Serena Williams’ Absence Deals Another Blow To The Troubled IPTL - UBITENNIS
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Serena Williams’ Absence Deals Another Blow To The Troubled IPTL

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Serena Williams (zimbio.com)


The Singapore leg of this year’s International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) has suffered a setback following the withdrawal of Serena Williams.

The world No.2 was set to be one of the headline acts, playing for the home team Singapore Slammers. There has been no official confirmation about the reason for Williams’ withdrawal, but the Straits Times has reported that it was due to an organisational issue that has arisen over the past 48 hours.

“With the global economy struggling and ticket sales at what they are, we’ve reached out to Serena. She has been super supportive the last two seasons and we look forward to having her back next year.” An IPTL spokesman told sportinglife.com.

Williams was set to make her first public appearance in the sport since her loss in the semifinals of the US Open. She ended her season early after being troubled by a shoulder injury, forcing her to withdraw from the season ending WTA Finals.

The fiasco concerning Williams’ IPTL plans is the latest blow to the tournament, which had already been forced to reduce the tournaments from five venues to three due to financial issues.

“This season required us to make some difficult choices and we have worked hard to bring Season 2016 to life across three host cities.” IPTL Founder Mahesh Bhupathi recently said.

Speaking about the absence of the 22-time grand slam champion, Bhupathi confirmed that he was unable to finalise an agreement in time for the start of the event.

“We were trying to get it done and we’ve had some challenges financially.” He said.
“Serena has been supportive and she really wanted to come and play some matches before (the season starts in) Australia, but we couldn’t get all the ducks lined up.”

Earlier in the week Eugenie Bouchard was another no show, despite being advertised as participating in the lead up to the event. In the wake of the latest blip, it has been confirmed that the IPTL has slashed ticket prices for the Singapore tournament, reducing them by 40-50 per cent.

As a dark cloud covers the IPTL, proceedings are still ongoing. After the first leg in Tokyo, the UAE Royals currently head the standings with defending champions Slammers in third.

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Jannik Sinner reaches his fourth semifinal of the year in Miami

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This year’s Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner converted four of his eleven break points in his 6-4 6-2 win over Tomas Machac in 91 minutes to reach his fourth semifinal of the season at the Miami Open. 

Sinner has claimed a tour-leading 20th match win this season to reach the Miami Open semifinal for the third time. The world number 3 finished runner-up to Hubert Hurkacz in 2021 and Danil Medvedev in 2023 in his finals in Miami. 

Sinner started the match with an immediate break in the first game to take a 1-0 lead. Machac, who beat Andrey Rublev and Andy Murray on his way to the quarter final in Miami, broke straight back to draw level to 1-1. Sinner earned his second break in an eight-minute seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. The Italian star held on his next two service games to close out on his first set point. 

Sinner earned two break points on each of Machac’s first three service games. He broke twice in the third and fifth games to open up a 5-1 lead and served out the win on his second match point. Sinner dropped just three points on serve in the second set. 

Sinner will face the winner of the quarter final match between Danil Medvedev and Nicolas Jarry. 

“I did not exactly know what to expect today. The first games I was looking a little bit what kind of tactics could work or not. Today I played especially in the important moments of the match. I am really happy to play again in the semifinals here. Machac has an incredible talent to play this sport. He is super fast also physically . He is in great shape. I feel good. I am just happy to compete. We practise very hard to be in these positions and I am really happy I can play once again in the semifinals at this special tournament. I made my first Masters 1000 final here. I am really happy to be back in the semifinals ”, said Sinner. 

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Danielle Collins beats Caroline Garcia to reach the second semifinal of her career in Miami

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Danielle Collins beat Caroline Garcia 6-3 6-2 in 80 minutes to reach her second semifinal at the Miami Open. Collins became the first qualifier to reach the semifinal in the history of this tournament. 

Collins achieved her third win against a seeded player in five matches over the past seven days. 

Collins dropped just 11 points in nine service games against Garcia and hit 22 winners to Garcia’s 12. 

Collins earned a break in the eighth game and held serve to seal the first set 6-3. The US player broke serve in the third game of the second set and never looked back to close out the match in 1 hout and 19 minutes. 

Collins has extended her record to 4-0 in her head-to-head matches against Garcia and has not lost a set to her French opponent. 

Collins set up a semifinal match against the winner of Wednesday night’s match between Jessica Pegula and Elena Alexandrova, who beat world number one player Iga Swiatek in the fourth round.  

Collins won two WTA titles in Palermo and San José in 2021 but she has not reached a WTA Tour level final since losing to Ashleigh Barty in Melbourne in 2022. 

“I think Caroline Garcia comes out here and fights her butt off. She hits some really strong shots. I don’t think the set scores are a reflection of how close the match really is”, said Collins. 

Garcia beat Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff to reach the quarter finals in Miami for the first time in her career. The French player was troubled by an injury to her right shoulder and received treatment early in the second set. 

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Alexander Zverev beats Karen Khachanov to reach the quarter final for the fourth time in his career in Miami

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Alexander Zverev beat Karen Khachanov 6-1 6-4 without facing any break points in a re-match of the Olympic final in Tokyo 2021 to reach back-to-back quarter finals after advancing to the last eight at Indian Wells. Zverev is aiming to win his first Masters 1000 title since Cincinnati in 2021. 

Zverev dropped just nine points on serve in the whole match and fired nine aces. The German player converted three of his four break points. 

Zverev broke twice in the fourth and sixth games to win the first set 6-1. The German player earned another break in the third game. He held on his next service games and sealed the win on his first match point. Zverev leads 4-2 in his six head-to-head matches against Khachanov. The German player reached the quarter final for the fourth time in his career in Miami and the last eight in a Masters 1000 tournament for the 27th time in his career. 

Zverev set up a quarter final match against Hundary’s Fabian Maroszan, who upset Alex De Minaur 6-4 1-6 6-1. The first set went on serve until the 10th game when Maroszan earned a break to win the first set 6-4. De Minaur broke three times to take a bagel win in the second set forcing the match to the decider. Maroszan broke twice in the fourth and sixth games and served out the win on his third match point. 

Maroszan reached his second Masters 1000 quarter final after advancing to the last eight in Shanghai in 2023. Maroszan has a record of four wins to just 1 defeat against top 10 players and 14 wins to just 3 defeats at Masters 1000 tournaments. De Minaur was looking to become the first player to reach 20 wins this season. 

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