Until tomorrow
The attention at Crandon Park now turns to Sunday’s men’s final between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Check back tomorrow for live commentary as the longtime rivals meet with a Masters title on the line.
A bad day at the office
The good news for Carla Suárez Navarro: she’ll climb to No10 in Monday’s rankings by virtue of her run to today’s final. A classy competitor with an elegant game, she’ll become the first player with a one-handed backhand to crack the top 10 since Francesca Schiavone. The bad news? Pretty much everything else, at least as far as today goes. Suárez Navarro won just five points during the second set. One-way traffic.
Beat Down City
— Patrick McEnroe (@PatrickMcEnroe) April 4, 2015
More history for Serena
Serena’s third consecutive Miami title is her eighth at the tournament overall. Only three other players have won eight titles at the same event: Chris Evert (eight at Hilton Head), Martina Navratilova (12 at Chicago, 11 at Eastbourne, nine at Dallas, Washington DC and Wimbledon, eight at Los Angeles, the WTA Finals and Orlando) and Steffi Graf (nine at Berlin).
She’s now 24-2 in her last 26 WTA finals.
Updated
Williams breaks, wins second set, match and title!
Second set: Williams 6-0 Suárez Navarro
That was quick. After a reasonably competitive if not back-and-forth opening set, Williams brings the heat in the second to wrap up a clinical 6-3, 6-0. Suárez Navarro has now won just 10 games in the 10 sets they’ve played.
In print, those head-to-head set scores don’t look pretty: 6-0, 6-3, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, 6-0.
Three in a row, 8 overall. @serenawilliams is #TheGr8est. #MiamiOpen https://t.co/whXMZ1s0TK
— Miami Open (@MiamiOpenTennis) April 4, 2015
Updated
Second set: Williams 5-0 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes next server)
Serena holds at love, having won 21 of 25 points in the second set. Ice cold service. Feeling awfully familiar to Serena’s double bagel of Suárez Navarro at the US Open on the Spaniard’s 25th birthday.
Williams breaks!
Second set: *Williams 4-0 Suárez Navarro (*denotes next server)
That’s 17 of 21 points this set for Williams, who is hitting winners at will. Suárez Navarro’s insistence on pushing the ball to the middle of the court rather than going for the lines is tantamount to a white flag.
Second set: Williams 3-0 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes next server)
And Serena holds at love. Really starting to get away from the Spaniard now. Williams has won 13 of 16 points this set.
Serena Williams right about now, only slightly more serious... pic.twitter.com/hL5U2c6tuM
— Howard Bryant (@hbryant42) April 4, 2015
Updated
Serena breaks!
Second set: *Williams 2-0 Suárez Navarro (*denotes next server)
Serena breaks at love. The rest seems like a formality.
Second set: Williams 1-0 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes next server)
With Serena serving to open the second set, a few loose points find the world No1 down 30-40. But just when it looks as if the clearly outgunned Suárez Navarro might find a entry point into this match, Williams quickly erases the break-point opportunity with an ace – then secures the hold with two more. Powerful stuff.
Williams breaks, wins first set!
First set: Williams 6-2 Suárez Navarro
A moment of brilliance for Serena at 15-15. Suárez Navarro uncoils the angled cross-court forehand – one of the only shots that’s been working for her today – but Williams somehow makes it to the spot and returns fire with a cross-court winner of her own. Amazing. Then the American approaches the net at 15-30 and wins the point on a lunging backhand volley to set up a pair of set points.
Suárez Navarro does well to save both, but Williams sets up a third with a devastating forehand into the corner – seemingly miles out of her opponent’s reach. A forehand long on the next point gives Serena the break and the opening set. Worth mentioning she’s 65-0 in Miami after winning the first set.
Total winners: Williams 17, Suárez Navarro 2.
Updated
First set: Williams 5-2 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes next server)
Another clean hold for Serena, who is benefitting from her opponent’s sloppiness on the backhand side.
The question for the moment is whether Suarez can get more than 3 games in a set, which would be a personal best for her vs Serena
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) April 4, 2015
Williams breaks!
First set: *Williams 4-2 Suárez Navarro (*denotes next server)
The Spaniard falls behind 0-30 and 15-40, giving Williams a pair of break-point opportunities. Suárez Navarro saves them both with sharp angled cross-court forehands – a shot that’s worked wonders throughout her run to the final – but follows them up immediately with back-to-back backhands sprayed wide. First break to Serena, who will serve for a 5-2 lead.
Updated
First set: Williams 3-2 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes next server)
Serving at 30-0, Serena drops her first service point of the match on an unforced error and a pushed forehand long. Her response? Consecutive aces to lock down the hold. Still on serve in the first.
First set: *Williams 2-2 Suárez Navarro (*denotes next server)
Suárez Navarro falls behind 0-15 but wins three straight points, including a nicely played passing forehand on the run at 30-15. Serena nets a forehand at 40-30 to give the Spaniard the game.
First set: Williams 2-1 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes next server)
After double-faulting on the opening point – her 19th of the tournament – Williams rattles off four straight points. Now 7-for-7 on her first serve.
First set: *Williams 1-1 Suárez Navarro (*denotes next server)
A bit of a trickier game for Suárez Navarro, but she survives nerves at 30-30 and deuce to secure the hold.
First set: Williams 1-0 Suárez Navarro* (*denotes next server)
Serena holds at love to open the match: backhand volley winner, forehand volley winner, backhand winner, ace.
Good start.
Twin killing
Suárez Navarro is bidding to become the eighth different player – and first in five years – to defeat both Venus and Serena at the same tournament. Each of the previous seven was ranked No1 at some point: Sanchez-Vicario (who defeated both at 1998 Sydney), Graf (1999 Sydney), Hingis (2001 Australian Open), Clijsters (2002 Tour Championships), Davenport (2004 Los Angeles), Henin (2007 US Open), Clijsters (2009 US Open), Jankovic (2010 Rome).
Newsy notes
Some notes on today’s finalists, courtesy of the WTA:
- Williams is bidding to become the fourth woman in the Open era to win the same tournament eight times, joining Navratilova, Evert and Graf.
- Suárez Navarro is going for the second WTA title of her career, having only won an International-level clay-court title in Portugal last year. Serena is aiming for her 66th singles title, which would take her within one of Billie Jean King, who currently ranks sixth on the Open era leaderboard.
- Williams has won her last 23 sets against players with one-handed backhands, dating back to the second set of the 2010 Australian Open final against Justine Henin. She hasn’t lost a match against a player with a one-handed backhand since a defeat at the hands of Henin in the 2007 US Open quarters.
- Suárez Navarro is going for her first win against a top-two opponent. She’s 0-4 v No1s and 0-4 v No2s.
The players are just coming out of the tunnel now.
Preamble
Welcome to Crandon Park where Serena Williams and Carla Suárez Navarro are set to meet in the Miami Open final.
On paper the matchup favors the world No1. Significantly. Serena is 4-0 lifetime against the Spaniard and 8-0 in sets, including a 6-0, 6-0 whitewash in the 2013 US Open quarterfinals. She enters on a 20-match winning streak.
But the 12th-ranked Suárez Navarro has scored wins over No8 Aga Radwanska and No10 Andrea Petkovic – not to mention Venus Williams – en route to the biggest final of her career. With a win today, the 26-year-old can become the eighth player to defeat both Williams sisters in the same tournament.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s a look at how today’s finalists got through Thursday’s semi-final stage:
Serena Williams will face Carla Suàrez-Navarro in the women’s final after beating Indian Wells champion Simona Halep 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in her semi-final.
Halep, who has won more games than anyone on tour this year, was broken twice in the first set but found a way to combat Williams in the second, attacking her forehand and drawing 37 errors on it but, after winning the second set, she lost her serve in what proved to be the final game of the decider.
“I hit more errors than I did in my last match, which I thought was impossible,” Williams said.
“I’m just not at my best level right now which is a little frustrating.”
Williams has held top spot in the rankings for over two years though, and knows what improvements she has to make.
“I feel like the match was on my racquet and I really had opportunities in the second. I just didn’t take them,” Williams added. “That is something I can’t do going into the grand slams coming up.”
12th seed Navarro made light work of Andrea Petkovic, who was seeded three places higher in ninth, easing to a 6-3, 6-3 victory to reach the biggest final of her career so far.
The 26-year-old Spaniard did not face a single break point in nine service games, while Petkovic offered up 32 unforced errors to bow out with a whimper.
“I feel so happy. It’s so important for me,” Navarro told the WTA website. “I was practicing and working all year with my team for a moment like this.”
