* Petrova finally wins a match
* Barthel’s ongoing struggles culminate in retirement
* Battle of the Ages: Teenager Vekic tops Date-Krumm
Miami
Singles – First Round: (Q) Kiki Bertens def. (WC) Victoria Duval 7-6(7-5) 6-1
A very minor upset, based on the rankings — but an interesting one, because these two are both very inconsistent players. We had no idea what to expect.
Singles – First Round: (WC) Rebecca Peterson def. Mona Barthel 6-4 4-2, retired
Absolutely nothing is going right for Mona Barthel just now; as you’ll read in the feature, her ranking is sinking fast, and now this. The only good news is, she wasn’t defending anything this week.
Singles – First Round: Vania King def. (Q) Estrella Cabeza Candela 6-0 6-0
Estrella Cabeza Candela truly left it all in the qualifying, didn’t she…? Vania King adds a few points but will probably need one more win to rise above #70.
Singles – First Round: Paula Ormaechea def. (Q) Katarzyna Piter 7-6(7-0) 6-1
Katarzyna Piter has been having a good year, so this is a pretty positive result for Paula Ormaechea, and one that ought to keep her above #75.
Singles – First Round: (Q) Patricia Mayr-Achleitner def. Karin Knapp 3-6 6-1 6-4
Karin Knapp wasn’t defending anything, so she ought to tay Top Fifty after this. Perhaps not by much, though.
Singles – First Round: Peng Shuai def. Karolina Pliskova 7-5 6-0
Peng Shuai has matched her result from last year, but because of the change in the points table, she still needs one more win to stay above #45. Karolina Pliskova, who was defending 80 points, will fall from #65 to below #70.
Singles – First Round: Lauren Davis def. Zhang Shuai 6-2 6-3
Lauren Davis really is on a hot streak — but because she had 80 points to defend this week, she is still in danger of falling below #60. Zhang Shuai is sure to fall from $41 to #44 or lower.
Singles – First Round: (Q) Virginie Razzano def. (WC) Heather Watson 6-4 6-0
This will leave Heather Watson still in the #120 range. The Wimbledon cutoff isn’t for weeks yet, but it looks as if she will be needing a wildcard there also.
Singles – First Round: (Q) Olga Govortsova def. (Q) Shahar Peer 2-6 6-0 6-3
A small upset — Olga Govortsova is ranked ten spots below Shahar Peer. But an important win for Govortsova, since it should suffice to keep her Top Hundred.
Singles – First Round: (WC) Nadia Petrova def. Urszula Radwanska 7-5 1-6 6-4
This was a match somebody had to win, and Nadia Petrova has at least had more matches in her comeback. But she is defending third round points, so this leaves her still below #200. Urszula Radwanska loses a few more points and will end up around #65.
Singles – First Round: (Q) Coco Vandeweghe def. Marina Erakovic 6-4 7-6(8-6)
Marina Erakovic is really struggling this year; this means she will remain below #65. But Coco Vandeweghe looks set to return to the Top Hundred.
Singles – First Round: (Q) Donna Vekic def. (Q) Kimiko Date-Krumm 7-6(7-2) 6-2
These two came in ranked just one place apart — Kimiko Date-Krumm #93 and Donna Vekic right below her. Both had points to defend. And, because Vekic had more, it appears she will remain below Date-Krumm. And, because of the change in the points table, they may both fall out of the Top Hundred.
Singles – First Round: Christina McHale def. Zheng Jie 6-4 6-2
Christina McHale is yet another player who hasn’t quite defended her points because of the points table change, but we’d guess this will keep her Top Sixty. Zheng Jie was also defending second round points, and she just plain failed to defend and will end up around #60. There is one real mystery: How did a 6-4 6-2 match manage to last an hour and 42 minutes?
Singles – First Round: Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Monica Niculescu 6-3 6-4
More bad news for Monica Niculescu, who will remain in the #70 range. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova should rise above #60.
Singles – First Round: Ajla Tomljanovic def. Kristina Mladenovic 7-6(7-4) 6-4
Kristina Mladenovic is too young to become a doubles specialist, so maybe she needs to play some Challengers or something to get her game back; she needs matches. It looks as if she’ll be around #85. Which isn’t that far from where Ajla Tomljanovic might land, too, since she has more than a hundred points still to defend.
Singles – First Round: Yvonne Meusburger def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-3 6-0
It’s possible, although far from certain, that this will take Yvonne Meusburger above #35.
Singles – First Round: Andrea Petkovic def. Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor 6-3 6-4
This will probably suffice to keep Andrea Petkovic, who was defending third round points, in the Top Forty.
Singles – First Round: (Q) Zarina Diyas def. Alexandra Cadantu 6-4 3-6 6-2
Alexandra Cadantu is off to a terrible start this year, with only two wins in seven events. And although she put up some resistance toward the end of the match — enough to push it past the two and a half hour mark — she still remains stuck below #60.
Singles – First Round: Alison Riske def. (Q) Nadiya Kichenok 1-6 7-5 6-2
This was two matches in one — and neither one very good. Alison Riske went down a set and two breaks. Then Nadiya Kichenok got nervous, double-faulting her way to giving back the two breaks. And kept right on crumbling; she went down 4-0 in the third before finally earning a game on a break. Kichenok might make the Top Hundred even with the loss, but if she had managed to serve out the match in either of her two chances, it would have been certain.
****** TODAY’S FEATURE ******
This Week’s Movers — Women
Each week, Daily Tennis will look at the biggest movers of the week, looking at how they did what they did.
Biggest Upward Mover — Most Places Moved (Top 100)
Leader: Casey Dellacqua — Moved 22 places, from #78 to #56.
Dellacqua qualified for Indian Wells and made it all the way to the quarterfinal.
Runner-Up: Camila Giorgi — Moved 11 places, from #79 to #67
Giorgi qualified for Indian Wells and made the fourth round. And then lost her qualifying opener in Miami, so she won’t be going any higher.
Biggest Percentage Mover — Cut Ranking By Highest Percent (Top 100)
Leader: Flavia Pennetta — Moved 9 places, 43%, from #21 to #12
Pennetta won Indian Wells for her first-ever mandatory singles title.
Runner-Up: Simona Halep — Moved 2 places, 29%, from #7 to #5
Halep made the Indian Wells semifinal. That, combined with a loss of points by Maria Sharapova, took her to a career high. A career high not just for her but for any Romanian.
Biggest Loser — Most Places Lost (Top 100)
Loser: Mona Barthel — Dropped 13 places, from #71 to #84
Barthel last year made the Indian Wells fourth round. This year, the less said about her results, the better.
Biggest Percentage Loser — Worst Percentage Increase in Ranking (Top 100)
Loser: TIE:
Caroline Wozniacki, ranking increased 6 places, 50%, from #12 to #18
Angelique Kerber, ranking increased 3 places, 50%, from #6 to #9
Wozniacki, last year’s Indian Wells finalist, in 2014 lost in the fourth round. Kerber, a semifinalist in 2013, this year lost her opener.
Ranking Notes
Lots of nice moves this week. Pennetta, up 43%. Halep, up 28%. Dellacqua, up 28%. Jelena Jankovic, up 25% (to #6). Lauren Davis, up 17% (to #55). Giorgi, up 15%. No one else in the Top Hundred rose more than 12% (although we might mention Alisa Kleybanova, up 21%, to #112).
On the down side, Wozniacki and Kerber fell 50%, and last year’s Indian Wells champion Maria Sharapova fell 40%, to #7 — but no one else fell as much as 20%. Barthel was the #4 downward mover, slipping 18%.
Poor Nadia Petrova fell another 52 places, to #205. Iveta Melzer is back on the rankings — but she’s #1004, so it hardly matters. And she lost her Miami opener, too.
Our Personal Picks for “Best Mover of the Week”
These are subjective picks!
Pennetta had the best move and won her best-ever title. She’s the obvious choice.
KEYWORDS: Movers Women Pennetta
************ STATS AND FACTS ************
Rankings
Estimated WTA Rankings As of March 19, 2014
Rank &
Prior
Rank …Name …………. Points
1..(1) SWILLIAMS ……… 11670*
2..(2) LI ……………..6945*
3..(3) ARADWANSKA ………5775*
4..(4) Azarenka ………..5441
5..(5) HALEP …………. 4705*
6..(8) KVITOVA ……….. 4165*
7..(6) JANKOVIC ………..4150*
8..(9) KERBER ………….3980*
9.(10) ERRANI ………….3590*
10..(7) SHARAPOVA ……… 3581*
11.(11) CIBULKOVA ……… 3340*
12.(12) PENNETTA ………..3215*
13.(13) IVANOVIC ………..3010*
14.(14) VINCI …………. 2685*
15.(15) LISICKI ……….. 2665*
16.(17) SUAREZ NAVARRO …..2550*
17.(18) WOZNIACKI ……… 2535*
18.(16) STEPHENS ………..2495*
19.(19) BOUCHARD ………..2445*
20.(20) STOSUR ………….2430*
21.(21) PAVLYUCHENKOVA …..2245*
22.(24) MAKAROVA ………..2130*
23.(22) CORNET ………….2100*
24.(25) KANEPI ………….2055*
25.(23) FLIPKENS ………..1975*
26.(27) SAFAROVA ………..1885*
27.(26) CIRSTEA ……….. 1780*
28.(29) Kirilenko ……… 1516
29.(30) KUZNETSOVA ………1513*
30.(31) VWILLIAMS ……… 1507*
Draws
Miami — week of March 17, 2014
1 S Williams
27 Zakopalova
21 Pavlyuchenkova
16 Stosur
9 Errani
23 Makarova
25 Cirstea
5 Kerber
4 Sharapova
26 Safarova
19 Flipkens
14 Lisicki
12 Ivanovic
20 Pennetta
28 Kuznetsova
8 Kvitova
6 Halep
29 V Williams
22 Cornet
10 Cibulkova
13 Vinci
18 Bouchard
32 Vesnina
3 A Radwanska
7 Jankovic
30 Muguruza
17 Stephens
11 Wozniacki
15 Suarez Navarro
24 Kanepi
31 Hantuchova
2 Li
STATUS OF SEEDS:
1 S Williams
2 Li
3 A Radwanska
4 Sharapova
5 Kerber
6 Halep
7 Jankovic
8 Kvitova
9 Errani
10 Cibulkova
11 Wozniacki
12 Ivanovic
13 Vinci
14 Lisicki
15 Suarez Navarro
16 Stosur
17 Stephens
18 Bouchard
19 Flipkens
20 Pennetta
21 Pavlyuchenkova
22 Cornet
23 Makarova
24 Kanepi
25 Cirstea
26 Safarova
27 Zakopalova
28 Kuznetsova
29 V Williams
30 Muguruza
31 Hantuchova
32 Vesnina
******** SCORES ********
WEDNESDAY
Miami
Singles – First Round
(Q) Kiki Bertens def. (WC) Victoria Duval 7-6(7-5) 6-1
(WC) Rebecca Peterson def. Mona Barthel 6-4 4-2, retired
Vania King def. (Q) Estrella Cabeza Candela 6-0 6-0
Paula Ormaechea def. (Q) Katarzyna Piter 7-6(7-0) 6-1
(Q) Patricia Mayr-Achleitner def. Karin Knapp 3-6 6-1 6-4
Peng Shuai def. Karolina Pliskova 7-5 6-0
Lauren Davis def. Zhang Shuai 6-2 6-3
(Q) Virginie Razzano def. (WC) Heather Watson 6-4 6-0
(Q) Olga Govortsova def. (Q) Shahar Peer 2-6 6-0 6-3
(WC) Nadia Petrova def. Urszula Radwanska 7-5 1-6 6-4
(Q) Coco Vandeweghe def. Marina Erakovic 6-4 7-6(8-6)
(Q) Donna Vekic def. (Q) Kimiko Date-Krumm 7-6(7-2) 6-2
Christina McHale def. Zheng Jie 6-4 6-2
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Monica Niculescu 6-3 6-4
Ajla Tomljanovic def. Kristina Mladenovic 7-6(7-4) 6-4
Yvonne Meusburger def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-3 6-0
Andrea Petkovic def. Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor 6-3 6-4
(Q) Zarina Diyas def. Alexandra Cadantu 6-4 3-6 6-2
Alison Riske def. (Q) Nadiya Kichenok 1-6 7-5 6-2
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