Tennis News

A fantastic semi-final clash between top ranked Serena Williams and Czech No. 1 Petra Kvitova is scheduled to take place on Friday afternoon at the Mutua Madrid Open. Williams remains perfect against Kvitova, as she holds an impeccable 5-0 head-to-head record dating back to 2010.

The world No. 1 maintained her unblemished streak against Carla Suarez Navarro with her sixth straight win against the Spaniard on Thursday. In fact, she was just as dominant as always and won the contest 6-1, 6-3 to halt the 10th seeds advancement in the tournament. Williams has now won 27 consecutive matches.

“I learned a lot from yesterday,” Williams said. “I just really have to stay focused. I had a lot of opportunities in that match – I probably should have closed it out in two sets. But Victoria, she’s really such a great fighter. Still, I had an opportunity to stay calm and win a few points here and there.”

“I approach everything as I want to do the best that I can,” Williams said. “I’m so determined for every single point. If I lost the match, it’s okay, as long as I know I gave the best I could on that day.

Petra Kvitova also needed just straight sets to advance to the quarter-final stage in Madrid, as she defeated Irina-Camelia Begu 7-5, 6-3. She struck two aces, won 85% of her first service points and converted three break points to secure the win in one hour and 32 minutes.

This marks the sixth time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Williams holding an undefeated 5-0 record. This is their first ever meeting on clay, and while that could lead to a tighter contest, it will still heavily favour the top ranked American.

Rafael Nadal will continue his quest for a fifth title at the Mutua Madrid Open with a third round encounter against Italy’s Simone Bolelli, whom he has faced on three previous occasions on the professional tour. Nadal leads the head-to-head series 4-0 and will now look to extend that lead with his first win against Bolelli this season.

Four-time Madrid champion Rafael Nadal began his week on home soil in successful fashion, as he defeated America’s Steve Johnson in straight sets to advance to the third round of the Masters 1000 event. He hit 14 aces to win the match 6-4, 6-3 in just over an hour of court time.

“I went out there to do a simple game with no complications,” said Nadal. “I tried to play easily. I know how things work out when you come from losing a couple of matches. I know that you’re a little bit nervous whenever you finish a game, as I finished the other day with [Fabio] Fognini in Barcelona.

“I tried to start from the bottom and just go up. I think, especially the last three games, I finished pretty well. I managed to do a couple more things with my backhand.”

Simone Bolelli won an all-Italian second round contest against qualifier Luca Vanni to set up his meeting with Nadal. He won the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in a contest where he won 83 percent of his first service points and converted three break points to close out the match in one hour and 41 minutes.

Nadal holds a 4-0 lead over Bolelli in the head-to-head series and is still a hefty favourite over the Italian. If all goes according to plan, the Spaniard should ease into the second round with relative ease, even though he has run into some unexpected difficulties on clay so far this season.

World No. 1 Serena Williams will encounter resurgent Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro to determine who will advance to the semi-final round of the Mutua Madrid Open. Williams is undefeated in their five previous encounters in the head-to-head series, including a clay court win last season at this very event. Check out the Williams vs Suarez Navarro Head to Head.

In one of the earlier matches on court this Wednesday, Serena Williams outlasted her longtime rival and former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka to secure her 14th h2h victory over the Belarusian. This was easily one of the more competitive encounters yet, which is a positive sign for Azarenka’s recovery. In the end, however, it was Williams who saved three match points to beat her foe 7-6, 3-6, 7-6(1) in two hours and 43 minutes.

When asked about the former US Open champion, she was quick to compliment Azarenka’s return to form.

“It’s so good to see a Grand Slam champion like her playing so well. I’m always rooting for her when she plays. Yeah, so it’s good to see her on her way back – she’s clearly doing great.”

Williams will now come up against Carla Suarez Navarro, whom she demolished several months ago at the Miami Open final. This time, the Spaniard reached the quarter-final stage with an impressive victory over Ana Ivanovic. She won the encounter 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 in two hours and four minutes of court time, during which, she won 68% of her first service points, saved eight break points and won seven of her won.

This marks the sixth time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Williams leading the series with an impenetrable 5-0 record. While the Spaniard is playing some of the best tennis of her career, it is still difficult to envision her actually toppling the world No. 1 player, who is now on a remarkable 26-match win streak.

No sooner did Roger Federer claim his 85th career title on the tour than he suffers an unceremonious opening round exit as the top seed at the Mutua Madrid Masters event. The former four-time champion suffered a tight three-set loss to rising Aussie star Nick Kyrgios.

In what turned out to be an enthralling encounter on the tour, Kyrgios was able to save several match points to eventually snatch the deciding points in the third set tiebreak. He won the contest 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(12).

“Before the match I didn’t feel nervous or anything like that,” said Kyrgios. “I was just excited to get out to the court. I’ve been playing well recently on the clay, so I knew I had a good chance to go out there and do well. I stuck to my game and served well and I got the win.”

Although Federer was far from his worst, he admitted that he was simply unable to return Nick’s monster first serves.

“My problem was I couldn’t return his first serve,” said Federer, who won 18 of 85 first serve return points. “[It] was just a horrible performance on the return.

“As the match went on it got so bad that I just couldn’t get into decent positions on the return, so it made it very difficult to get any sort of rhythm after that.

“But credit to him for serving well and keep doing what he was doing. But I’m very disappointed by that. That’s what cost me the match, in my opinion.”

Federer now holds a 21-4 record on the tour this year, with three titles to his name, including one last week in Istanbul.

The enthralling match-ups continue to take shape at the loaded Madrid Open this year, as the first quarter-final match-up has officially been set. Maria Sharapova will meet longtime rival Caroline Wozniacki in an intriguing contest with interesting repercussions. Sharapova leads the head-to-head series 5-4 but lost their last two consecutive meetings, including at the US Open last season.

For the first time in their head-to-head series, Maria Sharapova as faced with a grueling battle against Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia. While usually able to win the match in straight sets, Sharapova needed three sets to secure the victory and advance to the quarter-final. After over two-and-a-half hours of court time, the Russian finally exited the court with 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory over Garcia.

“I’ve played against her a few times and she’s been young and up and coming for a few years,” Sharapova said. “She’s already done a great job of getting in a good position. She’s winning titles and beating top players.

“I think that the most important thing is maintaining that level and keeping that consistency. You know, I’ve seen many of her matches and she can come up with some great stuff. She’s been able to do that against really good players.”

In a much simpler match-up later on in the day, Caroline Wozniacki ousted Polish No. 1 Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets to advance to the following round of the Madrid Open. She struck three aces, won 75% of her service points and won six break points to win the match 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 22 minutes.

This marks the ninth time that the two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Sharapova leading the head-to-head series 5-4. Sharapova held three consecutive wins over Wozniacki until she was ousted at this year’s US Open tournament. That was later followed up with another Wozniacki victory at the WTA Championship in Singapore. However, while the hard court encounters are split at 3-3, SHarapova is still yet to suffer a clay court defeat to the Dane.

Just a few short days after claiming his first clay court title on the ATP World Tour, Andy Murray will come up against the same player he defeated to reach that accomplishment. The Briton will come up against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, whom he has met on four previous occasions, including twice this season already. Murray leads the head-to-head series 3-1.

The top seed at the BMW Open by FWU AG overcame a Saturday where he was forced to contest two consecutive matches and a Sunday that was washed away by a rain delay to win a grueling three set battle against Kohlschreiber to win the title. He fired 17 aces to win the match 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-6(4).

“He served unbelievably well. I had very few chances when I was returning. We may even play one another in Madrid, in a few days’ time [this week]. Philipp is a superb competitor and fought right to the end. It is nice to have won my first clay title and I hope to win another one soon.

The German was unable to earn the victory against the Scot one home soil but he will look to avenge it when they meet in Madrid.

“It was a great atmosphere and a great crowd,” Kohlschreiber told ATPWorldTour.com. “We both gave everything. It was so close, but at the end there has to be one winner. Unfortunately, for me, it was Andy. It was a fantastic game.”

This is just the fifth time these two competitors will cross paths on the tour, and will not be an easy contest for the British No. 1. He has been dealt no favours against his German adversary, who holds a win over Murray back in 2010 on this same surface. The two played an intense three set match just a few days ago and while Murray won the encounter to claim his first clay court title, it could have easily gone the other way.

The Mutua Madrid Open continues to produce some remarkable matches early on this week in the draw, both for the men and the ladies, and the latest is no exception. 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer will begin his clay court campaign in Spain against Aussie youngster and rising star Nick Kyrgios. It will mark the first time that the two competitors will cross paths on the ATP World Tour and could make for an exciting affair on Wednesday evening.

Just last week, the world No. 2 won his third title of the season following a straight sets victory against Pablo Cuevas at the inaugural TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open. Federer stormed through the firsts set in 33 minutes but was slowed in the second set, where he fended off set point and required five match points to down the Uruguayan. In the end, he handed Cuevas his first defeat in an ATP World Tour final. It was also Federer’s 85th title overall in his career.

Federer will come up against Kyrgios, who defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver on Tuesday afternoon in straight sets. The Australian native struck 10 aces, won 87% of his first service points and saved both the break points he faced during the match to earn the 6-2, 6-3 win in 61 minutes.

Given that Kyrgios has defeated Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last season, there is a possibility that he can overcome Federer when he takes on the role of the underdog with nothing to lose again. The Australian Davis Cup coach, Wally Masur, seems to agree with that sentiment.

“I think Nick would really fire up and enjoy that. Probably that type of a match is where you’re really going to see the best of Nick, because he’s the underdog,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald. “I think he really enjoys that challenge of testing himself against those better players.”

A blockbuster match-up worthy of a semi-final or final spot at any Premier event is set to grace the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday, as world No. 1 Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka get set to cross paths once again on the WTA Tour. Williams leads the head-to-head series 14-3, including a recent win at the start of the season in Brisbane.

Up against another former rival in Sloane Stephens, it appeared as though the second round match would be a tough competitive affair for Williams. However, after a close opening set, the world No. 1 breezed through the second frame to hand Stephens a 6-4, 6-0 thrashing on Tuesday. Williams only managed 5 winners to 12 unforced errors in the opening set but that was clearly due to the windy conditions. Once she adjusted in the second set, she ran away with the contest.

“She’s such a tough player – I’ve never won a 6-0 set against her before, and I don’t think I can ever do that again!” Williams said. “But today I thought to myself, ‘Wow, this is one of the reasons I love this surface.’ It just gives you so many chances to get in the point and play yourself into the match.

Williams will next encounter Azarenka, who needed to win just two more games than Williams to earn her spot in the third round. She defeated Ajla Tomljanovic in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 in a match where she struck five aces, won 74% of her first service points and saved two break points to earn the victory in 90 minutes.

Williams leads Azarenka in their head-to-head series, 14-3, including the most recent victory at the start of the season in Brisbane. However, the pair split four meetings last year, Azarenka winning at Doha and Cincinnati and Williams at Rome and the US Open, making this a fantastic, compelling rivalry and a thrilling third round encounter. Azarenka is gradually returning to her 2012-13 form but she will have her work cut out for her to halt the incredible 25-match win streak that her upcoming opponent embarked on starting at the end of last season.

One of the top seeds at the 2015 Madrid Masters event is its defending champion Rafael Nadal, who will look to overcome a turbulent first quarter of the season to complete a successful title defence campaign in his home country of Spain. He will begin his week in the second round, where he will contest a intriguing match-up against Steve Johnson for the first time on the ATP World Tour.

The clay-court king has suffered some unexpected losses on the red clay this season. While Nadal holds 329 clay court wins to just 27 losses in his career, he has already compiled three losses so far this season on clay, two of which came against Fabio Fognini. He has only won 1 of four clay court tournaments this season on his beloved surface and is faced with the issue of confidence in himself and his abilities following another injury layoff.

Most recently, Nadal lost his third round match in Barcelona to Fabio Fognini in straight sets. It was surprising, given that took on his longtime rival Novak Djokovic in an entertaining semi-final battle the previous week in Monte Carlo, and while he succumbed to the in-form Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, it was a far more competitive battle than the scoreline suggests. Overall, while he was pushed to three sets against the likes of John Isner, Nadal finds solace in the fact that he was able to pull through various obstacles en route to the final four of the tournament.

Nadal’s first opponent this year in Madrid is Steve Johnson, who reached the second round of the tournament with a three-set effort against Colombian Alejandro Gonzalez. The American rallied from a set down, struck 11 aces, won 77% of his first service points and saved five break points to close out the match 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in two hours and 19 minutes.

This will mark the first meeting on the tour between Rafael Nadal and Steve Johnson. Nadal will be highly motivated to work his way out of the recent slump and an impressive showing against the American is exactly what he will be looking to achieve.