Serena Williams retained the No. 1 world ranking by being her sister Venus 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open on Thursday.
The match was the 20th meeting between the sisters, and each has won 10 times.
Serena needed to reach the final to retain the top ranking she has held since Feb. 2. Otherwise she would have been supplanted next week by No. 2-ranked Dinara Safina of Russia.
PHOTO: AP
“I’m excited,” Serena said. “I was thinking I’d love to remain No. 1. I think I was more happy about that than winning the match.”
Serena’s opponent today will be 19-year-old Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who beat 2006 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. Azarenka became ill with a stomach complaint before losing a fourth-round match against Williams at the Australian Open in January.
Serena jumped to a 4-1 lead in the final set against her older sister and broke serve for the sixth time in the final game. When she closed out her victory, she hopped in delight, raised a fist and shouted “Yes!” She then met her sister at the net with a handshake and slap on the back.
PHOTO: AFP
“Even though she’s my sister, I’m still here to win,” Venus said. “I can’t give anyone anything. So I’m disappointed that I lost tonight, whether or not she kept the ranking or not.”
Top-ranked Rafael Nadal lost in the men’s quarter-finals to 20-year-old Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3).
Nadal had won all four of his previous meetings with del Potro without dropping a set — including a quarter-final victory at Indian Wells.
The upset delighted a partisan crowd that included many transplants from Argentina.
Del Potro had lost all nine sets in their four previous matches, but he was buoyed by a home-court advantage, with many transplanted Argentines in the crowd singing “Del-Po” between points.
“Wonderful for the crowd,” top-ranked Nadal said. “Terrible for me.”
The No. 6-seeded del Potro was yesterday to face No. 4 Andy Murray of Britain, who beat No. 8 Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-2.
Murray broke serve five times and saved seven of eight break points against him.
Serena is seeking her sixth Key Biscayne title, which would break the record she shares with Steffi Graf. She’s 52-5 in the event, with one loss since 2001 — to Venus.
After losing her past two meetings with Venus, Serena said she was glad to pull even in the rivalry.
“I would love to be in the lead again,” she said.
Del Potro showed patience in long rallies and used his looping forehand to keep Nadal deep as their three-hour match built to a dramatic finish.
“I beat him with my mind and with my game,” del Potro said. “When we played long points, I was dominating every time.”
Nadal was up two breaks in the final set at 3-love, but del Potro climbed back into the match by winning 12 of the next 14 points.
“I played really bad all the time,” Nadal said. “When I have it 3-love in the third, I played worse. It was amazing disaster.”
When Nadal lost serve for the second consecutive time for 3-all, del Potro let loose a primal scream. There was more noise to come.
In the 12th game of the set, Nadal saved three match points, two with aces. He caught a break in the tiebreaker when his return skipped along the net cord before clearing it for a winner and a 3-2 lead.
That was the last point Nadal won. Del Potro hit three consecutive winners to go up 6-3, and on the final point Nadal put a backhand in the net as the crowd erupted one last time.
“I beat the No. 1,” del Potro said. “If you don’t play unbelievable, you cannot beat him.”
Nadal, a six-time Grand Slam champion, won at Indian Wells two weeks ago, but his best finish at Key Biscayne was as the runner-up in 2005 and last year.
“I didn’t play well during this tournament,” Nadal said. “I didn’t adapt well. I played really bad.”
Azarenka closed out her victory on her fourth match point when Kuznetsova netted a backhand to end the 2-hour, 40-minute endurance test played in 30˚C sunshine.
“It’s the first final in such a big tournament for me,” Azarenka said. “It’s the biggest moment, I would say, in my career. It’s all kind of an experience for me. It’s a new thing that I’m going to be introduced to on how to handle.”
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
RSS