Kim Clijsters stormed into the semi-finals of the Sydney International with a straight-sets demolition of Victoria Azarenka yesterday.
The Belgian world No. 3 reaffirmed her status as favorite for next week’s Australian Open with five service-breaks on the way to a 6-3, 6-2 win over the seventh-seeded Azarenka in 85 minutes.
Clijsters will face the winner of the unseeded pair, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia and Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova, in today’s semi-finals.
China’s Li Na will take on Serbian qualifier Bojana Jovanovski in the other semi after Jovanovski beat Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-1 in their quarter-final.
With no Serena Williams in Melbourne and the patchy early season form of the two top-ranked women, Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva, Clijsters was in devastating form.
The Belgian mother controlled the match from the baseline in swirling winds with her deep groundstrokes putting Azarenka on the defensive.
Clijsters raced to a 5-1 lead before briefly allowing Azarenka back into the set, then closed out the second set with two breaks.
Li was the first player into the semi-finals after a grueling dogfight with Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The 11th-ranked Li wore down the two-time Grand Slam champion, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 in almost two-and-a-half hours on a warm day to book her spot in the last four of the tournament.
Li will be bidding to go one better in Sydney than her losing semi-final appearance to Clijsters in the 2007 tournament.
Auckland ATP
AFP, AUCKLAND
Top-seed David Ferrer came back from a set down to defeat Germany’s Tobias Kamke and reach the quarter-finals of the Auckland ATP tour event yesterday.
The Spanish world No. 6 dropped the first set after Kamke broke his serve in the sixth game but recovered to post a 3-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 win after two-and-a-half hours.
He will meet Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarter-finals after the eighth-seed downed Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Another Spaniard, second-seed Nicolas Almagro, dispatched Romania’s Victor Hanescu 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) to reach the final eight for the second time in the past three years.
Almagro, who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open last year despite breaking his wrist in Auckland, said his early season form was a good sign for this year.
Former world No. 3 David Nalbandian breezed past Philipp Petzschner of Germany 6-3, 6-2, rediscovering his killer instinct after struggling to a first round win over Italy’s Fabio Fognini.
Brazilian seventh-seed Thomaz Bellucci overcame a mid-match slump to beat Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
Hobart International
AP, HOBART, Australia
Rain has prevented play in the day session at the Hobart International, causing a backlog of matches that could result in the final being delayed until Sunday.
Australia’s Alicia Molik was still waiting to play her second-round match against Italian seventh seed-Sara Errani as persistent rain dogged the WTA event. Molik’s compatriot Jarmila Groth is the only player through to the quarterfinals after winning the only completed game on Tuesday.
With more rain forecast, tournament director Michael Roberts said organizers had contingency plans ready ahead of the final scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite