19 year old Victoria Azarenka of Belarus defeated Serena Williams to win her first Sony Ericsson Open title yesterday in Miami. Serena was injured and not completely on top of her game. Azarenka took the match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.

This would have been Serena’s sixth victory in Miami, as well as the chance to break Steffi Graf’s record of 5 singles titles at this tournament. She barely missed the record! Man, that’s got to hurt a little. It sounds like Serena wasn’t too hard on herself about the match. She was injured after all.
“I gave the effort that …read more

Andy Murray has defeated Novak Djokovic at the Sony Ericsson Open today in Miami. FL. He grabbed the title with a 6-2, 7-5 win. It was an unexpected win and was one fun match to watch. Murray was the first Brit to win this title.
Djokovic seemed to be a little confused in the second set and it was Murray’s to win.
The best example of that was the penultimate game of the second set today, in which Murray broke Djokovic in a way that was both unexpected and mortifying. Djokovic, playing spectator at his own execution, lost four straight points, at …read more

Roger Federer is in the semifinals at the Sony Ericsson Open after defeating Andy Roddick 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Last year, when the two met at the quarterfinals in Key Biscayne, Roddick defeated Federer. Not this year!

“I didn’t really catch a break there,” Roddick said. “At least it became a battle.”
Federer acknowledged how difficult it can be to play Roddick in the states.
“A nail-biter,” Federer said. “I was under pressure there. I was serving at a high percentage, but I didn’t think I was playing incredible tonight. Andy’s always tough to play here in the States. He had great crowd …read more

Well, I wasn’t really expecting it, but Nikolay Davydenko steam-rolled Rafael Nadal in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open 6-4, 6-2.
Actually, it was a clinic on Davydenko’s part. Nadal didn’t ever really get his feet under him, and he didn’t know what to do with Davydenko’s cross-court winners. They had a wicked slice and a lot of speed. I wouldn’t have known what to do either.
I always pull for Rafa, but he didn’t act like he cared a whole lot out there today. I think he’s ready for the clay court season, and that’s what he wants to focus …read more

Jelena Jankovic managed to fight back and win the second set to force the third and, after being down 5-0, won the next three games but Serena Williams squelched Jankovic’s comeback try to repeat as the defending champion at the Sony Ericsson Open.
Serena stormed to a one set lead, winning the first 6-1 but Jankovic battled back to win the second 7-5 before losing 6-3 in the third set.
I was able to watch part of this match on television and Serena looks good. Her tennis game is fully switched into the On position, her fitness is better than I’ve seen …read more

Beating Roger Federer doesn’t do much good if you can’t follow it up with another victory. Andy Roddick squandered his breakthrough victory over Federer by losing to Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets at the Sony Ericsson Open. I guess that’s what happens when you’re still reeling from an emotional victory 24 hours earlier.
Davydenko had fallen in the last five meetings with Roddick, but he gave Roddick a dose of his own medicine and advanced to the final where Rafael Nadal awaits.
Remember when every tournament Roger played in there was only one spot in the final to fight for because the …read more

I think it’s officially arrived: Roger Federer no longer dominates the game of tennis. He’s been off-and-on and shaky all year but today’s loss made it true for me today.
Andy Roddick finally avenged his dismal record against the world number one and pulled off a three-set (7-6, 4-6, 6-3) victory in his 12th try at the Big Dude who should now be referred to as the big dude. Lowercase = less emphasis.
“I came in knowing that nobody has beaten me 12 times in a row,” said Roddick to the crowd. “So I had that on my side.”
Nice, tennis A-Rod.
I just …read more

I was hanging on every updated point in the Rafael Nadal/James Blake quarterfinal when the game tracker punked out. It quit. Everytime I clicked on it – and believe me, it was a lot – I got an error message that said the “HTML can not be displayed.” HTML my butt, where’s my tennis scores!?!
However, the world – and tennis – marches on even when I’m not watching. Nadal came from a set down to squash Blake’s hopes for the second time in as many meetings. The first three meetings between the two went in favor of Blake.
 Nadal talked a …read more

Competition is truckin’ along down in Miami, and the biggest news so far today is Serena Williams’ upset of Justine Henin. Williams dominated the world number one. And when I say dominated, I mean – well – dominated. 6-2, 6-0 – game, set, match Williams.
I didn’t get to see the match, but it doesn’t sound like it was anything worth watching anyway. Oddly enough, when I watch sports, I like to see some stiff competition. The rivalry between Henin and Williams is usually just that – a rivalry. Henin had won the last three meetings, all of them at Grand …read more

I suppose the biggest news today is that Lindsay Davenport rolled Ana Ivanovic in straight sets in Miami today.
I don’t sound incredibly enthusiastic about that, do I? Let me try again.
Storming back from mommy-hood, Lindsay Davenport put on a stunning display of tennis in her straight-set win over world number two Ana Ivanovic…amazing!
Hmm – yeah – not really my style.
Also moving on in the women’s draw was top-ranked Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Jelena Jankovic, Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova. And it’s also hot in Miami. I’m a little jealous considering it’s still snowing in the Pacific Northwest.