Victoria Azarenka’s bid to hold on to her Qatar Open title, and the world No. 1 ranking, began with victory over herself, a treacherous wind, and world No. 62 Romina Oprandi on Wednesday.
Azarenka’s 6-2, 6-3 success was encouraging both in the way she responded to being within a point of losing the first three games in irritating conditions and for her maturing sense of adaptability.
There were moments when the 23-year-old resorted to cursing and racket swishing, but Azarenka’s frustration never got out of control and her grip on the match increased as her mind imposed its focus.
Photo: Reuters
With Serena Williams’ fitness still the subject of speculation, and with Maria Sharapova needing both Williams and Azarenka to falter if she is to regain the pinnacle, the top-seeded Belarussian could yet hang on to the top spot.
“It was a little bit of a slow start, and I had to adjust,” Azarenka said. “I couldn’t go for my shots, and I had to be a bit more patient. She [Oprandi] is tricky and plays so many different balls that you don’t know what to expect. I had to focus more and move my feet more.”
Next up for Azarenka is Christina McHale, the world No. 44 from the US.
Agnieszka Radwanska, whose intelligent, well-controlled game seems well suited to the conditions, earlier reached the last 16 with a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win over Anastasia Rodionova, a qualifier from Australia. She next plays Ana Ivanovic.
Sloane Stephens, playing her first event as a top 20 player, led by a set and 5-3, but could not get past Klara Zakopalova, the world No. 24 from the Czech Republic, losing 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5).
Two other seeds were beaten, Marion Bartoli, the No. 9 from France, and Roberta Vinci, the No. 15 from Italy, bringing the total of casualties to five so far. An ailing Bartoli lost 6-4, 6-4 to Svetlana Kuznetsova, the former French and US Open champion who is looking livelier than last year.
Another former world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, also reached the last 16.
The athletic Dane also made a tenacious escape from 3-6 down in a first set tie-break, saving four set points altogether before beating Sorana Cirstea from Romania 7-6 (9/7), 6-0.
Wozniacki next plays Mona Barthel, the German who on Tuesday upset her fifth-seeded compatriot, Angelique Kerber.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei had a day to forget after losing in the singles and the doubles. No. 11 seed Nadia Petrova of Russia fought back from a set down to defeat Hsieh 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in their second-round singles clash before Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain beat Hsieh and Liezel Huber of the US 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the doubles. Hsieh and Huber were the No. 5 seeds.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but