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
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
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
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that