Former No.1 Victoria Azarenka continues her climb back to the top, overpowering Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2 in the final to claim the Miami Open title and secure her return to the

Azarenka, a two-time champion here in Miami, won her third title of 2016 in dominating fashion without dropping a set. Even more impressive, her back-to-back titles in Indian Wells and Miami complete the Sunshine Double, a feat last achieved 11 years ago.

The on-form Belarusian, who has only lost one match all year, broke in Kuznetsova’s opening service game and quickly held for a 2-0 lead. That lone hold of serve would turn out to be vital, as Azarenka was able to weather the seven consecutive breaks that followed and still hang on to the lead.

In the second set Azarenka’s powerful game came together as she wore down Kuznetsova from the baseline, running the Russian all over the court. Azarenka kept up the intensity throughout the match, hitting 23 winners to Kuznetsova’s 8 while Kuznetsova struck 22 unforced errors to her opponent’s 18.

After Azarenka claimed the match and the Miami title in an hour and 17 minutes, Kuznetsova had nothing but praise for her in-form opponent in her runner-up speech.

“I’d like to congratulate Victoria for doing such a good job this year and in these four weeks,” Kuznetsova said, delighting the Miami crowd by delivering the speech in both English and Spanish.

WTA

Novak Djokovic mastered the Miami Open presented by Itau for a third straight year and sixth overall, downing Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-3 to claim a record 28th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown.

The World No. 1 ended Rafael Nadal’s six-year reign with at least a share of the Masters 1000 title lead. Nadal had first assumed the mantle from Andre Agassi in 2010. With the victory, Djokovic also passed coach Boris Becker for sole possession of 11th place in the Open Era match wins list, capturing his 714th win.

Nishikori looked to have the upper hand as the match got underway on an overcast Sunday afternoon at Crandon Park Tennis Center. The Japanese grabbed an immediate break in the first game, but could not sustain the lead. Djokovic would break right back and eventually claimed the opener after securing another break in the eighth game and consolidating with a hold to love. In the second set, only one break was needed, as the Serb raced to a 2-0 lead and never looked back. He would secure the victory on his third match point after one hour and 26 minutes.

PNo aces were struck during the blustery two-set affair, with Nishikori rattled by the wind and Djokovic’s attacking display. The World No. 1 fired 14 winners and benefited from 29 unforced errors by his sixth-seeded opponent.

Djokovic completed back-to-back three-peats at the March Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami. He previous lifted the trophy in South Florida in 2007, ’11, ’12, ’14 and ’15.

“It was a really tough one,” Nishikori said. “He has great defence, so it’s tough to break his game. And it was windy. So I couldn’t really be too aggressive because the ball was moving and it was tough to do that. He was very patient and he didn’t miss. It’s always so tough to play Novak.”

ATP

Feb 27, 2016

One more victory for Dominic Thiem, this season’s boy sensation grasped his first ATP 500 title and first to beat Bernard Tomic during final round 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-3.

It nearly was a perfect month for the Austrian player that arrived to Acapulco after being crowned in Buenos Aires and semifinal round in Rio de Janeiro. With this victory he brought up his repertoire of won games to 18-4 in 2016 leading the professional circuit. The 22 year-old player is one of nine players born in the 90’s that has lifted an ATP trophy; counting Acapulco’s title he now owns five titles –Acapulco is his first on hard-court.   

“Mexico has a special place in my heart” shared Thiem before holding the guaje trophy. He recalled he played in Mexico as a Junior so Mexico brings really good memories.

It was Thiem’s and Tomic’s first Head2Head. Dominic had a shaky as he started going down 1-4 but picked up his pace and demonstrated his powerful drive and was able to connect 10 direct serves and capitalize 82% of his points. At the end he managed to come back and keep that first set during the tie-break after an unforced error by Tomic.

“It took me a while to pick up my pace, it was a tied match so I feel fortunate to win today. I’m very happy, this has been my greatest achievement ‘till now. It is only February and I have already won a 500, I hope to do better and better. I’m very confident for what is coming and I have no time to rest. I will do whatever it takes to keep myself in shape”, Dominic said.

Tomic kept fighting during the second set and in his fifth game took the serve from the Austrian player after saving a breakpoint thanks to two excellent serves.

Tomic took advantage of the first game of the third set with a break but was not able to maintain his dominance that made him lose focus.

During fourth game, Thiem scored yet another break after a double fault by Tomic securing his victory. Thiem concluded the meeting with 22 ace serves, 8 by Tomic.

“It is a disappointing loss, I had my chance to win and did not take advantage of it. I feel frustrated”, admitted Tomic, who will dawn Monday ranked 20 ATP.

Feb. 27, 2016

Confirmed: Abierto Mexicano de Tenis will be held in Acapulco next year too said Hector Astudillo Flores, governor of the state of Guerrero, during press conference at Mextenis stadium along with Raul Zurutuza, tournament director. The agreement between the State Government and Grupo Pegaso has ensured the presence of the most important tennis tournament in Latin America at least until 2017.

“We have a contract until 2017. We were able to come to really good terms with the new owners of Princess Hotel thanks to State Government’s intervention. We have cleared some doubts […] personally I don’t see this tournament anywhere but here in Acapulco. We’re working together to reach a good agreement”, said Raul Zurutuza.

“The State of Guerrero salutes and recognizes Alejandro Burillo’s and Grupo Pegaso’s disposition to be in Acapulco. As a Governor, I’m very grateful, this is a vote of confidence during these difficult times we are facing and coming out of. We are committed to keep moving forward during the next few years [security-wise] and State Governor Hector Astudillo is fully committed too and will receive this tournament, that has being celebrated yearly in Acapulco, with open doors”, said state governor.

After balancing out this 23^rd edition AMT results Zurutuza shared to be pleased with the results. “From the sport’s point of view we are very pleased. It has been a very good week. Once again this confirms we are living a [players] generational transition. The clearest example: Victor Estrella’s and Taylor Fritz’ match; one aged 34 and the other 18 respectively where Estrella lost by two sets. The contest is on a good track, we are happy with what we are seeing on the courts”.

He informed this 2016 the average entrance tickets sold were over 50 thousand, “We broke attendance record on Monday and Tuesday, that is very important milestone because those are the toughest days. We have a major commitment with Acapulco’s inhabitants so we granted a 20% discount to local citizens of Acapulco. We had over 50 live-feed hours via ESPN, that makes us one of the most covered events. Social media counts were: over 109,000 Facebook likes, Instagram overall visits increased by 40%, our official website had more than 19 million hits; 29% of these hits were from Japan followed by Mexico with 24% and the rest of the hits from 78 different countries. Pegaso TV produced over 24 videos and 48 hours worth of footage”.

 On Javier Braun’s behalf, CEO of Grupo Pegaso, said this year’s tournament was a hit. “Economically speaking this has been our best event held in Acapulco. Tennis-wise, to have a final event between two young players ranked ATP 15 and 21 ATP means young generations are coming strong and we will bet on them, just like we did with Rafa Nadal years ago. To sum up, we are enormously satisfied with this tournament, with the people, sponsors and players”.

During the annual conference to mark the closure of the event Ernesto Rodriguez Escalona, Secretary of Tourism of the state of Guerrero and Miguel Angel Couchonal, Legal Director of Grupo Pegaso were present.

Feb. 27, 2016

In what could be the best female singles match in Acapulco’s history American tennis player Sloane Stephens (24 WTA) claimed the crown this Abierto Mexicano de Tenis 23^rd edition. In a heart-rising duel that lasted more than three hours Stephens beat Cibulkova who wished to repeat her triumph from two years ago.

It was a thrilling and closed match, full of breakpoints where Sloane took advantage of Cibulkova’s errors during third set’s tiebreaks. Marks were 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5) in 22 year-old Stephen’s favor who is attaining her second title during this season after wining Auckland at the beginning of the year.

With a divided audience, most on Cibulkova’s side, both players worked really hard to maintain each other’s serve and both made many errors, nevertheless, Florida-born Sloane worked best under pressure during the last set and landed her third title in the WTA circuit.

The first set lasted 49 minutes and was a constant back and forth where Stephens lead; Cibulkova was fierce, reacted and battled strong to reverse the marks during the second set. Third set was a power-duel with both players pushing hard and racing from side to side just like the scoreboard seeking for the victory. With just one break per side it was sudden death that made the Slovakian player hand the crown.    

On her way to the Title Stephens defeated Louisa Chirico during first round, Belorussian Olga Govortsova in third round, Naomi Osaka in quarter-finals, Belgian player Yanina Witchmayer in semi-final and Dominika Cibulkova during final round.

Meanwhile, Cibulkova suffered her first defeat in 10 matches at the Mexican Open, and was left with the desire to become bi-champion of Acapulco’s tournament and score her fifth professional title.

Spanish duo Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santoja claimed the title against Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson in a battle that lasted no more than 58 minutes leaving partials 6-0, 6-4.
Garrigues-Parra, being more experienced, have conquered several titles as a team but with a different partner. This was Anabel’s 26th trophy in doubles category, both ninth and third titles in Acapulco, although in 2013 and 2017 she partnered up with Lourdes Domiguez-Lino and played, but lost, in semifinal rounds in 2009 and 2011.

During their first set, now champions, Medina-Parra saved two breakpoints that made the difference; Bertens and Larsson weren’t able to maintain heir service so Garrigues-Parra to max advantage during their second 73 percent effective serves.

Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi claim the crown of the AMT, their first as a team in the ATP circuit, after a wining the final round over No. 3 seeds Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya 7-6(5), 6-3.

Mirnyi, former doubles no. 1 ATP (2003) has found a good partner in the Philipine player holding a 9-4 record since their debut as a pair in Auckland, this being their best performance after reaching semifinals in Delray Beach and quarter-finals in the Australian Open.

Petzschner-Peya played their third 2016 final and fourth as a team but haven’t being able to come out victorious yet.

Huey-Mirnyi protagonized a very even duel where, during the first set, they demonstrated a 70% first serve efficiency while Petzschner-Peya had a 62% first serve efficiency.

For Huey (35 ATP) this is his seventh doubles title and he hadn’t been able to lift a trophy since 2013 when he won in Beijing teamed up with Horia Tecau.

February 26, 2016

Dominic Thiem, fourth seeded, led an impressive victory and dispatched American player Sam Querrey. This is Thiem’s second final this month.

Thiem is this ATP season’s sensation and imposed himself with a categorical double 6-2 in his first Head2Head meeting with Querrey actual champion of Delray Beach tournament last Sunday. It took one flash 23-minute first set, and breaking three serves during the second set to annihilate his rival in less than an hour. 

The young 22 year-old player was impeccable with his serves and big shots from side to side and let Nishikori’s executioner without a chance.

Thiem (15 ATP) has been very active with semifinals in Brisbane, second round in Sydney, third round in Australia, a Buenos Aires Title and semifinalist in Rio de Janeiro, the player has a positive 17-4 mark holding the highest record to maximum winner, up to this February his record is 12-1.

Acapulco’s final match will be a first Thiem-Tomic ATP circuit Head2Head clash.

Philipp Petzschner-Alexander Peya and Treat Huey-Max Mirnyi will battle in a race for the Acapulco doubles title.

Third seeded Petzschner and Peya triumphed over Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin after posting a 6-1, 6-3 result while Huye-Mirnyi (no. 4 seed) left Colombian (no. 1 seed) Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah4-6, 6-3 and 10-7.

The winning partnership gets the tournament’s crown will take 94,800 USD in price and 500 ATP points. Finalists will sum 300 will add up 300 points and 44,800 USD.

El binomio ganador del certamen se llevará 500 puntos ATP y 94 mil 800 dólares en premios. Los finalistas sumarán 300 puntos y 44 mil 800 dólares.

Mexican Santiago Gonzalez and Polish Mariusz Fyrstenberg, just as they did in Memphis finals, defeated American Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey in the first round of the men’s doubles of the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis. The sets were 6-4, 4-6 and 10-6 in favor of the Mexico-Polish couple.

In the second phase Gonzalez and Fyrstenberg will face Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi who they have previously defeated during Delray Beach’s R1, so this will be a rematch.

Britain-Luxemburg duo Aljaz Bedene and Gilles Muller had a tough battle against Dutch troopers Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop to lead with an exciting super-tiebreak 6-3, 3-6 10-7.

Mexican women doubles couple Victoria Rodriguez and Renata Zarazua fell in two sets to Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, with 6-3 and 6-4.

Lastly, closing today’s rounds, British Johanna Konta and Heather Watson, were not able to overcome Dutch Kiki Bertens and Swedish Johanna Larsson, who advanced to the next phase with partials 3-6, 7-6, 10-8.