Suarez Navarro Defeats Andrea Petkovic to Reach Miami Open Final

Carla Suarez Navarro is heading into the top 10 in the WTA world rankings…

The 26-year-old Spanish tennis player defeated Germany’s Andrea Petkovic in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, on Thursday to reach the final of the Miami Open.

Carla Suarez Navarro

With the win, Suarez Navarro, who is now poised to break into the top 10 in the world rankings, has become the first Spanish woman in more than two decades to reach the final at the Crandon Park Tennis Center.

The last Spaniard to play for the trophy at the Miami Open was two-time champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 1993. The Spaniard beat Steffi Graf in that final.

Suarez Navarro, who defeated Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, now faces another Williams: seven-time Miami Open winner Serena Williams.

Williams is bidding to win a third straight Miami title and has won her last 17 matches at the venue.

Suarez Navarro, who honed her game in the Canary Islands, came out on top in a loose match, combining with Petkovic for nearly 60 unforced errors in less than 90 minutes on court.

Suarez Navarro converted three of her 10 break point opportunities and was never in serious trouble.

“I played a good match, an important match like this is difficult,” said the winner. “I just tried to play my game and enjoy it.

“Playing this final is an important event for me. I train in the off season in hopes of playing a final like this,” added the Spaniard, whose only WTA title came in Portugal last year.

“I am playing good, I’m playing good matches here.”

Suarez Navarro Outlasts Venus Williams to Reach the Miami Open Semifinals

It’s an out-of-this-world win for Carla Suarez Navarro

The 26-year-old Spanish tennis player has stalled Venus Williams‘ recent resurgence in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, beating the former WTA World No. 1.

Carla Suarez Navarro

Suarez Navarro, the tournament’s No. 12 seed defeated Williams 0-6, 6-1, 7-5 on Tuesday.

Williams, 34, was broken six times in the final two sets and double-faulted twice in the final game.

“Too many errors, and I was going for it the whole match,” Williams said. “Toward the end, I just never found the happy medium between being aggressive and putting the ball in the court.”

Earlier Tuesday, Andrea Petkovic became the first semifinalist at the Miami Open when she beat Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 6-2.

Petkovic, seeded ninth, arrived at Key Biscayne with a modest 7-6 record this year but has yet to lose a set. She will next face Suarez Navarro on Thursday.

Suarez Navarro Upsets Maria Sharapova at Rogers Cup

Carla Suarez Navarro has evened her record against Maria Sharapova.

The 25-year-old Spanish tennis player upset Sharapova in the third round at the Rogers Cup in Montreal to level their head-to-head record 1-1.

Carla Suarez Navarro

Navarro, the No 14 seed, beat the French Open champion in a hard-fought three-set match, 6-2 4-6 6-2, during their third round clash despite a second-set fightback from Sharapova and a nerve-testing final-set rain delay.

Sharapova was playing her first event since a surprise fourth-round exit at Wimbledon and has now suffered another setback ahead of the US Open.

Suarez Navarro raced through the first set and went a break up in the second, but Sharapova reeled off four straight games to level the match.

The Spaniard responded by edging ahead in the decider and although the rain break gave the underdog plenty of time to think about the situation, on the resumption Sharapova failed to mount a comeback.

Sharapova committed a grand total of 49 unforced errors during the match.

Muguruza Named the No. 27 Seed at This Year’s Wimbledon

It’s another first for Garbine Muguruza

The 20-year-old half-Spanish-half-Venezuelan tennis player, who reached her first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinals at the French Open earlier this month, has been seeded No. 27 at this year’s Wimbledon.

Garbine Muguruza

All eyes will certainly be on Muguruza, currently ranked a career-high No. 27 in the world, following her impressive run at Roland Garros. She knocked out No. 1 seed Serena Williams in the second round and was thisclose to taking out eventual winner Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals.

Muguruza, who won her first WTA tournament title at Australia’s Hobart Internationaltournament in January, will be competing for the second time at the All England Club. At last year’s Wimbledon, she lost in the second round to No. 25 seed Ekaterina Makarova 2-6, 7-6, 4-6.

But Muguruza isn’t the only Latina to earn a seed at this year’s Wimbledon.

Fellow French Open quarterfinalist Carla Suárez Navarro, who reached the women’s doubles semifinals with Muguruza at Roland Garros this year, is seeded No. 15 by the All England Club.

She reached the fourth round at the grass-court tournament last year, her best showing at Wimbledon. The then No. 19 seed lost to No. 8 seed Petra Kvitová 6-7, 3-6.

Tournament officials take a player’s grass-court record into account when assigning the men’s seedings.

Here’s the complete list of seeds (with their world ranking in parenthesis):

Women

1. Serena Williams, United States (1)
2. Li Na, China (2)
3. Simona Halep, Romania (3)
4. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland (4)
5. Maria Sharapova, Russia (5)
6. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic (6)
7. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia (7)
8. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus (8)
9. Angeliq ue Kerber, Germany (9)
10. Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia (10)
11. Ana Ivanovic, Serbia (11)
12. Flavia Pennetta, Italy (12)
13. Eugenie Bouchard, Canada (13)
14. Sara Errani, Italy (14)
15. Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain (15)
16. Caroline Wozniaki, Denmark (16)
17. Samantha Stosur, Australia (17)
18. Sloane Stephens, United States (18)
19. Sabine Lisicki, Germany (19)
20. Andrea Petkovic Germany (20)
21. Roberta Vinci, Italy (21)
22. Ekaterina Makarova, Russia (22)
23. Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic (23)
24. Kirsten Flipkens, Belgium (24)
25. Alize Coronet, France (25)
26. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia (26)
27. Garbine Muguruza, Spain (27)
28. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia (28
29. Sorana Cirstea, Romania (29)
30. Venus Williams, United States (30)
31. Klara Koukalova, Czech Republic (31)
32. Elena Vesnina, Russia (32)

Suarez Navarro Returns to the French Open Quarterfinals for the First Time in Six Years

Carla Suarez Navarro is back in the last eight at Roland Garros for the first time in six years…

In her fourth round match up, the 25-year-old Spanish tennis player beat rising star Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, on Sunday to advance to the French Open quarterfinals.

Carla Suarez Navarro

Suarez Navarro, the tournament’s 14th seed, used her one-handed backhand to subdue the unseeded Tomljanovic, who had knocked out third seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the previous round.

The Spaniard, currently ranked No. 15 in the world, had last reached the final eight at Roland Garros in her very first appearance in 2008.

She prevailed on her second match point when Tomljanovic netted a forehand.

She’ll next play Eugenie Bouchard, the 18th seed.

Suarez Navarro Wins Her First-Ever WTA Singles Title at the Portugal Open

Carla Suarez Navarro is no longer a bridesmaid…

The 25-year-old Spanish tennis player has won her first career WTA singles title, taking the winner’s trophy after a hard-fought women’s final at the Portugal Open.

Carla Suarez Navarro

Suarez Navarro, currently ranked No. 16 in the world, outlasted Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to hold up the winner’s prize.

The Spaniard had lost her previous five WTA singles finals, including last year’s tournament in Oeiras, where she lost to another Russian player, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 5-7, 2-6.

Muguruza Storms Into Brazil Cup Semifinals

Garbine Muguruza is one step closer to reaching the Brazilian Cup finals…

The 20-year-old Venezuelan-Spanish rising tennis star defeated qualifier Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-3 to reach the semifinals at the tournament taking place in Florianopolis, Brazil.

Garbine Muguruza

Muguruza, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, will next will play Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, who defeated sixth-seeded Alexandra Cadantu of Romania 6-3, 6-3.

In January, Muguruza defeated former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki at the Australian Open to reach her first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, top-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro advanced to the Brazil Cup semifinals Thursday after No. 5-seeded Monica Niculescu of Romania retired with an apparent right ankle injury.

Niculescu had been struggling to move around the court and at one point lost eight games in a row before pulling out while trailing the Spaniard 4-6, 6-0, 4-1.

The 15th-ranked Navarro will now play third-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic.

Suarez Navarro Reaches the Quarterfinals at the Brazil Cup

Carla Suarez Navarro is still in the hunt at the Brazil Cup

The 25-year-old Spanish tennis player, the tournaments top seed, defeated Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens 6-3, 7-6 (2) to reach the quarterfinals of the Brazil Cup on Wednesday.

Carla Suarez Navarro

Both players broke serve twice in the final set, but Navarro dominated in the tiebreak to finish out the match in 1 hour, 45 minutes. The match was briefly interrupted in the second set because of rain.

Navarro will face fifth-seeded Monica Niculescu of Romania, who beat qualifier Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-3, 6-1.

Third-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, trying to reach her third final this year, cruised into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over French qualifier Alize Lim.

Zakopalova, runner up at last week’s Rio Open, will face Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania, who defeated Brazilian Teliana Pereira 7-5, 6-2.

Suarez Navarro Defeats Klara Zakopalova to Lead Spain the Lead Over the Czech Republic in the Fed Cup Quarterfinals

Carla Suarez Navarro could return home to a hero’s welcome…

The 25-year-old Spanish tennis player rallied from one set down to beat Klara Zakopalova 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, giving Spain a 2-1 lead over the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals as their postponed Fed Cup series picked up on Monday.

Carla Suarez Navarro

Suarez overcame a poor start to beat a tiring opponent as Zakopalova was forced to come out earlier Monday to finish her singles match against Maria Torro-Flor.

Zakopalova won that one 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 to close out a match that had been postponed in the second set on Sunday.

Rain wreaked havoc on the series all weekend but gave way to sun on Monday, though gusty wind played a factor on the clay court.

Silvia Soler-Espinosa can clinch a Spanish victory in the best-of-five series with a singles win over Lucie Safarova in the fourth singles match.

Nadal Named the Top Seed at the Australian Open

It comes as little surprise… But Rafael Nadal has been listed as the top seed at the Australian Open, which gets underway on Monday at Melbourne Park.

The 27-year-old Spanish tennis star, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, recently extended his points lead over Serbia’s Novak Djokovic after clinching the title at the Qatar Open.

Rafael Nadal

Djokovic, the defending champion, is the No. 2-seeded man, followed by David Ferrer, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer at sixth.

The other Latino seeds include Spain’s Nicolas Almagro at No. 13, Spain’s Tommy Robredo at No. 18, Spain’s Feliciano Lopez and No. 27 and Spain’s Fernando Verdasco at No. 32.

On the women’s side, Serena Williams has been made the top seeds at the Australian Open.

Defending champion Victoria Azarenka is No. 2, followed by Maria Sharapova, Li Na, Agnieszka Radwanska and former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in sixth.

The only Latina to earn at ranking at this year’s Australian Open is Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro at No. 16.

The 32 seeds were only altered twice from the rankings, both because of injuries. No. 29-ranked Jurgen Melzer is not playing due to a left shoulder injury and Maria Kirilenko, who would have been seeded 18th, has a left knee injury.