(March 24, 2016) Serena Williams began her quest for a ninth Miami Open title on Thursday, getting past countrywoman Christina McHale 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in their first meeting. For No. 1 Williams her second round win was her 19th straight victory in Key Biscayne. The last time Williams lost in Miami was in the last eight in 2012.
Williams hit 33 winners to 44 unforced errors in the two-hour nine-minute match. She was 5 for 17 in break point conversions.
Williams had a match point in the second set, was up and lost five straight games.
“She just started playing better and playing tennis that she’s never played before,” Williams said.
I just made a few mistakes and then just had to pull myself back together.”
“She’s an unbelievably sweet girl,” Williams said of McHale. “I’ve had the opportunity to play with her on Fed Cup, and we always have such a good time.
“I think she did a really good job. She can, should, and will be very proud of herself in this match. I think it can also show her how good she is and what a good player she is. She’s a really good player.”
Also advancing on the women’s side of the draw were No. 3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 7 Petra Kvitova.
Heather Watson
Wildcard Heather Watson surprised 20th seed Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-0.
MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAU – MIAMI, UNITED STATES
$6,844,139 (WTA)
21 MARCH – 3 APRIL, 2016
RESULTS – MARCH 24, 2016
Women’s Singles – Second Round
[1] S. Williams (USA) d C. McHale (USA) 63 57 62
[3] A. Radwanska (POL) d A. Cornet (FRA) 60 61
[5] S. Halep (ROU) d D. Kasatkina (RUS) 63 75
[8] P. Kvitova (CZE) d I. Falconi (USA) 61 64
Y. Wickmayer (BEL) d [11] L. Safarova (CZE) 62 63
[12] E. Svitolina (UKR) d S. Zhang (CHN) 63 60
[15] S. Kuznetsova (RUS) d C. Witthoeft (GER) 63 46 64
[16] A. Ivanovic (SRB) d T. Pereira (BRA) 63 60
[19] T. Bacsinszky (SUI) d M. Gasparyan (RUS) 63 61
[WC] H. Watson (GBR) d [20] S. Stephens (USA) 63 60
C. Garcia (FRA) d [21] A. Petkovic (GER) 76(5) 36 76(2)
[23] C. Wozniacki (DEN) d V. King (USA) 75 62
J. Goerges (GER) d [26] S. Stosur (AUS) 36 61 64
M. Brengle (USA) d [28] A. Schmiedlova (SVK) 75 64
[30] E. Makarova (RUS) d L. Tsurenko (UKR) 36 64 63
Z. Diyas (KAZ) d [31] D. Gavrilova (AUS) 75 63
Women’s
Doubles – First Round
[1] M. Hingis (SUI) / S. Mirza (IND) d L. Arruabarrena (ESP) / I. Olaru (ROU) 60 64
[4] T. Babos (HUN) / Y. Shvedova (KAZ) d K. Jans-Ignacik (POL) / D. Jurak (CRO) 63 57 10-5
[5] A. Hlavackova (CZE) / L. Hradecka (CZE) d N. Melichar (USA) / A. Spears (USA) 64 61
A. Medina Garrigues (ESP) / A. Parra Santonja (ESP) d [PR] K. Marosi (HUN) / K. Siniakova (CZE) 62 64
[PR] S. Hsieh (TPE) / S. Peng (CHN) d A. Groenefeld (GER) / C. Vandeweghe (USA) 64 62
Men’s Singles – First Round
D. Dzumhur (BIH) d L. Mayer (ARG) 46 63 64
[Q] M. Kukushkin (KAZ) d [PR] B. Baker (USA) 64 62
S. Stakhovsky (UKR) d [WC] N. Jarry (CHI) 76(7) 75
D. Kudla (USA) d H. Chung (KOR) 63 36 61
[Q] T. Smyczek (USA) d [Q] T. Paul (USA) 64 57 75
M. Baghdatis (CYP) d [Q] B. Becker (GER) 63 64
A. Mannarino (FRA) d I. Marchenko (UKR) 26 62 63
An. Kuznetsov (RUS) d [LL] R. Dutra Silva (BRA) 62 63
[Q] P. Herbert (FRA) d L. Rosol (CZE) 75 64
A. Seppi (ITA) d D. Young (USA) 63 61
A. Bedene (GBR) d [WC] R. Carballes Baena (ESP) 46 62 63
S. Giraldo (COL) d P. Mathieu (FRA) 62 26 63
[Q] T. Ito (JPN) d N. Mahut (FRA) 76(3) 62
J. Millman (AUS) d P. Carreno Busta (ESP) 63 62
F. Delbonis (ARG) d [WC] E. Ymer (SWE) 61 46 63
D. Istomin (UZB) d B. Coric (CRO) 46 75 75
Doubles – First Round
P. Cuevas (URU) / M. Granollers (ESP) d [6] R. Bopanna (IND) / F. Mergea (ROU) 26 64 10-4
J. Isner (USA) / N. Monroe (USA) d [8] V. Pospisil (CAN) / J. Sock (USA) 76(3) 63
F. Lopez (ESP) / M. Lopez (ESP) d S. Johnson (USA) / S. Querrey (USA) 36 63 10-6
R. Bautista Agut (ESP) / V. Troicki (SRB) d D. Inglot (GBR) / R. Lindstedt (SWE) 63 75
R. Nadal (ESP) / F. Verdasco (ESP) d S. Bolelli (ITA) / A. Seppi (ITA) 63 64
ORDER OF PLAY – FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016
STADIUM start 11:00 am
WTA – B. Strycova (CZE) vs [2] A. Kerber (GER)
Not Before 1:00 pm
ATP – [Q] T. Fritz (USA) vs [8] D. Ferrer (ESP)
ATP – [3] R. Federer (SUI) vs [PR] J. Del Potro (ARG)
Not Before 5:00 pm
WTA – [Q] E. Vesnina (RUS) vs [10] V. Williams (USA)
8:00 pm
ATP – [1] N. Djokovic (SRB) vs K. Edmund (GBR)
Not Before 9:30 pm
WTA – [13] V. Azarenka (BLR) vs M. Puig (PUR)
GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
ATP – R. Ram (USA) vs [7] T. Berdych (CZE)
WTA – D. Cibulkova (SVK) vs [4] G. Muguruza (ESP)
ATP – F. Verdasco (ESP) vs [28] J. Chardy (FRA)
ATP – [31] S. Johnson (USA) vs A. Zverev (GER)
Not Before 5:00 pm
ATP – [10] R. Gasquet (FRA) vs A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP)
COURT 1 start 11:00 am
ATP – S. Groth (AUS) vs [14] D. Thiem (AUT)
Not Before 12:30 pm
ATP – [21] F. Lopez (ESP) vs [Q] Y. Nishioka (JPN)
WTA – [6] C. Suárez Navarro (ESP) vs C. Vandeweghe (USA)
ATP – V. Pospisil (CAN) vs [33] J. Sousa (POR)
WTA – [24] J. Konta (GBR) vs D. Kovinic (MNE)
COURT 2 start 11:00 am
ATP – [11] M. Cilic (CRO) vs D. Lajovic (SRB)
WTA – [27] K. Mladenovic (FRA) vs [WC] N. Gibbs (USA)
ATP – [Q] M. Granollers (ESP) vs [15] D. Goffin (BEL)
WTA – [22] M. Keys (USA) vs K. Flipkens (BEL)
ATP – L. Kubot (POL) / M. Matkowski (POL) vs [2] I. Dodig (CRO) / M. Melo (BRA)
COURT 7 start 11:00 am
WTA – T. Babos (HUN) vs [17] Ka. Pliskova (CZE)
ATP – J. Monaco (ARG) vs [18] G. Simon (FRA)
ATP – M. Youzhny (RUS) vs [20] B. Paire (FRA)
WTA – [7] B. Bencic (SUI) vs [Q] Kr. Pliskova (CZE)
COURT 8 start 11:00 am
ATP – [32] G. Garcia-Lopez (ESP) vs L. Pouille (FRA)
WTA – [14] S. Errani (ITA) vs [WC] N. Osaka (JPN)
WTA – I. Begu (ROU) vs [29] S. Lisicki (GER)
ATP – [19] V. Troicki (SRB) vs I. Cervantes (ESP)
COURT 9 start 11:00 am
WTA – [25] A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs [Q] K. Bertens (NED)
WTA – [Q] M. Linette (POL) vs [18] J. Jankovic (SRB)
WTA – S. Peng (CHN) vs [32] M. Niculescu (ROU)
WTA – L. Hradecka (CZE) vs [9] R. Vinci (ITA)
COURT 10 start 11:00 am
ATP – [WC] E. Butorac (USA) / S. Lipsky (USA) vs T. Huey (PHI) / M. Mirnyi (BLR)
WTA – G. Dabrowski (CAN) / L. Kichenok (UKR) vs A. Rosolska (POL) / L. Siegemund (GER)
Not Before 2:00 pm
ATP-After Suitable Rest – O. Marach (AUT) / D. Thiem (AUT) vs [5] P. Herbert (FRA) / N. Mahut (FRA)
WTA – K. Bertens (NED) / J. Larsson (SWE) vs C. Dellacqua (AUS) / S. Stosur (AUS)
COURT 5 start 11:00 am
WTA – [PR] A. Rodionova (AUS) / G. Voskoboeva (KAZ) vs [7] A. Klepac (SLO) / K. Srebotnik (SLO)
Not Before 2:00 pm
WTA-After Suitable Rest – [8] Y. Xu (CHN) / S. Zheng (CHN) vs [WC] S. Kuznetsova (RUS) / A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
WTA – V. King (USA) / A. Kudryavtseva (RUS) vs J. Goerges (GER) / K. Pliskova (CZE)
Related articles:
Q & A with ATP Rising Star Elias Ymer