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Showing posts with label serena williams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label serena williams. Show all posts

Rusty Serena stays on track at Australian tennis open

Posted by Posted by Linda on Saturday, January 24, 2009 , under , , , , , | comments (0)



MELBOURNE (AFP) – Rusty triple champion Serena Williams booked an Australian Open fourth round clash with rising teen star Victoria Azarenka Saturday as Gael Monfils spearheaded the French men's revolution.

Rusty Serena stays on track at Australian tennis open The USA's Serena Williams during her women's singles match against China's Peng Shuai

Williams, the tournament favourite, crushed China's Peng Shuai 6-1, 6-4 to set up an intruiging showdown with Azarenka after the Belarusian ended any hope Amelie Mauresmo had of repeating her 2006 heroics here.

Stung by a listless "D-minus" performance in the second round and sister Venus' shock exit at the same stage, Williams stamped her authority on the match early.

Peng mounted a stiffer challenge in the second set but couldn't match the American's power, leaving Zheng Jie as China's only player left in the draw.

Wimbledon semi-finalist Zheng, the 22nd seed, beat Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 6-2 to continue her best-ever Australian Open showing.

"It was definitely a lot better than my second round. But, you know, I'm still trying to work on some things and hoping they'll come together," said Williams.

"I'm feeling a little rusty, for whatever reason. I'm hoping my next round I'll be a little better."

She added that her sister's shock upset in the second round had given her extra motivation to win a 10th Grand Slam title.

"It obviously increases my motivation and my desire to win and hopefully do better."

The woman who beat Venus, Spain's unseeded Carla Suarez Navarro, continued her surprise march through the draw, easily beating countrywoman Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1, 6-4.

Next up for her is another Spaniard, Anabel Medina Garrigues, who sent Italian 12th seed Flavia Pennetta packing 6-4, 6-1

Suarez Navarro said she wasn't thinking too far ahead.

"Maybe, maybe not," she said of her quarter-final chances.

"I play now with Anabel, so we'll see -- I don't know. I just want to enjoy today's win before I start thinking about the next match."

Williams eliminated the big-hitting Azarenka from last year's Open but the Belarus teen is a far better player now and full of confidence.

"We'll see how it goes, I'm sure it'll be a great match," said Azarenka on the Williams showdown.

While the focus has been on the big name stars on the men's side, France has three contenders still in the tournament and looking dangerous.

Twelfth seed Monfils came into the Open overshadowed by higher-profile countrymen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon, but has been making his mark with some impressive performances.

He produced another one Saturday to dismiss 17th seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 and will play either Simon or Croatia's Mario Ancic for a place in the quarter-finals.

Monfils dominated Almagro over the early part of the match, breaking him once in the first set and twice in the second to open up a 2-0 lead.

Almagro fought back hard in the third set and games went on serve until Monfils produced the killer punch.

"I think I played a good game again today," he said.

"Everything was great. I mean, the concentration, physically also. So I'm very happy with that."

Tsonga plays later Saturday against Israeli qualifier Dudi Sela.

World number one Rafael Nadal takes on Germany's Tommy Haas while fourth seed Britain's Andy Murray faces Austria's Jurgen Melzer in evening play.

Stuttering Serena reaches Australian Open third round

Posted by Posted by Linda on Thursday, January 22, 2009 , under , , | comments (0)



MELBOURNE – Three-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams has stumbled into the third round with a patchy display that did little to justify the bookies' belief she can snatch a fourth title.

Stuttering Serena reaches Australian Open third round Serena Williams of the US attempts to return the ball in her game against Gisela Dulko of Argentina

Serena, seeded two, appeared to be cruising to a win over Gisela Dulko of Argentina but instead found herself engaged in a 6-3, 7-5 dogfight lasting almost two hours.

"It was definitely a tough second set, she was just playing unbelievable and started hitting winners left and right," the American said.

"She had some opportunities but I never felt like I was going to lose. I feel like I can play a lot better and hopefully I will."

Serena was up 3-0 in less than 10 minutes and threatened to race away with the match before the Argentine desperately defended her serve to claw back a game and make it 3-1.

Serena, previously criticised for lacking focus in the early rounds of Grand Slams, appeared to drift off towards the end of the first set, throwing away three set points as Dulko served at 5-2.

The American then lifted her intensity and deployed one of the most lethal serves in the women's game, blasting down three aces to take the set after 31 minutes.

Dulko, who has never made it past the second round at the Australian Open in five attempts, then ran Serena around the court to earn a break in the second game of the second set.

The Argentine held serve to go up 3-0 before Serena broke back three games later.

The reigning US champion's frustration was evident after Dulko regained the advantage in the next and her error rate crept up as the set went 5-3 against her.

Screaming "Oh my God" at one point when a backhand return went long, she rallied to save one set point with a pinpoint cross court return.

Dulko then threw away three more with a double fault and two unforced errors.

But Serena struggled to capitalise on three of her own break points as the game went to deuce 12 times, finally benefitting from a poorly hit Dulko return to make it 5-4.

While the crowd was cheering for the slightly-built Dulko, Serena had regained control by this stage and completed a five-game winning streak to claim victory.