tennis,” a familiar self-told mantra ran through my head, almost on auto-pilot.

This time, I had completely miscalculated. Hundreds of fans were filing in as the announcer sent my name flying up into the night sky and it was met with energy. Not final round qualifying on Court 1 energy, and not even first on Stadium Court at 11am. This felt like the real deal in a way that no prior experiences had prepared me for. Meanwhile, for my opponent, No.4 in the world, this was nothing new. This was unexceptional – just another evening at the office.

No days off. Spotted this morning on Stadium working hard: Nicole Gibbs. #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/Kkj0g0anbx

— Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) March 26, 2016

I had a feeling I might be in trouble when we got to the overheads segment of the warmup. My overhead, a shot I normally rely on for its consistency (and general non-sh***yness) was all over the place. Shank. Miss-hit. Shank, shank. 10 feet long. Oh god. I readied myself in my chair after the warmup. You can do this. Focus on the tennis, there’s nothing to lose here. You belong here. I got up from my chair and set up to serve for the first point of the match.

“Ready, play.” The hum of the crowd turns to complete silence. When did it get so dark? I can’t make out a single face up in the stands. Wow, these lights are really, really bright. Everyone in the audience can see me, but I can’t see them, I can only hear that they’re there. It’s an eerie feeling. My head is spinning, and I’m feeling a little disconnected from my body. Somehow, I win the first game.

And that would be the last game I won.

Air Gibbsy✈️? pic.twitter.com/RE1Yg5XWbn

— Mike (@mrenzaero) March 25, 2016

Around the time I would normally settle into a match after a nervous start, around 4-1, things just got worse. My serve had completely disappeared, I wasn’t moving well to my left, my body felt tense and foreign, and my opponent was playing high level tennis. This was a nightmare. By the time 6-1 2-0 rolled around, I had taken on an even greater sense of despair. Here I had been arguing for equal pay for the WTA just earlier this week, and now I’m going to be used as a case-in-point example for the opposition’s stance. The arguments go, “The WTA provides an inferior product to the ATP” and “The top players barely spend time on the court because there’s no depth on the women’s side.”

I thought to myself, just please get games and make the match longer or more entertaining. Please don’t give people another reason to call you, or more importantly, your sport, a joke…

Have received a lot of comments like WTA>ATP, I like women's tennis more, in light of Moore comments. Appreciated but misses the point…

— Nicole Gibbs (@Gibbsyyyy) March 23, 2016

… Not about who's better or what's more fun to watch. About equality. About supporting each other. I'm happy if we all succeed!!

— Nicole Gibbs (@Gibbsyyyy) March 23, 2016

For all of you who are reading this and thinking, “Wow, was she really thinking about all that during the match?” Yes, I was. But this pattern of thinking is nothing new to me. As a female athlete, it can sometimes feel like I have to put up a fight for basic respect. I could already see the post match tweets saying, “Ha ha, 55 minutes on court and 1 game but you deserve equal pay??” or “What a joke that you think your opinion matters to anyone, you’re a crappy WTA player,” or even a rendition of “Go back to the kitchen where you’ll be useful.”

Most of the time, it’s easy to view these messages with humor. These aren’t the people whose opinions I value. So if it stopped there, with a few isolated hate messages on Facebook or Twitter, that would be one thing. But it doesn’t come close to stopping there.

For me, being told that what I am doing is second class is second nature. Moments after Raymond Moore’s comments at Indian Wells a few weeks ago, I received messages from ATP players, goading me, asserting that Moore’s reasoning was sound. I have had countless individuals, men and women alike, suggest to me that tennis skirts are the principle driver of revenue on the women’s tour. From average, high school aged male tennis players challenging me to matches because they’re sure they could never lose to a girl, to male coaches telling me, “In women’s tennis, you don’t even have to be talented to succeed,”

Every athlete's dream to play on center under the lights. Every athlete's nightmare for that to be the outcome. But, ? happens. #ontothenext

— Nicole Gibbs (@Gibbsyyyy) March 28, 2016

Thanks for the fun week and great learning experience, @MiamiOpen!! Coming back stronger next year.

— Nicole Gibbs (@Gibbsyyyy) March 28, 2016

I feel like I’ve seen it all. But in reality, I haven’t. I live in a privileged world in which the idea of equality is actually entertained. For a majority of women in the world, issues of female infanticide and domestic violence trump simple issues of pay and respect. But when are we going to get to a place as a global community where disrespect and lack of opportunity are no longer the problems reserved for fortunate women?

In the meantime, Billie Jean King tells me that I have a platform, so I plan to use it. Because I, for one, would love for my future daughter to fight for a game down 6-1 2-0 because she hates getting bageled, not because she’s worried that a bagel might undermine her right to equality.