The Williams sisters’ domination at the Miami Masters is the sort they threatened to have in tournaments across the world when they burst on to the scene. Their often light tour schedule has prevented this, but they have retained a stranglehold on the Sony Ericsson Open throughout their rollercoaster careers.
Venus and Serena have between them won eight of the last 11 Miami Masters titles, with the younger sister, as is the case in their overall records, having the edge. Serena has won there five times, from 2002 onwards, and is defending the title for the second consecutive year. Venus’ three wins came between 1998 and 2001.
Their success at Miami should come as no surprise. It is their local tournament, played a few miles down the coast from their Palm Beach homes, and the Williams sisters perform best on familiar ground, although Venus is most comfortable on the grass of Wimbledon.
The hard courts at Key Biscayne suit their styles and both players like to take advantage on their preferred surface before the women’s tour moves to Europe’s clay courts in the run-up to the French Open.
Venus and Serena should both be fresh after skipping the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and will be ready to take advantage of a field that has no natural hierarchy.
Anyone can beat anyone in the women’s top 20 at the moment, with the exception of Serena. The world number one showed in winning January’s Australian Open that she is nearly unbeatable on her day and she rightly starts this tournament as hot favourite.
World number three Jelena Jankovi? is struggling badly with her game, whilst Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina were their usual inconsistent selves at Indian Wells. Ana Ivanovi? showed some form in reaching the final of that tournament but remains hard to predict in big games. The chances of an all-Williams final at Miami are further increased by the pull-out of Maria Sharapova.
Original Story:
http://www.sportsloungeblog.com/2009/...
Venus and Serena have between them won eight of the last 11 Miami Masters titles, with the younger sister, as is the case in their overall records, having the edge. Serena has won there five times, from 2002 onwards, and is defending the title for the second consecutive year. Venus’ three wins came between 1998 and 2001.
Their success at Miami should come as no surprise. It is their local tournament, played a few miles down the coast from their Palm Beach homes, and the Williams sisters perform best on familiar ground, although Venus is most comfortable on the grass of Wimbledon.
The hard courts at Key Biscayne suit their styles and both players like to take advantage on their preferred surface before the women’s tour moves to Europe’s clay courts in the run-up to the French Open.
Venus and Serena should both be fresh after skipping the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and will be ready to take advantage of a field that has no natural hierarchy.
Anyone can beat anyone in the women’s top 20 at the moment, with the exception of Serena. The world number one showed in winning January’s Australian Open that she is nearly unbeatable on her day and she rightly starts this tournament as hot favourite.
World number three Jelena Jankovi? is struggling badly with her game, whilst Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina were their usual inconsistent selves at Indian Wells. Ana Ivanovi? showed some form in reaching the final of that tournament but remains hard to predict in big games. The chances of an all-Williams final at Miami are further increased by the pull-out of Maria Sharapova.
Original Story:
http://www.sportsloungeblog.com/2009/...
