Wozniacki Reaches Quarterfinals

No.2 seed Caroline Wozniacki dodged a tough second-round challenge from Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Abierto Monterrey Afirme 6-4, 6-4.
No.2 seed Caroline Wozniacki dodged a stern second-round challenge from Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Abierto Monterrey Afirme 6-4, 6-4.
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"It was very tough," Wozniacki said after the match. "[Lucic-Baroni] plays really strong and really hard from the baseline and I didn't have much time to get ready for my shots. So yeah, I'm very happy to be through."
Wozniacki found herself in trouble early on - she quickly found herself down 4-2 in the first set, overpowered by Lucic-Baroni's heavy groundstrokes and returns. After a word with her coach, Wozniacki came back with more aggression, winning the next four games to take back the set 6-4.
The pair contested a tight second set, holding serves and trading breaks at 3-3, staying level until Wozniacki sealed the match with a final break to Lucic-Baroni's serve as the Croatian sent a forehand wide.
"I think I just kept my head cool and just got that extra ball back, try to get a little extra pop in my shots when she was attacking me," Wozniacki said of her first-set comeback. "I got a lot of returns back and I kept the ball deep."
Wozniacki is set to face Britain's Heather Watson in the Monterrey quarterfinals.
Earlier in the evening, No.1 seed Sara Errani was no match for the inspired performance of 20-year-old Anett Kontaveit, who sent her packing 6-1, 6-3.
Kontaveit's first-round win over Cibulkova - a former Australian Open finalist - fired a warning shot to her Monterrey rivals, and although Errani had never played against her she knew to expect a challenge.
"No, I have seen her on television in a couple of games but I don't know her," Errani said ahead of their match. "I have seen her play very well, hit the ball very hard, but let's see."
Errani was confounded by Kontaveit's short-angled forehands and pace, and once the Estonian found her footing in the match there was no looking back. After Errani's service hold in the first game of the set, Kontaveit won the next six to win the first set 6-1 in barely 22 minutes. Errani's troubles continued in the second set; though Errani broke Kontaveit's serve twice, the 20-year-old kept the pressure on and kept the points short, marching to a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
A pair of qualifiers also made their way to the quarterfinals. Nicole Gibbs is through to face Errani after a seesaw match against Christina McHale, who was forced to retire at 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 3-0 due to dizziness. Pauline Parmentier defeated Monica Puig 6-3, 6-4 and she's set to face the No.5 seed and Fed Cup teammate Caroline Garcia in the next round.
"It's going to be a funny match because we are really good friends," Parmentier said of the all-French quarterfinal. "We played the Fed Cup together a few weeks ago and we are close.
"I hope it's going to be a good match because sometimes when you play a player from your own country it's like so-so, but I hope for me it's good."

Source: WTA Tennis

Sharapova out of Indian Wells

Two-time BNP Paribas Open champion Maria Sharapova announced her withdrawal due to an ongoing left forearm injury.
Former World No.1 Maria Sharapova announced that she would be unable to participate in the upcoming BNP Paribas Open due to an ongoing left forearm injury that saw her miss the Middle East Swing.
"I am extremely disappointed that I am unable to compete in this year's BNP Paribas Open," she said. "I have been focused on healing my left forearm injury and tried to get my body to be 100% ready to play this event, as it is one of my favorites on the WTA and so close to my home in LA. I know the tournament will be a great success this year and I will be anxious to return next year and hopefully many years after."
A two-time winner in Indian Wells (2006, 2013), Sharapova pulled out of the Brisbane International to start the season due to pain in her left forearm, and though she reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, the Russian has not played a match since.
With her withdrawal, Mariana Duque-Mariño moves into the main draw.

Source: WTA Tennis

Davis Cup - Djokovic to Open for Serbia

Novak Djokovic, who pulled out of the quarterfinals at the Dubai Championships last week with an inflammatory infection in both eyes, will play the opening match against Aleksandr Nedovyesov on Friday when Serbia takes on Kazakhstan in the first round of the Davis Cup.
Djokovic's participation is a boost for the host team.
"I have known Nedovyesov from his junior days," Djokovic said. "I have seen him play several times, but I am cautious because surprises are possible in such matches."
Djokovic led Serbia to its only Davis Cup title in 2010, but he's not looking past Kazakhstan.
"We must first overcome this obstacle," the top-ranked Serb said. "The most important thing is to be prepared, start the match with high intensity and use the audience support, which can be crucial."
Viktor Troicki will follow in the second singles match against Mikhail Kukushkin, while Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic are slated to play in Saturday's doubles against Andrey Golubev and Nedovyesov.

Source: ESPN

Nick Kyrgios Withdraws From Australia's Davis Cup Team

Lleyton Hewitt prides himself on his preparation but he didn't plan to play for Australia in the Davis Cup tie against the U.S. at Kooyong in Melbourne.
Hewitt, 35, retired after the Australian Open in January and started organising the team for his first tie as Davis Cup captain.
But when a bed-ridden Nick Kyrgios was ruled out of the World Group first-round tie with a severe virus, Hewitt stepped in to replace him in the four-man team.
"Zero," Hewitt replied in January when asked about the likelihood of him playing at Kooyong after his retirement.
But he upped his training once he knew that Kyrgios had fallen ill last week in Dubai.
"Obviously with Nick, when we knew he had some issues, I tried to prepare as well as possible just to be another option," Hewitt said.
"I've been around enough Davis Cup ties now to know you've got to have back-ups and plans in place.
"I'm hitting the ball well and we've got as good a team as we can field going in and I'm confident we can still win."
The former world No.1 so far hasn't nominated himself to play, elevating Sam Groth to the singles in place of Kyrgios as well as doubles with John Peers.
Groth will open play on the temporary grass court against U.S. No.1 John Isner on Friday before Bernard Tomic takes on Jack Sock.
But Hewitt could still inject himself into the doubles rubber - with Groth or Peers - or the reverse singles on Sunday.
Hewitt, Australia's most successful Davis Cup player of all time, said he would do what was best for the team, pending the results and length of matches.
Kyrgios practised briefly on Wednesday in a bid to prove himself fit to play but Hewitt said he had little choice but to put a red line through the world No. 27 who won his first ATP title, in Marseille, in February.
"We took [Kyrgios] through his paces this morning and gave him a little fitness test to see how he pulled up from yesterday but he just wasn't fit enough to play this weekend," Hewitt said.
"It's bad timing for us but it was really out of our hands at the end."
US team captain Jim Courier said he wasn't surprised by the Australian team change.
"We've seen how much Lleyton was practising this week and with Nick's pretty conspicuous absence, but it's certainly not something coming down here that we were anticipating," Courier said.
World No. 20 Tomic has lost his two meetings with No. 23 Sock but he feels confident after reaching the ATP Tour final in Mexico last week.
"I'm playing very well and I'm playing on a surface that's in my favourite," Tomic said.
"I love this grass; it's not too quick and I move well on it so it suits my tennis and it's going to suit Grothy as well so it favours us."

Source: ESPN

Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Great Britain Nominated For Prestigious Laureus World Sports Award

Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams and Great Britain have all been nominated for a Laureus World Sports Award, which will take place in April.

Novak Djokovic Nominated for Sportsman of the Year

Novak Djokovic had a near perfect 2015 season. He lost only six times in the whole of the season, while going on to win three Grand Slam titles and 6 Masters 1000 titles. He won a staggering 82 matches Roland Garros where he lost to Stan Wawrinka in four sets. His losses came to Ivo Karlovic in Doha at the start of the season, Roger Federer at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Western and Southern Open and in the Round Robin stage at the ATP World Tour Finals and Andy Murray at the Coupe Rogers.
throughout the year and finished with a 93.18% win-loss ratio. His biggest dissapointment came at
Djokovic will go head-to-head with NBA star Stephen Curry, three-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, six-time Olympic Gold medalist Usain Bolt, world number one golfer Jordan Speith and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.

Serena Williams Nominated for Sportswoman of the Year

2015 was dominated by Serena Williams as she won three Grand Slam titles and two WTA Premier Mandatory events in Miami Open and Western and Southern Open. Williams won 53 matches and lost only three times during the season. The world number one lost to Petra Kvitova in Madrid, Belinda Bencic in the semifinal of the Rogers Cup and the biggest shock in tennis happened at the US Open, where she lost to Roberta Vinci 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 and falling just three sets short of the Calendar Grand Slam. Serena also withdrew in Indian Wells against Simona Halep in the semifinal, Christina McHale at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia and and Klara Koukalova in the second round at the Swedish Open. Williams also chose to withdraw at the WTA Finals due to elbow and knee injuries.
Serena's main rivals are Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, US swimmer Katie Ledecky, US Women's World Cup Soccer-winning captain Carli Lloyd, long distance runner Tirunesh Dibaba and Alpine Ski racer Anna Fenninger.
Justine Henin and Jennifer Capriati are the only other tennis players to take home the Sportswoman of the year award in 2008 and 2002, respectively.

Great Britain Nominated for Team of the Year

Great Britain had not won the Davis Cup since 1936, but last November, the wait for the trophy ended as they beat Belgium 3-1 in the final in Ghent on indoor clay. In the opening round against the United , James Ward came back from two sets down win 15-13 in the fifith and deciding set to give Great Britain a two rubbers to none lead. They won 3-2 against USA and faced number one seed France at home in London, at the Queens Club. Even with the home crowd behind them, the British boys were not favourites to win and they relied heavily on Andy Murray, who the week before was facing Roger Federer in the semifinal at Wimbledon. The standout performance was the  Murray brothers who defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nicolas Mahut in four sets. They won that tie 3-1 with Andy involved in winning each match. In the semifinal, Great Britain defeated Australia 3-2 in Glasgow, with the forth rubber ultimately sealing the fate. They later went on to defeat Belgium to write their names in the history books forever.
States
Great Britain face tough competition from Rugby World Cup winners New Zealand, treble winners FC Barcelona, the Golden State Warriors, the Mercedes AMG Petronas and the United States Women's World Cup-winning team.

Source: vavel.com

 

 

 

Wozniacki Beats Govortsova in Mexico

Former world no.1, danish tennis female player Caroline Wozniacki ease past Olga Govortsova to advance in second round of WTA Abierto Monterrey Afirme. Wozniacki beats Govortsova 2-0 in sets (6-1; 6-2). Next round Wozniacki will face Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

Lisicki Advances in Quarterfinals of Malaysian Open

German tennis female player Sabine Lisicki advanced in quarterfinals of WTA BMW Malaysian Open (K.Lumpur). She beats Barbora Krejcikova with 2-0 in sets (7-5; 6-3). In quarterfinals Lisicki will face winner of Naomi Broady vs. Zhaoxuan Yang.