OT: Miami tennis

[wire chief]

Like the recent Paribas Tournament, the current spectacle is a 2 weeker, pretty much with the format of a Major. And pretty much all the usual honchos are present.
Serena, as an unseeded player, had the bad luck on day one to be paired with the Japanese Osaka, who just happened to win last week's goings on. Serena ousted.
Below is the day's schedule, including Venus 5pm kick-off. Tennis Channel all day.
Access the men's side at the top.

miami tennis schedule of play - Google Search

 

[wire chief]

More topsy turvy than expected. Novak isn't totally healthy, and, rumors say, his becoming a father has changed his desire for the game.
Bounced in round 1.
Roger lost in the round of 32 and promptly announced that he will be skipping the whole clay court season.
No doubt we'll see him in London, where, like Harry Chapin, he flies so high when...he's on grass.
Simona Halep is a puzzle. She has often been #1, off and on, but she inexplicably can fall on her face. She played Agnes( I Anglocize her name, so I don't need to look up the spelling) Radwanska, who used to be a steady top10er but has fallen on hard times, coming in at #30 nowadays. But she reached into her past and knocked off Simona.
Venus raced to a 5-0 lead over the Dutch Kiki Bertens, here at #28. "Great", I say, cause soon I'll be able to give Louisville-Oregon State my full attention.
So what happened? Kiki powers here way to 7 in a row to win the set, while Venus looks out of sorts.
See, Venus has this crackpot approach of allowing the opponent to get a lead and while her foe is salivating at the expected win, imposes her superiority.
So, set one puts her behind. Check. 1-3 in the second? Check. Win the next 5 to even the sets.
In set 3, down 3-5? No problem, as she takes the next 4 game, BTW saving 3 or 4 match points.
Next up is #11
Brit Johanna Konta. not a walk in the park. Head to head it's Venus 4-3, most recently on hard court for Venus.

Have a gaze ai tomorrow's match-ups

miami open schedule - Google Search

 

[eebmg]

Lost interest in the Miami event after the following crowd incident in a match between Wozniack and Puig.

Caroline Wozniacki calls out Miami Open after family members receive death threats mid-match

Although no one from the tournament will confirm this happened, I see no reason why Caroline would make it up. Maybe an overreaction but I doubt it.

 

[wire chief]

I am doubly blessed. Venus came back from a set down to advance to the quarterfinals.
Twenty minutes later UConn took the floor and won their quarterfinal.

Venus plays again on Wed, when ESPN begins coverage.

Sloane Stephens, as tennis followers know, has been shaky since winning last year's US Open. But she's alive in Miami with a real nice win over higher ranked Garbine Muguruza in straight sets.

 

[wire chief]

Venus play tomorrow night under the setting sun at 7
Sloane is already through to the semis, having just walloped Angelique Kerber at 1 & 2.
Venus opponent is a fellow American I haven't known about.
Here is a short piece on Danielle Collins.

Motivated Collins ready to face idol Venus

 

[eebmg]

Collins dominating Venus so far. Down 6-2 2-0 but Venus is looking to get the break back 15-40

Update: Venus loses 6-2 6-3. Collins is a fierce competitor.

 

[eebmg]

Getting over the UConn game. Ostepenko vs Stephens in the final. 1PM ESPN2. Should be interesting.

 

[wire chief]

A big American presence among the women. While Collins played very well vs. Venus, she did not repeat her performance is the semis. Jelena O, who blew Halep off the court at the French, did the same here. In the final Sloane had far fewer winners that did Jalena, BUT she had far, far, fewer errors. Sloane returned just about everything the Latvian blasted at her.
So Sloane recovers her form she had in the US Open to raise the question, will she be the reliable ascender as the Williams go gently into the sunset?

And speaking of our countrypersons, John Isner will be on the tube this afternoon. John in an important final is a rarity.