Australian Open: Mattek-Sands/Safarova vs Chuang/Gibbs
Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova takes on Chuang Chia-Jung and Nicole Gibbs in the first round of the Australian Open.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova takes on Chuang Chia-Jung and Nicole Gibbs in the first round of the Australian Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia – World No.2 Serena Williams kicked off her quest for a seventh Australian Open crown with a decisive 6-4, 6-3 victory over Belinda Bencic to ease into the second round.
“I think it was pretty good,” Serena said of the match in her post-match press conference. I mean, she’s a really good player. So I think I was able to start out well.”
Serena came to Melbourne with an outside shot of reclaiming the No.1 ranking from defending champion Angelique Kerber – the American must reach the final to remain in contention – but first had to take care of Bencic, a former World No.7 who had beaten her in their last encounter at the 2015 Rogers Cup.
“I feel like she definitely has a lot more power. Obviously she beat me in Canada the last time we played, but I really don’t remember much about that match.”
Bencic used that winning week in Canada as a springboard towards becoming the youngest Top 10 debutante since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009, but injuries almost immediately stunted her progress and caused her to be unseeded ahead of the Australian Open.
#Serena: “Right now I have nothing to lose. I get to travel the world and do what I do best.”
??❤️#ausopen pic.twitter.com/Sf0oOofSRe
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2017
Knowing this wasn’t a typical first round, Serena put on a solid display throughout the one hour, 21 minute match, though the affair was hardly without its hiccups. The 22-time Grand Slam champion drew first blood to earn a 3-1 lead, only to see Bencic fight back and hold onto level terms until the all-important tenth game, when Serena surged ahead to beak for the set.
The second appeared to be a foregone conclusion as the No.2 seed rode the wave of momentum out to 5-0, but Bencic had one last comeback in store, narrowing the lead to 5-3 before Serena sealed the deal on her second match point.
“I just wasn’t as aggressive as I was during those games. She started playing better. I made a few errors on some key points, but for the most part, I still was going for everything and I was able to close it out.”
Keeping her side of the stat sheet as clean as she could, the former World No.1 hit exactly 30 winners to 30 unforced errors; she looked especially strong on serve with eight aces to four double faults.
Up next for the six-time Australian Open champion is another former rival in Lucie Safarova, who saved a whopping nine match points to defeat Yanina Wickmayer, 3-6, 7-6(9), 6-1 to book a rematch of the 2015 French Open final.
“I knew I had to be really strong.” #Serena through to 2R #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/Z70iPL2JpH
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2017
MELBOURNE, Australia – Former No.1 Venus Williams continued her progress at the Australian Open, moving into the third round in Melbourne for the 13th time in her career after a comfortable win over Stefanie Voegele.
In contrast to her grueling first-round battle against Kateryna Kozlova, Venus never really looked under pressure against Voegele, easing through in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
“Today was a good day, a little less hot first thing in the morning, so it was good to get it in, you know, and have a win early,” Venus told press after her victory.
The Swiss qualifier, ranked No.112 in the world, looked decidedly out of her depth on Rod Laver Arena against the former No.1. A tentative start from Voegele allowed the American to open with a double break of serve and rocket to a 3-0 lead.
With the early nerves out of the way, Voegele managed to grab one of the breaks back with a crisp backhand passing shot, but she wasn’t able to wrench the advantage out of Venus’ grasp. Venus stayed aggressive to wrap up the first set with ease, and continued her form into the second, breaking twice to seal the match in barely over 80 minutes.
The No.13 seed will face either Duan Ying-Ying in the third round after the Chinese player outlasted Varvara Lepchenko 6-1, 3-6, 10-8.
“I don’t know anything about her,” Venus admitted. “I have never seen her play. Zero, like zero. So I’m going to have to see how it goes.
“Like, maybe get a scouting report in the warm-up when we hit the five minutes and kind of see how it feels.”
This is Venus’ 17th appearance at the Australian Open – joint-most among active players, tied with her sister Serena Williams – and with No.4 seed Simona Halep out of the tournament in a first round stunner, Venus’ side of the draw gives her ample opportunity to continue on and make a deep run.
It's #Venus into 3R singles. 1R doubles starts today with sister #Serena #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/FncGAoqXru
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2017
ROME, Italy – Eugenie Bouchard earned her first Top 10 win since 2014 on Wednesday, rallying from a break down in the third set to beat No.2 seed Angelique Kerber, 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The rollercoaster match saw Bouchard nearly blow a 6-1, 3-0 lead over the reigning Australian Open champion, but steeled herself to get the late break in the third set to secure the win.
A French Open semifinalist in 2014, Bouchard has steadily shown signs of a solid rebound after a disastrous 2015 season, where she went through a stretch of losing 15 of 18 matches. This year she has already made two finals in Hobart and Kuala Lumpur and this week she’s battled through back-to-back three-set wins over both Kerber and Jelena Jankovic in the first round.
The pressure of following up her 2014 season goes towards explaining some of Bouchard’s results last year. But there were also a series of injuries and overall lack of fitness. Watching Bouchard grind away against Kerber in front of packed crowd at Court Pietrangeli, it was clear that the 22-year-old’s physique is much stronger now than 12 months ago.
“I agree with that,” Bouchard told WTA Insider. “I definitely did not feel strong enough last year. I felt a lot of pressure and stress and I think that made me lose a bit of weight without me trying to. It wasn’t a conscious effort but it just happened that way.
“I think I wasn’t doing enough gym work but at the same time I was feeling so nervous before matches. I wouldn’t eat. I just in general wasn’t eating enough because I felt so nervous and things like that. So I’ve learned now that even if I do feel that way I really do have to stuff my face. I might feel like it’s going to come back up but I have to get it in me. It’s energy. It’s energy for your body.
“The moral of the story: Just stuff your face,” Bouchard said with a laugh.
Caloric intake has been one side of the story. Bouchard also says she’s restructured her training regimen to put more of an emphasis on getting stronger.
“In the gym, I did a mini-off-season in December and took some in February as well. I was hitting the gym every day, spending not the same amount of time in the gym as on the court but the ratio was definitely closer than what it was in 2015. So it has been a conscious thing to try and improve.”
Bouchard is 6-5 in three-set matches this season; last year she was 4-7. She’s also back to working with Nick Saviano, her coach from her youth who was also at the helm during her breakout 2014 season. While the road back to her best is far from over, she says she’s panicking less in grueling matches.
“If I’m not feeling my strongest, first of all that gives me a lack of confidence in a match because I don’t have that confidence that I can keep this level up or still feel good in the third set, or are my legs going to be gone in the third set. Being physically strong is a physical thing but it’s also so mental.
“I don’t worry if it goes to a third set now, how I’ll be able to handle it physically. It’s one thing I don’t have to worry about. But it’s a constant thing. It’s something I have to keep up. It’s not like you can just do it for a month and then you’re set for life.”
Bouchard plays Barbora Strycova for a spot in the quarterfinals.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Caroline Wozniacki faces Donna Vekic in the second round of the Australian Open.
Watch British No.1 Johanna Konta pose for a very special portrait between matches at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Serena Williams discusses her performance in her second-round victory at the Australian Open.
A blockbuster quarterfinal between former Grand Slam and Roland Garros champions headlines an enticing slate of quarterfinals in Rome on Friday. We preview the matchups right here at wtatennis.com.
Friday, Quarterfinals
[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. [9] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS #19)
Head-to-head: Williams leads, 8-3
Key Stat: Williams has won 72 of her last 76 matches on clay.
Less than two months ago Svetlana Kuznetsova sent Serena Williams tumbling from the Miami draw in stunning fashion, winning 12 of the final 15 games to notch her seventh career victory over a reigning World No.1. That victory snapped Williams’ 20-match winning streak at Miami and put Kuznetsova into the quarterfinals at Key Biscayne for the first time since 2009. Here in Rome, Kuznetsova will try to do the unthinkable again. But three-time champion Williams, who owns a 13-match winning streak at Rome, is looking forward to the challenge of trying to make it 14 against one of the game’s hottest players. “I think right now she’s probably one of the best clay-court players,” Williams said of Kuznetsova on Thursday. “I couldn’t ask for a better match going into Roland Garros, so this is a big opportunity for me, win or lose, to see where I am.”
Pick: Williams in three
[3] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #4) vs. [11] Timea Bacsinszky (SUI #10)
Head-to-head: Muguruza leads, 3-0
Key Stat: Muguruza has lost just six games in two rounds in Rome.
Is Garbiñe Muguruza ready to put aside her early season frustrations and break out in a big way on the red clay of Rome? She’s been turning heads with lopsided victories in the last two days over Ekaterina Makarova and Jelena Ostapenko, and even the 22-year-old Spaniard has been impressed with her level of execution in Rome. “I’m thinking everything I tried, everything I did, was working,” Muguruza said after her second-round win on Wednesday. Things have been working pretty well for Timea Bacsinszky as well. The Swiss has won 15 of her last 17 on clay and she battled past last year’s runner-up Carla Suárez Navarro in three sets on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals. Bacsinszky likes to dirty it up and frustrate her opponents with death-defying defense, changes of pace and a wicked backhand. To keep rolling, Muguruza will have to patiently deal with those tactics, paint the lines and look to close at net.
Pick: Muguruza in three
Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU #35) vs. Misaki Doi (JPN #45)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Doi is the lowest-ranked quarterfinalist in Rome.
With three quarterfinals on her last four clay events, Irina-Camelia Begu is starting to look more and more like a Roland Garros dark horse every day. The 25-year-old Romanian has secured Top 10 wins in back-to-back weeks on the European clay, taking out Garbiñe Muguruza in Madrid and Victoria Azarenka in the second round here in Rome. On Friday she’ll face the week’s biggest surprise in Japan’s Misaki Doi. Japan’s No.1 had lost seven straight tour-level matches heading into Rome, but after three consecutive wins (including the two best wins of her career on the dirt rankings-wise) she has earned the best clay-court result of her career. Can she keep the dream alive against Begu or will it be the surging Romanian who moves on to the semis?
Pick: Begu in two
Madison Keys (USA #19) vs. Barbora Strycova (CZE #36)
Head-to-head: Tied, 1-1
Key Stat: Both Keys and Strycova have reached their first quarterfinal at Rome.
One immensely talented youngster is questing to live up to the hype in Rome, while a cagey veteran is playing some of her best clay-court tennis to date. Madison Keys and Barbora Strycova have each managed to play some scintillating tennis at the Foro Italico, and as a result they’ll meet for the second time in as many weeks with a spot in the semifinals on the line. 21-year-old Keys, who is in the early days of her relationship with new coach Thomas Hogstedt, defeated Strycova in straight sets last week in Madrid, and the pair have split their two previous meetings to date. Strycova, not known for her clay prowess, notched her first Top 5 win on the surface last week against Angelique Kerber and has not dropped a set thus far in Rome. Opportunity knocks for both Keys and Strycova in the Eternal City – who will answer the bell?
Pick: Keys in three
-Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor
CoCo Vandeweghe discusses the significance of her win over Eugenie Bouchard in her post-match press conference at the Australian Open.
All four semifinalists at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia are rounding into form at just the right time. But who will be the one to sign-off ahead of Roland Garros with the silverware.