Kerber snaps Serena's win streak at 19 matches

Updated August 18, 2012 12:32:54

Angelique Kerber ended the 19-match win streak of Wimbledon and Olympic champion Serena Williams with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the quarter-finals of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters.

The German fifth seed double-faulted on one match point but concluded with a winning ace on another to send the second seed out of the event, one which Williams has never won.

Williams destroyed a racquet in a fit of anger during the loss but will now have the rest days she has been seeking during her summer of success ahead of the start of the US Open, which begins on August 27.

Kerber, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, said that while she felt some nerves as she tried to close out Williams, her game withstood the big test.

"I was nervous at the end but I told myself to just keep hitting the ball," Kerber said. "Serena has been playing well. This was a good win for me and I'm very pleased."

It was the opposite story for elder Williams sister Venus, who upset defending US Open champion Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4.

Elsewhere in the women's event on Saturday morning (AEST) at Cincinnati, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-4 and Li Na downed Johanna Larsson 6-2, 6-2.

World number one Roger Federer moved closer to a fifth ATP and WTA Cincinnati Masters crown as the Swiss star crushed American Mardy Fish 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) to reach the semi-finals.

Federer, seeking his sixth title of the year, was in regal form as he beat Fish for the eighth time in nine meetings. The American has lost 17 of 20 sets in the one-sided rivalry.

Federer will line up on Saturday against compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka after the Swiss stormed back to beat Canadian Milos Raonic 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, in another quarter-final.

Men's reigning US Open champion Novak Djokovic booked a semi-final date with Olympic bronze medallist Juan Martin del Potro by beating Marin Cilic.

Serb second seed Djokovic took only 80 minutes to dispatch the Croatian 6-3 6-2, improving to 7-0 in their career rivalry.

Argentine sixth seed Del Potro advanced to the rematch of the London Olympic bronze-medal match by ending the giant-killing run of Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-1 6-3.

Del Potro has won his past two matches against Djokovic, including the bronze showdown and in a Davis Cup tie last September.

"The match with Del Potro won't be for revenge," Djokovic said. "This is sport. You win and you lose. He is playing with confidence and it will be a big challenge to play him."

Djokovic is maintaining momentum after winning the Toronto Masters event last week. He advanced 6-0 on Thursday when injured Nikolay Davydenko retired and kept Cilic on the defensive in their quarter-final.

"It was a very good match, my best of the tournament," Djokovic said. "I'm on good form. I may have grown up on clay, but I've achieved my best career success on hardcourts."

Del Potro, who will travel to the Mayo Clinic next week to have his sore left wrist checked out by the same doctors who operated on his right wrist in 2010, has reached the last eight in seven of the nine ATP Masters 1000 events.

AFP

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First posted August 18, 2012 08:41:10

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Stosur's streak ends in French Open semis

By Andrew McGarry, wires

Updated June 08, 2012 08:29:14

Australia's Samantha Stosur has crashed out of the French Open, suffering a shock three-set semi-final defeat to Italy's Sara Errani at Roland Garros.

Errani, the 21st seed, had never beaten sixth seed Stosur in five previous meetings, but she held her nerve in a tight, rain-delayed match on Court Phillippe Chatrier to win 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 in just over two hours.

The women's title decider will see Errani face Russian Maria Sharapova, who regained the world number one ranking for the first time in four years by making her first French Open final.

The second seed knocked out Czech fourth seed Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-3 as she aims to complete a career Grand Slam, having won titles at Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008.

Stosur - who was trying to earn a place in her third career grand slam final - had far more winners than Errani, but her 48 unforced errors to her opponent's 21 proved the difference.

Stosur said it "hurts a lot" to be upset by another Italian underdog at the French Open, having fallen to pint-sized Francesca Schiavone in the finale two years ago.

Stosur, 28, had beaten Errani five times in a row before their French encounter, and was hoping to be the first Australian woman to win at Roland Garros in 39 years.

"I'd have to say I was much more disappointed losing the final," Stosur said, before adding: "Obviously today hurts a lot as well."

"There are things that you can take away from both matches that are maybe similar," she said, regretting that she could have done more against Errani, who will move into the top 10 as a result of her victory.

"I don't know if I'm going to watch the final, to be honest.

"I couldn't really care less what happens at this point."

The Queenslander said she is looking forward to Wimbledon, which starts in two weeks' time.

"That's always been a very tough tournament for me, but I guess in some ways that's the beauty of tennis," she said.

"You can have, you know, a really crap day and then there's another tournament the next week and you get a chance to kinda redeem yourself very quickly."

Sharapova meanwhile is now celebrating a return to the pinnacle of the sport, having seen her career ranking slump to 126 after battling a shoulder injury which required surgery.

She finished runner-up to Kvitova at Wimbledon last year and was also runner-up in this year's Australian Open.

But claycourt titles in Stuttgart and Rome in the run-up to Paris hinted that she was approaching something like her best again.

"I was in a position a few years ago where I didn't quite know if I would ever be here again on this stage playing professionally," Sharapova said.

"It's a long road back. It's a lot of days of frustration and uncertainty not knowing if you'll ever get there, not knowing how much you want it, not knowing whether it would be a moment like that for you again.

"So there's definitely a lot of tough things you have to go through to get to this point, but it's all really worth it.

"I have played tennis since I was four years old. I committed myself to this sport. I've always loved what I did.

"When it was taken away from me for a while, that's when I realised how grateful I was and how lucky I was to be playing it."

Stosur started strongly, holding serve with three aces in the first game, and then she broke Errani straight away in the second.

But the Italian rallied, matching Stosur's aggression, standing up to her serve and concentrating on the forehand corner of the court to good effect.

She broke Stosur in the third game to go back 1-2, and held her serve to love to level the match.

Both players then held serve until the 11th game, where Errani converted her third break point of the game to get the advantage.

Five points later, the Italian served wide to the forehand court, drew a Stosur cross-court return and put a forehand winner away down the line to win the set 7-5 in 46 minutes.

The first game of the second set was a battle, with Errani netting a return on break point, and Stosur taken to three deuces before finally holding serve.

It galvanised Stosur into action, and the following game she broke Errani for the first time to lead 2-0.

A quick hold for 3-0, and suddenly it was Errani struggling to make inroads.

The following game she had Stosur cold with a lob from the baseline, but missed by inches to bring up another break point for 4-0, and Stosur crushed a forehand cross-court winner to get the insurance of a second break.

Stosur took Errani to four deuces in the sixth game before netting a drop shot into an open court to make it 5-1.

Stosur delivered her ninth and 10th aces for the match to bring up three set points, then wasted the first two before serving another ace down the T to level the match 6-1 in 36 minutes.

The Australian started the third set hitting for the lines, but errors handed Errani an easy opening service game.

The mistakes continued to come from Stosur, as she went down three break points in the second game and saved one before ballooning another ball off the frame of her racket to make it 2-0 to Errani.

The Italian then held for 3-0, putting extra pressure on Stosur to hold and stay in the set and match.

Stosur came back from 0-30 in the next game to hold, and then in the fifth game she made the breakthrough, rifling a backhand winner down the line after Errano saved the first three break points.

The breeze was picking up, making lobs swirl in the air and volleys go long. Stosur held her nerve to hold for 3-3, but Errani had an easy love service game.

The eighth game was pivotal, with Stosur having more errors. She saved two break point,s then a double fault and a wide return gave the break away.

Serving for the match, Errani was placed under little pressure by Stosur, who made errors on the first three points before the Italian put away a forehand winner to win through to her first grand slam final.

ABC/wires

Tags: sport, tennis, france

First posted June 08, 2012 01:46:15

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Azarenka's streak snapped by Bartoli

Updated March 29, 2012 14:07:23

Victoria Azarenka's 26-match winning streak has been snapped by French seventh seed Marion Bartoli, the world number one falling 6-3, 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Miami hardcourt event.

Bartoli ended defending champion Azarenka's undefeated start to the season by posting her third win over a world number one and first in three years.

"I really went on court with a lot of belief in myself, and I stayed very focused at the end," said Bartoli. "I'm so happy."

Bartoli previously beat number ones Justin Henin of Belgium in 2007 at Wimbledon and Jelena Jankovic two years later at the Australian Open.

Bartoli finished with two aces, five double faults and won 68 per cent of her first-serve points against Azarenka in the 97-minute match.

Azarenka had five double faults and won just 49 per cent of her first serve points as she tried but failed to play catch-up for the second straight match.

In her fourth round match, Azarenka dropped the first set and then fell behind 5-2 in the second set against Dominika Cibulkova before fighting back to win in three sets.

But there would be no magical comeback this time as Bartoli used her counterpunching style to blunt Azarenka's athletic baseline game.

"I have to be proud of what I have done in the last couple of months," Azarenka said.

"I am a human not a superwoman. I wish I could be, but I am not."

Bartoli will next face Agnieszka Radwanska who brought Venus Williams' comeback to a halt, downing the American 6-4, 6-1.

The 23-year-old Radwanska from Poland reached the semi-finals here for the first time, after getting to the quarter-finals each of the past two years.

She needed one hour, 21 minutes to overcome Williams, who was playing her first WTA tournament in more than six months after her abrupt withdrawal from the second round of the US Open, where she revealed she had been diagnosed with the auto-immune disorder Sjogren syndrome.

Williams said it was frustrating not to be able to execute all elements of her game as well as she would like.

"I think out of all the matches, today was probably the one where I had the least pressure in terms of someone who was going to maybe hit winners on me or pressure me.

"So it was disappointing not to be able to feel my best today," she said.

"I was able to keep it close in the first set and try different strategies, but it was definitely a mental battle, and today I didn't conquer the mental part of it."

AFP

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First posted March 29, 2012 13:44:49

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Azarenka extends winning streak

Updated March 24, 2012 15:26:20

World number one Victoria Azarenka stretched her unbeaten run to 24 matches this year with another easy win in her first appearance at the WTA/ATP event in Miami on Friday.

Her latest victim was Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands, who fought hard but was no match for Azarenka as the Belarusian cruised to a 6-3, 7-5 win.

Azarenka is off to the hottest start to a season since Martina Hingis won her first 37 matches in 1997. Her wins this year include the Australian Open and Indian Wells last week, but she realises she now has a target on her back.

"I felt that she had nothing to lose, so she went for her shots, she was really aggressive," Azarenka said.

"I think I could have been more aggressive and play more my game, but I found the right shot selection and the right opportunities when I needed."

Meanwhile, former world number one Venus Williams, idled for six months, upset Czech third seed Petra Kvitova 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 to reach the third round.

Williams, in her first WTA event since pulling out of last year's US Open, took advantage on 9-of-11 break-point chances and fought off a rally to advance after two hours and 18 minutes.

She booked a third-round match-up with Canadian wildcard Aleksandra Wozniak, who defeated Romania's Monica Niculescu 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Spanish second seed Rafael Nadal began his quest for a first-ever Miami hardcourt title by ousting Colombia's Santiago Giraldo 6-2, 6-0 in 69 minutes.

Nadal, who received a first-round bye, advanced to a third-round match with Czech Radek Stepanek, who ousted Germany's Tommy Haas 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

Great Britain's Andy Murray, who was given a bye in the first round, rebounded from his early exit at Indian Wells last week to beat Colombia's Alejandro Falla 6-2, 6-3.

The fourth seed faces a third-round clash with Milos Raonic, who defeated Arnaud Clement 7-6 (9-7), 6-2.

"I was expecting it to be tricky ... and managed to play better," Murray said.

"Once I settled down and started playing well, I was in most of his service games. So I was putting pressure on him."

American John Isner maintained his great run of form, which has included a win over world number one Novak Djokovic, by defeating Russian Nikolay Davydenko 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, highlighted by 10 aces.

Reuters

Tags: tennis, sport, united-states

First posted March 24, 2012 13:18:38

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Federer ends Djokovic's winning streak

Published:Saturday, June 4, 2011 7:08 AEST

Switzerland's Roger Federer (L) and Serbia's Novak Djokovic embrace during a semi-final at the French Open tennis championship at the Roland Garros stadium on June 3, 2011, in Paris.

Tags: sport, tennis, france, switzerland, yugoslavia, serbia

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Nadal stretches clay streak to 31

Posted April 22, 2011 08:17:00

Top seed Rafael Nadal extended his current clay court win streak to 31 matches as the Spaniard overcame an early run of breaks to post a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Santiago Giraldo at the ATP Barcelona Open.

Nadal is bidding for a sixth title at his "home" event in seven editions after missing 2010 due to treatment on a knee injury.

He moved into the quarter-finals in less than 90 minutes, surviving a first set with five breaks of serve against a South American opponent.

But Nadal did not hang about after securing the opening set. He took a 3-0 lead in the second and quickly closed it out.

The number one was last beaten on clay at Roland Garros in 2009 by Robin Soderling in the fourth round.

Nadal now stands an ATP-leading 26 wins and four losses this season. He is 27-1 in Barcelona.

He will on Friday face Gael Monfils, who beat French compatriot Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) in their third-round encounter.

"It's never easy against Giraldo because he has a good backhand and plays well from the baseline," said Nadal.

"When he's playing well he can be difficult to stop. But I played well and didn't make many mistakes.

"Monfils will be a fantastic opponent. He's difficult to play so I will have to be aggressive.

"It will be a tough match," added Nadal, who has a 7-1 record against the Frenchman.

"Monfils can attack as well as defend, You never know how he is going to come out and play. He'll probably play very aggressive and I'll have to try and defend."

Seventh seed Monfils, a laid-back character in almost all circumstances, was deliberately refusing to consider the task ahead.

"I won't think about the match now," said a reluctant Monfils, playing in only his second event since a wrist injury forced him out in February. "I will prepare it just like any other match."

Monfils improved to 4-3 over his friend and compatriot Gasquet, not at his best after a pair of previous matches each lasting in excess of two hours.

"I got off to the better start, Richard started slow," said Monfils, who has played just ten matches this season.

"He did not come to the court in his best form today. I played aggressive from the start, that's what won the match for me."

Fourth-seeded Monte Carlo finalist David Ferrer got a Spanish win as he defeated Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-2.

Austrian Juergen Melzer beat Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-2 to earn a re-match of last weekend's Monte Carlo semi-final which he lost to Ferrer.

Ferrer has a strong Barcelona history, playing the semi-finals or better for the last four years and losing a pair of finals to Nadal.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, champion a decade ago, continued his injury comeback after eight months out with a defeat of Italian Simone Vagnozzi 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4.

He plays compatriot and eighth seed Nicolas Almagro, whose 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 win over Nikolay Davydenko earned a career-first top 10 place.

- AFP

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