Muguruza holds firm to beat Riske at AEGON Classic

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Garbine Muguruza looked comfortable and on point at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham. The world number 14 had her game on lock in the first set and held off a push from Alison Riske

to win in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 on Ann Jones Centre Court on the grounds of the Edgbaston Priory Tennis Club Thursday.

The world number 14 had a challenging time on court Tuesday with an opponent she had never faced before let alone knew of. Riske was one well known on the tour and a second consecutive player she had yet to face. The American did well against recent Nottingham champ Donna Vekic; knocking her out in straight sets. The specialist on the backhand has moments of dominance which she expected to put to good use again. Muguruza continues to reel from her end at the French Open but got through her opening round with help from coach Sam Sumyk. With a new day in front of her, the Spaniard would try to dig in early and bring the heat to her opponent.

Muguruza opened with a good service break that followed with a very difficult second game from Riske. The American gave it her all to show some competition in the set by forcing deuce with the fourth seed. She and Muguruza went seven breaks and ten minutes before she capitalized on the break of her own.

The energy that Riske put into the second took a lot from her which the Spaniard used to her advantage. She blasted out the next five straight to take the American by storm to win the set 6-1 in 39 minutes. 11 winners helped the sixth seed tear through her games against Riske while the offense of the American struggled in the set serving at or below 45 percent. Despite being down a set, she still had every chance at making up for it in the second

Muguruza didn’t allow her much room to regroup capturing her sixth game in a row to start the set. Riske needed a positive response and did so with a double break on Muguruza on a bad volley return from the Spaniard. She rewarded herself with a service hold in the third that earned her the first lead to her name. It didn’t last long as Muguruza took care of business in the fourth and grew her service hold into a three-game winning streak. On the verge of breaking Riske for a second consecutive time, the American had an answer that put her down a game instead of seeing the gap widen.

The Spaniard had other ideas as she launched a solid love service that saw her score back to back aces to sit a game down from straight sets. The American made Muguruza’s efforts difficult while on the ball in the ninth forcing deuce with the sixth seed. It was a tug of war for possession but after four breaks, Riske saved two match points and kept her hopes alive moving on. Muguruza got another chance for the match and with her serve on point, the sixth got the job done after 1 hour and 34 minutes. “I really wanted to do well here because it’s my third time and this time is the lucky one and I really want to make it,” Muguruza said after the match.

She’ll go on to take the competition against the winner between Johanna Konta and Coco Vandeweghe in Friday’s quarterfinal.

Giorgi delivers strong knockout on Svitolina at AEGON Classic.

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Elina Svitolina’s weakness on grass became more apparent than ever at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham Thursday. The fight from Italy’s Camila Giorgi took its toll on the top seed that sent her packing in the second round with a 4-6, 6-4, 2-6 defeat on Ann Jones Centre Court.

The two haven’t faced off in nearly three years making it an important moment for the Italian. She found herself coming into the second round with a four-match winning streak that began in qualifications. The 25-year-old got through her opening round match with another straight sets win making it eight in a row without dropping one. The winner of Hertogenbosch from 2015 has her eyes set on making a knockout happen if the opportunity arises. Svitolina had a tough start after being off the tour for two weeks. With a good hold against Heather Watson, the world number five hoped to have an easier opposition.

The match began with Svitolina breaking the Italian in the opening game that soon followed with a double break back from Giorgi. The pace was obviously set for the second seed as she dealt with the pressure on Giorgi’s service and notched another break for herself. Svitolina’s service hold changed the pace that allowed her to carry a short winning streak before it came to a quick close in the fifth. Giorgi’s hold on the ball allowed her to keep within reach of the Ukrainian knowing well of her tactics.

The Italian was intent on keeping the momentum for herself with another tie in the set and did so in the fourth; playing in front of the return during the rallies that beat Svitolina. With the lead in hand, Svitolina called coach Andrew Bettles came out to keep her self-esteem high and accept the fact of her opponent’s difficulty. She answered with an important hold in the eighth but a tug of war in the ninth determined possession of control and a game from the set.

For Giorgi, she had just enough defense in the rallies to hold her own against Svitolina to win the second break on deuce and carry leverage. It was well shown from the 25-year-old as she forced the second seed into pressure and won the set 6-4 in 42 minutes. Her turnaround from unforced errors to winners was her show of individual success that no doubt included her strengths against a tough opponent. A quick visit from her father and coach Sergio Giorgi to tell her how well she has been so far and to keep up the pace.

With her down a set, Svitolina did everything to avoid Giorgi from continuing her recent run of dominating and put the foot on the gas herself. The 22-year-old fired off a break to start followed by an important serve to make known of her intentions. She was good on her word to be the stronger player going on nailing down a second break of the Italian to maintain a solid lead. The fourth was Giorgi’s first big push in the set trying to get a grip on the set by any means. She forced deuce with Svitolina that extended the game to be the longest so far. After seven and a quarter minutes, the Ukrainian held for a fourth time.

The Italian put together a great show of force in the fifth but saw it nearly erased by the second seed. Her forehand errors nearly gave Svitolina the chance for the break but Giorgi somehow held to get her own skills to earn her the win. Svitolina returned to serve in the sixth and despite the troubles on both ends of her game, she found her way to the advantage on deuce and reach a chance for the set and level footing in the match. Giorgi had a new agenda in mind and put her strategy to work with two game wins that blocked Svitolina from dictating on serve. The offense that the Italian had brought together not only served its purpose but also brightened the chance to pull off an upset with her current pace. She picked up her third game with a love service hold that helped her get within reach of tying the set.

Giorgi wasn’t nothing short of a serious threat to Svitolina as she pulled off a three-game winning streak to threaten in the tenth. The fight ensued with key mistakes from both that had them close to victory but slipped at the wrong point. In the end, it was Svitolina who somehow avoided further onslaught from the 25-year-old and capture the set in 47 minutes. While the Italian was a clear threat for the second seed, her problems came on winning break points where she had seven chances but only managed to score one.

The momentum she created was more than enough to stay competitive and did so with a break of Svitolina in the second game of the decider. It was at that point that the 25-year-old took off and created a commanding 4-1 lead putting Svitolina in danger of exiting early. The world number five had the lead in the sixth but three double faults in the game saw her downfall overshadow the good parts of her game. She came out of the troubles and held after two breaks on deuce to cut Giorgi’s lead in half.

The win for Svitolina didn’t bother her much as she took another step to reach 5-2 and get her chance to play for the match and an upset at the same time. Her push of Svitolina on serve allowed her to climb back on the score and show strong force to win the break and end the tournament for the top seed. It was a two hour and two-minute day for the players but with the Italian’s comfort on grass and fight for control, she earned the win in spades to start the day. “Today was a great match,” said Giorgi after the match. “I played well and It was a very good level.” When asked about her time on court to come into the match against Svitolina, Giorgi had a good response in mind. “It’s really important to play as much as possible so it’s very good that that helps a lot.”

She’ll get more time to play as she faces Ashleigh Barty in the quarterfinals Friday in what she hopes will be an even match with her ability to keep her personal pace alive.

Azarenka comes through to win her first match of 2017 at Mallorca Open

Victoria Azarenka endured a very difficult return to the sport but came out victorious at the Mallorca Open Wednesday. The former number one had to put in every inch of herself to playing a three setter that had a long delay but finished in a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(7) victory over

Risa Ozaki Piste Central at the Tennis Club Santa Ponza.

The former number one made her return in over a year as an injury soon led to good news in her personal life. The 27-year-old was soon with child thereafter and gave birth to a son at the tail end of the year. While it stopped her from playing, her heart remained in tennis and was ready to prove a point once again. Facing Ozaki was a great way to start fresh having not faced the Japanese star before. The 23-year-old didn’t have a good start to the grass court last week as she took on Kristina Mladenovic in a difficult match. With Azarenka just coming back, her skills were ready to make marks back on tour and prove her worth of being at the top.

She proved it early with a long first game against Ozaki that saw her warming up slowly. The two week a few breaks but in the end, the game went to the Belorussian. She began to get into gear taking her first opening serve with her strengths showing. By the end of the third, she was becoming dominant against the Japanese star. It lasted four games until Ozaki found her way of holding a serve of hers together.

She caught another game to her name but it wasn’t enough to stop Azarenka who was on a mission of making her return count to the fullest. Ozaki wanted the same result for herself as she answered Azarenka with another win to keep her alive in the opening set. With another chance to get the job done, the Belorussian decided she had enough of the extension and put the brakes on Ozaki's serve to take the final game and end the set in 44 minutes. Despite having 14 unforced errors and a double fault, the game she had on court was enough to keep her going and improve while succeeding.

She got into service tradeoffs with Ozaki leading the way on the score after the third. The two remained on serve through four but the young Japanese player pulled off a break that gave her the first lead change in the match. It was becoming a bigger run for the 23-year-old as she had two games between herself and Azarenka allowing her to make a run for the set. in the seventh, Ozaki went for another key break against the unranked superstar forcing deuce with her on the break. Azarenka fired an ace to get the advantage and win her game on a ball landing wide of the court.

She was still down a game and the next one was fully in the hands of Ozaki who pushed forward to take a 5-3 run and play for the set. Getting it was a very difficult moment for Ozaki as Azarenka’s serve pushed her to fight on every point that eventually led to deuce. They went several breaks making it the longest game of the match before Azarenka locked one for herself. Ozaki had enough of her opponent’s comeback and made it her mission to push the set forward.

The 23-year-old put all her efforts to attacking Azarenka which led to her success to capturing the set in 51 minutes. Her 72 percent first serve percentage was huge for her as well as the unforced errors that gave her free points. It was a clear concern for the former number one who took her first conference with coach Michael Joyce. Joyce told Azarenka to get on the ball and don’t let her dictate the way she has been. The need for focus had to come according to him with just a set left for either player to find their way to victory.

Ozaki kept on the same pace she had in the previous set and made her mark by taking a strong 3-1 lead on the former number one. She earned another break on Azarenka right before the Belorussian had enough of being taken for a ride she did not want to accept. In response, Azarenka fired off a counter attack on Ozaki to win the sixth for the break and inch closer to grabbing the set away.

She got within one game of Ozaki but the fight turned into two as they both fought the light that was left in their day to play on. The game went to deuce where Azarenka had the break chance but was denied an early finish. They went to four breaks before an unforced error killed the opportunity for a tie game and gave the Japanese star a 5-3 lead. During the break, Azarenka pleaded with the umpire to suspend the game due to insufficient light.

When she found out the decision was in the hands of the tournament referee, Azarenka found him and tried to get it shut down. The two went on with play with the 23-year-old in play to upset the superstar. Azarenka tried to keep herself alive and did it to get in reach of a game. With the third set at 5-4 in favor of Ozaki, the tournament referee decided to suspend the match due to lack of light and finish the game on Wednesday.

The two returned with Ozaki serving for the match nailing down the first point before the Belorussian redirected shots in the rally to even the score. She overtook at 40-15 for two break points where a lob helped her dictate the rally and stay in the match. The former number one served in the 11^th as two games would decide a winner.

A sudden struggle from Azarenka gave an easy pass to Ozaki to reach triple break and back in position for the match. She swiftly reached three match points before a save on a ball in net gave her another shot. Good ball placement on the returns gave her another point with one point left to be saved. She got it on a long ball from Ozaki that sent things to deuce. Azarenka gained the break point on an eight-shot rally that pushed the set to a critical tiebreaker.

Ozaki took a 3-1 lead before Azarenka answered back with a big point to keep her in. The errors proved to be difficult to deal with as the margin grew between the two. Azarenka kept it close in the score but the closer one got to seven, the sooner the match would end. It was turning into shots that went long that kept both Ozaki and Azarenka within reach of each other. The Belorussian successfully got even at five all with only seven needed to win.

A stunning forehand from Azarenka gave her the lead and match point with the ball in play. Another long ball brought it back to level pegging for Ozaki giving her another chance at ending the pressure on her. The same could be said for the former number one as her second match point went long with no help of challenging the call. Despite the troubles, it was three time being the charm as her 16 shot rally with Ozaki allowed her to smash the shot away from the 23-year-old to win the match in a come from behind win. It took 2 hours and 44 minutes in a very difficult return for Azarenka.

While she would continue to brush off the rust, the 27-year-old would go into the second round to face Ana Konjuh on Thursday.