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
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
RSS