Miami Open Masters 2017 Results: Caroline Wozniacki Comes from Behind to Advance
Action in the 2017 Miami Open continued Thursday in Key Biscayne, Florida. The men's singles draw wrapped up the quarterfinals, while the women's singles draw trimmed the field to two ahead of Saturday's final.
Caroline Wozniacki opposed Karolina Pliskova on one half of the women's bracket, and on the other side, Venus Williams faced off with Johanna Konta.
In the men's bracket, Roger Federer took on Tomas Berdych, and Alexander Zverev met Nick Kyrgios in arguably the most interesting matchup of the day.
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Results
| Roger Federer (4) def. Tomas Berdych (10) | 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(6) |
| Nick Kyrgios (12) def. Alexander Zverev (16) | 6-4, 6-7(9), 6-3 |
| Caroline Wozniacki (12) def. Karolina Pliskova (2) | 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 |
| Johanna Konta (10) def. Venus Williams (11) | 6-4, 7-5 |
Schedule
| Men's Singles | Rafael Nadal (5) vs. Fabio Fognini | 1 p.m. |
| Women's Doubles | Andrea Hlavackova/Shuai Peng (4) vs. Gabriela Dabrowski/Yifan Xu | ----- |
| Men's Singles | Nick Kyrgios (12) vs. Roger Federer (4) | 7 p.m. |
| Women's Doubles | Yung-Jan Chan/Martina Hingis (5) vs. Sania Mirza/Barbora Strycova (3) | ----- |
Thursday Recap
Things weren't looking good for Wozniacki after she dropped the first set to the second-seeded Pliskova Thursday afternoon. The Danish star quickly reset, though, blitzing Pliskova in the second and third sets.
Wozniacki advanced to the final with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 win. The WTA shared a replay of Pliskova hitting a forehand wide to hand her opponent the match:
Wozniacki celebrated the result on Twitter:
This is the first time the 26-year-old will play in the final of the Miami Open, a point she mentioned after Thursday's match.
"This is one of the few tournaments where I've never made a finals," Wozniacki said, per the WTA's official site. "I think my best result was semifinals like five years ago. You know, it's always been a tournament where I wouldn't say I've struggled, but just not had the results that I've wanted to."
Wozniacki will look to avenge her Australian Open defeat to Konta in Saturday's women's final. Konta earned a straight-set win when the two met in the third round of the tournament earlier this year.
The New York Times' Ben Rothenberg noted how winning the Miami Open would be a major accomplishment for whoever secures the victory:
Konta fought off Williams in Thursday's semifinal, prevailing 6-4, 7-5.
Neither player was at her best. Konta committed 40 unforced errors to Williams' 39. Konta also allowed 10 break-point opportunities to Williams, with the American converting on three occasions. Konta was successful on five of her 17 break-point chances.
On the men's side, Federer reached the semifinals following a hard-fought three-set 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(6) victory over Berdych.
Berdych had two match points before succumbing to the 18-time Grand Slam champion. The Czech was up 6-4 in the tiebreaker before Federer reeled off four straight points.
Berdych was matter-of-fact with his post-match comments, per the Associated Press (via the Guardian): "I just lost by one point. That's what happened. Very simple, very straightforward. He was the one serving out the match, didn't make it. I had a match point, didn't make it. I had two, didn't make it. So what else to say?"
In the other men's quarterfinal, Kyrgios and Zverev more than delivered. Kyrgios advanced with a 6-4, 6-7(9), 6-3 victory.
The 21-year-old Australian savored the stage, hitting a number of acrobatic shots that entertained the Key Biscayne crowd. Tennis TV provided some of Kyrgios' best highlights:
Tennis commentator David Law questioned whether some of Kyrgios' wilder shots were all that necessary but figured they served a purpose:
Beyond just the dazzling groundstrokes, Kyrgios vs. Zverev was a tightly contested match between two of the top young stars on the men's tour. Zverev staved off five match points before finally running out of gas in the third set.
The 19-year-old German had no answer for Kyrgios' serve. Kyrgios collected 16 aces and won 75 percent of his service points, according to the ATP World Tour's official site.
Kyrgios will face Federer on Friday.
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