Rain again spoiled the Miami Open party on Wednesday, wiping out the evening session and adding to what has been a soggy and dejecting kickoff to a tournament looking for a new start.
A move from the cramped Crandon Park on picturesque Key Biscayne to the wide open spaces at Hard Rock Stadium was hoped to provide the Miami Open with a bright future.
However, so far dark storm clouds have cast a wet shadow over proceedings.
Prior to the start of the tournament, officials had boasted of a 25 percent jump in ticket sales, but the stands have been mostly empty through two days, with only one of four sessions completed.
Organizers have now been left with a backlog of matches to schedule and refunds to send out.
Canadian teen sensation Bianca Andreescu, who claimed a stunning victory at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday, was to be the headliner on the opening day, but never made it onto the 13,800-seat stadium court to face Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu.
Following a ceremonial ribbon-cutting earlier in the day under sunny skies involving Serena Williams, Roger Federer and world No. 1s Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic, action got underway with three-time Miami champion Victoria Azarenka defeating Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to christen the venue.
All of the 29-year-old Belarussian’s titles were celebrated at Crandon Park, but the move to the Miami suburbs did not have any affect on Azarenka, as the two-time Australian Open champion pounded 41 winners past her Slovak opponent.
“I think the stadium is beautiful. I think the logistics here work out pretty well,” former world No. 1 Azarenka said. “I feel the expansion of the tournament was, first of all, really necessary.”
“There is a lot more room. There is a lot better facilities. So I’m pretty happy,” she said.
Before the rain began, 17-year-old American Amanda Anisimova gave the small crowd something to cheer about as she romped into the second round with 6-4, 6-3 victory over Germany’s Andrea Petkovic.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
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