Serena Williams won her eighth Key Biscayne title on Saturday and remained unbeaten this year by drubbing Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-0 in the final of the Miami Open. Williams became the fourth woman to win the same WTA event at least eight times. Martina Navratilova won Chicago 12 times, the most titles by a woman at any tournament. The top-ranked Williams claimed her second title this year. She won her 19th Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open in January, and has now won 12 consecutive finals.
Williams improved to 18-0 this year. She withdrew before the Indian Wells semifinal last month with a knee injury but quickly recovered. Williams is 73-7 at Key Biscayne, where she has won her past 18 matches. On Friday, two hours before the Miami Open men’s semifinal, Novak Djokovic practiced his returns in an empty stadium, the ball coming at him quickly because his hitting partner stood several feet inside the baseline to emulate big-serving John Isner. The drill helped. Djokovic achieved a breakthrough service break against Isner and won on Friday night, 7-6 (3), 6-2. “He’s probably the best server we have in the game,” Djokovic said. “But I managed to get a lot of serves back. That was one of the keys in the match, making him play and getting into the rally and making him work extra.” The No. 1-seeded Djokovic closed to within one win of his fifth Key Biscayne title. His opponent Sunday will be two-time champion Andy Murray, who defeated Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4.
He actually out served the 6-foot-10 American, totaling 10 aces to nine for Isner, and never faced a break point. A taut, one-hour opening set created plenty of drama for the capacity crowd. Isner held despite several long service games and erased the only break point he faced late in the set, but he won just two of five points on his serve in the pivotal tiebreaker. Djokovic’s first break gave him a 2-1 edge in the second set, and that margin grew to 5-1. “I needed to step in and use those opportunities,” Djokovic said. The No. 3-seeded Murray played almost flawless tennis against No. 8 Berdych, extending points with scrambling defense until the Czech would finally make a mistake. Murray fell behind love-30 serving in the final game but rallied and smacked winners on the final four points, including a nifty forehand volley and cross-court backhand.
Sania, Hingis reach final
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis are in line to win their second title in a row as they breezed into the final of the Miami Open with a straight sets win over Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic. The top seeded Indo-Swiss pair got the better of seventh seeds 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals. In the final, they will take on Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.