Thiem, Kontaveit reach Aussie Open quarters for first time

Associated PressJan 27, 2020, 2:45 AM EST

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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Two-time French Open finalist Dominic Thiem is into the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, which is an all-new experience for him.

He could face a familiar foe next, though. So he planned to be be kicking back on the couch watching on TV later Monday when top-ranked Rafael Nadal and No. 23 Nick Kyrgios met in a night match.

The fifth-seeded Thiem beat No. 10 Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena to extend his winning streak to six against the mercurial Frenchman.”I played my best match so far. Very, very good feeling,” Thiem said. “I’m so happy, because I’m for the first time in the quarterfinals here.”

After losing the final at Roland Garros to Nadal last year, Thiem didn’t win another match at a Grand Slam in 2019. He lost first-rounders at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, but has put together a run so far in Melbourne Park, where he’d previously reached the fourth round twice.

Having a day match, when the ball is moving quicker in the warm conditions than in the relative cool at night, worked well for Thiem. So did the viewing schedule.

“I couldn’t be happier than to be into the quarterfinals, and to watch relaxed from home,” the 26-year-old Austrian said of the Nadal-Kyrgios clash. “Very excited for that match. It’ll be an entertaining contest.”

There was guaranteed to be a first-time quarterfinalist on the women’s side, and Anett Kontaveit took the honors when she rallied from a set and a break down to beat 18-year-old Iga Swiatek 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-5, despite being broken twice in games when she was serving for the match.

She’ll next play Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, who reached the final in Australia two years ago before winning the 2018 French Open title.

Kontaveit was 0-3 in her previous trips to the fourth round at major, but was coming off a 6-0, 6-1 win over No. 6 Belinda Bencic.

“It was such a battle today. So happy I toughed it out,” the 28th-seeded Kontaveit said. “I was just trying to stay as tough as I could – fight for every point.

Against Halep, she said, she’d need to step up another level.

“I have nothing to lose, so I’m just going to go out there and enjoy it.”

Halep beat Elise Mertens 6-4, 6-4 in a tough fourth-rounder.

The third game lasted 16 points, with Halep finally converting her fourth break-point chance. Mertens broke back in the fifth game and fended off another two break points in another long hold before Halep went on a rolling, winning six straight games to take control of the match.

Halep’s two previous wins over Mertens were on clay, although the Belgian won their only other match on a hard court.

“I had in my head she came back in that match,” Halep said. “But mentally I think I did a great job today.

“I feel like I played a better match than all the matches since I’m here.”

Raducanu, Stephens, Murray lose in first round at Miami Open

Associated PressMar 23, 2023, 12:00 AM EDT

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Former U.S. Open champions Emma Raducanu and Sloane Stephens were knocked out of the Miami Open on Wednesday, hours after No. 1-ranked and defending champion Iga Swiatek pulled out of the tournament because of a rib injury.

Bianca Andreescu – the 2019 U.S. Open champ – defeated Raducanu 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Andreescu improved to 2-0 lifetime against Raducanu, the 2021 winner at Flushing Meadows.

“Miami has a special place in my heart,” Andreescu said. “I’ve been coming here since I was I think 12 years old, whether it’s for vacation or training or, yeah, Orange Bowl. I love that tournament very much. Yeah, coming back here, I think it’s just good vibes overall.”

Andreescu moves on to face 10th-ranked Maria Sakkari, who had a first-round bye.

Shelby Rogers beat Stephens 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Stephens has six hard-court titles, including the U.S. Open in 2017 and Miami in 2018.

Rogers will face Australian Open champion and world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who beat Rogers in the second round at Melbourne Park. Sabalenka is coming off a loss in the final at Indian Wells, California, last week.

On the men’s side, Dusan Lajovic beat three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray 6-4, 7-5.

“I served pretty well, but the rest of the game was a bit of a problem today,” the 35-year-old Murray said. “Made a number of errors that obviously I wouldn’t expect to be making. I didn’t really feel like I moved particularly well, which is really important for me.”

Lajovic, a 32-year-old Serbian, will face Maxime Cressy, who had a first-round bye.

Swiatek withdrew because of a rib injury that she is hoping will heal during a break from competition. The 21-year-old from Poland also will sit out her country’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifier matches against Kazakhstan on April 13-14.

“I wanted to wait ’til the last minute” to decide whether to play in Miami, Swiatek said at a news conference at the site of the hard-court tournament that began Tuesday. “We were kind of checking if this is the kind of injury you can still play with or this is kind when you can get things worse. So I think the smart move for me is to pull out of this tournament because I want to rest and take care of it properly.”

In other action, 24-year-old American J.J. Wolf defeated Alexander Bublik 7-5, 6-3. He’ll face No. 7-ranked Andrey Rublev, who had a first-round bye.

Gael Monfils retired from his match against Ugo Humbert due to a persistent wrist injury.

Iga Swiatek out of Miami Open with rib injury

Associated PressMar 22, 2023, 12:29 PM EDT

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Defending champion Iga Swiatek withdrew from the Miami Open because of a rib injury that she is hoping will heal during a break from competition.

The No. 1-ranked Swiatek, a 21-year-old from Poland, also will sit out her country’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifier matches against Kazakhstan on April 13-14.

“I wanted to wait ’til the last minute” to decide whether to play in Miami,” Swiatek said at a news conference at the site of the hard-court tournament. “We were kind of checking if this is the kind of injury you can still play with or this is kind when you can get things worse. So I think the smart move for me is to pull out of this tournament because I want to rest and take care of it properly.”

She was supposed to face Claire Liu in the second round.

As a seeded player, three-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek received a first-round bye at an event she won a year ago during a 37-match unbeaten run that was the longest in women’s tennis in a quarter of a century.

“I was also aware at the beginning of the season that it’s going to be hard for me to defend all these (ranking) points,” she said, “because … these streaks, winning all these tournaments – looking logically and statistically, it’s not like it’s going to happen every year.”

Swiatek said after a 6-2, 6-2 loss to eventual champion Elena Rybakina in the BNP Paribas Open semifinals that her rib was bothering her. She explained in Miami that the problem first surfaced late in her quarterfinal victory against Sorana Cirstea a day earlier in California.

“Basically, it’s not like it happened in one minute or one second. It’s not, like, a serious thing, because we caught it … pretty early. So I felt like it was a process,” Swiatek said. “At first with these minor things, your body doesn’t feel anything.”

She said the issue was a problem “in certain movements,” including a “little bit when I served,” but Swiatek also said she’s not too worried about how long she will be sidelined.

The next Grand Slam tournament is the French Open, which Swiatek won last year for the second time. Play begins in Paris on May 28.

Instead of playing Swiatek, Liu will go up against 94th-ranked Julia Grabher, who lost in qualifying but now gets to move into the draw.

Liu advanced Tuesday when her first-round opponent, Katerina Siniakova, stopped playing in the second set because of a hurt wrist. Siniakova also pulled out of the doubles event with Barbora Krejcikova; the Czech duo has won the past four Grand Slam tournaments they’ve entered together, and seven major doubles titles overall.