Fitter than ever, Halep breezes into Australian Open semis

Associated PressJan 29, 2020, 12:06 AM EST

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MELBOURNE, Australia — Simona Halep spent her off-season away from home for the first time so she could focus fully on 2020 and her quest for a third major title.

She’s within two wins of achieving that goal already after breezing into the Australian Open semifinals with a 6-1, 6-1 win over No. 28-seeded Anett Kontaveit in 53 minutes on Wednesday.

Kontaveit held the opening game at love. From then on, it was all one way as Wimbledon champion Halep went on a relentless, 11-game roll that took the quarterfinal match away from her Estonian rival.

Halep worked for every point and strangled Kontaveit’s opportunities. She only faced one break point and fended it off with a commanding forehand winner.

In the second set, Halep won the longest rally of the match – a 25-shot exchange – and then followed it up immediately with an ace on the way to 5-0 lead.

“I felt great today on court. I feel my game. I feel strong on my legs. I’ve been focused, every point,” Halep said. “I worked a little bit more in the off-season. First time in my life I did the off-season away from home, so I could be focused. No days off.

“This year I’ve started very well. I’m feeling much stronger than before.”

Halep reached the Australian Open final in 2018, saving match points in the third round and in the semifinals along the way, before losing in three sets to Caroline Wozniacki. That gave Wozniacki her first and only major title, and it gave Halep a lot more motivation.

She only had to wait one more Grand Slam tournament before collecting her first major title at the French Open. She won Wimbledon last year for major title No. 2.

Seeded fourth, Halep has advanced to the last four without dropping a set, and said she feels like she’s playing her bet tennis.

Up next she’ll face either two-time major winner Garbine Muguruza or No. 30 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who were meeting in a quarterfinal match on Rod Laver Arena. In the top half of the draw, No. 1-ranked Ash Barty and No. 14 Sofia Kenin have already set up a semifinal.

Top-ranked Rafael Nadal is bidding for a semifinal spot Wednesday night against fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem, the man he has beaten in the last two French Open finals. Stan Wawrinka, the 2014 Australian Open champion, was taking on seventh-seeded Alexander Zverev in an afternoon match.

Alcaraz, Fritz, Andreescu advance to Miami Open 3rd round

Associated PressMar 25, 2023, 1:12 AM EDT

Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Carlos Alcaraz picked up a straight-set win at the Miami Open on Friday to keep his world No. 1 ranking over idle Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic is not participating in the Miami Open because he still cannot travel to the United States as a foreign citizen who is not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Alcaraz, who beat Casper Ruud in the 2022 U.S. Open final for his first No. 1 ranking, defeated Facundo Bagnis 6-0, 6-2 to advance to the third round in Miami.

Rafael Nadal dropped out of the top 10 on Monday for the first time in 18 years. Alcaraz, a 19-year-old from Spain, rose into that spot a day after ending Daniil Medvedev’s 19-match winning streak by beating him in straight sets in the final at Indian Wells, California.

Ruud, who’s ranked No. 4, won his match against Ilya Ivashka 6-2, 6-3. He’ll face No. 26 Botic van de Zandschulp on Sunday in the third round.

No. 1 American and No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz began his tournament campaign with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Emilio Nava. Fritz is 17-1 in his opening rounds of hard court tournaments since the start of 2022, with his only loss coming at the 2022 U.S. Open to No. 303 Brandon Holt.

Fritz will next face No. 24 Denis Shapovalov, who defeated Guido Pella on Friday.

On the women’s side, Bianca Andreescu – the 2019 U.S. Open champion – came from a set down to oust No. 7 seed Maria Sakkari 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Andreescu improved to 2-1 over Sakkari, with both wins coming in Miami.

Andreescu will face Sofia Kenin in the third round.

No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka beat Shelby Rogers 6-4, 6-3 and extended her record to 4-0 versus Rogers. Sabalenka will face No. 31 Marie Bouzková in the third round.

No. 5 Caroline Garcia lost to Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3. Cirstea beat Garcia 10 days ago in the fourth round at Indian Wells, and will face Karolína Muchová next.

In other action, Varvara Gracheva defeated No. 4 Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2; and Jannik Sinner beat Laslo Đere 6-4, 6-2.

Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula reach Miami Open 3rd round

Associated PressMar 23, 2023, 11:52 PM EDT

Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Sixth-seeded Coco Gauff opened her 2023 Miami Open with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Rebecca Marino and advanced to the third round where she will face 27th-seeded Anastasia Potapova.

After her victory, Gauff, coming off a quarterfinals appearance at Indian Wells, said in a television interview that it wasn’t her best outing, despite converting five of her nine break points.

“It was a shaky performances honestly,” Gauff said. “I knew it wasn’t going to be a straight forward match, even if I was up a break sometimes.”

Gauff came back from a break down twice in the second set to claim her second career win versus Marino. Gauff defeated Marino in the first round at Roland Garros in 2022.

Gauff said she was a bit nervous playing in her hometown – she’s a native of Delray Beach, Florida, a small city about 40 miles north of Hard Rock Stadium, where the tournament is played. Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat was among those in attendance Thursday.

“Jimmy Butler is here so I was a little bit nervous when I saw him,” Gauff said with a laugh in her post-match interview. “Playing home is something I look forward to, but it’s also a little bit of extra pressure because everyone wants you to do well here.”

Gauff’s doubles teammate, world No. 3 Jessica Pegula beat Katherine Sebov 6-3, 6-1 and advanced to the third round. She will face fellow American and No. 30 Danielle Collins next. Collins defeated Viktoriya Tomova on Thursday.

Pegula made the Miami Open semifinals in 2022 and is among the favorites to win the tournament this year after No. 1-ranked and defending champion Iga Swiatek pulled out of the tournament because of a rib injury.

No. 21 Paula Badosa won 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-2 against Laura Siegemund in a match that lasted two hours and 51 minutes. Badosa will face either Elena Rybakina, who defeated Badosa en route to the Indian Wells title, or Anna Kalinskaya.

Badosa hit with a ball kid during the match to stay warm after Siegemund called for a medical timeout and left the court for treatment, which took nearly 15 minutes.

In other action, Elise Mertens eliminated No. 8 seed Daria Kasatkina 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 to advance and face No. 29 Petra Martic next; No. 23 Qinwen Zheng picked up a 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over Irina-Camelia Begu; and No. 13 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia defeated Tereza Martincová 7-6 (4), 0-6, 6-0.