Tennis News

MIAMI, FL, USA – After more than a week of compelling tennis, Johanna Konta and Caroline Wozniacki are the last two standing at the Miami Open, as both women look to raise the trophy for the first time at the WTA Premier Mandatory event.

Here are 10 things to know before Saturday’s championship showdown.

Johanna Konta (GBR #11) vs. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #14)
Head-to-head: Konta leads, 1-0

1) Maiden (in) Miami.
Both players will break new ground in their careers when they set foot on court on Saturday, as each is competing in her first-ever final at the Miami Open. Playing in Miami for the 10th time, Wozniacki’s best result previously came in 2012, when she reached the semifinals. Konta is playing in Miami for just the second time in her career, and reached the quarterfinals in her 2016 debut.

2) Wozniacki Goes Four for Four.
Wozniacki has reached the final of all four Premier Mandatory events in her career with her success in Miami this week. The former World No.1 first was runner-up at the 2009 Mutua Madrid Open; won the BNP Paribas Open in 2011; and won the China Open in 2010. Konta will contest her second final at Premier Mandatory level out of her last three, finishing runner-up to Agnieszka Radwanska in Beijing last fall.

Caroline Wozniacki has now made the final of all 4 Premier Mandatories, 6 in all.

More: https://t.co/vkUOl0CPfY pic.twitter.com/LUgZPYo3Q8

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 30, 2017

3) Comebacks – and upsets (on paper).
Over the course of the week, both women have recorded wins over higher-ranked players en route to the final. Konta ousted No.3 seed Simona Halep in a marathon quarterfinal match, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2, after the Romanian served for the match in the second set, and was two points away from victory. Wozniacki also rallied from a set down to defeat No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova in Thursday’s semifinals.

.@JoKonta91 advances to @MiamiOpen Semifinals!

Battles past Halep 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2! pic.twitter.com/nm3n99u6s8

— WTA (@WTA) March 29, 2017

4) Third Time’s the Charm?
While Miami marks both Wozniacki and Konta’s first Premier Mandatory final of the season, both players have already reached finals this year. Wozniacki will contest her third final of 2017 after Doha and Dubai, the most on tour this season. While the Dane is looking to win her first title of the year, Konta is appearing in her second final after winning the Apia International Sydney.

5) Lucky Number…45.
With this result, Wozniacki becomes just the fourth active player to reach 45 career finals on the WTA Tour; the 26-year-old has reached at least one final every year since the 2008 season.

#SAPStatOfTheDay: @CaroWozniacki reaches 45th career #WTA Final! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/cLjFZidk2X

— WTA (@WTA) March 31, 2017

6) Recent History, Down Under.
The two have only met once before just two months ago at the Australian Open. In the third round match, Konta broke serve four times en route to a 6-3, 6-1 victory in one hour, 17 minutes.

7) Top 10 Implications.
Regardless of Saturday’s result, Konta is assured of returning to the WTA Top 10. With a victory, the Brit will rise to a new career-high of No.7, bettering her previous of No.9 from last fall. For Wozniacki, only a victory in the final will get her back inside the Top 10 for the first time since 2015, with a rise to No.8 in the rankings.

By advancing to @MiamiOpen final, @JoKonta91 will re-enter the Top 10 on Monday. Venus also moves into Top 10 UNLESS Woz wins the title.

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 31, 2017

8) The Road to the Final.
Combined, both players have dropped three sets this week. Konta had a battle on her hands in her first match of the week against qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich before her quarterfinal comeback against Halep. By contrast, Wozniacki rolled through her first four matches without losing a set until the semifinals.

9) A Bit of British History.
Konta is looking to become the first British woman to not only win the title in Miami, but also win a WTA Premier Mandatory event.

.@JoKonta91 is the first ?? to make a @MiamiOpen Final! pic.twitter.com/6hSG38HiaI

— WTA (@WTA) March 31, 2017

10) Singapore Shakeup.
A win for Wozniacki would see her rise to No.1 on the Road to Singapore leaderboard, ahead of Karolina Pliskova and Serena Williams, while Konta would sit in fifth.  Should Konta win the title, she will sit behind Pliskova in second, while Wozniacki will rise to third.

MELBOURNE, Australia – Zhang Shuai battled past 2015 Australian Open semifinalist Madison Keys to become the fourth Chinese player ever to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.

Zhang, who nearly went out in qualifying – her opponent in the last round of qualies, Virginie Razzano, served for the match in the third set – had taken out No.2 seed Simona Halep en route to her first second week at a major, and she continued that giant-killing form Monday night with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over the No.15-seeded Keys, who looked increasingly hampered by injury during the match.

“It’s so tough to play against someone injured,” Zhang said. “Maybe two points you’re feeling like you cannot play, and then the next three balls, pong, pong, pong, you make two aces, one winner. You don’t know what’s going to happen. And also last year this happened many times, and I’d almost win the match, but then I’d lose. But this time I really tried to concentrate, and I’m happy I won.”

Coming in, Zhang was 0-14 in Grand Slams and had lost 20 straight sets at majors, too – she was considering retirement. She’s not thinking of hanging her racquets up now, but she will need a break.

“Right now, after this tournament, I need a long break,” the Tianjin native commented.

“I’ve already played seven matches. Before today I was thinking, ‘Okay, today is the final.’ When somebody wins six matches at a Grand Slam, it’s already the final, right? And at night, it felt like it.

“But I’d already said this year I’ll play less tournaments. I don’t want to play too much. I want some more time for my life. I can have a holiday, rest, stay with my parents – and practice more too.”

Zhang is the fourth Chinese player ever to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal, after Li Na, Zheng Jie and Peng Shuai – Li was the most successful of the group, picking up two career Grand Slam titles.

Zhang is also guaranteed of becoming the new Chinese No.1 after this tournament. The World No.133 is currently China’s No.4 after No.83 Zheng Saisai, No.102 Wang Qiang and No.117 Duan Ying-Ying.

Next up for Zhang is Johanna Konta, who will also be playing her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Konta and Zhang are tied in their head-to-head, 1-1, though they haven’t played since 2013.

#AusOpen Quarterfinals set! ?

Serena vs Sharapova 
Radwanska vs Suarez Navarro
Kerber vs Azarenka 
Konta vs Zhang pic.twitter.com/JjHiNglbTd

— WTA (@WTA) January 25, 2016

CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Olympics have come to a close and the Emirates Airlines US Open Series resumes as the tour heads into the final Grand Slam tournament of 2016; who will strike gold at the Western & Southern Open?

1) The draw is out.
The main draw has shifted a bit as bronze medalist Petra Kvitova has pulled out; Elina Svitolina moves from World No.1 Serena Williams’ section to become the No.17 seed – check out the draw right here!

2) This is the last chance for most to find their game before the US Open.
For the majority of leading names, Cincinnati represents the final opportunity for match practice ahead of the US Open – the final major of the year begins on August 29.

3) Sixteen of the Top 20 players in the world are in Cincinnati.
It’s a Grand Slam-quality field led by all three major champions in 2016 – Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber, and Garbiñe Muguruza. Rogers Cup champion Simona Halep and BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion Agnieszka Radwanska are also in attendance.

4) Serena shoots for a third straight Cincinnati title.
Coming off a disappointing early loss at the Olympic tennis event, Serena will try to reverse her fortunes at a tournament she’s won the last two years; in 2015, she knocked out Simona Halep in two tight sets, and would like a third Cincinnati crown to cement her US Open preparation.

5) The World No.1 is in play.
Taking a late wildcard into the Western & Southern Open, Serena has control over the top spot; should she reach the quarterfinals, she guarantees to extend her 183 straight weeks atop the WTA Rankings through the US Open. Should she lose early and Kerber takes the title, it would be the Australian Open champion who would become the first German since Stefanie Graf to reach No.1. 

6) …and Kerber has a tough road to the final.
In the same half of the draw as Halep, Radwanska, and a red-hot Johanna Konta, Kerber could face Barbora Strycova – who knocked her out in Madrid – before the quarterfinals, and French Open semifinalist Kiki Bertens (who beat her in Paris) by the last eight.

7) Serena’s road is hardly simpler.
The 22-time Grand Slam champ could renew her rivalry with Christina McHale, who took her to three sets twice in 2016, and could face No.12 seed Timea Bacsinszky or No.7 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals.

8) Belinda’s back!
Belinda Bencic was lighting up the WTA tour this time last year, but back and wrist injuries have beset her since making her Top 10 debut. Seeded No.13 in Cincinnait, she is projected to face No.8 seed Dominika Cibulkova by the third round.

9) The Santina Split is official.
With World Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza playing apart for the first time this season – Hingis with CoCo Vandeweghe and Mirza with Strycova – French Open champs Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic are top seeds in a stacked doubles draw – check it out here!

10) Find out where you can watch the action from Cincinnati here!

MIAMI, FL, USA – The British media celebrated Johanna Konta’s win at the Miami Open with plenty of print space and air time – and are hoping she’ll rise even further up the rankings than her current career high of No.7.

Konta said in her post-match press conference that she hoped her journey in the tournament would garner lots of attention for the sport.

“If the coverage has been good then it’s great for us,” said the British No.1. “It’s promoting tennis, and hopefully promoting more people to play.”

And so it has proved – starting with a front-page splash in the Sunday Times. 

No stunts required – win as big as Konta is starting to, it gets attention. Front page of the Sunday Times. pic.twitter.com/VQKgSUsnt9

— DavidLaw (@DavidLawTennis) April 2, 2017

Comparisons are inevitably being drawn with Virginia Wade, Britain’s last female singles Slam winner – but Konta has played that down, although she admitted she would love to win Wimbledon.

The Daily Mail reported that she said: “It does sound quite monumental but winning Wimbledon is a dream and hopefully one day I will get an opportunity to play for such a title.” 

An unforgettable two weeks for @JoKonta91 at the @MiamiOpen! ? pic.twitter.com/XuN5Snv16F

— WTA (@WTA) April 2, 2017

The Daily Telegraph’s tennis correspondent Simon Briggs assessed Konta’s chances of a Slam title thus: “How much further, then, can this late-blooming champion climb? Two years ago, Konta was ranked around the 150-mark, which did not even earn her a spot in the qualifying tournament here. Now she stands alongside Pliskova and world No 1 Angelique Kerber as one of the women most likely to worry Serena Williams.”

In the Guardian, Kevin Mitchell wrote: “Konta was clearly the better player in this match as well as the one in Melbourne. That was such a clear indicator of how far the British No1 has come in a relatively short time. There would not have been many takers backing Konta to beat Wozniacki even a couple of years ago. Now she has to set her sights higher.”

And of course Konta’s Fed Cup teammates were also thrilled for her – Naomi Broady and Heather Watson were straight on Twitter to publicly congratulate their friend.

She came, she saw, she 'kontad' ? best tweet I've seen today! Killing it JK ? @JoKonta91

— Naomi Broady (@NaomiBroady) April 2, 2017

Congrats @JoKonta91 ! ?????? #killinit

— Heather Watson (@HeatherWatson92) April 1, 2017

MELBOURNE, Australia – World No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska booked her spot in the Australian Open semifinals for the second time, winning over Carla Suárez Navarro 6-1, 6-3 in the first match of the day on Rod Laver Arena.

The match was billed as a meeting of two of the more cerebral players on tour – both rely on craftiness and shot variety to win in an era dominated by big hitters. The pair had faced each other before, with Radwanska winning three of the four encounters but Suárez Navarro – who was looking for a spot in her first Grand Slam semifinal – won their most recent match.

“We had really tough matches in the past,” Suárez Navarro stated in the previous round’s post-match press conference. “I know it will be tough for me. I know that because of her style, you have to run a lot, you have to think every point what to do.”

Suárez Navarro and Radwanska had fought through tough and emotional fourth round matches, where both had to come back from a set down to advance. But at the quarterfinal stage, their matchup was much more straight forward.

Radwanska took the lead from the start, breaking Suárez Navarro’s serve in the first game then winning the next five out of six to close out the set, 6-1. The Spaniard gave more of a pushback in the second set; she broke Radwanska’s serve twice and hung tight at 3-3. But from then it was all Radwanska, who won the next three games and the match at 6-3.

Suárez Navarro found herself unable to keep pace with Radwanska’s all court game – she hit 45 unforced errors while Radwanska, who is typically stingy with the errors, hit just 13.

The Polish No.4 seed has now won 22 of her last 23 matches and is through to the semifinals, where she’s set to face the winner of the blockbuster quarterfinal match between Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams. She trails both players in their head-to-head, 0-8 to Williams and 2-13 to Sharapova, so she’s approaching Thursday’s match by not letting the pressure weigh her down.

“Right now I don’t really have anything to lose,” Radwanska told Rennae Stubbs after the match. “It doesn’t matter who I’m going to play against.

“I’m going to have a good rest and hope I can play my best tennis. Otherwise I’m going to be in big trouble.”