Maria Sharapova put her disappointing Australian Open performance behind her on Saturday, as she beat Sofia Arvidsson 6-2, 6-1 to win the WTA Tour’s Memphis title.
The top-seeded Russian, playing in her first tournament since she crashed out of the first round of the year’s first Grand Slam, didn’t drop a set all week and capped her campaign with a victory over Swedish qualifier Arvidsson in 66 minutes.
“Coming in here, I asked for matches and I got five of them and I got the win, so I’m certainly happy,” said Sharapova, who was expected to rise from the world’s No. 16 to No. 13 today.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“I felt like I played consistent tennis throughout the week and did the right things against all my opponents,” said Sharapova, who spent almost a year out of the game with a shoulder injury in 2008 and last year. “I guess that’s a good week.
“Little by little I’m getting there,” she said. “The more matches I play, the more confident I get. From there, things will start to fall into place and the instinct will come back a little more.”
She overpowered Arvidsson, ranked world No. 102, winning one stretch of nine straight games and winning 15 of the last 18 points in the first set.
“She was just too good,” Arvidsson said.
Sharapova fended off three break points in the second set and served out the match with a love game.
“For me, it was about playing my game and being aggressive,” Sharapova said. “I wanted to take the ball and try to do something with it instead of just letting her play her own game.”
The men’s event was to conclude yesterday, when Sam Querrey and John Isner, newly named to the US Davis Cup team to take on Serbia next month, were set to battle for the title.
Sixth-seeded Isner beat Philipp Petzschner of Germany 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the semi-finals before eighth-seeded Querrey downed Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-3, 6-4.
“It’s awesome,” Querrey said of the pair reaching Sunday’s final after making the Davis Cup team on Wednesday. “Kind of a confidence booster for us.”
For the first time since 2000, neither Andy Roddick nor James Blake will be in the US Davis Cup squad.
Querrey will be making his second appearance for the US, while Isner will be making his Davis Cup debut. Querrey ousted top-seeded Roddick in three sets in Friday’s quarter-finals. Isner and Querrey are good friends and practice partners, but have never faced each other in an ATP match.
■DUBAI CHAMPIONSHIPS
AP, DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Venus Williams successfully defended her Dubai Championships title by beating Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 7-5 in the final on Saturday.
Williams broke Azarenka a third time at 5-5 in the second set and served out for her 42nd singles title on the WTA Tour.
Unlike last year, Williams didn’t lose a set in her five matches, and in the final she lost her serve only once to Azarenka, ranked No. 6, one spot behind Williams.
She served well, hitting seven aces and winning 80 percent of her first serves.
Williams sealed the first set with a break for 4-2, after she successfully challenged a long second serve by Azarenka with Hawkeye.
Azarenka, who’d lost to Williams at the Beijing Olympics before the Belarus star became a top-10 player, broke to even the second set at 3-3, but Williams got her back at the end.
“It was definitely very competitive,” Williams said. “I expected her to come out and play very well. I respect her game. Just the effort that she gives it. Even though I was leading in the second set, she just never gave up. She played really well and I am obviously happy to close the tournament out.”
Azarenka was looking for her fourth title in less than 12 months but couldn’t force enough breaks.
“It was hard,” she said. “Venus came off with some big shots. Just, you know, a little bit of bad luck on a few balls. But I’m proud of what I did today.”
■MARSEILLE OPEN
REUTERS, MARSEILLE, FRANCE
Eighth seed Julien Benneteau was set to meet fellow Frenchman Michael Llodra in the final of the Marseille Open.
Benneteau ousted compatriot and title holder Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 on Saturday and last year’s runner-up Llodra, who is unseeded, overcame German Mischa Zverev 6-1, 7-6.
Tsonga and Benneteau, who has yet to win an ATP title, battled for almost three hours before the world No. 39 finally triumphed.
“I had many chances but missed all of them,” world No. 9 Tsonga told reporters. “I made too many unforced errors. He was physically weakened and had it been a five-set game he probably couldn’t have escaped from me.”
Second seed Tsonga squandered four set points in the first tiebreak, won 13-11 by Benneteau, after having served for the set at 5-4.
Benneteau then broke early in the second and served for the match, but Tsonga fought back and grabbed three games in a row to draw level.
Both players held serve in the third set until Benneteau pulled away in the tiebreak and sealed victory on his third match point after Tsonga saved the first two with aces.
“I collapsed once at the end of the second set and I didn’t want to collapse again in the third so I kept on fighting and I staked my all on the last tiebreak,” said Benneteau, 28.
Llodra recovered from a lapse in concentration after easily winning the first set in 21 minutes against Zverev.
The 29-year-old Frenchman, who defeated top seed Robin Soderling in the quarter-finals, was broken in the middle of the second set but drew level when Zverev served for the set at 5-4.
Llodra then sealed victory in the tiebreak.
■COPA TELMEX
AP, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
Juan Carlos Ferrero and David Ferrer won their semi-finals on Saturday to set up an all-Spanish final of the Copa Telmex.
Second seed Ferrero reached his second straight final when he downed former champion Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-2, 7-6 (7), while top-seeded Ferrer overpowered countryman Albert Montanes 6-1, 6-1.
Ferrero won his 13th career title last weekend at the Brazil Open, and Saturday’s semi-final victory was his ninth straight. Ferrero served too well for fourth-seeded Monaco, who was playing his second match of the day.
Because rain on Friday postponed some quarter-finals, Monaco, the 2007 Buenos Aires champion and last year’s runner-up, had to beat Argentine countryman Horacio Zeballos 7-5, 6-1 earlier on Saturday.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care