Konta back in fine form in straight sets win over Nara

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Johanna Konta had a game she truly missed playing at the Nature Valley Open Tuesday evening. The British number one and 2017 finalist of the tournament had all the offensive elements in position to take down Kurumi Nara in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 on Centre Court at the Nottingham Tennis Centre.

The two met for a record eighth time with three previously coming in the first round in which the number one Brit won two of three. Her season hasn’t been one of success since the start of the season. With her tough exit early at Roland Garros, the 27-year-old gets into her strengths of playing on home soil and on the grass courts. Last year she reached the finals of Nottingham only to lose by a small margin. Her eagerness to turn things around at the halfway point will be more than shown against Nara who returned to the WTA Tour in Paris for the first time since Indian Wells.

The Brit got her run started with a quick 2-0 lead breaking Nara’s opening serve with heavy returns. She almost had the double in hand until the 26-year-old saved herself on the second serve landing her first ace. While getting on serve was imperative for Nara to attain, Konta had no issues with staying that way as she laid down another good hold scoring two aces to maintain her gap. She opened it to three with the second serve increasing on points won to earn the second break of Nara in the set.

A third ace from Konta arrived on serve in the sixth after a sluggish start. She held it together to make it 5-1 before Nara earned her first serve to love in the seventh. Konta had two chances to serve out the set but took her first shot at it earning double set point ending 29 minutes of play. While her offense as a whole was dominant, it put a toll on Nara’s return game in which she won 2 of 12 from the first and two of eight on the second serve return. It was clear that Nara faced heavy opposition from the world number 22 who would not lose the match.

She made good on her efforts winning another opening break before avoiding a long deuce draw to win on serve in the second. Nara gained a service hold in the third before taking a chat with coach Takahiro Terachi who made a second appearance on court helping her remedy the situation. She slowly brought the service game up that allowed her to hold serve in the fifth staying within reach of Konta.

The British number one continued to lead after seven despite noticing that Nara had a firm grip on serve. As dusk began to fall on court, Konta fired away making it difficult for the 26-year-old to strike back on. She easily got the win creating cross court shots that beat out her opponent to lead 5-3. The final game was a breeze for Konta who played out her final service game of the day to come out a winner 63 minutes of competition.

The Brit showed comfort on serve winning 78 percent while serving at 71 from start to finish. While the return side of her game didn’t prosper, the strong win on court gave everyone a positive feeling that the 27-year-old was feeling great about her quest to succeed. She’ll try to keep it up facing British rival Heather Watson in the second round Wednesday.

Halep gets the best of Muguruza to return to French Open final

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Simona Halep was on a mission to make it her tournament to win at the French Open Thursday. The world number one came off the baseline with furious aggression and accuracy that got the best of Garbine Muguruza who couldn’t answer in kind to fall in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 on Philippe Chatrier Court at Roland Garros. It clinched the Romanian’s second straight appearance in the final and the third of her career in the year’s second slam.

Both have strong records on the clay courts this season and one against each other in their four-match series that the Spaniard leads. She took Halep in a full match three years ago in Stuttgart only to lose in that competition. The world number one looked to keep her winning streak against Muguruza on clay and get back to the title match for a second straight year. The world number three had the idea differently in her quest to win a second title at Roland Garros. She proved her worth against Maria Sharapova giving the Russian very little chances to recover from her own demise. The 24-year-old had yet to drop a set in her tournament run with the hope of keeping that streak alive.

The Romanian broke Muguruza to open the match but on serve in the second, she had a 40-15 lead but lost it to the Spaniard who fired back well to force deuce. After a couple of breaks the top seed held firm to contain service leading 2-0. Halep continued the strategy of playing the ball near the baseline making it difficult for the Spaniard to put just the right amount of force on the return. On nearly every return during the rallies, Muguruza saw the ball go long or wide giving the world number one a 4-0 run after 19 minutes.

Halep’s forehand and aggression continued to get the best of the world number three who was unable to make much of her serve in the fifth. Halep swept up the game on deuce as Muguruza’s attempt to get away from her issues stuck to her like glue. It left the Romanian who had a flawless performance so far served for the bagel in the sixth but double faulted. It gave Muguruza enough life to put something together and notch her first game win.

Just when it looked as if the improvements would stick around, the number three seed was overshadowed by the errors that ended her short comeback giving Halep the set in after 38 minutes. Muguruza had 14 errors but the real issue came from her serve which shot 44 percent from the first serve and 33 percent from the second. While Halep didn’t have a great offense on serve, her 31-21 on points won was the factor of who was playing stronger in the match.

Halep continued her path of success holding serve to open the second set. In response to her opponent, the third seed held serve as well making the forehand work better. The third was a big game win for Muguruza attaining the break of serve showing dictation in her gameplay. Halep caused the Spaniard to make mistakes on serve in the fourth getting the chance to play on deuce. Both had unforced errors through three breaks but Halep had more during her break chance to fall 3-1 to the 24-year-old.

Halep struck back to be a game down of the Spaniard but with both holding serve, the two-game margin held for Muguruza after six. A break in the eighth gave Halep the momentum she wanted built up to level the score at four all. The Romanian used the opportunity of being on serve but watched Muguruza fight back when the right moment arrived. She forced deuce answering the forehand of Halep’s but not every attempt to counter went right. Muguruza handed the world number one four chances to end the ninth before turning it around to give herself break opportunities. She had a third but Halep countered to get one more shot at putting the game away. After 13 minutes and seven breaks, the Romanian won on her fifth attempt to take a pivotal 5-4 lead to play for the match.

The energy both put it became the ultimate ending for the Romanian as she had plenty left in the tank. Halep hit the returns with all her might leaving nothing for Muguruza to do but to watch her opponent take three match points and bring her tournament to a close in 1 hour and 32 minutes. The world number one finished with a 61 percent success rate on first serve points with four of five points won in front of the net. Getting six of ten break points converted in her favor was huge in the second set when the situation could have spelled further time on court.

With the avoidance of handing Muguruza any more time to counteract, she would spend that time resting for Saturday’s final where she’ll try to make the third chance charming against either Madison Keyes or Sloane Stephens.

Muguruza dominates Sharapova in French Open quarterfinal

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Garbine Muguruza outplayed, outperformed and outclassed Maria Sharapova at the French Open Wednesday. The world number three easily got into the semifinals with a game that beat down the former two-time champion in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 on Philippe Chatrier Court at Roland Garros. It was her first win against the Russian and in dominating fashion in her quest to win the title in Paris a second time.

Despite Monday’s massive matchup between Sharapova and Serena Williams being shut down, the biggest quarterfinal would pit two heavyweights together for a fourth time. Sharapova holds a 3-0 lead on the Spaniard dating back to 2014 in Montreal. They had a meeting four years ago on the clay courts of Paris which went three sets and would no doubt do so again. Both have been out of competition for four days meaning that it was even strength coming into the opening games that would determine who would get their mark made.

Sharapova had some issues with her serve, double faulting twice in the opening game to give Muguruza a break chance. The 28^th seed avoided it for the moment but double faulted a third time to hand the lead over. Muguruza made it 2-0 despite committing a double fault of her own on serve. She brushed off the error and played on which got the best of Sharapova. The Russian continued to have issues with the first serve but somehow rallied back to force deuce in the third. Her actions to tighten up kept the game going beyond eleven minutes and six breaks but a loss of control that gave Muguruza dictation in the last rally made it a 3-0 deficit for the former number one.

By the fourth game, Sharapova had four double faults and 10 unforced errors that made it another easy victory for the Spaniard. The Russian needed a hold in the fifth and even against tough skills of her opponent, she etched out the win to avoid a shutout. She would gain another keeping Muguruza from completing the set on the break opportunity. Though she had her serve under control, Sharapova was far from safe as she had to deal with the 24-year-old serving for the match lead.

Muguruza reached double set point in the eighth but watched as Sharapova nailed a return winner to stay alive. It was the last point she’d earn as the Spaniard won it on a return into the net ending 43 minutes of play. The second serve of Sharapova was most responsible for her downfall and late start to the match serving 29 percent that put pressure on her first which saw her 74 percent. Muguruza finished the opening set with a normal pace for herself having the serve above average to make a standing argument for her right to advance.

The second a much different pace that Sharapova couldn’t deal with as Muguruza attacked her opponent’s serve to break. The 31-year-old recorded a break as well but couldn’t get a grip on further improvements. It led to another widening gap by Muguruza who had the double break in hand after four. She comfortably played on as Sharapova’s game continued its disastrous trek. She had nearly three times the unforced errors of the opening set and a second serve that free fell to the floor. With the return game dead in the water, it gave Muguruza free run to take a 5-1 stance.

Sharapova was left to pull something together at the last moment by Muguruza would not give her that room to do so ending the match with a strong performance after 1 hour and 20 minutes.

With every aspect of her journey to the tournament going well for the Spaniard, she will prepare for Thursday’s match taking on the winner between former number one Angelique Kerber and world number one Simona Halep in the semifinals.