Stosur joins Murray on road out of Rome

Updated May 18, 2012 08:10:47

Ailing Briton Andy Murray suffered another setback to his French Open preparations as he was ousted 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-2 by Richard Gasquet in the third round of the Rome Masters.

The world number four, who continues to be troubled by a long-term back injury, dominated the first set tie-break, but was made to pay for missing 15 of 17 break points as he lost to the 22nd ranked Frenchman in just under three hours.

Holder Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who he beat in last year's final, reached the last eight in contrasting fashion while Roger Federer was pushed to three sets by Juan Carlos Ferrero to win 6-2, 7-5, 6-1.

Meanwhile, Australian Samantha Stosur was ousted in the third round by a rejuvenated Venus Williams 6-4, 6-3.

Djokovic demonstrated the art of smashing a racquet as he beat Argentina's Juan Monaco 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 while Nadal made light work of fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers, winning 6-1, 6-1.

Murray had reached the quarter-finals in Monte Carlo but pulled out of the Madrid Masters with a back injury before winning his opening match in Rome.

The Scot said his back had been a problem for several months and admitted it was a concern heading into the French Open, which begins on May 27.

"I don't really want to go into detail of what it is and what treatment I've had done, but I've had it a while, since December," Murray told a news conference.

"Since then there hasn't been that much time to take an extended break and now with the French Open, Wimbledon, Olympics and the US Open to come, there's not much time to take a rest.

"But hopefully by the time the French Open comes around I'll be in peak condition. That's the goal."

The swirling wind and shadows across the court made life difficult for both men, but 16th seed Gasquet took his chances to set up a quarter-final with Spain's David Ferrer, the sixth seed winning 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) against Gilles Simon of France.

Djokovic mangled his racquet when he lost the first set against but from 2-1 down in the second set he reeled off 20 of 24 points to draw level before going on to victory.

"I hope the children watching don't do that," a smiling Djokovic said of his racquet-smashing. "But I show my emotions out there. That's who I am.

"I struggled with the wind today and I was a bit defensive and passive in the first set, but once I was more direct I started to play much better."

Nadal eased through against Granollers in one hour and 28 minutes, setting up a clash with seventh seed Tomas Berdych who defeated Nicolas Almagro 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

Fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga outgunned Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4, 6-1 while Italian Andreas Seppi won a marathon 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6) battle against Stanislas Wawrinka.

In the women's event, it was a good day for the Williams sisters as Serena and Venus reached the quarter finals.

Ninth-seeded Serena, fresh from her victory in Madrid last weekend, crushed Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-3, 6-1, while unseeded Venus upset fifth seed Stosur.

Venus's victory puts her in line for a place in the US Olympic team, a remarkable achievement in her comeback after she was diagnosed with Sjogren's Disease, which saps her energy, during last year's US Open.

"Seriously," she said, before doing a fist pump at her news conference. "I wouldn't have come back so soon but I needed the points to get in the Olympics.

"I probably wouldn't have come back before Wimbledon or maybe even after it. I need to win more but that's great."

Things are likely to get tougher for Venus, though, when she plays holder Maria Sharapova in the last eight.

The Russian saved six set points in the first set before beating former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

Wimbledon champion and fourth seed Petra Kvitova also advanced with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Sorana Cirstea while China's Li Na and Italian Flavia Pennetta both won through.

Reuters

Tags: tennis, sport, italy, australia

First posted May 18, 2012 07:53:34

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Stosur joins victorious big names

Updated May 10, 2012 08:43:16

Samantha Stosur eased into the last eight of the Madrid Masters with a straight sets win over Czech Petra Cetkovska.

The Australian needed 72 minutes to secure her place in the next round, saving a remarkable seven from eight break points.

Meanwhile, Spanish clay powerhouses Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer got on and off the controversial blue clay courts as quickly as possible with the Iberian pair racing into the third round while Roger Federer was made to work harder.

Second seed Nadal took just 80 minutes in winning his first match against Nikolay Davydenko since 2009, earning a 6-2, 6-2 victory.

Fifth seed Ferrer dismissed Czech Radek Stepanek 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in almost the same match time.

Federer had to use all his guile and experience to battle back from a set down and see off fast-rising Canadian Milos Raonic 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4).

The Swiss maestro, after an opening round bye, was playing his first match since the end of March and only just edged out the big-serving 21-year-old, who rocketed down 21 aces.

Nadal, leading critic of the dubious qualities of the Madrid surface being trialled amid huge controversy, tried to end talk of the courts and move onto the tennis.

"I played as good a match as I could in these strange circumstances," said the king of clay, winner of Monte Carlo and Barcelona titles last month.

"I'm happy with the way that I played.

"The situation is not easy. This is a fantastic tourney, one of the best in the world. My motivation is strong to play here. I had a fantastic result today, I played better than I expected."

But Nadal added a final word on the issue.

"Conditions here are completely different than on the rest of the clay circuit. If this was in the summer or at the end of the season I would have nothing to say.

"I'm not against change but this is the wrong time of the calendar for it. I don't want to speak more on this."

Ferrer kept his comments completely non-controversial.

"They're a bit slippery but they are working hard to improve them," said the winner of three titles this year.

"It's not a question of criticising, it's just going out on court and doing the best you can."

Croatian Marin Cilic overcame eighth seed John Isner 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3) as the big American fired 14 aces in his losing effort.

Cilic dodged a bullet with six double-faults including one as he held match points in the second-set tiebreaker.

Frenchman Gael Monfils continued his winning return after more than a month out with an abdominal injury as the 12th seed won as Russian Igor Andreev withdrew with a right shoulder injury trailing 6-3, 1-0.

Compatriot and 14th seed Richard Gasquet advanced over Viktor Troicki 7-5, 6-3 while Spanish 15th seed Fernando Verdasco needed nearly three hours to beat Alejandro Falla 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4 to next face Nadal.

Champion ousted

In the WTA second round, Czech Lucie Hradecka beat defending champion compatriot Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-3 to send the third seed home.

World number one Victoria Azarenka, who lost to Kvitova in last year's final, claimed her place in the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 success against Ana Ivanovic.

Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska brought an end to the 16-match win streak on clay of Sara Errani with a 6-0, 6-1 thrashing in 65 minutes.

Roberta Vinci struck a blow for Italy after Errani's loss, sending out Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-1, 6-2. Errani was fresh from the clay title in Budapest at the weekend.

French Open winner Li Na booked the first of the women's quarter-final places as she defeated 12th seed Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-4.

AFP/Reuters

Tags: tennis, sport, spain, australia

First posted May 10, 2012 06:42:53

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Wozniacki out, Ivanovic joins casualty list

Updated October 08, 2011 10:07:32

Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki suffered a humiliating defeat in the China Open quarter-finals as Italian Flavia Pennetta ran rampant on Friday.

The world number one's game collapsed in the second set and she was repeatedly left stranded by Pennetta's repertoire of lobs, volleys and powerful baseline returns.

Facing match point, Wozniacki staged a dramatic comeback to force a tie break in the third set but Pennetta superbly lobbed the flat-footed Dane to seal the match 3-6, 6-0, 7-6.

Wozniacki was the only top 10 women's player left in the event.

Former world number one Ana Ivanovic became the latest high-profile player to exit the tournament when the Serb retired from her quarter-final against Agnieszka Radwanska with back problems.

The 23-year-old was a set down when the injury she sustained last week in Tokyo flared up in the second set.

Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams pulled out of the competition a week ago, Victoria Azarenka failed to show for her match on Thursday due to injury while home hope Li Na exited in the first round, Sam Stosur went out in the second and Vera Zvonareva the third.

In the men's draw, world number one and 2010 champion Novak Djokovic was forced to pull out because of a back injury.

Ivanovic said she had been fighting a losing battle all week.

"I have had lots of treatments on the injury, but it hasn't got much better," the Serb said.

"I've been fighting it the whole week. I had an MRI here yesterday. The doctors are still looking at the results.

"I'm talking to physios and just making sure about the next steps to see what's wrong and what's going on. It's too early to say anything."

Romanian Monica Niculescu came from behind to beat Maria Kirilenko 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to clinch a semi-final berth while in the men's competition Tomas Berdych thrashed Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-0 to seal a place in the last four.

The Czech will play his seventh semi-final of the year against French top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who dispatched Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-4.

Croatian Ivan Ljubicic beat Russian Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (4-7), 6-2 and will Croatian Marin Cilic, a winner over South African Kevin Anderson 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-1.

Reuters

Tags: tennis, sport, china

First posted October 07, 2011 23:19:25

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