INDIAN WELLS, California – World No.100 Aliaksandra Sasnovich ended Emma Raducanu’s 10-match winning streak on Friday night, defeating the reigning US Open champion 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open. Sasnovich will face 2015 champion Simona Halep for a spot in the Round of 16 on Sunday.
Coming into the second-round duel, Raducanu was riding a 10 match winning streak from her historic title run at the US Open, where she reeled off 20 consecutive sets through qualifying and the main draw to become the first British woman to win a major since Virginia Wade in 1977. In contrast, Sasnovich, who reached a career-high No.30 in 2018, had just one Top 50 victory in a completed match this season.
Yet despite her sub-par 2021 season, the Belarusian has a proven track record of being a seed-slaying danger in the early rounds of big events. The 27-year-old had already notched 15 Top 20 wins in her career, including victories over Petra Kvitova at 2018 Wimbledon, Elina Svitolina at 2018 Brisbane, and Karolina Pliskova at 2016 Tokyo.
“I saw a few matches of her when she played US Open and Wimbledon as well,” Sasnovich said. “She’s really a talented girl. She has a strong forehand, backhand. She tries to be always aggressive.”
“It was a really good match for me. I play really well. I know she just won US Open. I lost there in the first round. So a little bit different. But I tried to go on court, I tried to enjoy. I did everything right and I’m happy with the result, of course.”
Raducanu started the match right where she left off in New York, coolly reeling off the first six points with clean first-strike tennis. With both players looking to play offensive tennis, Sasnovich weathered the early surge and began to find consistent depth off the baseline. The Belarusian broke first to open up a 3-1 lead and broke the Raducanu serve again for a 5-2 lead, closing the opening set after 30 minutes.
Both players tallied 8 winners apiece in the first set, but Sasnovich was far cleaner, hitting just 4 unforced errors compared to Raducanu’s 12. She was also the more opportunistic, converting both her break point chances while never giving the Brit a look to break her serve once.
Sasnovich broke after a prolonged opening game of the second set, breaking through on her fourth break point of the game to gain the immediate advantage. But Raducanu dug in and refused to let Sasnovich run away with the match. The Brit earned her first break point of the match in the very next game and broke immediately to level at 1-1.
Raducanu continued to pressure the Sasnovich serve from there. Sasnovich was able to save three break points to hold to 2-2, but Raducanu broke again, this time from 0-40, to lead 4-2.
Turning Point: Raducanu’s lead would be short-lived. After battling back from a break down to lead 4-2 in the second set, Raducanu played a poor game to fall behind a quick 0-40. She did well to find two big first serves to close the gap to 30-40, but netted a regulation backhand to hand back her hard-earned break advantage.
Sasnovich seized the moment and wrenched back the momentum from there, breaking Raducanu for a fifth time to 5-4 and then serving out the match for a straight-set win after 1 hour and 25 minutes.
Stat of the Match: Sasnovich kept the pressure on Raducanu’s serve all night by taking advantage of the Brit’s second serve. While the two were fairly comparable in their success rates against the first serve, Sasnovich won 76.2% of her second serve return points, while Raducanu won 57.1%. Her ability to pressure Raducanu’s serve earned 11 break points for the match, while Raducanu generated 5.
Sasnovich finished the match as the cleaner player off the ground. She fired 17 winners to just 19 unforced errors, while Raducanu hit 15 winners to 31 unforced errors.
Photo by WTA/Jimmie48
Petra Kvitova win sets up showdown with Victoria Azarenka
No.7 seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic moved into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open for the seventh time in her career with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands.
In the first meeting between the two veteran left-handers, Kvitova weathered a closely-contested patch in the early second set to earn a comprehensive victory in an hour and 16 minutes.
Kvitova swept to an initial 4-0 lead and claimed the first set in half an hour, but World No.68 Rus picked up her play as the second set started. The Dutchwoman forced Kvitova into a six-deuce game at 1-0, then saved four break points to hold for a 2-1 lead.
Kvitova, though, used her thunderous forehand return to obtain a critical break for 3-2, and the Czech charged to the win from there, picking off the last five games of the match.
Kvitova will next face No.27 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, in an intriguing face-off between two-time Grand Slam champions. Kvitova leads the head-to-head 5-3.
Leylah Fernandez wins her Indian Wells debut
Making her main draw debut, US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez defeated Alizé Cornet 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the third round, where she will face No.9 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Seeded No.23, Fernandez played unrelenting tennis to reel off the first five games of the match before Cornet pulled back two games. Showing no signs of rust, Fernandez fired 24 winners to 16 unforced errors in her first match since New York.
“It does give me a lot of confidence because Alizé, she’s a very tough opponent,” Fernandez said. “I’ve watched her play on tour. She fights for every point. I’ve practiced with her, too. We’ve had some tough practice matches. I knew that today was going to be hard.
“I’m just glad I was able to get the win. It gives me confidence moving forward.”
Jessica Pegula stops Sloane Stephens to keep WTA Finals bid going
No.19 seed Jessica Pegula came into Indian Wells at No.14 in the Porsche Race to the WTA Finals and if the American can duplicate her 2021 success at the WTA 1000 level over the fortnight, she could find herself in a qualifying position for the Akron WTA Finals Guadalajara. Facing compatriot Sloane Stephens in her opener, Pegula dominated behind her serve to win 6-2, 6-3.
Pegula won 88% of her first serves and 79% of her second serves to keep Stephens’ dangerous return game at bay. Pegula did not face a break point in the match. Afterward, Pegula was asked to describe her mindset as she enters the season homestretch. She joked that she’s barely holding it together.
“I’m currently, like, gluing my freaking nails on with super glue right now, that’s where I’m at honestly,” Pegula said. “I just spilled stuff on my shirt. This is where I’m at. Last tournament of the year, besides Billie Jean King Cup, I’m starting to lose it.
“No, I had a little kind of not break, but in between US Open and Chicago, I got to reset a little bit. Played a couple of good matches there. Lost to Ons, who has been playing really well. Lost to her in three sets. I came in here feeling pretty confident. I’m getting married on the 22nd. Honestly, I just want to compete really well and kind of go day by day. Really just not give in, just fight, really tough it out.”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
