MIAMI OPEN TENNIS 2016 – COMPLETE REPORT ON THE LADIES MATCHES INCLUDING THE SERENA “SCARE”

* Petkovic loses marathon — and Top 25 ranking

* Stephens may lose Top 25 spot after loss to Watson

* Diyas knocks Gavrilova below #35

 

The Place To Be Is MIAMI / Tickets Still Available! Results Below

 

Singles – First Round (late Wednesday): Monica Puig def. (WC) Catherine “CC” Bellis 4-6 6-3 6-2

By the looks of things, Catherine Bellis perhaps needs to work on her fitness. She will remain below #200.

 

Singles – Second Round: (1) Serena Williams def. Christina McHale 6-3 5-7 6-2

Let’s hope this was Christina McHale playing over her head and not Serena Williams playing under hers…. Sadly for McHale, there are no points for threatening Serena, so she’ll stay stuck right around the #56 ranking she came in with.

 

Singles – Second Round: (3) Agnieszka Radwanska def. Alize Cornet 6-0 6-1

Evidently Alize Cornet still has some work to do in her comeback (which makes you wonder how bad things are for Galina Voskoboeva, given that she lost to Cornet in straight sets in the first round). Cornet will remain below the Top Forty; Agnieszka Radwanska maintains a small lead on Angelique Kerber in the contest for #2.

 

Singles – Second Round: (5) Simona Halep def. Daria Kasatkina 6-3 7-5

Considering how well Daria Kasatkina has been playing lately, this is a pretty good sign for Simona Halep. But she is still only #6 in safe points. Kasatkina may gain a spot or two above her current #36, but she remains below the Top Thirty.

 

Singles – Second Round: (8) Petra Kvitova def. Irina Falconi 6-1 6-4

Petra Kvitova, the WTA’s leading expert on fragility, didn’t play Miami last year, so she is already adding points. This gives her a significant lead on Simona Halep in the contest for #5.

 

Singles – Second Round: Yanina Wickmayer def. (11) Lucie Safarova 6-2 6-3

Lucie Safarova shows no signs whatsoever of coming out of her funk. She wasn’t defending anything, so she will likely stay Top Fifteen — but not for much longer at this rate.

 

Singles – Second Round: (12) Elina Svitolina def. Zhang Shuai 6-3 6-0

No big upsets for Zhang Shuai this week, obviously. She will remain below #60. Elina Svitolina has a good shot at the Top Fifteen this week, but it’s far from settled.

 

Singles – Second Round: (15) Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Carina Witthoeft 6-3 4-6 6-4

This moves Svetlana Kuznetsova ahead of Timea Bacsinszky and Sara Errani in the contest for the last Top Twenty spot, so her chances look pretty good, but that’s a rather disturbing score.

 

Singles – Second Round: (16) Ana Ivanovic def. Teliana Pereira 6-3 6-0

It’s not very nice to say it, but Teliana Pereira really doesn’t belong here. She is a Latin American clay player. Specifically. She is very good at those events — 16-5 in her career, with two titles. Everywhere else… ugh. 10-27 in her career entering Miami. She will probably stay Top Fifty this week, but her Bogota 2015 title comes off in a month. Maybe that will get her ranking down low enough that she can start playing the right events and get back to making some kind of a living… her first round win here was her first since Tianjin 2015.

 

Singles – Second Round: (19) Timea Bacsinszky def. Margarita Gasparyan 6-3 6-1

A nice win for Timea Bacsinszky, given how much she has struggled this year. It doesn’t guarantee that she will stay Top Twenty, but it’s likely. Margarita Gasparyan will fall from #41 to around #45.

 

Singles – Second Round: (WC) Heather Watson def. (20) Sloane Stephens 6-3 6-0

Whatever was wrong with Sloane Stephens here, it’s going to cost her dearly. She was defending 215 points. That means she will fall from #22 to no better than #25, and it could well be lower. Heather Watson will probably gain several spots, but she is still below #65.

Heather Watson of Britain in action against Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic during their first round match at the Miami Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA, 23 March 2016. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

 

Singles – Second Round: Caroline Garcia def. (21) Andrea Petkovic 7-6(7-5) 3-6 7-6(7-2)

How very unlike Andrea Petkovic to lose a three-set, two and three-quarter hour match! And, worse for her, she was a semifinalist last year; she will be falling below #25 — possibly even below #30, although that looks pretty unlikely given the other results here. Caroline Garcia will likely move back above #45.

 

Singles – Second Round: (23) Caroline Wozniacki def. Vania King 7-5 6-2

Caroline Wozniacki still has points to defend, but because Sloane Stephens has lost so much, this will likely take Wozniacki to #24

 

Singles – Second Round: Julia Goerges def. (26) Samantha Stosur 3-6 6-1 6-4

Samantha Stosur won’t be making the Top 25 after this — although it doesn’t appear she’ll fall much if at all, despite failing to defend 65 points.

 

Singles – Second Round: Madison Brengle def. (28) Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 7-5 6-4

Really, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova needs to stop trying to play everything and go home and practice. She now has six losses in a row, and will be no better than #30.

 

Singles – Second Round: (30) Ekaterina Makarova def. Lesia Tsurenko 3-6 6-4 6-3

Lesia Tsurenko loses her chance to return to the Top Forty. Ekaterina Makarova still needs one more win to defend her points, but this keeps her close to (although still below) the Top Thirty.

 

Singles – Second Round: Zarina Diyas def. (31) Daria Gavrilova 7-5 6-3

This is the best result for Zarina Diyas in a long time; she wouldn’t even have gotten direct entry here based on her current ranking. Daria Gavrilova was defending 120 points, so this will drop her from #34 to no better than #37.

 

Doubles – First Round: (1) Hingis/Mirza def. Arruabarrena/Olaru 6-0 6-4

Not a particularly impressive win, but at least Hingis/Mirza bounced back strong from last week’s disappointment.

 

Doubles – First Round: (4) Babos/Shvedova def. Jans-Ignacik/Jurak 6-3 5-7 10-5

 

Doubles – First Round: (5) Hlavackova/Hradecka def. Melichar/Spears 6-4 6-1

First Abigail Spears missed time, now Racquel Atawo. Hard for a team to succeed that way….

 

Doubles – First Round: Hsieh/Peng def. Groenefeld/Vandeweghe 6-4 6-2

Finally, a doubles win — and a solid one — for Peng Shuai in her comeback. That follows on a good singles win. Maybe she’s finally getting her game back.

 

Doubles – First Round: Medina Garrigues/Parra Santonja def. Marosi/Siniakova 6-2 6-4

 

The Fifth Slam? (MIAMI? Indian Wells?)

 

It used to come up every year around this time. Is Miami the “fifth Slam”? That is, is this — long the largest tournament after the Slams — in the same league as the “Big Four”? These days, perhaps it’s worth asking a different question: If there is a fifth Slam, is it Miami — or is it Indian Wells?

 

Of course, many people give the dogmatic response that there is no fifth Slam. Which at least makes things simple. In fact, the matter is complicated, especially on the WTA side, because Miami’s status has changed. Until a few years ago, it was “just another Tier I.” Then it became the only mandatory non-Slam, giving it a special elevated status. But as of 2009, there are three other mandatory events, so Miami in fact has lost some importance compared to other events. On the other hand, Miami still has the history. So does it deserve Fifth Slam-dom? Rather than say yes or no, we’ll go for something a little more nuanced: Our answer is “It is and it isn’t.”

 

In some ways, Miami has actually become more like the Slams in the past decade or so: On the women’s side, it is now required, just as they are Slams. Again, the Slams now have 32 seeds, as Miami has had for years. Miami now starts on Tuesday, making it 13 days long — only one day shorter than some of the Slams.

 

On the other hand, the Slams are all currently 128 draws, and Miami is 96. (We should note, of course, that the Slams have used other formats in the past.) The men’s matches at Miami are best of three, not best of five. The Slams offer mixed doubles; Miami no longer does, though it did in the past. And, since 2004, Indian Wells follows the same format (96-draws for both men and women) that Miami has used for years. So there is still a “format difference” between the Slams and Miami, and the format at Miami no longer sets it apart from all other regular Tour events.

 

In addition, Indian Wells now has the larger purse. It also has better grounds, although some players don’t like the surface much.

 

Until recently, there hadn’t been much difference between the Miami and Slam fields. For the men, Miami is often stronger than Wimbledon; clay-courters often find an excuse to skip the grass season, but they don’t skip spring hardcourts. On the women’s side, until 2004, Miami was stronger than the Australian Open; a lot of top women skipped Melbourne (in 2002 and 2003, it was Jelena Dokic, and Amelie Mauresmo was also out in the latter year; before that, it was the serve-and-volleyers, Jana Novotna and Nathalie Tauziat). Even as recently as 2007, Justine Henin skipped the Australian Open (admittedly for personal reasons) but played Miami.

 

But, starting in 2004, with Henin not playing and Kim Clijsters injured, Miami lost a bit on the women’s side. Lindsay Davenport backed out in 2005, based on a superstitious history of injuries (even though her track record says she could have avoided the injuries just as easily by skipping Indian Wells). Victoria Azarenka pulled out in 2013 and 2014. On the men’s side, Roger Federer has now decided he doesn’t need to play Miami (true, he also missed Indian Wells in 2016, and is playing Miami as compensation, but that was due to injury, not choice). On the other hand, until 2016, Miami was almost the only non-Slam where both Williams Sisters play when they’re healthy.

 

But there is another measure of how strong Miami is: The players who have won it. Let’s take a look. We’ll cut off the list at 1987. Prior to that, there was a large “Lipton Championships,” but it wasn’t at the current site.

 

Men’s Winners:

2015: Novak Djokovic

2014: Novak Djokovic

2013: Andy Murray

2012: Novak Djokovic

2011: Novak Djokovic

2010: Andy Roddick

2009: Andy Murray

2008: Nikolay Davydenko

2007: Novak Djokovic

2006: Roger Federer

2005: Roger Federer

2004: Andy Roddick

2003: Andre Agassi

2002: Andre Agassi

2001: Andre Agassi

2000: Pete Sampras

1999: Richard Krajicek

1998: Marcelo Rios

1997: Thomas Muster

1996: Andre Agassi

1995: Andre Agassi

1994: Pete Sampras

1993: Pete Sampras

1992: Michael Chang

1991: Jim Courier

1990: Andre Agassi

1989: Ivan Lendl

1988: Mats Wilander

1987: Miroslav Mecir

 

Women’s Winners:

2015: Serena Williams

2014: Serena Williams

2013: Serena Williams

2012: Agnieszka Radwanska

2011: Victoria Azarenka

2010: Kim Clijsters

2009: Victoria Azarenka

2008: Serena Williams

2007: Serena Williams

2006: Svetlana Kuznetsova

2005: Kim Clijsters

2004: Serena Williams

2003: Serena Williams

2002: Serena Williams

2001: Venus Williams

2000: Martina Hingis

1999: Venus Williams

1998: Venus Williams

1997: Martina Hingis

1996: Steffi Graf

1995: Steffi Graf

1994: Steffi Graf

1993: Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario

1992: Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario

1991: Monica Seles

1990: Monica Seles

1989: Gabriela Sabatini

1988: Steffi Graf

1987: Steffi Graf

 

Until 2012, the picture for the women was pretty clear: Every player who has won Miami in its time in Key Biscayne has been a Slam winner (though some had not yet won a Slam at the time of their victory), and all but Gabriela Sabatini won multiple Slams, and all but Sabatini and Svetlana Kuznetsova spent time as the world’s #1. This extends before 1987, we might add; before that, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova took home titles in Florida. This isn’t true for the other Tier I (Premier Mandatory/Premier Five) events, as the following list shows:

 

Indian Wells: Simona Halep won the title in 2015. The year before that, it was Flavia Pennetta. Caroline Wozniacki took home the trophy in 2011, Jelena Jankovic won it in 2010, Vera Zvonareva won in 2009 (the first-ever Premier/Tier I Mandatory other than Miami itself), and Daniela Hantuchova won it in 2002 and 2007 before it became required.

 

Madrid: It has been played as a Premier event only seven times, but Dinara Safina won it in 2009 and Aravane Rezai in 2010.

 

Beijing is also relatively new to top-tier status, but Garbine Muguruza took the title in 2015, Wozniacki won it in 2010, and Agnieszka Radwanska in 2011 — plus Jelena Jankovic won it in 2008 when it was a Tier II that knew it would be upgraded to a Premier Mandatory.

 

The only winners at Wuhan, a Premier Five, are Venus Williams and Petra Kvitova, but the event is only two years old!

 

Doha was won this year by in 2016 by Carla Suarez Navarro. The other winners in its four years as a Premier Five were Victoria Azarenka (twice) and Maria Sharapova (in 2008, in an earlier spell as a top-tier event). But Vera Zvonareva, e.g., won it in 2011 when the tier was lower.

 

Dubai was a Premier Five 2011 and in 2015 (now back to a lower tier); it was won by Caroline Wozniacki in the former year and by Simona Halep in the latter.

 

Rome: Jelena Dokic won Rome in 2001 and Jankovic took the title in 2007 and 2008; Safina won in 2009; Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez won it in 2010.

 

Canadian Open: Pam Shriver won the Canadian Open in 1987, Safina claimed the title in 2008, Elena Dementieva in 2009, Wozniacki in 2010. Agnieszka Radwanska took the title in 2014; Belinda Bencic won in 2015.

 

Cincinnati is only seven years old as a Premier Five, but Jankovic took home the title in 2009.

 

Pan Pacific (now downgraded): Kimiko Date won in 1995, Dementieva in 2006, Safina in 2008, Wozniacki in 2010, Radwanska in 2011, and Nadia Petrova in 2012.

 

Berlin (since downgraded, and then dropped from the calendar): Mary Joe Fernandez won in 1997, Nadia Petrova won there in 2006, and Safina in 2008

 

Charleston (since downgraded): Petrova won Charleston in 2006, Jankovic won it in 2007, and Amanda Coetzer won it at its old Hilton Head site in 1998.

 

Moscow (since downgraded): Nathalie Tauziat won Moscow in 1999, Dokic won it in 2001, Magdalena Maleeva took home the title in 2002, Anna Chakvetadze in 2006, Dementieva in 2007, and Jankovic in 2008 in its last year as a Tier I (making it evidently the easiest High Premier for a lesser player to win).

 

San Diego (eliminated; now re-established at a lower tier): This event had Slam winners every year for its final ten years, but back in its Tier II days, Kimiko Date won it in 1996.

 

Zurich (downgraded, then eliminated): Magdalena Maleeva won it in 1994 and Alicia Molik in 2004.

 

It’s a pretty clear picture: Every Premier Mandatory/Premier Five that has been in existence for at least four years has produced at least one winner who never won a Slam.

 

Until 2009, when Victoria Azarenka won the title, Miami was the only exception. Is it coincidence that Miami had its first non-Slam champion in the same year that three other events became mandatory, and five others became near-mandatory? Well, yes, it probably is partly coincidence, since Azarenka now has Slams to her name. But it’s certainly interesting. And, in 2012, Agnieszka Radwanska again made Miami an event won by a no-Slams-ever player. And, frankly, not many people seem to expect her to change that situation.

 

The men were never as clear-cut; 1998 Miami champion Marcelo Rios never won a Slam, but he was #1; 1987 winner Mecir never won a Slam, but had assorted finals and would have been a genuine candidate except for his back problems — and, in any case, that was more than twenty years ago. It was 2008 which gave us our real oddball winner: Nikolay Davydenko was never #1 and he never won a Slam, although he was considered a serious contender a few years ago. Then, in 2009, Andy Murray won Miami, and he had never won a Slam either — but, of course, he has now cured that. Every other Miami winner has won Slams; most of them have multiple Slams. Even with those exceptions, Miami has the strongest list of winners of any of the Masters. We’d have to say: If you’re good enough to win Miami, you’re probably good enough to win Slams.

 

To summarize: we’d have to say that, at least these days, Miami is not really the Fifth Slam; it’s not strong enough. But Indian Wells doesn’t have the history to replace it. So — maybe they’re both Slam number five and a half or something…..?

 

RANKINGS

 

Estimated WTA Singles Rankings

 

1..(1) SWILLIAMS ……… 8570*

2..(2) ARADWANSKA ………5720*

3..(3) KERBER ………….5645*

4..(4) MUGURUZA ………..4721*

5..(7) KVITOVA ……….. 3763*

6..(5) HALEP …………. 3635*

7..(8) AZARENKA ………..3540*

8..(9) VINCI …………. 3540*

9.(11) Sharapova ……… 3432

10.(10) BENCIC ………….3340*

11..(6) SUAREZ NAVARRO …..3160*

12.(12) Pennetta ………..3034

13.(13) VWILLIAMS ……… 2887*

14.(15) SAFAROVA ………..2768

15.(16) SVITOLINA ……… 2695*

16.(14) KAPLISKOVA ………2590*

17.(17) IVANOVIC ………..2531*

18.(19) KUZNETSOVA ………2425*

19.(18) ERRANI ………….2420*

20.(20) BACSINSZKY ………2410*

21.(23) KONTA …………. 2038*

22.(24) KEYS ……………2005*

23.(26) JANKOVIC ………..1975*

24.(25) WOZNIACKI ……… 1936*

25.(22) STEPHENS ………..1900

26.(27) STOSUR ………….1845

27.(28) PAVLYUCHENKOVA …..1840*

28.(21) PETKOVIC ………..1730

29.(29) MLADENOVIC ………1725*

30.(30) SCHMIEDLOVA ……. 1665

 

DRAWS

 

Miami — Week of March 21

 

……………..3R

1 S. Williams….(1)S.Williams

31 Gavrilova…..Diyas

21 Petkovic……Garcia

15 Kuznetsova….(15)Kuznetsova

 

12 Svitolina…..(12)Svitolina

23 Wozniacki…..(23)Wozniacki

30 Makarova……(30)Makarova

8 Kvitova……..(8)Kvitova

 

3 A. Radwanska…(3)A.Radwanska

28 Schmiedlova…Brengle

19 Bacsinszky….(19)Bacsinszky

16 Ivanovic……(16)Ivanovic

 

11 Safarova……Wickmayer

20 Stephens……Watson

26 Stosur……..Goerges

5 Halep……….(5)Halep

 

6 Suarez Navarro

32 Niculescu

24 Konta

10 V. Williams

 

13 Azarenka

18 Jankovic

27 Mladenovic

4 Muguruza

 

7 Bencic

29 Lisicki

22 Keys

9 Vinci

 

14 Errani

17 Ka. Pliskova

25 Pavlyuchenkova

2 Kerber

 

STATUS OF SEEDS:

1 S. Williams

2 Kerber

3 A. Radwanska

4 Muguruza

5 Halep

6 Suarez Navarro

7 Bencic

8 Kvitova

9 Vinci

10 V. Williams

11 Safarova………lost 2R (Wickmayer)

12 Svitolina

13 Azarenka

14 Errani

15 Kuznetsova

16 Ivanovic

17 Ka. Pliskova

18 Jankovic

19 Bacsinszky

20 Stephens……….lost 2R (Watson)

21 Petkovic……….lost 2R (Garcia)

22 Keys

23 Wozniacki

24 Konta

25 Pavlyuchenkova

26 Stosur………..lost 2R (Goerges)

27 Mladenovic

28 Schmiedlova……lost 2R (Brengle)

29 Lisicki

30 Makarova

31 Gavrilova……..lost 2R (Diyas)

32 Niculescu

 

SCORES

 

THURSDAY

Miami

Singles – Second Round

(1) Serena Williams def. Christina McHale 6-3 5-7 6-2

(3) Agnieszka Radwanska def. Alize Cornet 6-0 6-1

(5) Simona Halep def. Daria Kasatkina 6-3 7-5

(8) Petra Kvitova def. Irina Falconi 6-1 6-4

Yanina Wickmayer def. (11) Lucie Safarova 6-2 6-3

(12) Elina Svitolina def. Zhang Shuai 6-3 6-0

(15) Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Carina Witthoeft 6-3 4-6 6-4

(16) Ana Ivanovic def. Teliana Pereira 6-3 6-0

(19) Timea Bacsinszky def. Margarita Gasparyan 6-3 6-1

(WC) Heather Watson def. (20) Sloane Stephens 6-3 6-0

Caroline Garcia def. (21) Andrea Petkovic 7-6(7-5) 3-6 7-6(7-2)

(23) Caroline Wozniacki def. Vania King 7-5 6-2

Julia Goerges def. (26) Samantha Stosur 3-6 6-1 6-4

Madison Brengle def. (28) Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 7-5 6-4

(30) Ekaterina Makarova def. Lesia Tsurenko 3-6 6-4 6-3

Zarina Diyas def. (31) Daria Gavrilova 7-5 6-3

Doubles – First Round

(1) Hingis/Mirza def. Arruabarrena/Olaru 6-0 6-4

(4) Babos/Shvedova def. Jans-Ignacik/Jurak 6-3 5-7 10-5

(5) Hlavackova/Hradecka def. Melichar/Spears 6-4 6-1

Hsieh/Peng def. Groenefeld/Vandeweghe 6-4 6-2

Medina Garrigues/Parra Santonja def. Marosi/Siniakova 6-2 6-4

 

***

 

Content Via Bob LARSON News Service (We Have Permission)

(c) Copyright 2016. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis

Topics: Miami Open tennis, Tennis Results, Wta

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No Key Biscayne, No Problem; New Site, Same Great Miami Open Tennis Event

It was the end of an era at Crandon Park for the Miami Open last year. From the Lipton, to the Nasdaq 100, to the Sony Ericsson, to the Sony, to the Miami Open presented by Itau, Key Biscayne saw it all.