WTA Mar 23-Apr 4: Miami Sony Ericsson Open Key Biscayne, Miami, FL + ATP PREMIER M $4,500,000 96m/48q/32d outdoor: hard Laykold Free Live Video Live Scores - in popup window draws: WTA tourney: draws - OOP results - tourney schedule pics: Y!: sports - news KB - news SE     WTA - tourney pics   TV sched interviews: tourney - ASAP Miami Herald: Tennis Miami: weather radar - forecast #1 Serena Williams #2 Dinara Safina #3 Svetlana Kuznetsova #4 Caroline Wozniacki #5 Venus Williams #6 Victoria Azarenka #7 Elena Dementieva #8 Agnieszka Radwanska #9 Jelena Jankovic #10 Na Li

Tourney pages: Miami: 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Key Biscayne 2009: #11 Victoria Azarenka 5'10" 132lb RH 2H-BH Key Biscayne 2009: #1 Serena Williams 5' 9" 135lb RH 2H-BH Key Biscayne 2009: 3rd WTA Singles Title 1st Premier/Tier I Title

    The Miami draws are not yet available as of this writing (in 2008, the qualifying draws for this tourney were posted on the Sunday before the start of play, and main draws were posted on Monday). The links are above for your convenience when the draws become available.
    In 2010 main draw play at Key Biscayne will being on Tuesday, March 23; in previous years main draw play began on Wednesday.

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  Miami, 2009:

    On Saturday at Key Biscayne, in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open, 19-year-old 11th-seeded # 11 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus (residence: Scottsdale, Arizona), won the biggest victory of her career by handily defeating the the 2002, '03, '04, '07 & '08 Miami champion, 27-year-old top-seeded # 1 Serena Williams from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, 6-3, 6-1 (photos shown).

    Victoria's prize is $700,000; Serena's is $350,000. On Monday, Victoria's WTA ranking will rise to # 8, the highest of her career. Serena will remain at # 1.

    Victoria converted 5 of 12 break points against Serena—Serena converted only 1 of 4 break points against Victoria. Serena also put only 49% of her 1st serves in the box (Victoria: 67%), and Victoria scored on 72% of Serena's 2nd serves.

    Victoria said: "I was just so happy to finish that match, because I was getting a little bit nervous in the end... I was getting overexcited of winning the match, because here is the match point. I think, "Yeah, okay, I got it now," and then [Serena] plays a good shot or I make a double fault. So just after the second one, I thought that I have to put first serve in, because it was tough serving with the sun, and I just had to keep going the same way no matter what." postmatch interview

    Serena was troubled by left ankle and right thigh strains. Serena said: "It was hurting probably in my quarterfinal, and it just progressively got worse... It was a little difficult moving to the left and a little bit to the right. A little forward was also difficult [laughter].

    "I think [Victoria has] really, really improved. I actually look forward to playing her again... She's an all-round good player. It actually makes my feel good, because it makes me want to do better and work harder." postmatch interview

    Serena is entered in next week's Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella, Spain, and in the following week's Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina. But, Serena said: "I should probably take a couple weeks off. I don't know. We'll see."

    Serena still leads Victoria 2-1 in career matches, but in their most recent meeting, in the 4th round of the Australian Open, Serena won 3-6, 4-2 retired, when Victoria, who won the 1st set, could not continue due to stomach illness.

    Victoria is now 3-4 in WTA singles finals; she won first title in Brisbane in January, and her second in Memphis in February. Vika has a 23-2 match record this year.

    10-time Grand Slam tourney champion Serena, this year's Australian Open champion, is now 33-13 in WTA singles finals; she won the US Open last year, and also won titles at Charleston, Bangalore & Miami. Serena is 21-3 in 2009.

    About her prize money, Victoria said: "I can spend it in one day."

Miami player's blog by Lisa Raymond
2009 Sony Ericsson Open photos by IHeartMasha - 2009 Sony Ericsson Open photos by tlaenPix
2009 Sony Ericsson Open YouTube videos by IHeartMasha

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WTA SCOREBOARD: The Sony Ericsson Open at Key Biscayne (Miami) s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Sony Ericsson Open,  Miami, Florida   NWS weather radar tourney time:        = GMT -4 hours        = US EDT        = US PDT +3 hours Miami news Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar   click for broader view   Tennis Center at Crandon Park - Park map Lat.: 25.708962 Long.: -116.304295 goto link for World Wind     Miami: The main draw for this 96-player, two week, seven round tourney has 32 seeds, with 32 1st-round byes. There are 12 qualifiers and 8 wild cards in the main draw. Qualifying (2 rounds) is on Monday & Tuesday.     Main draw play begins on Wednesday, at 10am on the outer courts, 11am on the Stadium and Grandstand courts. 2009: On Tuesday, March 24, Venus Williams, who won the first of her three Miami titles in 1998 by defeating Anna Kournikova 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, stopped traffic on Ocean Drive by playing tennis against Andy Murray from the top of a car... Meanwhile, Ana Ivanovic played a little golf at Crandon Park with Rafael Nadal... 2009: Players alerting the media on Wednesday, March 25, included 2009 Indian Wells champ Vera Zvonareva, 2002, '03, '04, '07 & '08 Miami champ Serena Williams, 1998, '99 & 2001 Miami champ Venus Williams (whose new haircut is not only more aerodynamic, but also makes her look more like Rod "ChooChoo" Carew, which might be useful if she has a chance to steal second), 2008 finalist Jelena Jankovic, Dinara Safina, row 2: Ana Ivanovic, and Elena Dementieva... 2009: JJ attended a Miami Heat game on Monday... On Wednesday, Na Li visited Miami's Jungle Park, and endeavored to set a parrot perching record... On Thursday, Maria Sharapova, her right shoulder still no go due to a rotator cuff tendon tear, signed autographs... 2009: Darned good looking healthy young ladies at the players party on Wed, Mar 25, included Dominika Cibulkova, Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki, row 2: Mary Joe Fernandez, Maria Sharapova, Anastasia Pivovarova, & Jelena Jankovic... 2009: Jie Zheng was among the ladies arriving for the player awards on Thursday; awards for 2008 were issued to Dinara Safina (Most Improved), Elena Dementieva (Sportsmanship), Caroline Wozniacki (Newcomer), Ana Ivanovic (Humanitarian), Jie (Comeback Player), and Cara Black & Liezel Huber (Doubles Team); Serena Williams won Player of the Year, but did not make the photo op...

Miami, 1st Rd, Tue-Wed 10am loser's prize: $7,050; points: 5 full entry list, seeds will be based on the March 15 rankings (same as March 8, shown), projected seeds shown #1 s1 Serena Williams USA #2 s2 Dinara Safina RUS #3 s3 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS #4 s4 Caroline Wozniacki DEN #5 s5 Venus Williams USA #6 s6 Victoria Azarenka BLR #7 s7 Elena Dementieva RUS #8 s8 Agnieszka Radwanska POL #9 s9 Jelena Jankovic SRB #10 s10 Na Li CHN #11 s11 Samantha Stosur AUS #12 s12 Flavia Pennetta ITA #13 s13 Maria Sharapova RUS #14 s14 Vera Zvonareva RUS #15 s15 Yanina Wickmayer BEL #16 s16 Marion Bartoli FRA #17 s17 Kim Clijsters BEL #18 s18 Francesca Schiavone ITA #19 s19 Nadia Petrova RUS #20 s20 Shahar Peer ISR #21 s21 Aravane Rezai FRA #22 s22 Daniela Hantuchova SVK #23 s23 Jie Zheng CHN #24 s24 Alona Bondarenko UKR #25 s25 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS #26 s26 Sabine Lisicki GER #27 s27 Alisa Kleybanova RUS #28 s28 Ana Ivanovic SRB #29 s29 Dominika Cibulkova SVK #30 s30 Agnes Szavay HUN #31 s31 Elena Vesnina RUS #33 s32 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP #34 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP #35 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN #36 Maria Kirilenko RUS #37 Gisela Dulko ARG #38 Virginie Razzano FRA #39 Lucie Safarova CZE #40 Sorana Cirstea ROU #41 Melanie Oudin USA #42 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP #43 Vera Dushevina RUS #44 Andrea Petkovic GER #45 Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ #46 Melinda Czink HUN #47 Sybille Bammer AUT #48 Patty Schnyder SUI #49 Sara Errani ITA #50 Olga Govortsova BLR #51 Alexandra Dulgheru ROU #52 Polona Hercog SLO #53 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK #54 Timea Bacsinszky SUI #55 Tathiana Garbin ITA #56 Shuai Peng CHN #57 Roberta Vinci ITA #58 Iveta Benesova CZE #59 Ekaterina Makarova RUS #61 Petra Kvitova CZE #62 Kimiko Date Krumm JPN #64 Stefanie Voegele SUI #67 Lucie Hradecka CZE #69 Julia Goerges GER #70 Anna Chakvetadze RUS #71 Alberta Brianti ITA #72 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE #73 Kristina Barrois GER #76 Vania King USA #81 Ioana Raluca Olaru ROU #80 Alizé Cornet FRA #89 Urszula Radwanska POL #92 Kaia Kanepi EST #123 sr55 Anne Keothavong GBR #179 sr59 Tamira Paszek AUT #411 sr20 Katarina Srebotnik SLO #NR sr72 Ashley Harkleroad USA #NR wc Justine Henin BEL + 7 more wild cards and 12 qualifiers next in; or in the qualifying draw: #85 Julie Coin FRA #82 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS #83 Jill Craybas USA #78 Tatjana Malek GER #63 Anastasija Sevastova LAT #77 Kirsten Flipkens BEL #75 Petra Martic CRO

Miami, 2nd Rd, Thu-Fri 10am loser's prize: $11,500; points: 50

Miami, 3rd Rd, Sat-Sun 10am loser's prize: $18,740; points: 80

Miami, 4th Rd, Mon 11am loser's prize: $32,000; points: 140

Miami, QFs, Tue-Wed 11am loser's prize: $64,700; points: 250

Miami, SFs, Thu 1pm & 9pm loser's prize: $150,000; points: 450

Miami, Final, Sat, 12:30pm loser's prize: $350,000; points: 700 winner's prize: $700,000; points: 1000

Miami, Doubles Final, Sun after ATP singles final, 1pm losers' prize: $118,500 winners' prize: $237,000 Miami, Qualifying Finals, Tue Mar 23 10am losers' prizes: q1 $1,050 1pt; q2 $2,100 20pts; qualifier 30 points Miami, Withdrawals #32 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR knee injury #60 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER #84 Sania Mirza IND right wrist injury

    (Apr 2, 2009) Second Fiddle: In the first four rounds of the Sony Ericsson Open, about two-thirds to three quarters of the matches played on the show courts each day were ATP (in the later rounds things even up, because there are not enough ATP matches to fill the show courts). As of Wednesday, of the 47 interview transcripts posted at the SEO website, 19 have been WTA (including Larry Scott), and 28 have been ATP. Considering that the principal sponsor of this tourney is the WTA's title sponsor, it makes a joke of the concept of equal treatment for the ladies.

See also: QuickShop: Sporting Goods - Martina Hingis - Anna Kournikova

Current WTA Results & Tennis News (tennis home page) - 2010 WTA Schedule with links & photos

Link to many postmatch interview & match highlight videos of WTA players at the 2009 WTA Player Videos page.

WTA PhotoRankings: the current top 20 Women's Tennis rankings with player photos, links, and bio info.