Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic was ousted in a shocking upset, while world No. 1s Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams advanced to the third round of the ATP and WTA Miami hardcourt tournament on Saturday.
Nadal dismissed No. 72 Teimuraz Gabshvili of Russia 6-2, 6-2 while Williams, a two-time defending champion seeking her sixth title in eight years here, beat fellow American Alexa Glatch 6-2, 6-3.
“I’m very happy,” Nadal said. “I think Gabashvili didn’t really play a bad game. He played hard and I think I played well.”
The biggest shocker so far at the event saw Argentina’s Gisela Dulko, ranked No. 35, eliminate Jankovic 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) to set up a third-round match against Czech Iveta Benesova.
Nadal seeks a third title this season after capturing the year’s Grand Slam start at the Australian Open at Indian Wells.
“I didn’t practice as well as I did in Indian Wells,” Nadal said. “More wind here. It’s more difficult to play but it’s important get the rhythm right with the match.”
Also advancing after first-round byes were reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, the fifth seed, and British fourth seed Andy Murray.
Williams defeated Israel’s Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-3, to sustain hopes for an all-Williams semi-final while Murray, who reached last week’s final at Indian Wells, dispatched 59th-rated Juan Monaco of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Nadal, who made just 10 unforced errors to 32 by Gabshvili, will next face Portugal’s Frederico Gil, who ousted Croatian Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-4. Nadal has found his form on hardcourts after his first Slam win on the surface in Melbourne.
“I play more on hard than other surfaces. It’s tougher on other surfaces,” he said. “I played a little bit behind the court and on this court it’s important to play a little bit more inside.”
Murray needed a comeback to pull through.
“I was finding it difficult,” Murray said. “I don’t tend to think the match is finished when you lose the first set but I knew it was going to be tricky. He was playing very well. I was struggling a little bit to get into a rhythm.”
The Scotsman will next face Chile’s Nicolas Massu, who battled back to defeat US 27th seed Mardy Fish 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.
Serena Williams booked a third-round date against China’s Peng Shuai while Venus Williams will next face Germany’s Anna-Lena Gronenefeld, who defeated Italy’s 30th-seeded Sara Errani 6-4, 6-3.
Serena Williams won her 10th Grand Slam title in January at the Australian Open and has three other semi-final runs this season. Improving to 48-5 at the event for her career, she shook off first-match nerves to defeat Glatch, 19.
“I played OK,” she said. “I definitely think I could have played better. Just a little jitters going out there.”
Venus Williams trailed 0-3 before fighting back to win 12 of the final 15 games against Peer and stretch her win streak to 11 matches, including titles at Dubai and Acapulco.
Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun was defeated 7-6 (4), 6-3 by Igor Andreev of Russia.
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
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
RSS