Gavrilova Wipes The Court With Vekic
Daria Gavrilova was so keen to get back on court after Monday night’s rain delay that she joined the ball kids attempts to dry the court.
Daria Gavrilova was so keen to get back on court after Monday night’s rain delay that she joined the ball kids attempts to dry the court.
Santina Feeling The Heat: Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza were largely in cruise control to start the 2016 season; winning four straight titles in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne at the Australian Open, and St. Petersburg, the most dominant team of the last five years rode a 41-match winning streak into the quarterfinals fo the Qatar Total Open, where they found themselves stunned by Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina in a match tie-break.
Since then, the pair hoping to capture a fourth straight Grand Slam tournament – a Santina Slam – at the French Open haven’t won a title since – their longest drought since last spring, when they went five tournaments without a win before capturing their first major title at Wimbledon.
Red clay was always going to be the toughest ask for the top ranked team on the Road to Singapore Standings, as it is the only surface on which the pair has yet to win – but the two came close just two weeks ago in Stuttgart – where they reached the final. In an ironic twist, they found themselves out-gutted by Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, a team undefeated on clay and riding their own winning streak with back-to-back titles at the Volvo Car Open and Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
With a bye into the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open, Hingis and Mirza could soon face a rematch of the Australian Open final as No.6 seeds Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova, who won last week’s J&T Banka Prague Open title with Margarita Gasparyan.
The “Caroki” Streak?: Speaking of Garcia and Mladenovic, the team who paired up in January ahead of the Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro has won their last 10 matches – including a decisive Fed Cup rubber over the Netherlands and a first round win in Madrid over Anna-Lena Groenefeld and CoCo Vandeweghe. The young Frenchwomen started the year with two finals in Sydney and Dubai, but have gone from strength to strength since the tour turned to clay – not only taking out Santina in Stuttgart, but also reigning Miami Open and French Open champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova in the finals of Charleston.
In a two-part interview with The Tennis Island, the pair proved that they bring as much energy off the court as they do on, embracing the looming pressure of playing in front of their home crowd in Roland Garros and employing tactics they hope translate into their singles games. Up to No.4 on the Road to Singapore Standings and the No.5 seeds in Madrid, Garcia and Mladenovic next play Australian Open semifinalists Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai, who reached the second round when Laura Siegemund and Daria Kasatkina were forced to retire due to the former’s illness.
Bucie or Bust: The only player representing two teams on the Road to Singapore Standings, Mattek-Sands is playing some of the best doubles of her career, winning the Indian Wells/Miami “Sunshine Double” with two different partners in Vandeweghe (No.11) and regular partner, Lucie Safarova (No.8). With a run to the Charleston final under their belts, the American/Czech duo will make their red clay debut in Madrid as the former couldn’t play Stuttgart; she was a little busy, after all, helping to lead the United States to a stunning upset victory over Australia in Fed Cup.
With all the talk about Hingis and Mirza, it’s easy to forget that the first half of 2015 belonged to Team Bucie, who were half way to the Calendar Year Grand Slam following back-to-back major victories at the Australian Open and French Open. They went on to capture their last title of the season at the Rogers Cup in Toronto before injury and illness derailed Safarova’s season, ultimately falling in the round robin stage of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.
Semifinalists in Madrid one year ago, Mattek-Sands and Safarova earned the first of their two wins over Santina at the Caja Magica, repeating the feat a few weeks later in Paris en route to the title. The pair have a bye in the second round, but a recently reunited team looms in the quarterfinals…
Together Again: Ekaterina Makarova hadn’t played with Elena Vesnina since last summer, when a leg injury curtailed a season that had started so brightly for the Russian veterans. Leading 5-2 in the deciding set of the Wimbledon final, the 2013 French Open and 2014 US Open champions were not only a game away from denying Hingis and Mirza of their first Grand Slam title, but were also incredibly close to grabbing the third leg of a Career Grand Slam.
It was not to be, and as Hingis and Mirza went on their historic run through the rest of the season, Vesnina began to find success with young compatriot, Daria Kasatkina. With the fast-rising teenager, Vesnina got her revenge on Santina in Doha, ending their streak en route to the semifinals.
But as she told WTA Insider earlier this week, the plan was always to reunite with her partner of the last four years, especially with the Olympics in mind. In fact, Makarova and Vesnina played their first WTA tournament together here in Madrid four years ago, where they reached the final.
Hometown Glory: Singapore finalists and Top 2 Spaniards Carla Suárez Navarro and Garbiñe Muguruza joined Garcia and Mladenovic in the second round with a 6-4, 7-6(4) win over Gabriela Dabrowski and Anastasia Rodionova, and both admitted to feeling relieved to be back on the doubles court for what is only their second tournament together in 2016.
“It’s true that sometimes when you play doubles, the nerves and the tension, you can share that with your partner and makes you play a little bit more solid and a little bit more freely,” Suárez Navarro said after her three-set win over Timea Babos on Sunday.
“I think yesterday we had a lot of fun on the court. I think the players we had, they were doubles players and they played a good match, an overall complete match. You had to stay focused. And not only that, I think that it’s of course a buildup for today’s match. You know how the court is laid out and you know how the people are going to be.”
Muguruza echoed her partner’s sentiment.
“I think that the doubles is the part that there are two people on the court and we help each other a lot. In the case of Carla and I, we know each other very well. Mutually we support ourselves and take the nerves off ourselves.”
#NationalHighFiveDay with @queen_v21 pic.twitter.com/BM2Zdeob1t
— Alla Kudryavtseva (@AllaK11) April 22, 2016
The Rivalry: In a season with few certainties, one thing has been all but guaranteed in 2016: a match between teams Alla Kudryavtseva and Vania King and Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova. The pairs have already met three times since the start of the season, with Pliskova and Goerges winning both of their hardcourt encounters at the Australian Open and Indian Wells – the latter after King and Kudryavtseva’s straight-sets win over Hingis and Mirza.
Faced with what Kudryavtseva has called their “kryptonite” for a third time in Charleston, the pair finally defeated the BNP Paribas Open finalists to reach the semifinals, and will have the chance to even the series this week in Madrid, as they are set to face off in the first round. For their part, King and Kudryavtseva have taken the serendipity in stride and enjoying a partnership that has already taken them up to No.9 on the Road to Singapore Standings.
“We’re texting each other every day, and we’re really cute!” the Russian told WTA Insider. “We’re always supporting each other and following each others’ live scores. It’s been a nice connection.”
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Johanna Konta takes on Daria Gavrilova in the second round of the Apia International Sydney.
MADRID, Spain – Former Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova finally got the big win she was looking for in 2016, surviving a second set hiccup to unseat top seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3, to reach the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open.
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Cibulkova has had the game’s best on the ropes in the early rounds throughout the season – holding match points against Radwanska at the BNP Paribas Open and leading Garbiñe Muguruza at the Miami Open – but the 2009 French Open semifinalist refused to relinquish this chance against the Pole in the final match of the day on Court Manolo Santana.
Battling the crafty World No.2 for two hours and 37 minutes, each woman hit 43 winners in a high-quality affair that saw stunning power from the Slovak to edge ahead by a set and a break and serve for a spot in the second round.
On her least favorite surface, Radwanska wouldn’t back down so easily and broke back to level the set, and though she would prove unable to serve out the set herself, she snuck away with the ensuing tie-break and took a 2-0 lead in the decider.
Poised for a third straight loss to a Top 4 player at a Premier Mandatory, Cibulkova dug deep to win six of the last seven games of the match, converting all four break point opportunities in the final set and clinching victory with a thudding forehand winner.
The former World No.10 is coming off a win at the Katowice Open – having already reached a final earlier in the year in Acapulco – and a deep run in Madrid could be crucial as she aims to get back into the seeded position at major tournaments. Standing between her and the third round is Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, who advanced earlier in the day when Johanna Konta was forced to retire with an upper respiratory illness.
Over on Court 6, Timea Bacsinszky completed an impressive turnaround from winning the GP SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Rabat 24 hours earlier to edge past 2014 French Open semifinalist Andrea Petkovic, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
“I was aware that I would have a low in my match,” Bacsinszky said of the understandable fatigue that caused her to fall behind 5-0 in the second set.
“I needed to adapt, know I’d have my chances, and just get into it. At the beginning, it was really going well for me. But after the the end of the first set, you could see I didn’t have the tension to be committed on important points. I was angry at myself, but thinking longterm, that it would be a long match. I tried to kick my butt in the beginning of the third, and the level went up.
“I didn’t want to be brilliant, just efficient.”
Also through late on Sunday was Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu; suffering from foot blisters in the second and third sets, Begu fought off a late charge from the Canadian youngster to survive the topsy turvy encounter, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
More to come…
Daria Kasatkina earned her first win over a reigning World No.1 on Tuesday, easing past top seed Angelique Kerber at the Apia International Sydney.
MADRID Spain – With a manic Sunday of first rounds in the books, which players will step into the spotlight as the Mutua Madrid Open’s second round gets underway?
Monday, Second Round
[4] Victoria Azarenka (BLR #5) vs. Alizé Cornet (FRA #49)
Head-to-head: Azarenka leads 4-0
Key Stat: Azarenka’s last three matches against Cornet have gone three sets.
Azarenka’s undefeated head-to-head against the enigmatic Alizé Cornet is decidedly deceptive, given that the Frenchwoman has had her chances in each of their last three encounters – none bigger than when they faced off on clay at the 2013 French Open.
“I dropped one or two games,” Cornet said after the match, adding, “but that’s enough for your head to go under the water.”
Ordinarily, the former World No.11 would be expected to tread water just fine against the two-time Australian Open champion, but while the Belarusian is playing some of her best tennis – winning her 15th straight match (including Fed Cup) in her first round on Sunday – Cornet is still trying to find her rhythm after a back injury threatened to derail her whole season. The veteran was struggling to put away 2015 French Open junior champion Paula Badosa Gibert when the young Spaniard was forced to retire due to cramps.
Azarenka is eager to prove her prowess on what has been one of her weaker surfaces – she has only reached the French Open semifinals once in her career, compared to two at each of the other three major tournaments. But Cornet loves a big stage – never forget her stunning win over Serena Williams at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships – and is among the few women to have had a day off on Sunday, having played her first round on Saturday.
[Q] Elena Vesnina (RUS #54) vs. [5] Petra Kvitova (CZE #6)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Vesnina is 4-1 against Top 20 opponents in 2016
Speaking of deceptive, the Q next to Elena Vesnina’s name belies her ability to take on (and take out) big name opposition this season. With the first three months already in the books, the Russian has nabbed wins over Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki, Venus Williams, and Sara Errani at the Qatar Total Open, Miami Open, and Volvo Car Open, respectively. Her biggest success, however, came in Charleston where, again as a qualifier, the veteran reached the final for the second time in her career, dropping two games against No.2 seed Belinda Bencic and winning seven matches in a row before fading against Sloane Stephens in the championship match.
Somehow, Vesnina and Kvitova have managed to avoid one another thus far in their careers, but if early clay court form is any indication, this should be quite the spectacle on Court Manolo Santana. The two-time Wimbledon winner came into this year’s clay swing with renewed determination, which not only helped her reach the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix two weeks ago, but also easily dismiss Spanish clay courter Lara Arruabarrena on Sunday. Vesnina, too, had few issues in her opening round main draw match, dropping a second set bagel on teenager Jelena Ostapenko to win in under 90 minutes.
Vesnina’s most memorable clay court successes have come on the North American har-tru, but is a former French Open champion in doubles with Ekaterina Makarova, and the red clay at altitude should also serve her well on Monday.
Around the grounds: No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza will look to follow up her solid first round win with a second round victory over Irina-Camelia Begu, who narrowly edged past Eugenie Bouchard in three sets. No.13 seed Karolina Pliskova will open play on court Arantxa Sanchez against American Christina McHale, while Louisa Chirico will try to continue her unexpected run in Madrid against No.14 seed Ana Ivanovic. Barbora Strycova attempts to back up her upset over No.2 seed Angelique Kerber on Estadio 3 against Madison Keys, while No.16 seed Sloane Stephens takes on Patricia Maria Tig and No.12 seed Elina Svitolina faces off against former doubles partner Daria Gavrilova on Pista 4.
MADRID, Spain – No.4 seed Victoria Azarenka won her 16th straight match in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open, taking out rival Alizé Cornet, 6-3, 6-2.
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“I had two completely different type of players this week, and I’m adjusting pretty well,” Azarenka said after the match. “It’s just day by day progress, trying to get the game together.”
Though the Belarusian had never lost to Cornet in four previous encounters, three of those meetings went the distance, and with the two hitting 19 and 17 winners respectively, it was clear both women came to play. Azarenka raced ahead by a double break to start the match, and though Cornet would claw one back, she ultimately bowed to the pressure of the former No.1’s powerful returns, converting on her fourth set point.
“I feel that this year is going to be all about making progress and trying to improve, making errors but still improving.”
The second set came down to more missed opportunities for the Frenchwoman, who won but one of her eight break point chances in the match, while Azarenka took five or nine to advance into the third round in one hour and 23 minutes.
“She’s a good player; she’s always going to be a tricky opponent because she’s a great fighter and has a lot of variety. But I was trying to focus more on myself and that’s what helped me to get through today.”
Up next for the two-time Australian Open champion is qualifier Louisa Chirico, who is making the most of her main draw debut in Madrid with a stunning 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 win over 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic.
Earlier in the day, Christina McHale continued her solid spring swing with a 7-6(3), 6-4 upset over No.13 seed Karolina Pliskova; McHale was part of the American Fed Cup team that upset Australia, defeating former French Open finalist Samantha Stosur in a crucial singles rubber.