Victoria Azarenka, Novak Djokovic Are Miami Open Champions - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Novak Djokovic beat Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-3 to win the Miami Open men’s singles in Miami, Florida, USA

Victoria Azarenka beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 6-2 to win the Miami Open women’s singles in Miami, Florida, USA

Evgeny Donskoy beat Ricardas Berankis 6-4 6-4 to win the Israel Open in Raanana, Israel

SAYING

“I have a very special connection to this tournament. In 2007 it was the biggest title I had won in my career. It has been a springboard for everything coming after that. I certainly hope that the love affair continues in the years to come.” – Novak Djokovic, talking to the crowd after winning the Miami Open for the sixth time.

“This just gives me even more inspiration and motivation to keep working harder, because this feels great.” – Victoria Azarenka, who became just the third woman to win both Indian Wells and the Miami Open in the same year.

“She’s at the height of her game now. She’s the one who dominates so far, but the year is long.” – Svetlana Kuznetsova, after losing to Victoria Azarenka in the Miami Open final.

“There are good players who can shock top players and it is quite open, but you have to see how Serena will go to clay. You never know. If she’s in good mood, not good mood, good fit, not fit, you never know. When Serena is her best, it’s tough.” – Victoria Azarenka.

“Winning last week in Indian Wells was already fantastic but winning back-to-back, Indian Wells and here, it’s maybe too much.” – Nicolas Mahut, who teamed with Pierre-Hugues Herbert to do just that.

“It’s a dream come true for us to be playing at this level of doubles.” – Pierre-Hugues Hebert.

“I have plenty of energy and lots of motivation for the beginning of the clay court season that ends up, hopefully, with a crown in Paris (Roland Garros in June). That’s obviously one of the top goals each year, but I’m not the only one that wants to win that big trophy.” – Novak Djokovic.

“I missed the Slams. That’s why you play tennis: to put yourself up against the best on the biggest state. That was always the time of year when I missed tennis the most.” – Brian Baker, talking about missing most of his career while undergoing 11 surgeries.

“From some reliable sources I know the tournament will stay here for many years to come. I don’t think we need to have a conversation about moving this tournament anywhere else.” – Novak Djokovic, dispatching rumors that the Miami Open may move from its Key Biscayne location.

SUPER NOVAK

Novak Djokovic lost his first serve in the Miami Open final. He was just teasing the crowd and his opponent, Japan’s Kei Nishikori. Eighty-five minutes after the match began, Djokovic has clobbered Nishikori and proved once again he is the best in the world. It was the Serb’s sixth Miami Open title – tying him with Andre Agassi – and the 63^rd title of his career. It was his fourth title of 2016 –the Australian Open, Qatar and Indian Wells – his fourth straight Masters 1000 title and a record 28^th in the nine tournaments considered just a step below the four Grand Slam events, breaking the record he shared with Rafael Nadal. He swept Indian Wells and the Miami Open for the third consecutive year. “First set was a real battle, but towards the end of the first set I started serving better … which means a lot in matches like this against top players,” Djokovic said. Nishikori was seeded sixth, but he was outclassed in all facets of the game. Djokovic also posted his 714^th career victory, moving him past his coach, Boris Becker, and into 11^th place in the Open era. “That’s the most important fact,” Djokovic joked. The Serb said his first Miami win in 2007 was the key to his career. “It gave me a lot of confidence, a lot of self-belief that I can finally win these big tournaments, finally beat the top players,” Djokovic said. “Every year I come back to this tournament I get goose bumps from those days. I was still 19 years old and making my way to the top.”

SHOWING WHO’S BEST

Victoria Azarenka is making huge strides toward returning to the top of the women’s rankings. A two-time Grand Slam tournament champion, Azarenka beat Svetlana Kuznetsova to become only the third woman to win both Indian Wells and the Miami Open in the same year. Kim Clijsters was the last to do so, in 2005, while Steffi Graf did it in both 1994 and 1996. “It’s an honor to stand next to those amazing champions,” Azarenka said of the feat. The champion didn’t drop a set in her six matches as she won the hard court tournament for the third time, but her first since 2011. Kuznetsova only held serve twice, and hit just eight winners to 23 for Azarenka. Once ranked number one in the world, Azarenka dropped out of the top 30 in 2014 with foot and thigh injuries. She is back in the top five in this week’s rankings. Azarenka improved her 2016 match record to 22-1, her only loss coming to Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. The top-ranked woman, Serena Williams, lost to Azarenka in Indian Wells and to Kuznetsova in Miami.

STAYING PUT

Tournament officials have been mum about the future of the Miami Open. Not Novak Djokovic. After winning the tournament for a sixth time, Djokovic announced the tournament was remaining in Key Biscayne. “I don’t know how much you follow the stories about the tournament moving,” he said. “I assure you it’s going to stay here for a long time.” There has been speculation that the tournament could move to Orlando, Florida, USA, to South America or to China. That’s because the facilities at Key Biscayne have not been kept up. Miami-Dade County owns the site but has been blocked by legal rulings from making improvements. “From some reliable sources I know the tournament will stay here for many years to come,” Djokovic said. “I don’t think we need to have a conversation about moving this tournament anywhere else.”

SET FOR PLAYOFFS

Daria Gavrilova will play for her adopted home when Australia plays host to the United States in the Fed Cup World Group playoffs next month. Born in Russia, Gavrilova received her Australian citizenship in November. However, her participation was initially blocked because of a new ITF rule that requires players to be citizens for at least two years before representing their new countries. Gavrilova appealed the ruling because she was already eligible to play for Australian when the new regulations were announced last year. Australian captain Alicia Molik said Gavrilova will be the team’s second singles player behind Samantha Stosur.

SIDELINED

It’s her home tournament, but Agnieszka Radwanska pulled out of the Katowice Open because of a shoulder injury. Ranked second in the world, Radwanska lost in the fourth round of the Miami Open to Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky. The Polish star has now decided to rest in order to return to the tour completely fit. With Radwanska sidelined, the top seed in the Polish hard court tournament will be Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

SPECIAL PAIR

It’s quickly becoming habit forming. Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert followed up their Indian Wells triumph by capturing the Miami Open men’s doubles title, beating American Rajeev Ram and South African Raven Klaasen. The French pair became the first team to win the two hard-court events consecutively since American twins Bob and Mike Bryan did it in 2014. “It’s a dream come true for us to be playing at this level of doubles,” Herbert said. The Frenchmen have now won 10 consecutive matches and four tour-level titles as a team.

SUCCESSFUL TEAM

It didn’t take long for American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic to regain that winning touch. The two won the Australian and French Opens last year as they became one of the top doubles teams on the WTA circuit. But Safarova’s battle for fitness forced the two to part ways at the beginning of this year. When they reunited in Miami, it was as if their partnership had never split. They broke their opponents’ serve five times in beating Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova in the Miami Open title match. Mattek-Sands wasn’t waiting for Safarova, however. She won Indian Wells with Coco Vandeweghe and now joins Martina Hingis and Natasha Zvereva as the third woman to win both events in the same year.

SKIPPING A WEEK

Bob Greene is currently vacationing in Puerto Rico. There will be no column next week, but will return on April 18.

SHARED PEFORMANCES

Miami (men): Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut beat Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 5-7 6-1 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Miami (women): Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova beat Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3 6-4

Raanana: Konstantin Kravchuk and Denys Molchanov beat Jonathan Erlich and Philipp Oswald 4-6 7-6 (1) 10-4 (match tiebreak)

SURFING

Houston: www.mensclaycourt.com/

Marrakech: www.gphassan2tennis.com/

Katowice: http://katowiceopen.com/pl

Charleston: www.volvocaropen.com/

Guadeloupe: www.open-guadeloupe.com/