World No. 1 Serena Williams beat Agnieszka Radwanska for the eighth time in eight matches to move ominously towards the semi-finals of the WTA Championships on Wednesday.
The US player was again too strong for the Pole in a 6-2, 6-4 victory to stay in charge of Red Group with one more round-robin match to come against Petra Kvitova, another player to whom she has never suffered defeat.
“Radwanska definitely played pretty well. Am I happy? I guess. I’m happy to still be alive in the tournament, but, you know, I can always look to improve on some things,” Williams told reporters after her 75th match win of a dominant year.
Photo: AFP
“My serve wasn’t as good today as it was yesterday, but, you know, you can’t expect it to be great every day. It wasn’t easy.” she added. “It’s the end of the year and I’m a little tired, so I really had to fight in that second set to stay up mentally.”
Radwanska, whose only set against the 32-year-old Williams came in last year’s Wimbledon final, is unlikely to survive the group after two defeats so far at the season-ender.
Earlier in the White Group, Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic beat second seed Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-3, aided by 40 unforced errors from her erratic opponent.
“It feels incredible to beat Azarenka here in Istanbul,” said former world No. 1 Jankovic, making her first appearance at the event for three years.
“I was so excited to qualify and give myself a chance to play against the best players in the world once again, and to win today is amazing. Every match in the round-robin format counts and every match is difficult, too. I’m really happy. Beating Vika will give me a lot of confidence going into the next matches,” she added.
Jankovic had lost her last 17 matches against players ranked in the top four.
Azarenka had won her opening match against Sara Errani on Tuesday and was scheduled to have a day off yesterday, while Jankovic was to play her second round-robin match against China’s Li Na.
Li beat an injury-hit Errani 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) to raise hopes of surviving the round-robin stage after failing to do so in 2011 and last year.
“It was important to win the first match because it is always tough. Sara was fighting a lot today, she is always a tough fighter,” Li said.
Errani, who had her calf heavily strapped, has lost both matches so far.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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