Vandeweghe powers through upset over Muguruza at Australian Open

Embed from Getty Images

Coco Vandeweghe steamrolled her way into her first major semifinal at the Australian Open. In her mission to never allow Garbine Muguruza into the match, the 25 year old with powerhouse dominated with all her might to win in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 on Rod Laver Arena Tuesday. It clearly made her 6^th appearance in the tournament one to remember as she moved into uncharted territory.

The two have met three times prior to their fourth with the American leading in the series. Muguruza has coasted to victories leading to the quarterfinal but entering the final eight leaves her against the recent giant killer who stunned world number one Angelique Kerber. Vandeweghe’s powerful shots and the German’s struggles to play at the high level were the keys to her victory and a place she had never reached at Melbourne. While she had luck against the Spaniard before, plenty has changed for the world number seven showing fatigue at times but still able to lock down the victories on court. With very few ranked players left in the ladies draw, it would be a good start for Vandeweghe or progressive run for a second title by Muguruza.

The Spaniard saw challenge from Vandeweghe in the opening game but handled the pressure during the break to hold serve. The American got her opening serve off to a good start making the challenges on the rallies difficult. She and Muguruza remained dead even through four and continued on serve. The fight for control occurred in the seventh with Vandeweghe attempting to capture the break point and get the lead for herself. Muguruza fought well to regain the chance for game point but lost it with a double fault. Vandeweghe won the 11-minute match after five break attempts getting out front against the Spaniard in hopes of consolidating it further.

She did so with plenty of offense that ruined Muguruza’s chance to get the all-important break. A low ball shot went flying back behind the baseline that ended the eighth to take a 5-3 lead. The seventh seed served to stay alive but her returns on Vandeweghe’s shots forced her to struggle against them. Using the weaknesses across court to her advantage, Vandeweghe reached set point ready to go a set up. Muguruza wasn’t ready to let her get away gaining back the chances on service that allowed her to win on an ace down the middle.

The trouble was still around for the Spaniard who had to play amazing defense on the service of the 25-year-old. She pushed the game to deuce but the actions from Vandeweghe got her on deuce putting the pressure on Muguruza in the tight finish. Gaining set point, Vandeweghe fired off the rally that ended with the seventh seed falling with an unforced error wide of the court.

The set went 56 minutes with Vandeweghe slightly better on winners despite having a low first serve percentage. She did win good on points that outdueled the Spaniard that included winning a break point out of nine chances that played a supporting role in the difference.

The second began with a break for Vandeweghe who felt that gaining a quick start to the set might pay off for the remainder of the match. She made it look possible with a 40-0 run in the second before Muguruza fired a winner down the line away from her. The action was quickly put the rest as she maintained her winning streak to three games.

The pressure became too much for Muguruza who began to topple with signs of frustration followed by a double fault that set Vandeweghe for a break point. The unseeded American powerhouse locked up her third break point to go up three straight games in 16 minutes. The onslaught continued on as Muguruza had no strong response against the hard hits of Vandeweghe taking another hold of serve with ferocity.

The Spaniard was completely falling apart that added a huge drop of confidence in her game. She put down a fourth double fault before watching the final rally in the fifth game end in the hands of Vandeweghe. What was clearly turning into another stunner was in the hands of the California native who was on the verge of getting to her first career major semifinal. She stayed calm and collected making sure to play every point that it took.

Muguruza watched as Vandeweghe conducted herself smoothly waiting for the inevitable to arrive. Instead of coasting to a win, Vandeweghe watched Muguruza make some good response on the rallies that allowed her to come back in the game. The American leveled back to deuce to stop the comeback of her opponent dead in its tracks. With an unforced error setting up match point, the 25-year-old got it done with a ten-shot rally ending in the net to close things in 1 hour and 22 minutes.

“I really wasn’t feeling all that great out there funny enough,” she told Sam Smith after the match. “I was really kind of nervous but I tried to play my best and stay within myself, keep my patterns and fought through a few break points on the serve, kept the pressure in the first set and then she finally cracked. Once I got rolling in the second it was like a freight train, you couldn’t stop it.”

She’ll hope to keep the speed of one in an all-American matchup against Venus Williams making it a three-player semifinal run from the United States. “It’s an honor to play a great champion like Venus,” she said. “It’s someone I grew up watching playing tennis and who I sought after for an autograph way back.”

Konta remains solid in her defeat of Makarova in Australian Open

Embed from Getty Images

Johanna Konta put on another impressive victory to move on at the Australian Open. The top ranked Brit left in the tournament controlled things in straight sets to beat Ekaterina Makarova

6-1, 6-4 on Margaret Court Arena Monday. What was thought to be another tough fight turned into a comeback in the second set for the British star that advanced her to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.

The Brit holds a substantial lead over the Russian in career win meetings going into the fourth round. The 25-year-old even took a three setter that advanced her to the quarters in last year’s tournament where the two went beyond regulation in the final set. With the same sort of action expected once more, the Russian clearly has a lot on her plate to be successful as many of the top players have fallen early on. With her facing a ninth seed for a second time at the exact spot, her hopes of turning the tides would depend on the pace set from the start.

Konta ran fast with a quick win on her serve followed by strong defense in the second game. Makarova’s forehand began creating errors that lost her the game while handing her opponent an easy double break. She tried getting back at Konta in the third with a fight on deuce but the winning streak remained strong for the ninth seed whose winning frustrated the Russian.

Knowing that she had to regroup on the second try worked out for her holding strong against Konta to get in the set. The win did not allow her to make a difference on the Brit’s service as she got back on track winning the fifth. Konta got another break against Makarova answering every service shot that came her way. She returned to service for the set gaining two points landing a winner that closed it out in 24 minutes.

It was clear that the world number ten had everything well going for her landing five aces while maintaining a 78 percent success rate on the first serve. With the 11 winners and just four unforced errors playing a supporting role, it could turn into a landslide if Makarova failed to get a grip in the second.

Despite challenges on her opening serve, the Russian got on the board first holding Konta to a single break. The Brit answered back in the second with a perfect love service but it didn’t stop Makarova from do better in the set. She continued holding service against Konta gaining a two-point hold in the third that gained her plenty of support from the crowd. The set went into the Russian’s hands who gained a break in her very next game followed by a hold to take a 3-1 lead. She saw it come apart in the fifth when she committed a double fault getting her into trouble. A winner got her back the advantage before clinching the hold of service.

The momentum was in Makarova’s hands getting a second break that had her up in the score. She knocked the Brit’s second serve off course to gain the leverage and be a contender. An important break in the seventh got Konta back within a game despite a dismal second serve. With the ball in hand for the eighth, the 25-year-old recorded two aces on the Russian but still had a fight from across court. She got on game point on Makarova’s forehand error followed by another that completely erased her lead.

Things only got worse for Makarova as her first serve suffered greatly losing on four unforced errors handing Konta a chance for the match. The Russian wasn’t going to give in easily landing a winner in the rally to take first point. Konta handed another with a second double fault on the match followed by a long ball to end a rally. It was Makarova’s to win with a triple break but lost one on a bad return that came in low for her.

A line drive from Konta put her in reach of deuce with a winner away from Makarova. It came in the shape of an ace giving her eight on the day hoping for a full comeback. She got it locked down after two breaks where the second match point landed on a wide return from Konta giving her the straight sets win after one hour and nine minutes.

“I’m really happy to have come through that,” she said to Ian Cullen during her on court interview. “I think I came out playing at a high level that she did but she was able to really able pull herself back into the match and made it really difficult for me. I’m just happy to give myself another game to play another match here.”

When asked about her next opponent being Serena Williams, she gave a chuckle before making a strong statement on her quarterfinal match. “It’s an incredible experience for me,” she said. “She’s one of the few players still playing that I watched growing up so as a young girl wanting to be a professional tennis player, its honestly an incredible honor and can’t wait to share the court with her.”

Rangers win stalemate in overtime against Red Wings

A very tight game ended in victory for the New York Rangers Sunday afternoon. They played a scoreless regulation against the Detroit Red Wings sending things in overtime where T.J. Miller scored the lone game winner at Joe Louis Arena winning 1-0.

The Red Wings return home puts them under the pressure of maintaining a winning streak on home ice. The loss to the Buffalo Sabres Friday brought an end to their overall streak but not to their success in Detroit. They take on the New York Rangers in an early matinee showing that they could use to their advantage. Detroit’s second win at home this past week came against the Montreal who they handled well under the circumstances. If their mindset can regroup to the reality of it, the Red Wings could keep their five points game streak alive.

Offense was light from both teams each getting a shot on goal in the first six minutes of the period. It picked up during the opening power play for the Rangers who got their shots at Jared Coreau in net for Detroit. A block by the Red Wings on Pavel Buchnevich allowed them to go on a four man play with the puck. A shot from Detroit hit the post and got loose near the net for a second chance. The opportunity was shut down by the Rangers defense who didn’t see the end of Detroit’s rush.

Niklas Kronwall took one more shot at New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist but couldn’t get enough speed on the puck. It moved the Red Wings ahead on shots seeing many scoring chances that had Lundqvist all over the puck but at times being left vulnerable. Detroit gained a man advantage with five minutes left but they were unable to get anything from the power play.

They did better scaring the Rangers on even strength where Tomas Vanek almost had his team out front but was denied by the goal post. More shots and scoring chances came for the Red Wings but getting one in the net never came for them. They outshot New York 7-3 showing plenty of action that hoped to continue on in the game.

The second opened with Detroit and New York getting back to back penalties where nothing came of their man advantages. Returning to even strength didn’t produce much leaving the teams each with trouble breaking the opposing goaltenders. A third try for the Red Wings on the power play didn’t have the same moves as they had in the third with the Rangers doing well on the penalty kill.

New York got a power play on Mike Green’s penalty that saw them inching close to breaking on the scoreboard. Both Rick Nash and Chris Kreider had point blank shots on Coreau but the 25 year old netminder made good saves that helped kill off time on the power play. The teams continued to run level with one another recording six shots each through 16 minutes of play and still no goals scored.

The Rangers produced more time with the puck leading to Coreau doing work in the net. He faced Michael Grabner on a breakaway where the forward wristed a shot at the net but the six foot six goaltender made a great save on it that left the game at status quo through two periods. New York edged Detroit on shots to the net in the period but were still down three overall.

The third became a moment for either team to make a stance on ice and create a game change. The Rangers were coming in hard into the Detroit zone with Coreau moving all over to stay with the pace of the play. The Red Wings defense made the assist clearing the puck in order to reset. Detroit went back to their penalty kill to keep things inactive for New York despite its difficulty. After the return to even strength, Detroit made another rush that saw captain Henrik Zetterberg get set up in the crease for one timer. The pass came just a little late for Lundqvist to get ready for the stop.

Coreau continued to match is counterpart across the ice making huge saves through the game that projected the period to go into overtime if neither broke from their roles. Six minutes remained in the game with Detroit still out front on shots to the net but the shutouts for Lundqvist and Coreau remained tested.

The shots were once again dead even at five each with just a minute left on the clock determining whether a goal would come or if the game would go into overtime. The Red Wings were briefly on the puck going for a shot but were blocked. The Rangers took off on offense but saw Detroit there to stop them. A fight for control saw the last seconds of time come off the clock forcing a five minute period to come into play with 3 on 3 action.

It came down to the breaks in the period with Dylan Larkin pushing along with the Detroit captain. Despite the attempts to set up a play with Mike Green on the line, the Red Wings couldn’t get back out front with the Rangers play solid defense. They gained their opportunities as well but saw the same actions from their opponents.

After another fight for puck possession, New York picked up the puck and ran with Matts Zuccarello on the hunt. He came in on angle at Coreau before faking a shot making the pass to Miller. The Rangers forward found enough time and room for a one-timer scoring the goal just 1:56 into the overtime period ending the stalemate and the game.  

Despite the loss for Detroit, it was an incredible performance for both goaltenders combining for 39 shots with Lundqvist stopping 21 getting the win for his 20^th of the season and second shutout. Coreau made 18 on the day with a .947 save percentage which was nothing to frown about. His performance overall was enough to see him back in the net in the coming days. The Red Wings would decide on that when they prepare for another outing back east to face the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.