Davis Cup: Ailing Canadian Couple Gives Way to GB in Close Match - UBITENNIS
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Davis Cup: Ailing Canadian Couple Gives Way to GB in Close Match

OTTAWA – Great Britain took the 2-1 lead after four-set win in Saturday’s doubles as Canadian couple slowly faded away. Pospisil may be in doubt for Sunday due to nagging knee injury

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6 years ago

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It could have been a great double match, given the pedigree of the players involved, but the show lacked pathos as each couple was very effective at taking care of their serve (three breaks in 45 games) and the three tie-breaks played were all one-sided. Eventually the Dominic Inglot and Jamie Murray outlasted a beat up Pospisil and the 44-year-old Nestor at his 50th Davis Cup tie in career with a 7-6(1) 6-7(3) 7-6(3) 6-3 win in 3 hours, 8 minutes putting Great Britain firmly in the lead ahead of Sunday’s reverse singles.

 

“They were a little bit better throughout the whole match – said a very disappointed Nestor after the defeat – I could not return the way I wanted, I didn’t make a good return on the set point we had in the first set and also on all other openings we had in their service game”. Nestor’s serve was the first one to wobble at 3-3 as three consecutive missed volley gifted the Brits with the first break point of the match. A sequence of three smashes erased that chance, as fifteen minutes later another smash canceled the set point for the Canadians at 6-5 on Inglot’s serve. The tie-break was a washout, with Nestor conceding both points on his serve and the whole thing being over in just four minutes.

Despite the absence of the superstars Andy Murray and Raonic, the crowd was filling the stands by almost three-quarters and the atmosphere was warm and hyped despite the freezing temperatures outside and the absence of one of the most exciting features of modern tennis. Hawk-Eye could not be used during the entire afternoon due to some blind spots created in the system by the organization try to sort out the surface earlier in the day to eliminate some air bubbles that had been trapped underneath the carpet.

Jamie Murray surprisingly lost his serve in the opening game of the second set, giving the Canadian couple and early lead, but a good return game by Inglot on Nestor’s serve leveled the score at 4-4, with the subsequent tie-break being an all red-and-white matter with Pospisil hitting a winning return on Murray’s serve on the first point and the Scot double faulting at 2-5 to give the home team an unassailable lead.

As the match progressed, it was Pospisil’s serve that became increasingly under attack, as the 26-year-old energy levels started to fade (he was the only one on court who had played the day before) and the pain to his aching knee forced him to take a MTO at the beginning of the fourth set. Vasek had revealed to Canadian TV Sportsnet that he had slept very little the previous night (“every time I was moving I woke up”) and that he was playing under pain killers for his knee. The first break-point at 2-2 came and went as Inglot missed a forehand volley; on Pospisil’s subsequent service game at 4-4 the Canadians had to dig themselves out of a 15-40 hole with a smash and a winning serve. These were the only three break points of the set, concluded with another washout in the tie-break as the Brits sprinted to 4-0 and 6-1 before closing on 7-3.

With Nestor holding his own on his serve but failing to make an impact on return, Pospisil continued his struggle during his service game as he started the sixth game with a double fault, dug himself a hole to 0-40 and eventually surrendered to a powerful Inglot return on the third of the break-points. This was the nail in the coffin for the Canadians, who now go into reverse singles Sunday (starting at noon ET hoping to finish in time for SuperBowl kickoff) with their back to the wall and an injured player: “I will see what the injury is, but if I can take care of this nagging pain tonight I am definitely playing tomorrow against Evans. I have plenty left in the tank to play five sets if necessary” said Pospisil in his press conference in English, with his take appearing somehow less optimistic a few minutes later when he answered questions in French: “It’s not just my decision to play tomorrow or not, I need to hear what the physio and the doctor say. Today I played with pain killers, which is not good for my health, but if there is no risk to worsen the damage I’ll take the court against Evans; however if there is a chance I may increase the damage I need to be smart and make a decision to safeguard the next weeks and months and the rest of the season”.

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Jannik Sinner beats Laslo Djere to beat reach the third round at the Miami Open

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25/03/2023

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Jannik Sinner made a winning start to his Miami Open with a 6-4 6-2 win over world number 58 Laslo Djere after 88 minutes on Court Butch Bucholz  to reach the third round at the Hard Rock Stadium. Sinner won his 17th match this season. 

 

Sinner won six consecutive games from 3-4 down to build up a 6-4 3-0 lead and the final three games from 3-2 to close out the second set. 

Sinner earned his first break point at deuce in the second game of the first set. Djere broke in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead, but Sinner pulled back on serve to draw level to 4-4. Sinner closed out the first set 6-4 with his second break in the 10thgame. 

Sinner converted his fourth break point in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead. Djere broke back in the fifth game for 2-3. Sinner earned two consecutive breaks in the sixth and eighth games to close out the second set 6-2. Sinner finished runner-up to Hubert Hurkacz in the Miami final in 2021 and reached the quarter final in last year’s edition

Sinner converted 5 of his 10 break points to improve his seasonal record against top 50 opponents to 13-0. 

Sinner and Djere are 2-2 split in their four head-to-head matches. Sinner won his previous meeting on hard court in Indian Wells 2022. 

Sinner set up a third round match against Grigor Dimitrov, who came back from one set down to beat Jan Lennard Struff 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4. 

Struff earned his first break in in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and saved two break points in both the sixth and tenth games to win the first set 6-4. 

The second set went on serve en route to the tie-break. Dimitrov won four consecutive points from 3-5 down to clinch the tie-break 7-5. 

Dimitrov claimed the third set 6-4 with his only break in the fifth game. 

Carlos Alcaraz eased past Facundo Bagnis 6-0 6-2 in just 65 munues to continue his quest for the Sunshine Double after winning the Indian Wells title. 

Alcaraz is bidding to become the youngest player to win the Sunshine Double with his second consecutive title in Miami. 

Alcaraz will face either Maxime Cressy or Dusan Lajovic. 

“I knew that I needed to be focused for my first match. To start a new tournament is never easy. I have to be ready to get used to these new conditions, but I was really focused on the match from the beginning, and I am happy with the way that I played. I try to improve every day”, said Alcaraz. 

Andrey Rublev beat JJ Wolf 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 to reach the third round. Rublev dropped his serve in the first game, but he broke back in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5. 

Rublev earned an immediate mini-break to open up a 2-0 lead. Wolf pulled one break back to draw level to 2-2. Rublev won four consecutive points to build up a 6-2. Wolf saved the first set point, but Rublev closed out the tie-break with his fourth mini-break. 

Rublev saved all five break points he faced in the second set and earned his decisive break in the seventh game to clinch the second set 6-4 improving his win -loss record to 12-7 this season. 

Rublev set up a third round match against either Miomir Kecmanovic or Ugo Humbert. 

Rublev has won 12 ATP titles, including five ATP 500 trophies, but he is still chasing his first Masters 1000 title. 

“It’s a great feeling, because I did not know what to expect and it was my first match here. I did not much time to adapt. I know he is dangerous, that he can play really well and really aggressive. As soon as we started to play I was losing, so it was not easy. At the end I was happy that I able to keep calm inside, and I was just waiting for my moment in the first set. As soon as I had the moment I was able to make it, and then I started to play a play better and I started to feel more confident”, said Rublev. 

Taylor Fritz eased past Emilio Nava 6-4 6-1. Fritz reeled off six consecutive points from 4-4 in the first set to build up a 6-4 3-0 lead. Nava had beaten former Miami champion John Isner in the opening round to clinch his second ATP Tour win.

Nava earned an early break in the opening game. Fritz pulled back on serve in the second game. Fritz sealed the first set 6-4 with his second break in the 10th game. The US player broke twice in the second and fourth games to close out the second set 6-1. 

“Nava was basically going either clean winner or miss. It didn’t matter what shot I hit, so I felt like I just had to put as many balls in the court as possible and just hope that later on in the set, applying pressure at 5-4 up or if it were to go to 6-5, that he would not be able to just keep hitting winners”, said Fritz. 

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Coco Gauff reaches the third round at the Miami Open for the second consecutive year at the Miami Open

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9 hours ago

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24/03/2023

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Number 6 seed Coco Gauff eased past Canada’s Rebecca Marino 6-4 6-3 in 1 hour and 12 minutes on Stadium Court to reach the third round for the second consecutive year at the Miami Open. 

 

Gauff converted five of her nine break points and came back from a break down in the second set to clinch her second win in as many meetings with Marino. Gauff had already beaten Marino en route to reaching her first Grand Slam singles final at Roland Garros last year. 

Gauff earned an early break in the first set, but Marino pulled back on serve at 4-3 with back-to-back forehand winners. The US teenager fired her sixth ace before breaking Marino for the second time to seal the first set 6-4. 

Gauff came back from a break down at both 2-1 and 3-2 and forced an error with a service return to take a 5-3 lead. 

Marino earned a break point in the next game, but Gauff hit three consecutive serves to close out the second set 6-3. 

Gauf set up a third round match against Anastasia Potapova. Gauff beat Potapova in three sets at the 2019 US Open. 

“Today it was an up-and-down match, honestly. I did well in the returning part, considering Marino is a big server. I am happy with how I played. She is not an easy opponent. She makes a lot of big shots and doesn’t really give you a lot of rhythm. You just have to hang in there”, said Gauff. 

Number 23 seed Zheng Qinwen came back from one set down to beat Irina-Camelia Zheng Quiwen 2-6 6-1 6-1. The Chnese 20-year-old player, who was forced to withdraw from Dubai and Indian Wells due to an abdominal injury, will take on Liudmila Samsonova, who cruised past Viktorija Golubic 6-1 6-1. 

“At the beginning I was having to struggle a bit on court. It was tough to win a point. I was really happy to be on court, but in the beginning it looked like I was not so into the match. I did not find the match rhythm. At the start of the second set I felt a bit better, and I did pretty good at the third set. I was going really fast on court, especially hitting the ball really hard. In the second set I tried to slow down, keep the rally more instead of hitting really, trying to accelerate where I can but staying with the opponent. As my first match back, it’s not a bad start, but I hope I can play a bit better”, said Zheng Quinwen. 

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Elena Rybakina beats Anna Kalinskaya to keep her hopes to win the Sunshine Double alive

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13 hours ago

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24/03/2023

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Elena Rybakina battled past Anna Kalinskaya 7-5 4-6 6-3 to reach the third round at the Miami Open keeping her hopes to win the Sunshine Double alive.

 

Kalinskaya earned an immediate break in the first game of the opening set. Rybakina broke back in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5. The reigning Wimbledon and Indian Wells champion broke for the second time in the 12th game to seal the first set 7-5. 

Rybakina broke in the fourth game of the second set to build up a 7-5 4-1 lead. Kalinskaya broke back in the seventh game to draw level to 4-4 after a shaky service game from Rybakina. Kalinskaya broke serve in the ninth game at deuce and served out the second set 6-4 to take Rybakina to her fifth deciding set of the season. 

Rybakina broke Kalinskaya in the sixth game of the third set to take a 4-2 lead. Kalinskaya pulled back on serve in the seventh game for 3-4. Rybakina earned her second break in the eighth game and closed out the win just before midnight after 2 hours and 15 minutes. 

Rybakina has extended her winning streak to nine consecutive matches. It’s the longest winning streak in her career at WTA level so far. The Kazakh had previously achieved seven-match winning streaks twice. She achieved this feat, when she won seven consecutive matches en route to clinching her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon last year.  

In this year’s edition of Indian Wells she beat Sofia Kenin, Paula Badosa, Varvara Gracheva and Karolina Muchova to reach her first WTA 1000 semifinal. She then moved past world number 1 Iga Swiatek in straight sets for the second time in 2023. Rybakina had already beaten Swiatek in the fourth round at the Australian Open. 

Rybakina will renew her rivalry with Paula Badosa, who beat Laura Siegemund 7-6 (4-6) 6-2 after 2 hours and 51 minutes. 

“I am happy that I managed to win. I had chances in the second set to close it out but I was a little bit on energy and she did a couple of good returns, one double fault from me, so it did not go my way in the second set, but I am happy that in the third set I found my way and won. I only had two days and today was a long day. We are now finishing now really late. Courts are different, balls are different, so it’s not easy at all, but hopefully these three sets will help me in the next round”, said Rybakina. 

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