Tennis News

MIAMI, FL, USA – Ashleigh Barty picked up her first singles victory at the Miami Open in style, downing Eugenie Bouchard in three sets to set up a second-round clash with her countrywoman Samantha Stosur.

“It was a little bit scratchy today, but I’m happy to come through in the end and get a chance to play a second round here,” Barty told the crowd after the match.

“I love Miami and it’s the first time I’ve ever played singles here. So it’s certainly nice to play on a beautiful center court like this.”

The young Australian needed just over two hours to complete the 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Bouchard and extend the Canadian’s Miami losing streak to five matches in a row.

What a return!@GenieBouchard takes the second 7-5 to force a decider! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/ArCYLbBvs6

— WTA (@WTA) March 22, 2017

Barty employed the aggressive, solid tennis that led her to capture her maiden WTA title at the Alya WTA Malaysian Open three weeks ago, pouncing on a shaky Bouchard service game to break the Canadian six times during the encounter.

After narrowly dropping the opening set, Bouchard reigned in the unforced errors to rally back in the second. But the strong Barty second serve bailed the Aussie out of trouble time and again, keeping Bouchard out of the rallies. Bouchard posted 26 winners to 55 unforced errors against Barty’s 21 and 40.

“I think I was able to be very aggressive on the returns and use my forehand,” Barty explained. “I made a few errors as well but I knew I needed to be aggressive to give myself a chance, and I think I did that today.”

.@AshBar96 picks up FIRST @MiamiOpen win!

Outlasts Bouchard 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to set all-?? Second round vs @bambamsam30! pic.twitter.com/kNB1nBEiP3

— WTA (@WTA) March 22, 2017

Awaiting in the second round will be No.14 seed Samantha Stosur, a fellow Aussie and one whose game Barty knows quite well.

“It’ll be nice to take on Sam, we’ve practice together a lot in the past even though we’ve never played against each other. I think I’ll have to be very aggressive off the return and try to take the serve away from her.

“I think it’ll be a little bit of a ‘battle of the forehands’ from us, but we’ll see how we go.”

.@AjlaTom beats Linette 6-2, 1-6, 6-2!

Meets Indian Wells champ @EVesnina001 in @MiamiOpen Second round! pic.twitter.com/e23WVRMdT3

— WTA (@WTA) March 22, 2017

Also in action on Day 2, a number of qualifiers recorded strong performances to make their way into the second round. Qualifiers Risa Ozaki (def. Louisa Chirico 3-6, 7-5, 6-1), Patricia Maria Tig (def. Heather Watson 7-6(4), 6-1), Taylor Townsend (def. Amanda Anisimova 2-6, 6-2, 6-3), Anett Kontaveit (def. Kurumi Nara 6-2, 6-1), Aliaksandra Sasnovich (def. Alizé Cornet 6-4, 1-6, 6-4), Varvara Lepchenko (6-3, 6-3), Veronica Cepede Royg (def. 6-2, 6-4), Jana Cepelova (def. Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-4) and Madison Brengle (def. Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 3-6, 6-2) all advanced.

Also through to the second round is wildcard Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who recorded her first win of 2017 to advance past Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Qiang Wang came back from a first-set shutout to knock out qualifier Donna Vekic 0-6, 6-4, 6-2. Lucie Safarova defeated Yanina Wickmayer 7-6(2), 6-4, while France’s Pauline Parmentier knocked out her countrywoman Oceane Dodin 6-2, 6-1 and Shelby Rogers edged past qualifier Marina Erakovic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic survived a rollercoaster against lucky loser Magda Linette to advance 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.

MIAMI, FL, USA – Former World No.21 Sorana Cirstea produced a barrage of big hitting off the ground to defeat Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig, 6-2, 6-4, to emerge victorious in the first WTA night match of the Miami Open.

“Everyone knows I was out of the game with shoulder injuries,” Cirstea said during her on-court interview. “Now it’s a privilege and I’m very lucky to back here playing night sessions in Miami on the center court.”

First set goes to @Sorana_Cirstea!

Races through the opening set vs Puig 6-2! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/Rn7rpiwUAb

— WTA (@WTA) March 23, 2017

Indeed, the former French Open quarterfinalist struggled with shoulder injuries throughout the last few seasons, making a strong comeback last spring when she made the last eight at the Mutua Madrid Open. Starting the 2017 season with a run to the second week of the Australian Open, a wrist injury threatened to delay a further rise up the rankings, but Cirstea shrugged all of that off on Wednesday night, playing one of her best matches of the year against the Olympic champion.

Puig recently pushed World No.3 Karolina Pliskova to three sets at the BNP Paribas Open, but struggled to find her rhythm under the lights, striking 30 unforced errors during the 69 minute match.

Beautiful backhand winner from @MonicaAce93! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/FH8ZRgF3sW

— WTA (@WTA) March 23, 2017

Still, the Puerto Rican star is famous for her fighting instincts – particularly on big courts. On the brink of elimination, Puig broke Cirstea as she served for the match and pegged the Romanian back to within one break, forcing the 2013 Rogers Cup runner-up to serve it out one more time.

“I’m very happy to finish in two sets. I think I started strong; towards the end of the second set I kind of backed off.

“I’m happy with how I fought and the way I won the last game.”

Up next for Cirstea is No.22 seed and Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semifinalist Anastasija Sevastova, with former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki looming as a potential third round oppoonent.

.@Sorana_Cirstea advances to @MiamiOpen second round!

Beats Puig 6-2, 6-4! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/N9gpLhrJzE

— WTA (@WTA) March 23, 2017

MIAMI, FL, USA – Down match point in the decider, Yaroslava Shvedova produced some of her best tennis to defeat 2008 runner-up Jelena Jankovic in the first round of the Miami Open on Wednesday, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3).

“It was an amazing match, a battle there on-court,” Shvedova told WTA Insider after the match. “Jelena is a great opponent, a tough opponent, and I’m happy I could manage to play well, relax and enjoy it, which I was missing a little bit for the beginning of the year.”

Snapping a seven-match skid that dated back to the quarterfinals of the China Open in Beijing last fall, Shvedova scored a victory in the matchup for the second time, and now both of her career victories against Jankovic have come in final set tiebreaks; the lone win for Shvedova in the pair’s previous five matches came 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(6) in the second round of the 2009 US Open.

Great return! @Jelena_Jankovic sneaks the first set 6-4! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/FQDmN1Bimq

— WTA (@WTA) March 22, 2017

In addition, the Kazakh handed the Serb her fourth straight defeat in the first round after Jankovic reached the semifinals in 2013. While the two hadn’t played since 2012 prior to Wednesday’s match, a tough battle was to be expected — the match was the fifth three-set affair between the two players as well.

“She’s a fighter and it’s always been tough to play against her,” Shvedova said. “I was talking with my coach after the match and he reminded me [of their three-setters]. Somehow, our games match-up and it’s not easy to finish quickly!”

In an opening set that went with serve for the first nine games, each player only carved out one break point opportunity and proved particularly successful behind their first deliveries — both won over 70 percent of the points played behind them in the set. However, Jankovic’s second break point chance in the set proved to be vital, as she rifled a backhand return winner down the line to seal the opener in 43 minutes.

The second set was nearly identical in both score and minutes played, but the path to pocketing the set proved different for the Kazakh. Shvedova hit back well in the second, winning over 40 percent of points on return and break twice to wrap up the middle set by an identical 6-4 score and send proceedings to a decider.

.@SlavaSays saves a match point to edge Jankovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3)!

Advances to @MiamiOpen Second round! pic.twitter.com/Bx87UD9el7

— WTA (@WTA) March 22, 2017

With Jankovic ahead 3-2 in the final set, the pair rattled off four straight breaks of serve, the last coming as Shvedova broke the Jankovic delivery to 15 as she served for the match. Facing match point at 30-40, Shvedova reeled off the next three and rifled a forehand winner past Jankovic to knot the set at 5-5.

Trailing by a mini-break in the tiebreak, Shvedova rallied to knot the action at 3-3 before winning the next four points to score the come-from-behind win.

Looking to build on her first win of the year in March, Shvedova advances to face No. 17 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round, against whom she is 2-3 overall.

“My preparation was not good because I got injured in the off-season and I couldn’t practice that well,” Shvedova said about her start to 2017. “I couldn’t get my feeling, my game, my confidence, everything — and I was just going to tournaments trying to get it. It was not easy sometimes, unlucky — now I’ve had some time to rest and relax and clear my mind, [and] I can start to go up from the bottom.”