Stosur breezes into third round

Updated August 30, 2012 09:56:12

Defending champion Samantha Stosur advanced to the third round of the US Open on Wednesday with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Romanian qualifier Edina Gallovits-Hall that lasted just an hour.

The Australian seventh seed will next face US 31st seed Varvara Lepchenko for a spot in the round of 16.

Stosur won her first round match in similar fashion beating Croatian Petra Martic 6-1, 6-1.

Earlier, Casey Dellacqua gave Li Na a scare in the second set but ended up losing to the 2011 French Open champion in the second round at Flushing Meadows.

Competitive throughout, Na took advantage of her only break point in the first set losing 6-4 as the ninth seed's 17 unforced errors stopped her from dominating the Australian.

Dellacqua began the second set in superb fashion breaking Na twice and winning the first three games.

But from a 4-1 lead, Na showed her class winning the next five games to send the Australian out of the tournament.

AFP/ABC

Tags: sport, tennis, australia

First posted August 30, 2012 07:08:19

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Sharapova breezes into second round

Updated May 30, 2012 06:36:32

Maria Sharapova took just 48 minutes to race into the French Open second round on Tuesday with a 6-0, 6-0 humiliation of hapless Romanian Alexandra Cadantu.

Russian second seed Sharapova, who needs a Roland Garros title to complete a career Grand Slam, hardly broke sweat against her 22-year-old opponent who was so penniless in 2008 that she had to stop playing.

On Tuesday's evidence, it was easy to see why.

Sharapova, twice a semi-finalist in Paris, allowed the 78th-ranked Romanian just nine points in the opening set which was wrapped up in 23 minutes on Suzanne Lenglen court.

It was a similar tale in the second, with Sharapova again surrendering just nine points before wrapping up victory when Cadantu hit long with a forehand.

Sharapova unleashed 19 winners in her victory while the Romanian hit none at all.

"Of course I'm really happy with the way my preparation has been coming into this tournament," beamed Sharapova, claycourt winner at Stuttgart and Rome this season as well as twice a semi-finalist here.

"I feel like with every year I have improved and I enjoy it much more," added the 25-year-old, beaten in the last four by Li Na on her last Roland Garros appearance.

The second seed will face Japan's Ayumi Morita for a place in the last 32.

AFP

Tags: tennis, sport, france

First posted May 29, 2012 21:42:33

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Murray breezes into last 16

Updated January 21, 2012 22:45:56

British fourth seed Andy Murray overcame Frenchman Michael Llodra with ease to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open.

The two-time finalist defeated the 46th-ranked Llodra 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 in under two hours and will play Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in the round of 16 on Monday.

Murray and Llodra produced crowd-pleasing rallies with some amazing angled net pick-ups for winning points.

The Scot, who has lost to Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the past two Melbourne finals, was always in control of the loose Frenchman, breaking his serve six times.

Murray hit an impressive 48 winners with the backhand his predominant scorer with 19 winners.

"There were a lot of fun rallies, especially towards the end of the second set, beginning of the third set and he played well," Murray said.

"Every point seemed to be a fun point. He was coming up with some unbelievable gets on the volleys and I was managing to dig up a lot at the net. It was a fun tennis match which isn't normal at the grand slams.

"(Coach) Ivan Lendl would have preferred a few more bread and butter points, serve and forehand finish, but that was my style of tennis tonight and I hope everyone enjoyed it."

World number 92 Mikhail Kukushkin wrote his name in Kazakh history with the country's best ever male performance at a grand slam Saturday, thanks to a bizarre victory over injury-hit Gael Monfils.

Kukushkin capitalised on a back problem which drastically restricted the athletic Monfils to take a two-set lead, but then was unable to press his advantage.

The resulting exchange was watched in puzzlement as restricted Monfils could only parry Kukushkin's shots at half-pace, but the bemused Kazakh was continually unable to find winners.

The match, on raucous Margaret Court Arena, meandered for 3 hours and 40 minutes before Kukushin finally gained the crucial break to win 6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 1-6, 6-4.

Monfils admitted he was "lucky" to force the fifth set, and was playing purely on adrenaline brought on by the crowd.

"This one was tough because I had a sore back. But it was really cool. For sure the crowd helped me," he said.

"That's why I chose to keep going, because I could easily have given up. But it was a nice atmosphere. I just tried to have luck in the match and fight, so it was cool."

Kukushkin finished with a whopping total of 72 unforced errors and just nine break points converted out of 26 chances.

AFP

Tags: tennis, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, australia

First posted January 21, 2012 22:37:46

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