Serena Now 14-3 For 2016, Has Not Won Tournament Since August
Hmmm, just a little over a week after she lost a tight final 6-4 6-4 against Victoria Azarenka in Inidan Wells, 8-time Miami Open champion Serena Williams was ousted from one of her most successful tournaments 6-7(3) 6-1 6-2 by 2-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. The loss means that Serena is yet to win a tournament in 2016 (although she has been in two finals) and because she took off the entirety of the last quarter of 2015, Serena has not won a tournament since her 2015 Cincy Open. This is the first time since 2012 that Serena has played four tournaments and not won any of them.
Nadal Retires Due To Heat, Federer Withdraws Due To Illness
The Miami Open may be an early glimpse of the new normal for tennis once the Federer-Nadal era ends for good. Nadal shocked the tennis work by withdrawing down 0-3 in the final set against Damir Dzumhur complaining of the effects of the heat! It was Nadal's first retirement in a match since the 2010 Australian Open quarterfinal when he retired against Andy Murray (443 matches ago). Roger Federer had added Miami to his schedule as his comeback tournament to the tour following knee surgery but then was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to illness.
Miami Upsets: Murray, Halep, Radwanska Go Down Early
Timea Bascinzky is on fire again! In two consecutive rounds, the Swiss player defeated current World #2 Aga Radwanska and then beat former World #2 Simona Halep in the very next round to reach the quarterfinals of Miami. And she did it the hard way, losing the first set in each round. Andy Murray lost to an in-form Grigor Dimitrov.
Truly, Miami is Novak's tournament to lose, but given the results, who knows.
ReplyDeleteBut Serena has not looked right for the past several tournaments - might it be hormonal. She breaks out in tears during a point for no visible reason, or at least not to this viewer.
Always curious how the women deal with hormonal issues and the way they influence play, or not.