Martina Hingis: 'Anna Kournikova Was One Of A Kind' - UBITENNIS
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Martina Hingis: ‘Anna Kournikova Was One Of A Kind’

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Anna Kournikova (left) and Martina Hingis during the 2010 Wimbledon Championships (Rebecca Naden/PA).

Multiple Grand Slam champion Martina Hingis has praised former player Anna Kournikova during an interview with Russian sports website R-Sport.

The Swiss player is currently participating in the St. Petersburg Ladies’ Trophy alongside doubles partner Sania Mirza. During her time in Russia, Hingis spoke about Kournikova and Maria Sharapova. She was asked to compare the two women, however, the 35-year-old insisted that this can’t be done.

“They cannot be compared. Anna was one of a kind, unique”. Hingis told R-Sport.
“She was one of the first who was not just a tennis player, but as a tennis player and a model. Her photos have appeared in fashion magazines. She opened her example to a whole generation of Russian tennis players”.

Despite never winning a Grand Slam title, Kournikova was a household name on the tour due to her publicity both on and off the court. At the age of 15 she shot to the media limelight after reaching the semifinals of the 1997 Wimbledon Championships (the best Grand Slam performance of her entire career). Reaching a career high of 8th in 2000, Kournikova never won a singles title on the WTA tour. She enjoyed better fortune in the doubles with two Grand Slam titles with Hingis at the Australian Open (1999 and 2002). 11 out of Kournikova’s 16 doubles titles was won with Hingis.

Hingis also spoke briefly about Sharapova, a player who she played three times in 2006. The world No.1 doubles player said that Sharapova was a follower of the former Russian player (Kournikova became an American citizen in 2010).

She was a follower. For the rest of the Russians it was great that Anna gave them that opportunity, because many wanted to be like Kournikova”. Hingis said.

The 35-year-old also talked about her upcoming Olympic tournament with Roger Federer. Hingis said that she was asked by Federer in 2012 to play in the London Olympics with him, but she declined due to lack of match play. This year she decided to return the favor.

“Four years have passed since Roger’s request, and I decided to return to him this question, ask it to him. So I said, if you decide to play mixed at the Olympics this time, I’d be happy to do it with you. And I am very pleased that he has agreed”. Hingis said.

“I played with him in the Hopman Cup in 2001. There were wonderful memories, when we became champions and won the Hopman Cup for Switzerland. I hope that we can bring home a medal from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro”. She later added.

This week Hingis and Mirza have won their first round match against Jelena Ostapenko and Evgeniya Rodina to claim their 37th straight win on the doubles tour. The pair are just eight wins away from equaling the all-time record set by Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova back in 1990.

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Miami Open Daily Preview: Jannik Sinner Plays Daniil Medvedev in the Semifinals

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Jannik Sinner on Wednesday in Miami (twitter.com/miamiopen)

Semifinals in both men’s singles and women’s doubles will be played on Friday.

The men’s singles semifinals feature three of the top four seeds, but they do not include top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, who was upset by Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday evening.  Dimitrov will face Sascha Zverev on Friday for a spot in Sunday’s championship match.

The other men’s semi is a rematch of the epic Australian Open final, as well as a rematch from last year’s Miami final, between Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev

And in the women’s doubles semifinals, it will be four Americans, two Italians, and a Canadian teaming with a Kiwi.

Each day, this preview will analyze the two most intriguing matchups, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule.  Friday’s play gets underway at 1:00pm local time.


Daniil Medvedev (3) vs. Jannik Sinner (2) –  Not Before 3:00pm on Stadium Court

In the championship match of January’s Australian Open, an exhausted Medvedev, who had already played three five-setters, started out unusually aggressive.  It caught Sinner off-guard, and won Daniil the first two sets.  But Jannik showed an extreme amount of composure for someone down two sets in his first Major final, and rather comfortably claimed the next three, as well as the biggest title of his career.

Overall Medvedev leads their head-to-head 6-4, with all 10 meetings on hard courts.  However, you can divide their history into two parts.  Medvedev won the first six matches, with the most recent coming in the final of Miami a year ago.  Since then, Sinner has taken the last four, which all took place between this past October and January. 

In the absence of Djokovic, and with Alcaraz only winning one title since last July, these two are definitively the best two hard court players the ATP has to offer.  Since last summer, Sinner has reached six hard court finals, while Medvedev has reached five.  Yet notably, their results in those finals tell contrasting stories.  Jannik has gone 5-1, while Daniil has gone 0-5.

Sinner has been the ATP’s best big match player across the past six months.  And on Friday, he should be favored to earn his fifth consecutive victory over Medvedev.


Grigor Dimitrov (11) vs. Sascha Zverev (4) – Not Before 7:00pm on Stadium Court

Grigor Dimitrov just may be playing the best tennis of his career.  He simply outhit and outshined Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday night, mixing highlight-reel winners with a mature and composed demeanor.  Grigor has only been broken twice through four matches in Miami, and is into his third Masters 1000 semifinal out of the last four.  With a victory on Friday, the 32-year-old would return to the top 10 for the first time since 2018.

2018 was also the last time Zverev reached the final of this tournament.  But he’s just one win away from a repeat appearance, and has won all eight sets he’s played this fortnight.  Sascha has only been broken once to this stage, to reach just his second Masters 1000 semifinal since an ankle injury cut his 2022 season short in June of that year.

This rivalry has been nearly completely one-sided.  Dimitrov won their first matchup, a full decade ago when Zverev was still ranked outside the top 100.  But ever since, it’s been all Sacha, as he’s won the last seven.  The German will also be the much fresher player on Friday, as he’s spent considerably less time on court.  And as high as Grigor’s level has been, he remains just 2-8 in Masters 1000 semifinals.  I give the edge to Zverev to advance.


Other Notable Matches on Friday:

Asia Muhammad and Alycia Parks vs. Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe (2) – Muhammad and Parks are infrequent partners, yet have survived three deciding-set tiebreaks to reach this stage.  Dabrowski and Routliffe are the reigning US Open champions.

Sofia Kenin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (ALT) vs. Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini (OSE) – Kenin and Mattek-Sands already won a title this season (Abu Dhabi), as have Errani and Paolini, who were victorious in Linz.


Friday’s full Order of Play is here.

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Undeterred Danielle Collins Hits Back At Those Questioning Retirement Decision

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Danielle Collins is two wins away from claiming the biggest title of her career in Miami but no matter what happens she will still be retiring later this year. 

The former world No.7 caught many off guard during the Australian Open in January when she confirmed publically for the first time that 2024 will be her last season. Her announcement came shortly after a tough three-set loss to world No.1 Iga Swiatek and at the time some questioned if she made that comment in the heat of the moment. However, the 30-year-old has her mind made up as she enjoys her latest surge in form. 

At the Miami Open, she has defeated seeded players Anastasia Potapova, Sorana Cirstea and Caroline Garcia en route to the semi-finals. Making it the second time in her career that she has reached this stage of the tournament after 2018 when she did so as a qualifier. In her latest match, she dropped only five games during her 6-3, 6-2, win over a in-form Garcia. Garcia defeated Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff earlier in the tournament. 

Following her latest victory, Collins faced more questions about her decision to retire. Once again she reiterated her results on the Tour would have no impact before questioning why she has to keep justifying herself. 

“I think it’s really interesting how in a lot of different situations I have had to kind of justify the reasons behind retirement,” Collins points out. “I’m living with a chronic inflammatory disease that affects your ability to get pregnant. So that’s a deeply personal situation. I’ve kind of explained that from time to time.
“This is my personal choice. This is so much more to do than just tennis and my career. I’m enjoying my career. I’m having a lot of fun; I love coming out here and competing. But at the end of the day, like, this is a really big life decision. I think that that should be pretty understandable.”

Collins, who turned 30 last December, says she feels there more scrutiny about her decision to retire because of her gender. 

“I find it interesting because I kind of felt like when I was announcing my retirement everyone has been congratulating me and so excited for me, but then on the other hand, I feel like I have had to justify my decision a lot. I feel like if I was a guy, I probably wouldn’t have to justify it that much.” She commented.

So far in her career, Collins has won two WTA titles which was during 2021. The following year she reached her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open. 

In Miami, the American will play Ekaterina Alexandrova for a place in the final. 

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‘A Great Challenge’ – Daniil Medvedev Ready For Sinner Showdown In Miami

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(credit Miami Open/Hard Rock Stadium)

Daniil Medvedev says his semi-final clash with Jannik Sinner at the Miami Open provides him with an opportunity to improve his game further. 

The defending champion booked a showdown with the Italian after beating Nicolas Jarry 6-2, 7-6(7), on Wednesday. It is the 14th time that Medvedev has reached the last four of a Masters 1000 event. In his latest match, the Russian hit 12 winners and won 80% of his first service points. 

Medvedev’s next challenge will be the formidable Sinner who has won 20 out of 21 matches he has played so far this season. It will be their first clash on the Tour since the Australian Open final where Medvedev won the first two sets before losing in five. 

“He’s playing better and better,” the reigning Miami champion Medvedev said of Sinner. “He’s confident, some matches where you look on TV, where he’s maybe a little bit in trouble, he manages to find solutions – that’s what champions do.
“It’s a great challenge for me to continue improving my game – I’ll try to show my 100 percent and go for it.”

Overall, the two tennis stars have faced each other 10 times on the Tour before this week. Medvedev dominated their rivalry early on by winning all six of their first matches played. Then it was Sinner’s turn to dictate proceedings with the 22-year-old winning their four most recent meetings. 

Another factor in their rivalry is the competitiveness between the two with more than half of their matches (six out of 10) going the distance. 

“It’s going to be a very tactical match potentially because I have to be ready if he starts off in a similar way as in Australia.” Sinner said following his 6-4, 6-2, win over Tomas Machac. 
“I have to be ready and try to understand it (Medvedev’s game) before. Maybe he’s gonna change a couple of things. So let’s see. It’s going to be an interesting test for me. Hopefully, I can show some good tennis.”

Medvedev is aiming to become the man to defend their title at the Miami Open since Novak Djokovic in 2016. It would also be the first time in his career that he has won the same tournament twice. 

The upcoming semi-final clash is set to take place on Friday. 

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