Serena Williams stormed into the final of the WTA hardcourt tournament at Stanford on Saturday, winning the last eight games of a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Andrea Petkovic.
The world No. 1 and top seed, playing her first tournament since a disappointing Wimbledon campaign in which she was slowed by a virus, was to face third-seeded German Angelique Kerber in yesterday’s final.
Kerber, ranked eighth in the world, saved a match point on the way to a 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 victory over 59th-ranked American Varvara Lepchenko.
Petkovic, 26, who ousted 34 year-old Venus Williams in the quarter-finals on Friday, pushed 32-year-old Serena hard in the opening set as they battled through the first 11 games without a break of serve.
After holding for a 6-5 lead, Williams turned the tide in the 12th game, although she needed a fifth set point against Petkovic’s serve to gain the break and the set.
There was no stopping the 17-time Grand Slam champion from there. After a first set lasting 50 minutes, Williams polished off the second in 27, breaking Petkovic a fourth time when the German sent a forehand long on match point.
Williams saved the only break point she faced in the match, showing no sign of fatigue, despite a quick turnaround from her tough, three-set victory over former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic on Friday night.
“I’m really excited,” Williams said. “Andrea and I both had really long matches yesterday, so I was just hoping to come out again today with fresh legs, and just try to do the best I could out there. My body feels great.”
Petkovic was trying to become just the eighth player to have beat both Williams sisters in the same tournament, and the first since Jelena Jankovic did so in Rome in 2010.
“Playing one of them is a lot,” Petkovic said. “Playing two of them in a row was so strange, like playing a video game. It was the most awkward situation I’ve ever been in. I idolized them and admired them growing up.”
Yesterday, Williams was to seek a fourth title of the year. She has won all three finals she has reached this year, at Brisbane, Miami and Rome.
When the WTA world rankings are next released, she will have been No. 1 for 200 non-consecutive weeks in her career, but Williams has struggled this year in Grand Slams, failing to make it past the fourth round in the Australian Open, French Open or Wimbledon.
Stanford and next week’s WTA event in Montreal are part of her buildup to the US Open, her last chance this year to add another major title to her resume.
Williams has won four of her five career meetings with Kerber, who saved a match point while trailing 4-5 in the second set against Lepchenko — who was playing in just the second WTA semi-final of her career.
“I have no idea how I did it,” Kerber said of her escape. “I was just trying to fight until the last point and believe in me, and just try to change my game in the middle of the match, but I have no idea how I won.”
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