Tennis News

MIAMI, FL, USA – Mirjana Lucic-Baroni put together a near-perfect performance to upset the No.5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the third round of the Miami Open.

She needed just over an hour to complete the comprehensive, 6-0, 6-3 victory and book a fourth-round battle with American wildcard Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

“It was a great match today, she’s obviously a top player and has been for many years,” Lucic-Baroni told WTA Insider after the match. “I know what I had to do when I walked into the court. It’s always a matter of executing the plan, and I was able to do that great today.

“Today, I did a flawless job, a really beautiful performance. I’m proud of myself.”

INCREDIBLE!

Lucic-Baroni wraps up the bagel on Radwanska in under 20 minutes! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/m5Ulcmhvfw

— WTA (@WTA) March 25, 2017

Radwanska came into the matchup with the Croat with a 2-1 lead in the pair’s overall head-to-head record, but she hadn’t won a set against her in almost a year. And in their most recent match, Lucic-Baroni sent Radwanska crashing out of the Australian Open in the second round on her way to a dream run to the semifinals.

Lucic-Baroni kept the trend going in Miami, taking less than 20 minutes to drop a bagel on Radwanska and snatch away the opening set. The Pole had little answers for Lucic-Baroni’s barrage of winners; Radwanska finished the match with five winners and just a single unforced error, but Lucic-Baroni fired 38 winners past her and made only five unforced errors.

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni does it! Again!

Knocks out 2012 champ Radwanska 6-0, 6-3! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/RPl0QQtZSo

— WTA (@WTA) March 25, 2017

In the second set, Lucic-Baroni came away with the edge after weathering seven breaks of serve. She notched two vital holds of serve, keeping the vulnerable Radwanska serve under pressure throughout the match, ensuring that the Pole didn’t hold serve once during the encounter.

“She was playing unbelievable tennis today,” Radwanska told WTA Insider. “She was very solid from the beginning, very aggressive, hitting everything with unbelievable speed. I couldn’t do much.

“The first set went so quickly, and in the second set I had chances, but I didn’t come back and unfortunately I missed the chance to stay in the match. She was just too good today.”

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – No.11 seed Petra Kvitova kept up her world-class form in the quarterfinals of the Olympic tennis event, soaring past Elina Svitolina, 6-2, 6-0, to reach the final four in Rio.

Playing in her second Olympics, Kvitova edged closer to a first medal with a strong win over Svitolina, who was fresh off an upset of World No.1 Serena Williams in the third round.

Converting the only two break points of the opening set, the two-time Wimbledon winner raced through the opening set, and didn’t face a break point throughout the 48 minute contest. In all, Kvitova hit 18 winners to just two from the Ukrainian youngster, and hit 11 unforced errors to 16 by match’s end.

Czech Republic's @Petra_Kvitova books her place in the last 4 at #Rio2016 with 62 60 win against @ElinaSvitolina pic.twitter.com/hUVLuqgyil

— ITF Olympic Tennis (@OlympicsTennis) August 11, 2016

Into her first Olympic semifinal, the former World No.2 will face Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig for a spot in the final; Puig was equally emphatic in her quarterfinal demolition of Germany’s Laura Siegemund, 6-1, 6-1.

Kvitova has played her best tennis under the Czech flag, leading her country to four Fed Cup wins in the last five years. Jiri Fencl, coach to Kvitova’s countrywoman Lucie Hradecka, noticed the shift in Kvitova’s mental state after her hard-fought third round win over Ekaterina Makarova.

Petra is emotionally in Fed Cup mode. Watch out everyone. #pojd #Rio2016

— Jiří Fencl (@maxav) August 9, 2016

The top half of the draw will round out the semifinals on Wednesday in Miami.

Wednesday

Quarterfinals

[3] Simona Halep (ROU #5) vs. [10] Johanna Konta (GBR #11)
Head-to-head: Konta leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Halep can climb back to No.4 in the rankings by reaching the final in Miami.

Not only has Simona Halep won consecutive matches for the first time all season this week in Miami, now the Romanian is also pulling rabbits out of hats. Halep saved a match point in the second set to edge No.14-seeded Sam Stosur 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 on Monday to book a clash with Johanna Konta in the quarterfinals. Could this inspirational victory be a turning point for Halep in 2017? Maybe, but first and foremost the Romanian is just happy to be showing the world that she can still play at a high level. “Match point down and I came back,” she said after the win. “I’m happy about this, shows I can still play some tennis.”

As for the challenge of facing red-hot Johanna Konta, Halep is cautious, but eager for the test. “It will be tough,” Halep said. “She’s in a good form now, she’s near Top 10. And she plays great. It’s going to be a tough one, but here every match is tough so I don’t expect an easy one.” Konta improved to 16-3 with her Round of 16 win over Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena. The British No.1 was pleased about how she was able to find her level against the World No.72 on Monday. “As the match went on, I felt clearer and clearer on how I wanted to play and what I wanted to do out there from my perspective,” Konta told reporters afterwards.

Konta defeated Halep in their lone meeting at Wuhan in 2015 when she was still outside of the Top 50. She would break into the Top 50 the following week and never look back. Will she continue her climb up the rankings by reaching her first Miami Open semifinal, or will Halep build on her momentum with another noteworthy win?

Pick: Konta in three

[1] Angelique Kerber (GER #1) vs. [11] Venus Williams (USA #12)
Head-to-head: Kerber leads, 4-2
Key Stat: Kerber is 0-3 against Top 20 competition this season.

Two former Grand Slam champions will clash in a marquee quarterfinal on Wednesday as World No.1 Angelique Kerber and Venus Williams lock horns for the seventh time. It was Kerber who emerged victorious when the pair last met at last year’s Wimbledon semifinals. The German executed very well in that contest, winning 43 percent of first-serve return points and breaking Williams’ serve five times on eleven opportunities. She was aggressive, because she knew she had to be. “I was trying to move her,” Kerber said. “That was the plan. That is always the plan when you play against Venus because when she has the ball on the racquet she just hits the ball from left to right, and you just run.”

Nine months later it will be interesting to see if Kerber can implement and execute a similar gameplan. The German has struggled to summon her best tennis this season, and she has lost six of eight matches against Top 50 opponents. Will she have the confidence to attack an in-form Williams?

Williams was in stellar form on Monday as she worked her way past No.7-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets. The American saved three of four break points and won 78 of her first-serve points, and she’ll need to be strong on serve again in order to defeat Kerber and earn her first win over a Reigning World No.1 since 2014.

Pick: Williams in three

By the Numbers
1 – Number of unseeded players to reach the quarterfinals this year at Miami (Safarova).
2 – Konta has reached the quarterfinals at Miami in her two career appearances at the event.
3 – Venus Williams is the only former remaining champion remaining in the draw. The three-time champion last won the title in Miami in 2001.
9 – Halep snapped a nine-match losing streak when losing the first set on Monday when she defeated Samantha Stosur in three.
13 – Williams owns 13 wins over reigning World No.1s, seven of which have come against Martina Hingis.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – No.2 seed Angelique Kerber is guranteed to win a medal at the Olympic tennis event; the Australian Open champion clinched her spot in the Gold Medal match with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Madison Keys on Friday in the semifinals.

The highest ranked woman to reach the final four in Rio, Kerber came up against an in-form rival in Madison Keys, who has taken her to three sets in two of their last three encounters – beating her to win the 2014 Aegon International in Eastbourne.

Hoping to become the first German woman to medal at the Olympic tennis event since idol Stefanie Graf, the World No.2 played contained tennis against her more aggressive opponent, hitting just two unforced errors in the first set alone to take the early initiative.

Madison Keys: 14 winners, 18 unforced errors.

Angelique Kerber: 1 winner, 1 unforced error.

Kerber leads *4-3. https://t.co/LBU8kSMjRn

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) August 12, 2016

“It means a lot to be in the final right now,” she said after the match. “It wasn’t easy to be the next after Steffi to reach the final at the Olympics means a lot. It’s really special to be here today, and tomorrow in the finals.”

Keys became the first American to make her Top 10 debut since Serena Williams back in 1999 earlier this year, and wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Facing down the barrel of triple match point in the tenth game of the second set, Keys saved all three – a total of four by game’s end – to try and force a deciding set.

“She’s an unbelievably good player and she played really hard today. I was trying to move well, get the balls back and go for it when I had the chance. It wasn’t easy in the second set when I had four match points, but I managed to come back and focus again. It’s really special to be in the final now.”

Kerber saved two break points on her own serve to get back within striking distance of her first Olympic final – having fallen in the quarterfinals back in her London debut four years ago – and finally secured victory on her sixth match point. 

Standing between the German and a gold medal is Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig, another youngster in the midst of a career-best season. Puig became the first woman from her country to win a medal after upsetting No.11 seed Petra Kvitova in the other semifinal, and has knocked out quality opposition all week in Rio, including reigning French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza.

“She’s played very good this week,” Kerber said when asked about her next opponent. “I know it’ll be a tough final, but I’ll try to enjoy it, go out and play my best tennis and, of course, win the next match. But Monica plays good and I’m ready for that.”

.@AngeliqueKerber will face @MonicaAce93 in the gold medal match after defeating Madison Keys 63 75 at #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/7ruVKIroOF

— ITF Olympic Tennis (@OlympicsTennis) August 12, 2016