Miami: Wednesday Highlights
Highlights from first round action at the Miami Open.
MIAMI, FL, USA – This episode comes to you from Miami, Florida where the Miami Open is already underway. Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen is joined by WTA Web Editor David Kane to discuss Victoria Azarenka’s big win over No. 1 Serena Williams at the BNP Paribas Open. What does the win mean for Vika and how well does it set her up for the rest of the season? You’ll also hear from Vika herself in our Champion’s Corner.
Then David and Courtney turn to the Miami Open and take a deep dive into the draw. Will Serena, who is 0-2 in finals this year, turn things around on familiar turf to win her 9th Miami title? Can Azarenka become the first woman since 2005 to complete the Sunshine Double and win both Indian Wells and Miami? Or is there a spoiler lurking in the draw?
You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or any podcast app of your choice. Reviews are always helpful so if you like what you’re hearing leave us a review. You can also get new episode alerts by following us on Twitter @WTA_Insider and we’ll of course post the podcast on the WTA website at wtatennis.com.
Heather Watson takes on Petra Cetkovska in the first round of the Miami Open.
Eight-time champion Serena Williams will open accounts at the Miami Open on Thursday, as the seeds on the top half of the draw play their first matches of the week. Here’s a preview of what to watch.
Thursday, Second Round
[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. Christina McHale (USA #56)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Williams owns a 64-5 record at Miami.
Though she’s been in dazzling form in 2016, Serena Williams has yet to hold a trophy aloft this season. After dropping finals at the Australian Open (Kerber) and Indian Wells (Azarenka) Williams has now lost back-to-back finals for the first time since 2004. Will a return to the scene of so many breathtaking triumphs provide Williams with the inspiration to claim her fourth consecutive title (ninth overall) at Crandon Park? Williams will open against compatriot and Fed Cup teammate Christina McHale in second-round action on Thursday. The 23-year-old New Jersey native knocked off Japan’s Misaki Doi in first-round action on Wednesday.
Pick: Williams in two
[3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #2) vs. Alizé Cornet (FRA #42)
Head-to-head: Radwanska leads, 6-1
Key Stat: Radwanska is one of five former champions in the Miami draw, along with Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Off the tour with a back injury for nearly two months, Alizé Cornet won her first tour-level match since the Australian Open on Wednesday when she defeated Galina Voskoboeva in straight sets. Before her injury, Cornet was making big strides against the WTA’s elite, and she’ll be tasked with picking up where she left off on Thursday. Though she enters Miami with a 9-38 lifetime record against the Top 10, Cornet has won seven of her last 13, and also owns four Top 2 victories. But the match-up could prove too difficult for the talented Frenchwoman on Thursday when she faces 2012 champion and current World No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska. The Pole has been in scintillating form all season. She leads the WTA in wins with 17 and has reached at least the semifinal of all four events she has played in 2016.
Pick: Radwanska in two
[5] Simona Halep (ROU #5) vs. Daria Kasatkina (RUS #36)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Kasatkina is playing with a Top 40 ranking for the first time.
One of the more heavily anticipated match-ups of the second round pits fifth-seeded Simona Halep against rising Russian Daria Kasatkina. Both players are coming off quarterfinal appearances at Indian Wells, and though Halep will come in as the heavy favorite, all eyes will be on 18-year-old Kasatkina for two reasons: one, to see how the Russian will handle the challenge of backing up her breakout performance at Indian Wells, and two, to discover how Kasatkina matches up against one of the elite forces of the game in Halep. The Romanian was in good form at Indian Wells before falling to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals, and she has told reporters that she is feeling 100 percent healthy for the first time all season. Will her improving health mean another bump up in form for the Romanian?
Pick: Halep in two
[12] Elina Svitolina (UKR #16) vs. Zhang Shuai (CHN #68)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Zhang has already doubled her 2015 tour-level win total in 2016.
It’s been an incredible, emotional year for China’s Zhang Shuai, and the season isn’t even three months old. After qualifying for the Australian Open in January, Zhang went on a magical run to the quarterfinals, snapping her 0-for-14 streak at the majors by upsetting Halep in the first round. Zhang took a wild card into Indian Wells after winning a Challenger title in February and upset Caroline Wozniacki in the WTA’s longest match of the season (3:24) before falling to eventual champion Victoria Azarenka in the third round. China’s No.2 player will face a tough second-round test in No.12 seed Elina Svitolina on Thursday in Miami. The Ukrainian No.1, who recently hired seven-time major champion Justine Henin as a special consultant to her team, is seeking to reach the third round for the third consecutive year in Miami with a win.
Pick: Svitolina in three
[19] Timea Bacsinszky (SUI #20) vs. Margarita Gasparyan (RUS #41)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Gasparyan is making her main draw debut in Miami.
One of the bigger breakout performers of 2015 is in the process of rebuilding her game – and health – in 2016. Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky had to spend seven weeks without picking up a racquet this off-season after suffering a knee injury in her last event of the season in Luxembourg. Cheated out of a crucial training block during the winter, the 26-year-old has elected to build her fitness while playing events this season. The results have been mixed, but after a big win over Eugenie Bouchard last week at Indian Wells it appears that the Swiss is rounding into form. But she’ll be tested early in Miami when she faces Russia’s Margarita Gasparyan. The 21-year-old reached the second week at the Australian Open this winter, and has already notched eight wins on the season. She comes into Miami carrying a career-best ranking of No.41.
Pick: Bacsinszky in three
-Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor
Caroline Garcia takes on Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the first round of the Miami Open.
MIAMI, FL, USA – Former World No.41 and doubles threat Lucie Hradecka earned her second WTA main draw win of 2016 in emphatic style, striking 29 winners to outlast 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Watch live action from Miami this fortnight on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Hradecka came into the match with a winning record over the Canadian, but Bouchard had won their most recent match at last year’s BNP Paribas Open. Winning 100% of her first serve points through the opening seven games, Hradecka nonetheless raced out to a 5-2 lead before nerves set in.
“I’m so happy,” she said after the match. “It was definitely a tough match. I started very well and then at the end of the first set, I started to be a little more nervy and tight.”
Hradecka held on for the first set, but Bouchard, who has already reached two WTA finals in 2016 (Hobart, Kuala Lumpur), was buoyed by the late momentum, breaking serve and withstanding pressure from the Czech veteran to level the match.
“When I had 5-4, I served well, but I made a lot of mistakes in the second set and my first serve was not there.”
Hradecka is no stranger to high stakes – especially in doubles, where she’s qualified twice for the WTA Finals with fellow Olympic Silver medalist Andrea Hlavackova.
“Sometimes it’s tough to combine singles and doubles, but for the moment, it’s combining easily!”
She survived serveral long games on serve in the decider before Bouchard buckled in the sixth game, double faulting on break point. The two-time Grand Slam champion made no mistake in converting her second 5-2 lead of the match, clinching the victory on her third match point.
Up next for Hradecka is No.9 seed Roberta Vinci, who reached the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open before a left foot injury forced her to retire down a set and a break to Magdalena Rybarikova.
“I’ve played against her a few times, but never beaten her. It will be a little bit different because she plays more slice and is very tricky. I have to be consistent in my game, and we’ll see.”
Earlier in the afternoon, Caroline Garcia won a battle of big hitters against Mirjana Lucic Baroni, winning, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. 2014 Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova won her third straight match against Johanna Larsson, recovering from a set down to book a second round encounter with No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Christina McHale will be top seed Serena Williams’ opening round opponent; she withstood a tough battle against Misaki Doi, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Vania King’s comeback from a back injury continued when she pushed past a GI illness to defeat qualifier Lourdes Dominguez Lino, 6-4, 6-4, with former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki waiting in the next round. Irina Falconi and Yanina Wickmayer each earned two-set wins over Italians Francesca Schiavone and Karin Knapp, respectively, while big-serving Timea Babos eased past Anna Tatishvili, 7-6(2), 6-2.
Lucie Hradecka takes on Eugenie Bouchard in the first round of the Miami Open.
MIAMI, FL, USA – Alizé Cornet is back to her winning ways with a confident start to her Miami Open campaign. With her 6-4, 7-5 victory against Galina Voskoboeva, the Frenchwoman sets up a second round clash against World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska.
Watch live action from Miami this fortnight on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
Cornet, who was facing up to six months out of action due to a back injury she sustained early in the season, was in full flight against the recovering Kazakh, who overcame 22 months of injury rehab to make her WTA comeback in Acapulco.
“I really missed playing tennis this past six or seven weeks,” Cornet said after the match. “It was actually pretty unexpected that I would come here and win my first match.”
The Frenchwoman was off to a dominating start against Voskoboeva despite the tough conditions in Miami. The wind and humidity made it tough for both players to hold serve – by the end there were 10 breaks of serve in the match.
The pair traded breaks early on, but it was Cornet that got her nose ahead in the opening set with a 4-2 lead. Though the Kazakh was able to narrow the gap, Cornet stayed steady and took the first set 6-4.
Although she offered up a stiffer resistance in the second set, Voskoboeva’s errors – especially from the forehand side – began to creep higher and higher. Cornet took advantage and turned up the pressure, rushing to the net to end points early. Despite flubbing a match point at 5-4, Cornet sealed the match at her second opportunity, notching her first win since the Australian Open.
“I’m just happy to be healthy and to move again and just to enjoy playing tennis,” Cornet said. “I think this injury gave me a good lesson and I really appreciate even more my time on court now.”
Earlier in the day, Britain’s Heather Watson had a smoother road to the second round. Petra Cetkovska was also making her way back to the tour after being plagued by injury woes for the past two years. She was no match for the inform Brit, though, who dropped just one game in her 6-1, 6-0, 47-minute win.
A pair of Americans made their way to the second round as well after recording straight set wins over qualifiers – Irina Falconi defeated WTA veteran Francesca Schiavone 7-5, 6-1 while Vania King took out Lourdes Domínguez Lino 6-4, 6-4.
Caroline Garcia withstood a stern test from Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, needing to come back from a set down before advancing 2-6, 6-1, 6-3. Julia Goerges and Yanina Wickmayer are also through.
It was a crazy bet to play in this @MiamiOpen, and this win is pretty unexpected ! Feels good to be back ? #missedit pic.twitter.com/EyJICTFdjI
— Alize Cornet (@alizecornet) March 23, 2016
An interview with Carla Suárez Navarro before the start of the Miami Open.
Santina In The Sun: Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza come into the Miami Open at their most vulnerable since their partnership began, having won just won match since their winning streak of 41 straight came to an end at the Qatar Total Open. Santina took their first straight-sets defeat since last summer at the BNP Paribas Open, falling in the second round to doubles threats Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva.
King and Kudryavtseva once again find themselves in Santina’s quarter of the draw, but the good friends will have to first get past nemeses Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova. Runners-up in Indian Wells, Goerges and Pliskova have ended both of King and Kudryavtseva’s quarterfinal runs at the Australian Open and again last week in the California desert. With both potential quarterfinal opponents for Hingis and Mirza, the reigning Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open champions will have their work cut out for them as they attempt to regain their stunning ascendency ahead of the clay court season and win their fifth title of 2016.
Team Bucie Reunites: Bethanie Mattek-Sands just won her first title since last summer’s Rogers Cup with CoCo Vandeweghe in Indian Wells – taking out No.2 seeds and sisters Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan along the way – but while her countrywoman rejoins regular partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Mattek-Sands will be joined by former partner Lucie Safarova in Miami. Mattek-Sands and Safarova were the stories of the start of 2016, getting halfway to the Calendar Year Grand Slam with wins in Australia and Paris.
Safarova’s injuries and illnesses – most recently a battle with reactive arthritis – have kept the team apart, but No.3 seeds have a chance to reassert their presence in the hyper-competitive doubles field with a first round encounter with American wildcards Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens. Likely looming in the second round would be Daria Kasatkina and Elena Vesnina, the very team who ended Santina’s streak in Doha. Drawn into the same quarter as Australian Open finalists Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, a lot will depend on the state of Safarova, who only returned to tennis a few weeks ago.
Second Chances: Timea Babos was already starting fresh in 2016 when regular partner Kristina Mladenovic opted for an all-French pairing with Caroline Garcia, but the Hungarian youngster was left adrift when she ended what was meant to be a season-long partnership with Katarina Srebotnik after the Australian Open. In search of a full-time partner, Babos had success with Julia Goerges through the Middle East Swing, and kept up her winning ways when the German reunited with Pliskova by partnering Yaroslava Shvedova, who finds herself available as partner Casey Dellacqua continues her comeback from a late-season concussion.
Reaching the semifinals in Indian Wells, Babos and Shvedova narrowly lost to eventual champs Mattek-Sands and Vandeweghe in a match tie-break; seeded No.4 in Miami, they are projected to face No.6 seeds Garcia and Mladenovic in the quarterfinals, but could play Dellacqua and new partner Samantha Stosur in the second round. A back injury to Garcia took the French Connection out of the California desert before the doubles event began; how will the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships runners-up bounce back in Florida?
Wildcard Watch: Stephens and Keys are not the only singles players to give Miami a go. Simona Halep, who enjoyed a mixed doubles run at last year’s US Open with Horia Tecau, has entered the fray with fellow former BNP Paribas Open champion Daniela Hantuchova. They will play a hotly contested first round match with Doha finalists and Dubai semifinalists Sara Errani and Carla Suárez Navarro.
Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – who narrowly missed out on qualifying for last year’s BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore present by SC Global and started the season with Vesnina – also earned a wildcard into the doubles draw, playing Chinese No.8 seeds Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai. Finally, youngsters Monica Puig and Heather Watson are ones to watch as potential second round opponents against Santina, should they get past Margarita Gasparyan and Monica Niculescu.