Serena Williams showed little ill-effect from her long layoff with a knee injury as she powered past Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-4 to reach the Italian Open semi-finals on Thursday.
However, the fans were denied an all-Williams semi-final showdown as her sister Venus, also returning from injury, was whipped 6-0, 6-1 in under an hour by Jelena Jankovic.
US world No. 1 Serena, playing her first tournament since winning January’s Australian Open, was in control from the off.
PHOTO: AFP
She rattled the Russian by standing short on her serve and pounced on any weak balls to drill home winning returns.
Her own serve was fearsome, zipping down at over 190kph on several occasions and she notched seven aces.
Serena, the 2002 Italian Open champion, also showed she was in good physical shape, racing to the net to recover drop shots and tip them back for winners, as with the point that clinched the first set.
The only blot was that she allowed herself to be broken in the sixth game of the second set.
Serena conceded she had been rusty in her earlier games at this week’s tournament, an important warmer for this month’s French Open, but had promised to be “sexy” in the quarters and said she was satisfied that she had kept her word.
“Yeah, I think so,” she told a news conference when asked if she considered the performance sexy enough.
“It was fast and hot and sweaty,” she said.
In contrast, Venus’ game was a mess from the start.
Seventh seed Jankovic took advantage of her opponent committing 11 unforced errors to one in the first set to take it to love, wrapping things up by charging to the net to put away a backhand winner.
Fourth seed Venus managed to hold to win her only game of the night at the start of second set.
However, she was getting less than half her first serves in and Jankovic attacked her second serve well to make it a one-sided affair that ended with Venus driving a forehand into the net.
Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic gave another indication that she might be regaining the form that lifted her to the top of the world rankings two years ago, brushing past Russian 14th seed Nadia Petrova 6-2, 7-5.
The Serb, who has fallen to 58th in the rankings, had claimed her first wins over top 10 opponents in 18 months this week by beating Elena Dementieva and Victoria Azarenka on the way to the last four.
“This tournament and the victories I have had this week mean a lot to me because I have put in so much work, not only in the last months but also the last year, and it was just not happening,” the Serb said.
“I just needed to get some more momentum and start playing matches because that is what I have been lacking for so long. Now I am just so happy to be back on track,” she said.
She will now be up against unseeded Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, a 7-6, 6-4 victor over Czech Lucie Safarova.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early on Tuesday struck out 11 in five shutout innings to match a franchise record during his MLB debut against the Oakland Athletics. “Pretty sick performance,” teammate Romy Gonzalez said. “It was fun to watch.” The only other Red Sox starter to rack up 11 strikeouts in his first career game was Don Aase versus the Milwaukee Brewers on July 26, 1977. “It was amazing, just to go out there and have that first opportunity,” Early said after getting the win in a 6-0 victory. “A long day of travel yesterday and just getting to the field, seeing
Mikel Merino on Sunday scored a hat-trick as a majestic Spain thumped Turkey 6-0 away in World Cup qualifying, while a brilliant Florian Wirtz free-kick helped Germany beat Northern Ireland 3-1 to get their bid up and running. European champions Spain were in unstoppable form in the central Turkish city of Konya, claiming their second biggest-ever away win in World Cup qualifying as Arsenal midfielder Merino scored his first professional hat-trick. Barcelona playmaker Pedri Gonzalez opened the scoring inside six minutes and later completed the scoring, with Ferran Torres netting the visitors’ other goal. The quality of Merino’s strikes was remarkable, with his
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
SWEDEN BEATEN: Goals in the first half by Elvis Rexhbecaj and Vedat Muriqi were enough to give Kosovo their second-ever win in World Cup qualifying Sandro Tonali’s last-gasp winner on Monday edged Italy to a 5-4 victory over Israel in FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifying, while Kosovo beat Sweden despite Alexander Isak making his first appearance of the season. After collapsing from leading 4-2 in the final two minutes to drawing 4-4, Tonali’s 91st-minute strike in the Hungarian city of Debrecen sent Italy above Israel and into the playoff spot in Group I. New coach Gennaro Gattuso’s side trail leaders Norway by three points and still have a chance of taking first place and the group’s sole direct qualifying spot as they seek to avoid missing out
RSS