Top-seeded Serena Williams and No. 2 Dinara Safina made short work of their second-round opponents yesterday to move into the Sydney International quarter-finals.
Williams, who was stretched to three sets and saved four match points in her opening match against Samantha Stosur of Australia, beat Sara Errani of Italy 6-1, 6-2 in 50 minutes yesterday.
Her win came moments after Safina finished off a 6-3, 6-0 win over fellow Russian Vera Dushevina.
PHOTO: AP
Errani was in trouble from the outset, challenging two line calls within eight minutes of the first set — and both went against her.
Errani consulted with her coach after losing a third straight game and although she rallied at the beginning of the second set, the Italian seemed to lose her focus.
Four other seeded players in the women’s draw at the joint ATP-WTA tournament also advanced yesterday.
No. 3 Elena Dementieva of Russia beat Jarmila Gajdosova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-4 and No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia beat Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (3). Sixth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland defeated Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 7-5 and Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, the eighth-seeded player, beat Britain’s Melanie South 6-2, 6-0.
Williams will play Wozniacki in the quarter-finals.
In another match, Japan’s Ai Sugiyama beat Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.
In first-round men’s play, Janko Tipsarevic, cheered on by dozens of boisterous, flag-waving Serbian fans, defeated eighth-seeded Mardy Fish of the US 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Australian Chris Guccione used the hometown crowd to his advantage to beat No. 6 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4.
Lleyton Hewitt of Australia continued his comeback from a five-month injury layoff to beat Julien Benneteau 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 and Paul-Henri Mathieu of France beat Andreas Seppi 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
Hewitt, who plays Tipsarevic in the next round, has won the Sydney title four times and had a 20-match winning streak at the 2000 Olympic venue. The win maintained Hewitt’s record of never having lost a first-round match in 19 tournaments in Australia.
In later matches, two French players advanced. Richard Gasquet beat defending champion Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 7-6 (4), 6-4 and Jeremy Chardy won his match over Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic when Stepanek retired due to a flu-like illness when trailing 6-4, 3-0.
The top four men’s seeds — Novak Djokovic, Gilles Simon, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and David Nalbandian — received first-round byes.
Djokovic, who begins the defense of his Australian Open title next week in Melbourne, plays Mathieu today.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their