Sharapova taking care of business in Miami - UBITENNIS
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Sharapova taking care of business in Miami

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TENNIS – Maria Sharapova (4) perhaps has a love/hate relationship with Miami. She lives close by and so it is presumed that she is fond of the surroundings. However, she must find this tournament particularly frustrating as she has made it to the final five times (2005, 2006, 2011, 2012 and 2013) and has yet to win the title. Cordell Hackshaw

Maria Sharapova (4) perhaps has a love/hate relationship with Miami. She lives close by and so it is presumed that she is fond of the surroundings. However, she must find this tournament particularly frustrating as she has made it to the final five times (2005, 2006, 2011, 2012 and 2013) and has yet to win the title. Her form so far at the tournament has not been the best as she was pushed to three sets by her last two opponents and now she was facing a red-hot Petra Kvitova (8) who simply destroyed Ana Ivanovic (12) in previous round handing the former World No. 1 double bagels in the last two sets. Sharapova has a 4-2 head-to-head with Kvitova winning their last three encounters. However, it was their 2011 Wimbledon encounter when the Czech beat the Russian in straight sets to take the title that most tennis fans remember. Since then Kvitova has faded much to her fans’ chagrin and is now embroiled in the gossip columns with her ongoing affair with fellow Czech Radek Stapanek who was in the stands.

Kvitova continued her fine form from her previous match to break Sharapova in her opening service game. She quickly got to 4-2 saving two break points along the way. At this point, Kvitova started to lose focus and began getting careless with her shots. Sharapova upped her game and intensity. She exploited Kvitova’s lack of agility on the court and constantly had her off balance. Sharapova broke and was up 5-4 with Kvitova now serving to stay in the set. Kvitova was able to get it to 5-5 but at the crucial stage of 5-6, she was unable to hold her serve to force a tiebreaker and handed the set to Sharapova 7-5.

As the match went on, Sharapova just got better. She would later say, “I started getting more chances as we played more games in the first set, and little by little I started getting myself back in the points more and playing my game, playing well, going inside the baseline.”She was winning more points on her serve and applied the pressure to her opponent who only seemed to be dwindling as she became more error prone and reckless with her shots. Consider that in the 2nd set, Sharapova was only getting in only 62% of her 1st serve but won 81% of them and dropped only 8 points on serve. Kvitova on the other hand got 80% of her 1st serve in but only won 58% of them. She was unable to come up with any answers for Sharapova’s groundstrokes and aggressive stance at net. The only question that remained for the match was whether Kvitova was going to get a bagel as Sharapova was ahead 5-0 in the 2nd set. Kvitova saved face and held serve but it did little to deter Sharapova from taking the match 7-5 6-1 and a spot in the semifinals.

Sharapova noted of her opponent in the post-match interview “Petra is a Grand Slam champion. ..You can never underestimate someone that goes on the court and has that experience. She’s capable of playing really great tennis, and I think everyone knows that.” Sharapova has now improved to a 6-0 lifetime record in Miami at the quarterfinal stage and is 5-0 in the semifinals. However, Sharapova next faces the winner of the Serena Williams (1) v Angelique Kerber (5) quarterfinal match. There is no doubt that she would much prefer to face the German over the American if she hopes to be 6-0 in the semifinals.

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Caroline Garcia Opens Up About Recent Struggles After Claiming First Top 10 Win Since 2022 In Miami

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Caroline Garcia - Australian Open 2024 (Foto X @ausopen)

After a lacklustre start to her season, Caroline Garcia is finally finding some momentum in her tennis at the Miami Open. 

Garcia, who has been ranked as high as fourth in the world, came into the WTA 1000 event yet to reach a quarter-final on the Tour this year and hadn’t back-to-back matches. However, her fortunes have turned around at her latest event where she produced a stunning win over Coco Gauff in the fourth round on Monday. 

The 30-year-old rallied to a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, win over the reigning US Open champion. It is the first time she has beaten a top 10 player on the Tour for 16 months. Before taking on Gauff, she also beat four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in straight sets. 

“It’s definitely a great match and a great win for me. The last couple of months have not been easy,” Garcia said afterwards. 

Garcia claimed the biggest title of her career at the 2022 WTA Finals, where she won four out of her five matches played at the end-of-season event. However, since then she has only reached the final of two more Tour-level events which were during the first two months of last year. She is currently ranked 27th in the world and has been outside the top 20 since January. 

“Sometimes you don’t have all the results you want, and sometimes it can affect you too much,” Garcia commented.
“You have to find a good balance and a good relationship with tennis to balance your professional life and personal.
“I think we have been able to do good sometimes. On the practice courts in Indian Wells after the loss against Maria (Sakkari), I was a bit down and then we did some good practice and we saw she played well. 
“My game was there. I just had to go for it and play my matches. I have been able to do it one match at a time.”

The Frenchwoman will be hoping to continue her fairytale run in the quarter-finals where she will take on unseeded Danielle Collins. Collins, who will retire later this year, dropped only five games during her 6-3, 6-2, win over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea. 

“I just want to be focused on my game what I can do and at the end try my best and walk out of the court proud of the effort,” Garcia concluded. 

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Shocks Galore In Miami As Four Top 10 Players Crash Out Of Women’s Draw

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An action-packed Saturday at the Miami Open saw a series of top names suffer surprise losses in the third round with the the most high-profile exit being Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka. 

The world No.2 suffered a disappointing 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, loss to Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina after just over two hours of play. Sabalenka struggled particularly with her second serve with the Belarussian only winning 10 out of 27 points. In the final set, she failed to hold her serve once and smashed her racket on the ground multiple times immediately after the match concluded. 

“It’s always tough to play on big stages against these top players,” said Kalinina. “Today was really tough with nerves but I managed in the tough moments to deal with it. 
“So I’m a little bit proud of myself today.” 

Sabalenka’s defeat comes less than a week after the death of her former boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov who passed away in Miami. She has opted not to speak with the media at the tournament whilst playing due to the current circumstances. However, on Wednesday in a short statement on social media, she said her “heart was broken” by the “unthinkable tragedy.” 

Meanwhile, 32nd seed Kalinina will next play Yulia Putintseva. It is the first time she has beaten a top 10 player this season with Sabalenka being the second Grand Slam winner she has ousted in Miami. Earlier in the tournament, she also knocked out Caroline Wozniacki in a marathon encounter that lasted more than three hours. 

Another casualty in the draw is Ons Jabeur who lost 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, to Elina Avanbesyan. It is the fourth match in a row that the Tunisian has lost on the Tour. She is yet to win back-to-back matches on the Tour in 2024 but has been troubled in recent weeks by a knee injury. 

Chinese seventh seed Zheng Qinwen was knocked out of the draw in straight sets by former champion Victoria Azarenka. Zheng was broken four times in the match during her 6-4, 7-5, loss. 

Finally, Jelena Ostaoeko won just four games during her 6-3, 6-1, loss to Anna Kalinskaya. 

Despite the series of shocks, four out of five top five players remain in the draw this year. They are Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula. 

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Coco Gauff And Aryna Sabalenka Struggle Through In Indian Wells Openers

The duo were pushed to three sets in their first matches played at this year’s WTA 1000 event.

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Coco Gauff admits she didn’t play her best tennis at Indian Wells on Saturday after coming through a rollercoaster three-set battle. 

The world No.3 needed more than two hours to oust France’s Clara Burel 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Gauff found herself trailing multiple times during the match. After losing the opening set, the reigning US Open champion then had to battle back from a 0-4 deficit in the decider. Capitalising on some tentative hitting from Burel who was bidding to record the biggest win of her career. 

Despite prevailing, it was a far from vintage performance from Gauff who hit six double faults and 14 unforced errors during the first set alone. She also struggled behind her second serve, winning just 12 out of 36 points played. 

“I think for me it’s just getting through that match definitely meant a lot,” Gauff said. “Could have easily thrown in the towel. But honestly, I was just telling myself, like, win or lose, I don’t want to have any regrets on the court. I want to be like I gave myself the best opportunity to win, and I did that.
“Am I proud of how I played? Not really, to be honest. But the fight, I am proud of. I am eager to improve. I think it wasn’t my best tennis at all. I think I just have a lot of improvement that I can do to get better.”

The 19-year-old has become the first teenager in the last 15 years to have won 50 or more matches at WTA 1000 events. She will next play Lucia Bonzetti.

“That’s pretty cool,” Gauff commented on her latest milestone. “I feel like I have a lot of stats and stuff like that. Hopefully I can close this chapter of my life off good. I’m really happy with how my teenage years went.” 

Sabalenka avoids major upset 

Aryna Sabalenka was another player to experience trouble during their opening match after outlasting Peyton Sterns 6-7 (2), 6-2, 7-6 (8), in a clash that lasted almost three hours. The world No.2 was on the verge of losing and had to save four match points when down 4-5 in the final set. Despite that blip, she held her nerve to break back before prevailing in a tightly contested tiebreaker. 

“Wow, I think I was right when I see this tattoo of a tiger and I was fighting today like a tiger,” said Sabalenka. “It’s just crazy what happened. She’s an unbelievable player.
“She played crazy tennis. She said at the net, ‘I had you,’ so she’s right. I was probably a little bit lucky to get this win. Super happy to get through this.”
“I didn’t play my best tennis and she was crushing it like crazy. I was just trying to stay in the game and keep fighting for every point. But this match definitely goes into the book of craziest matches and the best matches of my career.”

Sabalenka is hoping to go one step better in Indian Wells than 12 months ago when she reached the final before losing to Elena Rybakina, who has pulled out of the tournament due to gastrointestinal issues. 

Awaiting the Belrussian in the next round will be Emma Raducanu in what will be the first meeting on the Tour. 

Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka posted a convincing 7-5, 6-3, win over world No.15 Luidmila Samsonova. It is the first time she has beaten a top 20 player since returning to competitive tennis following the birth of her child. 

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