World No. 1 Justine Henin was pleased with her convincing performance to reach the third round here at the German Open with a straight sets win over Chan Yung-jan in just under an hour.
On her last WTA appearance, Henin was hammered 6-2, 6-0 by Serena Williams in the quarter-finals of the Miami tournament last month which she admits dented her confidence, but she looked very sharp in Berlin.
The Belgian needed just 58 minutes and 50 seconds to see off Chan, 93rd in the world, from Taiwan and after white-washing her opponent 6-0 in the first set, she had few problems to take the second 6-2.
PHOTO: AP
“It was pretty quick and I was pleased to get a good win,” Henin said.
“It has almost been one year since I last played on clay and I want to keep that kind of intensity for the rest of the week,” she said. “I had a break after Miami and I felt pretty good out there.”
The 25-year-old Henin will now meet 13th seeded Russian Dinara Safina for a place in the last 16 and is on course to meet Williams in the quarter-finals.
All four of the top seeds safely made it into the third round on Wednesday.
Last year’s defeated finalist, and this year’s third seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova sealed a 6-3, 6-2 win over Colombia’s Catalina Castano and plays 15th seed Alona Bondarenko in the third round.
Earlier, defending champion Ana Ivanovic admitted she would love to break Williams’ winning streak if the pair meet in the Berlin final.
Ivanovic made the third round with a straight sets win over lucky loser Akgul Amanmuradova, but the world number two is on the opposite side of the draw to both Williams and Henin. Ivanovic, 20, faces Austria’s Sybille Bammer in the third round, while Williams will play Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska to set up a possible quarter-final clash with Henin.
Former world No. 1 Williams picked up her sixteenth consecutive win on Tuesday and Ivanoic says she would love to be the one to stop Williams.
“For sure, Serena is playing really well, she is on top of her game and 100 percent fit,” said Ivanovic. “I didn’t see her game on Tuesday, but I would love to play her.”
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS