MIAMI GARDENS, Florida: Former US Open winner Bianca Andreescu and world number two Aryna Sabalenka cruised into the last-16 of the Miami Open on Sunday with straight sets victories at Hard Rock Stadium.
Sabalenka’s power was simply too much for Marie Bouzkova with the Belarussian breaking serve twice in the opening set on the way to a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
Any chance of a comeback from Bouzkova vanished when she was broken in the opening game of the second set and Sabalenka was in no danger on her serve, not facing break point at any time in the 66 minute encounter.
Andreescu looks a player reborn and she oozed confidence as she enjoyed a 6-4, 6-4 victory over American Sofia Kenin.
The 22-year-old Andreescu, the 2019 US Open winner, has been impressive so far having beaten Emma Raducanu and world number 10 Maria Sakkari in the previous rounds.
In a match with few rallies, Andreescu dominated with her serve game, with a 70 percent first serve percentage and it was not until mid-way through the second set that Kenin caused any real problems.
Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open winner, broke Andreescu to cut the lead to 4-3 but despite the improved forehand from the Floridian, Andreescu kept her cool and won with her first match point.
“These victories are definitely very sweet and I’ve had many tough matches against Sofia, so it feels really good to get through,” said Andreescu who converted all three of her break points.
“I definitely feel like I am getting better match by match, even physically. Like I’m feeling really good. I’m feeling very fresh,” she added.
Andreescu will face Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the next round after she beat world number nine Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 7-6 (10/8), 6-3.
In a good day for Russian women, qualifier Varvara Gracheva reached her second straight WTA 1000 fourth round with a straightforward 6-1, 6-2 win over Polish lucky loser Magdalena Frech.
The 22-year-old Gracheva also made it to the last 16 as a qualifier at Indian Wells.
There will also be a strong Czech presence in the fourth round with Petra Kvitova, Barbara Krejcikova and Marketa Vondrousova all winning on Sunday.
Two-times Wimbledon winner Kvitova beat Donna Vekic 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), surviving a strong effort from the Croat in the second set.
“She was always coming back after a (service) break, and it wasn’t really easy already in the first set. ... It was very difficult, she played very well, she served very well,” said Kvitova.
Barbora Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open winner, beat American Madison Keys 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 while Vondrousova beat out-of-form compatriot Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-2
Romanian Sorana Cirstea made it to the fourth round in Miami for the first time in a decade after beating Czech Karolina Muchova 7-5, 6-1.
The 32-year-old, now coached by Swedish former Australian Open winner Thomas Johansson, is enjoying a mini-revival after also reaching the same stage in Indian Wells last month.
Andreescu and Sabalenka march into last 16 in Miami
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Andreescu and Sabalenka march into last 16 in Miami
- Andreescu will face in the next round Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, who beat world No. 9 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 7-6 (10/8), 6-3
- Sabalenka will next face Barbora Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open winner, who beat American Madison Keys 7-6 (7/4), 6-3
World’s best female tennis players heading to Riyadh next month
- The first professional women’s tennis event to take place in the Kingdom runs Nov. 2 to 9
- ‘We’re excited to begin a new chapter for tennis in the Kingdom,’ said Saudi Tennis Federation president Arij Mutabagani
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will welcome some of the world’s top tennis players — including Poland’s Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus — next month for the Women’s Tennis Association Finals in Riyadh.
The championship will be the first professional women’s tennis tournament to take place in the Kingdom. It will run Nov. 2 to 9 at King Saudi University in Riyadh.
The top eight singles players and doubles pairs from the WTA will face off in the season-ending event, which will decide the 2024 champions. The tournament is the first of a three-year contract between the WTA and the Saudi Tennis Federation, with the Hologic WTA Tour’s flagship event making Riyadh its home through to 2026.
Saudi Tennis Federation president Arij Mutabagani said: “We’ve seen the passion that our young population has for the game, and our aim to inspire 1 million (people to take up) tennis by 2030 is progressing rapidly, as seen with the recent WTA community engagement programs that were rolled out across the city last week.
“With just 30 days to go until the world’s top female tennis stars compete here in Saudi Arabia for the first time, we’re excited to begin a new chapter for tennis in the Kingdo,” he added.
With WTA World Number 1 Swiatek, and 2024 US Open champion Sabalenka already confirmed for the season finale, the stage is set for a thrilling spectacle. Tickets are on sale via webook.com
The WTA Finals Riyadh is a key element of the STF’s plans to inspire participation in tennis across Saudi and is the latest international sports event to take place in the country. It is also part of the WTA’s aims to grow the game worldwide and inspire a new generation of girls to take to the court.
In recent weeks, WTA Finals tournament director Garbiñe Muguruza and community ambassador Judy Murray made the trip to Riyadh to kick off the WTA Community Engagement clinics supporting the STF’s efforts to inspire a new generation of Saudi tennis stars.
Tennis world number one Iga Swiatek splits with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski
- The 23-year-old won the French Open and US Open during her first season with Tomasz Wiktorowski
- The world number one has won five Grand Slam titles including four French Open trophies
WARSAW: World number one Iga Swiatek on Friday confirmed she has split with her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski and as a result would not compete in next week’s WTA tournament in Wuhan, China.
“After three years of the greatest achievements in my career, together with my coach Tomasz Wiktorowski we decided to part ways,” Swiatek wrote on Instagram.
“After an important change in my sports team, I decided to withdraw from the tournament in Wuhan,” she later said in a post on the X account of the Chinese tournament.
“I’m really sorry for fans in China and those who wait to see me play, but I hope you understand that I need some time.”
After her US Open quarter-final defeat in September, Swiatek also withdrew from the prestigious Beijing 1000 WTA tournament in which she was the defending champion citing “personal matters.”
“I want to start with a big thank you and appreciating our work together,” Swiatek said of fellow Pole Wiktorowski.
“His experience, analytical and strategic attitude and enormous knowledge about tennis helped us to achieve things I’ve never dreamed of only a few months after we started working together.”
Swiatek said she has held “first talks” with possible new coaches, adding: “I’m ready to take the next step of my career. I will let you know when I make a decision.”
The 23-year-old won the French Open and US Open during her first season with Wiktorowski, and has held the world number one ranking since November 2023.
She has won five Grand Slam titles including four French Open trophies.
Top seed Sabalenka stunned by Muchova in Beijing last eight
- World number two Aryna Sabalenka was on a streak of 15 victories in a row
- She won titles in Cincinnati and then the US Open for the first time
BEIJING: The 49th-ranked Karolina Muchova stunned top seed Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to reach the China Open semifinals on Friday.
The Czech player won 7-6 (7/5), 2-6, 6-4 and faces China’s Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen or 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva for a place in the final.
Last year’s US Open champion Coco Gauff plays Spain’s former world number two Paula Badosa in the other semifinal in Beijing.
World number two Sabalenka was on a streak of 15 victories in a row, claiming titles in Cincinnati and then the US Open for the first time.
The Belarusian previously had trouble though with Muchova, who this time last year was inside the top 10 before injury struck.
US Open semifinalist Muchova had won the last two meetings between them with both going to a deciding set.
This encounter proved to be just as tight as Sabalenka’s hopes of usurping Iga Swiatek at the top of the rankings took an unexpected hit, having been a break up at 4-2 in the deciding set and seemingly on course for the last four.
“The conditions here are so tough, it can go one way or the other. There was a couple of great returns from her, she got the momentum and started playing more aggressively,” said Sabalenka, who will play at the Wuhan Open next week.
“It was a really high-level match and she played some unbelievable tennis.”
Three-time major champion Sabalenka faced three break points at the start but she held firm, then had a sniff herself on her opponent’s serve at 2-1, but Muchova similarly refused to buckle.
The hard-hitting Sabalenka had set point on Muchova’s serve at 5-4 but surrendered the opportunity when she rattled her forehand wide on the Czech’s second serve.
Muchova double-faulted to give Sabalenka another chance to wrap up the first set but again she failed to take it.
The Czech had two set points in the tiebreak and grabbed the second at the end of a thrilling rally to go a set up.
It was the first set 26-year-old Sabalenka had dropped since the third round in New York.
Sabalenka started the second set brightly to break for 2-1 and broke once more on the way to sealing the set with comparative ease.
Neither could hold serve in the deciding set before Muchova, who at one point had appeared to be wilting in the face of her opponent’s superior power, found another gear to clinch the match in two hours, 46 minutes.
This time last year 28-year-old Muchova was ranked ninth in the world having reached the French Open final and semifinals at Flushing Meadows.
But her 2023 season ended after the US Open because of wrist surgery and she did not play for nearly 10 months until returning this summer.
Sabalenka felt she should have been more aggressive in the match, but said: “I was really close to winning today, but things didn’t go my way and I can only be proud of myself,” she said.
Gauff rallies against qualifier to reach China Open semis against Badosa
- Gauff will next play Paula Badosa of Spain, who ended local wild card Zhang Shuai’s unexpected run at the title
- Italy’s Matteo Berrettini bounced back his Japan Open disappointment last week by squeezing past Christopher O’Connell 7-6, (9) 7-6 (6) in the Shanghai first round
BEIJING: Sixth-ranked Coco Gauff again made a slow start and had to rally to beat Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 to make the China Open semifinals on Thursday for a second straight year.
Gauff will next play Paula Badosa of Spain, who ended local wild card Zhang Shuai’s unexpected run at the title.
The No. 115-ranked Yuliia Starodubtseva — who will crack the top 100 for the first time on Monday — had not lost a set in her three matches this week and quickly took the lead, making 10 winners and holding Gauff to zero in an error-strewn first set for the American.
Gauff also lost the first set against Naomi Osaka in the previous round before Osaka retired because of a lower back injury.
Starodubtseva last month became the first woman in the Open era to qualify for all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year, and former US Open champion Gauff found a response against her.
Gauff saved two break points in her opening service game of the second set. A service break propelled her ahead 3-1. After another narrow escape on her next service game, Gauff lost only three more games for the rest of the quarterfinal.
“I can’t control how I play or how she plays, but I can just try to control my mindset and commit to the process,” Gauff said.
Zhang’s drought-busting week came to a shuddering halt as Badosa continued her own resurgence in a 6-1, 7-6 (4) victory in their quarterfinal.
The Spaniard has won 28 of her last 35 matches dating to May and made the semifinals of three of her past five tournaments. There was also a run to the US Open quarterfinals last month.
But the story of the week has been the 35-year-old Zhang, who entered the China Open on a 24-match losing streak — the second longest in the Open era — and ranked No. 595. She didn’t drop a set in four previous matches this week.
The Chinese wild card had no answer, though, to Badosa’s fast start as the Spaniard made three service breaks to comfortably claim the opening set.
It was much closer in the second set as Badosa found herself down 3-1. She rallied and edged Zhang in the tiebreak.
Shanghai Masters
Italy’s Matteo Berrettini bounced back from the disappointment of an injury ending his Japan Open last week by squeezing past Christopher O’Connell 7-6, (9) 7-6 (6) in the Shanghai first round.
The Italian, who retired with an abdominal injury in the second round in Tokyo last Friday, had his fitness given a stern examination by the Australian in a lung-busting match lasting two hours, 13 minutes.
Next up for the former Wimbledon finalist is No. 14-ranked Holger Rune.
Other first-round winners included Marcos Giron, David Goffin, Jaume Munar, Zhou Yi, Jakub Mensik and Miomir Kecmanovic.
The 32 seeded players received a first-round bye, including top-ranked Jannik Sinner and second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who won the China Open against the Italian on Wednesday. Sinner starts against Taro Daniel of Japan, and Alcaraz faces Shang Juncheng of China.
Game On: Garbine Muguruza champions ‘gigantic’ WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia
- As the world’s top female players gear up for Riyadh, the tournament director envisions bright future for tennis in the Middle East
RIYADH: As the Kingdom’s capital gears up for the highly anticipated WTA Finals this November, the tournament’s director and former world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza believes the event will be “gigantic” for tennis in the country and region.
In an interview with Arab News recently, she said the contest, which will feature some of the world’s top female tennis players, will showcase the power of sport to inspire and unite people.
“I’m very excited that we can bring this gigantic tournament to Saudi Arabia,” she said, noting the significance of introducing this premier event in a region that is still becoming acquainted with the sport at the highest level.
The WTA Finals is regarded as one of the crown jewels of women’s tennis.
Muguruza, who has experience working in the Middle East, said: “This is going to make such an impact for the kids, for the next generation.”
She praised the Saudi Tennis Federation and the broader sports community for the work they are doing. “They’re bringing exhibitions, next-gen (tournaments), and now the finals,” said Muguruza.
She said the focus on community engagement — through several clinics and coaching sessions — was vital for fostering local talent. The ultimate aim is to have 1 million tennis players in the country.
“Every time I do it, there’s more people,” she said.
“They’re doing a great job letting them dream and giving them the options to do it,” she said, recalling her own journey to the top of the sport.
“Why not dream, right? Like I dreamt when I was little to one day be the world No. 1, you know?”
Muguruza’s dual perspective as both a former elite player and a tournament director enriches her approach. “I can tell what the players could need, what to expect. How can we get the crowd excited,” she said.
As she reflected on the evolution of tennis in the Kingdom, Muguruza acknowledged the strides being made, particularly among young female players.
Witnessing Saudi Arabia’s Haniya Minhas compete at Wimbledon this year in the under-14 category was a poignant moment for her.
“I felt great because I’m like, ‘wow, you see, finally we have a representation,’” she said.
“We see every country has their timing, has their step,” Muguruza added.
