In the Federation Cup semifinals played in Birmingham, after the U.S. and Russia split the first two rubbers, Melanie Oudin started out the day with a loss.  Elena Dementieva  defeated Oudin 7-6,0-6,6-3 to put Russia ahead 2-1.  An unlikely savior emerged to pull the Americans through. Bethanie Mattek-Sands beat 6-4,2-6,6-3 Ekaterina Makarova in singles.  Then, less than one hour later, Mattek-Sands partnered with Liezel Huber trouncing Alla Kudryavtseva and Dementieva 6-3,6-1 giving the U.S. a 3-2 win over Russia and a berth in the finals.

In the initial match yesterday, after being unsettled in the beginning, Oudin found her game. Oudin took the rubber 6-3,6-3 over Kudryavtseva.  However, in the second tie, Dementieva despite the reappearance of her service woes fought off Mattek-Sands to prevail 6-4, 6-3.

Today, the first rubber featured Dementieva and Oudin.  After each player was broken five consecutive times, each held sending the first set to a tiebreaker.  Dementieva got an initial mini-break, but lost her two service points to give Oudin a 2-1 advantage.  Again at 3 all, Oudin connected on a forehand winner for a mini-break lead.  However, by forcing a string of errors, Dementieva won the next four points to steal the set.

After opening with a service break, Oudin ran away with the second set capturing it at love.  In the decisive third set, Oudin got three successive forehand errors from Dementieva to obtain the break for 2-1.  However, by conversely pressuring Oudin into multiple miscues, Dementieva equalized the set at 2 all.  On the heels of love hold, Dementieva placed a great return thereby provoking an error from Oudin for break point.  When Oudin sliced the backhand into the net, Dementieva went up 4-2.  After dismissing two break points, Dementieva threw in an ace to consolidate for 5-2.  Later, Dementieva closed out the match with a love game to hand Russia a 2-1 lead.

With the U.S. in a must win position, Mattek-Sands faced Makarova in the next match.   After allowing two game points to evaporate and handing the break to Makarova to open the set, Mattek-Sands held serve to keep within striking distance.  With Makarova serving at 4-3, using sensational defense, Mattek-Sands enticed a backhand error from her opponent for double break point.  With a great return followed by a volley winner, Mattek-Sands leveled the set at 4 all.  After wiping out break point and holding, Mattek-Sands erased two game points by Makarova to snatch the set.

Read the full story

One week after being routed by Rafael Nadal in the finals in Monte-Carlo, Fernando Verdasco was all smiles today.  Verdasco prevailed over Robyn Soderling 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the finals of the Barcelona Open BancSabadell, an ATP 500 tournament, for his 5th and mightiest career title.

Following a love opening game, Soderling faced break point his second time out when Verdasco’s return clipped the net and dropped for a winner.  Although Soderling held for 2-1, he was having difficulty getting free points on serve.  A few games later, with a forehand crosscourt winner, Verdasco arrived at triple break point and cashed in when Soderling netted a forehand.  Then, with a second serve ace, the Spaniard consolidated for 5-3.  Next, with Soderling’s backhand down the line miscue, Verdasco had his fourth set point.  The Spaniard sealed the first set with a forehand up the line winner.

By forcing mistakes from Verdasco, Soderling opened the second set with a break.  However, with a couple of nonchalant forehand strokes, Soderling stared at break point.  With a forehand up the line winner, Verdasco got back to 1 all.  After Soderling netted an easy forehand to give Verdasco 30-40, a forehand initially deemed long was reversed.  Soderling won the next three points to equalize the set at 3 all.  Later, with an overhead winner, Soderling arrived at break point.  With Verdasco dumping his backhand into the net, Soderling secured the break for 4-3.  A couple of games down the road, at double set point, Soderling connected on a forehand volley winner to send the match into a third set.

After a comfortable hold by Verdasco, Soderling looked at 0-30.  In part, thanks to Verdasco’s pass clipping the net and sailing long, Soderling eventually held for 1 all.  Still, with two straight backhand errors his second time out, Soderling was again at 0-30.  Subsequently, with another backhand error, Soderling stared at a double break point.  Once again, with a net court going in his favor, Soderling put away a forehand volley to save the first break point.  Yet, with a forehand crosscourt mistake, Soderling handed Verdasco the break for 3-1.  By readily consolidating, Verdasco extended his advantage to 4-2.  Despite Soderling holding easily, Verdasco never allowed him a bite on his service games.  Thus, with Soderling netting a backhand return, Verdasco arrived at double championship point.  As Soderling’s next shot, a backhand, traveled long, Verdasco captured the trophy.  With this victory, Verdasco continues the Spaniards domination of this event with 10 successive wins since 2001.

The doubles team of Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor follow up their triumph in Monte-Carlo by defeating Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Knowles 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 in the finals for their fourth title this season.

With five time defending champion Nadal citing fatigue and opting not to aim for an historic sixth consecutive trophy for the second week in a row, the door was left wide open for the other contestants.  Verdasco, the fifth seed and a wildcard entrant, made the most of his opportunity. Tested in the third round by Jurgen Melzer, after losing the first set, Verdasco took a tiebreaker to push the match to a third set.  After coming through a tough quarterfinal versus Ernests Gulbis, countryman David Ferrer forced Verdasco to carry the last two sets after stealing the first in a tiebreaker.  This represents Verdasco’s third career trophy on clay and his second title this year.  The Spaniard defeated Andy Roddick in San Jose back in February.

By virtue of prevailing in their last four meetings, Samantha Stosur, the 4th  seed and world 11th, was favored to win over Vera Zvonareva seeded 7th and ranked 22nd  in the Family Circle Cup final.  However, Stosur’s 1-6 record in finals left plenty of room for pause.  With ten titles under her belt including one this year, Zvonareva had experience on her side.  Still, Stosur obliterated her prior performances from her mind and crushed Zvonareva 6-0,6-3 to become the first Aussie to conquer Charleston.

With three straight winners, Stosur opened with a love hold.  Following a forehand error by Zvonareva, Stosur had break point.  The Aussie captured the break with an overhead winner.  Then, by culminating another love game with her sixth winner, Stosur took a 3-0 lead.  Following three consecutive errors by Zvonareva, Stosur broke again.  Later, with another forehand winner, Stosur stretched her lead to 5-0.  With two forehand winners and a double fault donation by Zvonareva, Stosur arrived at double set point.  As a result of an error by Zvonareva, Stosur secured d the set.

In her previous matches, Zvonareva had not relinquished a set.  Considering a competitive encounter in Indian Wells last month despite Stosur being triumphant, it seemed a matter of time before Zvonareva struck back and Stosur cooled down. Yet, with a few more winners, Stosur readily held to start the second set.  Then, with a backhand down the line winner, Stosur obtained triple break point.  By converting a forehand down the line winner, Stosur claimed the break.  Subsequently, with an ace to close out a love game, Stosur sprinted to a 3-0 lead.  After two Stosur forehand winners and a double fault, Zvonareva stared at double break point.  Unable to bottle her frustration any longer, Zvonareva erupted by wrecking a racket.  Thereafter, the Russian won the next four point for 1-3.  Momentarily, Zvonareva appeared to have found the antidote to Stosur’s hot hand.  After holding for 2-4, because of a double fault and two forehand mistakes by Stosur, Zvonareva had double break point.  When Stosur sliced a backhand out of play, the players were back on serve.  Undaunted, Stosur resumed her relentless attack.  In forcing a miscue from her rival, Stosur fabricated double break point.  The Aussie followed that up with a forehand down the line winner for 5-3.  Quickly, with a forehand crosscourt winner, Stosur set up triple championship point.  Stosur guaranteed the trophy with a forehand crosscourt winner.

The Family Circle Cup, a WTA premier event, is the second and biggest title of Stosur’s career.  Last season in reaching the semifinals at the French Open, Stosur revealed she is a legitimate competitor on clay.  Even though those at the head of the class when it comes to favorites at the majors, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams were absent from this event; through this victory, Stosur demonstrates she will be a mighty contender this clay season as she climbs back into the top ten.

Making history has become commonplace for Rafael Nadal.  Today, in the finals of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Nadal pulverized Fernando Verdasco 6-0,6-1 to claim his sixth successive title.  Nadal stands as the only person in the open era to accomplish this feat on any surface.

In getting to the finals, Verdasco jumped two huge hurdles. First, he reached his first ATP 1000 Masters final and defeated top seed Novak Djokovic for the first time since 2006.  Yet, Verdasco’s biggest hindrance laid ahead.  With a lifetime mark of 0-9 versus Nadal, Verdasco was searching for his maiden win, moreover on clay.  It was transparent from the initial game that Verdasco chances were bleak.

With three mistakes by Verdasco, Nadal had triple break point to open the match.  When Verdasco’s forehand sailed long, Nadal secured the game.  After Nadal got to 40-15 with an ace, Verdasco smoked two forehand winners for deuce.  However, two points later with an absurd crosscourt backhand pass for a winner, Nadal held for 2-0.  Slightly jaded, Verdasco fell behind 0-40 when Nadal connected on a backhand down the line winner.  Despite three consecutive winners to arrive at deuce, Verdasco surrendered the double break by netting the next two shots.  Verdasco’s suspension in perpetual hell seemed unending as Nadal curled a forehand up the line for break point and later captured the game for 5-0.   At intermission, Verdasco needed medical attention to his neck.  It was most likely tension from being crushed by Nadal’s play than true physical ailment.  When at 40-15 Verdasco’s forehand landed out of play, Nadal carried the set.

Read the full story

In the finals of the MPS Group Championships, Caroline Wozniacki, the top seed and defending champion, terminated Olga Govortsova 6-2, 7-5 for her first title of the year.

After defeating second seed Alona Bondarenko in the first round, Govortsova took care of third seed Dominika Cibulkova in the semifinals. Therefore, Govortsova was hopeful that her third career WTA final would produce her maiden trophy. The problem was that Wozniacki had other intentions.

Govortsova commenced well, breaking Wozniacki to open the match.  However, Wozniacki promptly erased her rival’s lead and under pressure held for 2-1.  Subsequently, with an overhead winner, Wozniacki obtained her second break point of the game.  Caroline converted when Olga netted a backhand.  After salvaging break point, thanks to a few forehand errors by Govortsova, Wozniacki consolidated for 4-1.  The next game despite two double faults and two break points, Govortsova guarded serve to keep in touch at 4-2.  But, down 2-5, Govortsova let a game point evaporate.  Then, with a forehand crosscourt winner off a dropshot, Wozniacki had break point. Wozniacki banked the set when Govortsova committed another error.

By attacking, Govortsova built a substantial lead in the second set.  Two double faults and too many errors by Wozniacki permitted Govortsova to break for 2-1.  Subsequently, the Belarusian sponged over double break point to secure a 3-1 lead.  Later, with a forehand up the line winner, Govortsova arrived at 0-40.  With a forehand crosscourt winner, Govortsova stretched her advantage by double break at  4-1.  Still, because of multiple mistakes her next game, Govortsova dropped serve.  But, as Caroline served at 2-4, Olga produced another winner for break point.  Yet, with spectacular defense, Wozniacki maintained serve for 3-4.  As Govortsova served for the set at 5-4, after wiping out a break point, she arrived at set point.  But, when Olga dumped an uncomplicated backhand volley into the net, the players were at deuce.  Down the road, after salvaging five break points, Govortsova obtained another set point.  Again, because of a mistake, Govortsova failed to convert.  With a forehand from Olga flying long, Caroline had break point number seven. Govortsova double faulted to level the set at 5.  After Wozniacki held at love for 6-5, Govortsova crumbled.  With a forehand miscue, a backhand crosscourt long and a double fault, the Belarusian handed Wozniacki triple championship point.  By Govortsova netting a backhand, Wozniacki captured her second straight MPS Group title.

Two years in a row, Wozniacki has clawed her way into the finals by overcoming Elena Vesnina in the semifinal round.  Yesterday, Wozniacki was down a set and a break, into the latter stages of the second set.  When Wozniacki was asked the secret of her success in Ponte Vedra, she simply stated “I love coming back here”.  For the second time in her career, Wozniacki defends a title.  Last year, Wozniacki did the same in New Haven.  A finalist in Charleston in 2009, Wozniacki will attempt to sustain this excellence at the Family Circle Cup this week.

After ousting defending champ Lleyton Hewitt in the quarters, veteran Juan Ignacio Chela stopped third seed Sam Querrey in the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship final. Chela prevailed 5-7,6-4,6-3 for his first trophy since 2007 and the fifth of his career, all on clay.

Following a backhand down the line error, Querrey faced break point. By serving and volleying well, Querrey held for 2 all.  Then, with a forehand up the line winner, Querrey had his first break point.  By provoking a forehand mistake from Chela, Querrey broke for 4-3.  Trying to consolidate, Querrey committed a myriad of unforced errors which allowed Chela to level the set at 4 all.  Later, when Chela dumped a forehand crosscourt into the net, Querrey had double break point.  Sam converted with a forehand volley winner for 6-5.  Subsequently, with a love game, Querrey ended the set.

With back to back winners, Chela held a multiple deuce game which included a break point to start the second set.  After a similar battle, Querrey guarded serve for 1 all.  From then on, Querrey cruised on serve while Chela struggled a bit.  When at 3 all Chela committed a backhand error, Querrey arrived at break point.  However, a costly forehand mistake effaced Querrey’s chance at the lead.  Despite four deuces, Chela kept serve to stay ahead 4-3. Ultimately, Querrey’s inconsistent play caused his frustration to mount.  Serving at 4-5 and 40-15, Querrey reached a dropshot by Chela but placed the forehand wide.  Then, when Chela surprised him with a forehand return winner, the players were at deuce.  After Querrey double faulted on game point, Chela connected on a forehand down the line winner for set point.  When Querrey’s forehand landed long, the match was driven to a third set.

Querrey began the final set by breaking Chela.  However, with three consecutive errors, Sam stared at triple break point.  When Chela converted a forehand crosscourt winner, the set was squared at 1 all.  Down double break point his next game, Querrey bailed himself out with his serve.  But, after a quick hold by Chela, Querrey was behind again 15-40.  Once more, Querrey responded and maintained serve for 3 all.  For Sam though, it was a case of going to the well too many times.  After two forehand miscues and a double fault, Querrey faced triple break point.  By enticing a forehand error from Querrey, Chela pocketed the break for 5-3.  Subsequently, on double championship point, Querrey sent a forehand return out of play giving the Argentine the trophy.

Irrespective of the finals, for Querrey, it was a sensational week.  The American beat 2009 finalist Wayne Odesnik in the a testy semifinal match to reach his first career final on clay.  Odesnik is under investigation for doping violation.  Already this year Sam has one title; he won in Memphis. From 25, Querrey’s ranking will rise.  Chela will also improve his seating from 82 to the top 50.

Last evening, in the doubles final, Mike & Bob Bryan defeated Stephen Huss and Wesley Moodie for their second second straight title.  This was a rematch of the 2005 Wimbledon doubles final whereby the latter team vanquished the Bryan brothers.

Until the match is played, regardless of the statistics, there is no certainty as to the victor.  However, in this case, the numbers did not lie.  Today, in the Sony Ericsson Open final, Andy Roddick, the favorite on paper, improved his record to 6-2 versus Tomas Berdych.  Roddick defeated Berdych 7-5, 6-4 for his second ATP Masters 1000 title in Miami and his 29th career trophy.

Twice this season, these two have battled with Roddick taking both matches in straight sets.  Yet, the manner in which Berdych moved on to the finals, with wins over Roger Federer, Fernando Verdasco and Robin Soderling, the Czech appeared to have at least an outside chance. With a forehand crosscourt winner, Berdych held at love his initial game.  Then, with a backhand volley winner, Berdych put Roddick in 0-30 predicament.  By coming with 130 mph heat, Roddick managed to hold for 1 all.  Later, Roddick faced another 0-30 situation when Berdych connected on a backhand crosscourt pass for a winner.  Despite not finding first serves, Roddick elicited enough return errors on his second serve to get to 3 all.  Next, as the set progressed, Roddick found the groove on Berdych’s serve.  When Berdych botched  a makeable forehand up the line, Roddick had his first break point of the day.  Although Berdych wiped that one away, later, he double faulted giving Roddick another opportunity.  The American took it when Berdych’s forehand landed wide.  Subsequently, at 40-0, with an ace, Roddick wrapped up the set.

In the second set, with a backhand pass for winner, Roddick earned break point.  Again with an unforced forehand error, Roddick seized a 1-0 edge.  Despite letting a 40-15 game reach deuce because of double fault, Roddick still consolidated 2-0.  Following two easy occasions on serve, when Roddick missed an uncomplicated forehand to get to 30 all, Berdych seemed to have a slim opening.  Yet, with a backhand down the line pass, Roddick arrived at game point and with an ace had a 4-2 lead.  After Roddick readily got to 5-3, with a deep return, he caused a forehand blunder from Berdych for his first match point.  In the longest rally of the day, 31 strokes, Berdych terminated the point with an overhead winner.  Later, Berdych saved another match point and finally held for 4-5.  However, for the Czech it was delaying the inevitable. Roddick had permitted no break point the entire day and he had no plan to be generous although it was Easter.  With an overhead winner, Roddick had double championship point.  When Berdych netted a down the line backhand, Roddick wrote his name on the trophy.

Roddick performance was pretty clean with 25 winners and 16 unforced errors, while Berdych had almost twice as many in the latter category and just 2 more winners.  Berdych was the first Czech male to reach the finals in Miami since Ivan Lendl.  Lendl won the tournament twice, in 1986 and 1989. In the post match analysis, Berdych had the following responses when MiamiTennisNews.com posed:

Q.  Seemed [that] your first serve was off?

BERDYCH: . . .  my serve was not that good.  But still, . . . I just lost two close sets. . . He [got] one chance and he just took it.  That’s how it is . . .  maybe I would get one then it would be different.

Q.  It seems . . .on the first break chance that he had in the first set, . . .  you made an error on the first serve and then the clap from the crowd.  Was that a distraction for you?

BERDYCH:  No, that’s usual, especially here . . . when you play in States against American, that’s all right.  That’s how it is.

Coming on the heels of a letdown in the finals in Indian Wells, Roddick admits prevailing a the Sony Ericsson Open is a relief considering he had been the favorite both times.  Roddick spent his formative years in Boca Raton, therefore, this trophy is special to him.  After the victory,  Roddick said he has a lot of fond memories of the area “lots of firsts . . . playing the Orange Bowl, the Sunshine Cup, junior Davis Cup and winning that for the first time . . . [this venue]it’s one of those places where . . . going down a hallway . . . I don’t need to look for signs to see where I’m [going]. . .  it [‘s] just kind of   ingrained.  It’s a great crowd. I never feel really uncomfortable on the center court. It’s a big title for me. ”

Berdych’s ranking rises from 20 to 16 while Roddick moves up one spot to number 7.  Roddick earned his 5th Masters shield with this win.  In addition, Roddick becomes only the fifth multiple winner of this title keeping company with Andre Agassi, holder of 6, Pete Sampras with 3, Ferderer and Lendl each with two.  All in all not a bad consolation prize.

The recipient of the Sony Ericsson Open men’s trophy will be decided this afternoon as Andy Roddick and Tomas Berdych clash in the finals.  That will be followed by the WTA doubles final.

The winner in Brisbane, this is Roddick’s fourth final of the year.  However, in his first ATP 1000 Masters’  final in Indian Wells, Roddick was disappointed by Ivan Ljubicic.  The victor in Miami in 2004, Roddick will attempt to capture his second championship in South Florida.  If Roddick succeeds, it will be his first Masters’  title since 2006 in Cincinnati and the 29th of his career.

After prevailing over Roger Federer, Fernando Verdasco and Robin Soderling to advance to the finals, Berdych tries to put the cherry on this spectacular run with his first title of the year.  Moreover, Berdych is in his first ATP Masters 1000  final since 2005 in Paris where he was triumphant.  In contrast to Roddick, not only is this Berdych’s first final of the year,  he is trying to collect  his 6th career title.  The Czech is 2-5 lifetime versus Roddick and has already lost twice to him in 2010.  While Berdych has a record of  5-4 in finals, Roddick is 28-19.  With the prior wins and the vast differential in experience, Roddick is the clear favorite.

The tournament ends with the women’s doubles with the new team of Samantha Stosur and Nadia Petrova, seeded 3rd, taking on the duo of Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta.  For Stosur and Petrova, this is their second consecutive final, they were defeated two weeks ago in Indian Wells.  In 2006-07, Stosur won the championship with Lisa Raymond and in 2004 Petrova carried it with partner Megan Shaughnessy.  Petrova and Stosur have a combined 40 doubles titles. For Dulko and Pennetta, this is their initial final at the Sony Ericsson Open.  In addition, that tandem possesses a total of 15 trophies.  Again, because of their wealth of experience,  the 3rd seed have a distinct advantage.

Here is the order of play :

STADIUM start 1:00 PM
[16] T Berdych (CZE) vs [6] A Roddick (USA) – ATP SINGLES FINAL
[3] N Petrova (RUS) / S Stosur (AUS) vs G Dulko (ARG) / F Pennetta (ITA) – WTA DOUBLES FINAL

The grand duel predicted between Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters in the Sony Ericsson Open Final never materialized.   Instead, it was a 58 minute blow out as Clijsters ran away with the match 6-2, 6-1 to gather her second championship trophy in Miami.

After the semifinal with Justine Henin where Clijsters almost let the match get away, Kim knew that she would need to be well focused for the finals.  That’s exactly how Clijsters came out.  From the first game, Clijsters placed Venus’ serve under fire with two errors at 0-30.  Despite recovering to hold, this was a glimpse of how the rest of Venus’ day would unfold.  With Venus unable to find a first serve, Clijsters punished a second serve, forcing Williams into a forehand miscue for break point.  With another forehand error by Williams, Clijsters obtained the break for 2-1.  During the change over, Venus briefly called the trainer to re-wrap her left knee and right thigh.  Despite two double faults the subsequent game, Clijsters managed to get enough help from Williams in terms of mistakes to consolidate for 3-1.  The thinking was that Williams would rise up and challenge;  however, that did not happen.  Up 40-15, Venus botched an overhead then double faulted for deuce.  Williams also threw in a second straight double fault to give Clijsters break point.   When Venus netted the volley, Kim had a double break edge at 4-1. Thus, Clijsters sprinted away with the first set.

Still, the torture was only beginning  for Williams.  Subsequent to starting the second set with a double fault, Venus faced break point when a backhand crosscourt traveled long.  Despite erasing that with a good serve for deuce then getting to game point, Venus could not string together two consecutive points.  With a forehand up the line winner, Clijsters arrived at her second break point.  Venus allowed Clijsters the easy road to a second set lead by double faulting.  Following Clijsters consolidating with a love game, Williams shoveled herself into a 0-30 ditch.  At that moment, the crowd demanded a response from Venus with a round of applause.  Yet, this was to no avail.  Williams dumped another backhand into the net to face triple break point.  Unlike her match with Henin, Clijsters was not in a charitable mood.  Kim provoked a forehand crosscourt mistake from Venus to again widen the gap by a double break .  Next, with a backhand down the line winner, Clijsters grabbed an impressive 4-0 lead.  The subsequent game, Venus at least held to make the score respectable.  However, serving to lengthen the match, Venus committed her 29th unforced error to hand Kim triple match point.  With another flying forehand by Venus, Kim won the championship.

Taking nothing away from Clijsters, this was far from the performance expected from Williams, a 5 time Wimbledon champion.  Therefore, in the post match interview, MiamiTennisNews.com tried to ascertain exactly what the issue was with Venus:

Q.  Were you having timing issues with [your] serve today?
WILLIAMS:  No, . . . I think it was more or less my groundstrokes. . .  on my serve I go for it a lot, so that’s kind of the norm. . . I did start missing more first serves in the second set, so that didn’t help my cause.

Q.  Is it surprising to see how well Kim and Justine have done after their comeback and to just be able to go through a lot of top ranked players right off the [bat]?

WILLIAMS:  Yeah,. . . they’re playing really, really well.  This is just great and amazing for them.  They’re playing great.

After the match, Clijsters had this to say in reference to competing against someone who is struggling:  ” you constantly have to tell . . . and remind yourself to really keep [being aggressive and move forward], especially when you see that you have a second serve . . . it’s easier when things are really exciting and you’re both playing really [well] . . .  you almost have to be dominant and . . .  bring your best level.  But, when you feel like your opponent is not giving [her]  best tennis or bringing [ her] best tennis, you just really want to try . . . not focus on [her]  too much and just really focus on yourself.  [To] try to keep focusing on what you’re doing well.

For Clijsters, this win represents her 37th career title and her second of the year.  Kim prevailed in Brisbane over Justine prior to the Australian Open.  Clijsters’ ranking will move from 16 to 10 on Monday.  As a result of this defeat, Williams’ 15 match winning streak come to an end.  Regardless, Venus will get a slight bump in the ranking from 5 to 4.

The women’s final is front and center this afternoon as Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters bang heads for the Sony Ericsson Open trophy.

Venus attempts to avenge her fourth round 2009 U.S. Open loss and to stop a three match skid to Clijsters.  If Venus is successful, she will claim her third consecutive title; her first in Miami since 2001 but her fourth overall.

For her part, Clijsters tries to prevail in her second final this year.  She defeated fellow Belgian Justine Henin earlier this year for the Brisbane title. The winner in Miami in 2005, Clijsters is looking for her second trophy.

Later, Max Mirnyi and Mahesh Bhupathi battle Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes in the ATP doubles final.  Mirnyi captured the title last year with partner Andy Ram and is going for a record fifth doubles championship in Miami.  His teammate this year has yet to seize this prize in Miami.

In the late afternoon, a benefit for the victims of the earthquake in Chile takes place.  “Champions for Chile” features doubles action with Jim Courier and Andy Roddick partnering to play against Chilean Fernando Gonzalez and Gustavo Kuerten.