* Petkovic loses marathon — and Top 25 ranking
* Stephens may lose Top 25 spot after loss to Watson
* Diyas knocks Gavrilova below #35
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.
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
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…..?
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
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
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
***
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Topics: Miami Open tennis, Tennis Results, Wta
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