World Tennis Discussion @ CG

[cek mek molek]

This is her biggest win since triumphing at the US Open in 2021.

Raducanu reaches Indian Wells third round​

This is her biggest win since triumphing at the US Open in 2021.

12 Mar 2023, 7:15am

Emma Raducanu’s win marks her first back-to-back victories since September. (AP pic)

INDIAN WELLS: Emma Raducanu knocked out Polish 20th seed Magda Linette 7-6(3), 6-2 on Saturday to reach the third round of Indian Wells and notch her biggest win since triumphing at the US Open in 2021.

The 20-year-old Briton fell into a 4-1 first set hole but rallied from there, dictating points with her forehand to push Linette deep into the court.



She sealed the win by whipping a forehand winner down the line to bring the fans to their feet on a warm and windy day in the Southern California desert.



The win marked Raducanu’s first back-to-back victories since September and is a hopeful sign that she may be moving beyond the multiple health issues that have beset her of late.

She suffered an ankle injury in the lead up to January’s Australian Open, tonsillitis that forced her to withdraw ahead of last week’s Austin Open and a flaring up of the wrist injury, which had cut short her 2022 season and required attention from a physiotherapist on Saturday.

“I’d say I feel more positive about my game today,” Raducanu told reporters.

“The first day I didn’t really know what was going on. Today I felt pretty decent out there, especially with the conditions. It was really windy and I did well to overcome it.”

She will next face either Czech Katerina Siniakova or Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Elsewhere, Czech Karolina Muchova scored an impressive 7-6(1), 6-3 win in her tournament debut over two-time champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Czech Marketa Vondrousova crushed her compatriot, the 28th-seeded Marie Bouzkova, 6-1, 6-1.



On the men’s side, Italian 11th seed Jannik Sinner beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-3, 7-6(2), eighth seed Felix Auger Aliassime of Canada was a 7-6(5), 6-4 winner over Spain’s Pedro Martinez and Jack Draper won an all-British battle against 24th seed Dan Evans 6-4, 6-2.

 

[cek mek molek]

She will be facing unseeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea.

Swiatek powers past Raducanu and into quarterfinals at Indian Wells​

She will be facing unseeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea.
15 Mar 2023, 2:08pm

Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning a game against Emma Raducanu. (AP pic)

INDIAN WELLS: World number one Iga Swiatek continued her Indian Wells title defence with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Emma Raducanu on Tuesday to set up a quarterfinal against unseeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea.

Swiatek came under pressure early in the opening set but some clean ballstriking helped her hold for a 3-2 lead after two tight service games. She raised her level further to break Raducanu in the next game before pulling away.



Having wrapped up the first set when Raducanu sent a shot long from the baseline, Swiatek grabbed an early break in the second to heap the pressure on the Briton, whose unforced errors began to mount.

Swiatek, bidding to become only the second female player to successfully defend the Indian Wells title after Martina Navratilova in 1990-91, raced to a 5-1 lead playing flawless tennis and running her opponent ragged.

The US Open champion closed out the win when Raducanu struck the net on serve in a tame end to her fine run in the Southern California desert.

Earlier in the day, Coco Gauff rallied from a break down in the final set to beat Swede Rebecca Peterson 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 and reach the quarters for the first time.

After taking the first set, the sixth-seeded American began to struggle with her forehand in the second and an opportunistic Peterson applied the pressure by coming into the net.

But after suffering an early break in the decider, Gauff stepped up her defence, fending off three break points at 4-4 and breaking Peterson for a fourth time on match point to book her spot in the last eight.

Gauff, who turned 19 on Monday, was later serenaded with a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ by the crowd.
“Today, it was just a mental thing, staying in the match,” Gauff said.

“I wasn’t playing my best in some moments and wasn’t serving as well as I’d like to, but I think my mentality kept me in today.”


‘Disaster’
Next up for Gauff is a meeting with Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka, who survived a second-set scare to beat 16th seed Barbora Krejcikova 6-3 2-6 6-4.

Sabalenka sent down 11 aces in the match to secure victory and get revenge on the Czech, who beat her at last month’s Dubai Tennis Championships.

Elsewhere, seventh seed Maria Sakkari outlasted big-serving Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in a two-hour and 45-minute match to reach the quarters.

With the win the Greek keeps alive her hopes of capturing a first Indian Wells crown after making the final last year.
Sakkari will next face Czech 15th seed Petra Kvitova for a semi-final spot, after the two-times Wimbledon champion saved four match points en route to a 6-2 3-6 7-6(11) win over third-seeded American Jessica Pegula.

“I play for these emotions,” Kvitova said.

“The match was up and down, a disaster at times. I knew Jessica will not miss, but I still had to go for it. I think this might be one of the best matches I played …”

Cirstea bagged her first top-five win since 2017 in Beijing as the 32-year-old battled past fifth seed Caroline Garcia 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina beat Varvara Gracheva 6-3, 6-0 and will next take on Karolina Muchova, who overcame Marketa Vondrousova 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-4.

 

[cek mek molek]

The Kazakh will be out for revenge against Aryna Sabalenka, who beat her in the Australian Open final.

Rybakina knocks out Swiatek to reach Indian Wells final​

The Kazakh will be out for revenge against Aryna Sabalenka, who beat her in the Australian Open final.

18 Mar 2023, 11:10am

Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan reacts after defeating Poland’s Iga Swiatek, 6-2, 6-2 at the BNP Paribas Open. (AP pic)
INDIAN WELLS: Elena Rybakina knocked out defending champion Iga Swiatek with a 6-2, 6-2 semifinal victory at Indian Wells on Friday to set up a clash against Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

Two months after Rybakina knocked Swiatek out of the Australian Open in the fourth round, the Wimbledon champion once again put in an impressive display against the world number one.



Rybakina was in control from the start, breaking early to take a 2-0 lead, before going on to clinch the first set when Swiatek produced a double fault on set point.

Swiatek tested Rybakina’s serve in the first game of the second set, but the Kazakh held under pressure and then won the next four games to take a 5-0 lead.

The Pole saved a break point to hold and avoid a bagel before breaking to further reduce the arrears, but Rybakina broke back immediately to extinguish the comeback and secure the win.

“I really played well today, it was a really nice atmosphere tonight,” Rybakina said in her on-court interview.
“I didn’t expect I would play that well today. I had nothing to lose, I just wanted to enjoy. I think it was one of my best matches this season.”

Rybakina will be out for revenge when she faces Sabalenka, who defeated her in the Australian Open final in January. The Belarusian leads 4-0 in their head-to-head.

“It was really close, we had so many battles and so far I’m losing, but hopefully that will change,” Rybakina added.

Earlier on Friday, Australian Open champion Sabalenka was not at her best in a 6-2, 6-3 win over Greece’s Maria Sakkari, but maintained her composure even when her old nemesis — the double fault — reared its ugly head on a sunny day in the Southern California desert.

“In the past I lost so many matches like that after a few not super smart mistakes,” said Sabalenka.

“I was reminding myself that it is okay to make mistakes. I’m not a robot, I’m a human. I can miss those shots, and probably that’s why I was able to keep fighting and keep trying.”

After the start of the match was delayed by more than 30 minutes to fix an audio issue related to the electronic line-calling system, Sabalenka cracked an ace out wide to open the match.

She broke Sakkari for a third time on an errant Sakkari forehand to capture the first set but the Belarusian’s frustration began to mount in the second when two double faults gave Sakkari a look at break points at 2-2.

Sabalenka regrouped to hold for 3-2 and broke Sakkari in a lengthy deuce game for a 4-2 advantage she would not relinquish, pouncing on a short return of serve on match point and burying the ball with an emphatic backhand.