Serena Williams advanced to the quarter-finals of the Kremlin Cup by beating Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine 7-5, 6-4 yesterday.
Perebiynis saved three match points before Williams won with a powerful backhand.
"I don't I think I've played up to my standards today but I was glad to get through," Williams said.
PHOTO: AFP
In the second round of the men's tournament, second-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia was upset by Michael Berrer of Germany 7-5, 6-4.
Williams and Perebiynis traded breaks three times in the first set before the fourth-seeded American broke again with a backhand down the line in the 12th game.
The seventh-ranked Williams was leading 2-0 in the second set but lost her next serve at love and Perebiynis leveled at 3-3 after trading serves one more time.
Williams, who said she wasn't used to playing in morning matches, had trouble with her volleys early but managed to score several key points at the net in the second. Her first serve also improved, and she finished with six aces.
"Usually I sleep at 11, but I liked it because if I have to play hopefully four days in a row it's good to play early," Williams said.
The eight-time Grand Slam champion is playing in Moscow for the first time in a decade. In 1997, the 16-year-old Williams qualified and lost in the first round when she was ranked 448th.
In today's quarter-finals, Williams will play either Elena Vesnina or Nicole Vaidisova.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams shrugged off a rain delay to advance to the second round of the Bangkok Open yesterday with an easy 6-2, 6-2 win over Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki.
Williams, the tournament's second seed, had been leading 6-2, 4-1 when rain forced a suspension in play late on Wednesday, and did not need much time to seal the deal, using her powerful forehand to finish off the Dane.
It was the American's second win over Wozniacki in a week, on the heels of a semi-final triumph at the Japan Open in Tokyo.
The 27-year-old Williams, a six-time Grand Slam winner, was to battle local favorite Tamarine Tanasugarn later yesterday for a spot in the quarter-finals.
The Thai veteran has never beaten the Californian in five encounters, with Williams easily winning their last meeting in Seoul two weeks ago, 6-2, 6-1.
Fourth seed Tommy Haas became the first man through to the Stockholm Open quarter-finals on Wednesday, beating Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Claycourt specialist Montanes, coming off his first ever indoor win in the first round against Rohan Bopanna, provided surprisingly tough resistance for the German world No. 12.
A break for a 3-1 lead in the deciding set proved to be enough for Haas, who then held serve to seal a place in the last eight.
"I think he played very well, and I'm happy to be through to the quarters," the former world No. 2 told reporters.
"I don't know if I'm moving as well as I want to, especially coming in, but overall I'm actually pretty pleased with the way I've been hitting the ball," Haas added.
Two-time defending champion Ivan Ljubicic rallied to beat Mardy Fish of the US 6-7 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (4) on Wednesday, advancing to the quarter-finals of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy.
The third-seeded Croatian, who won the event in 2005 and last year, lost a set for the first time in Vienna but stretched his unbeaten record to 12 matches.
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to “beat” a world record on Sunday at the Enhanced Games, winning the men’s 50m freestyle at the divisive competition where athletes were free to take performance-enhancing substances. His time of 20.81 seconds — which is not considered official — came in the final event of the night in Las Vegas, sparing the blushes of organizers who made claims that multiple world records would be surpassed due to a sophisticated doping regime. Gkolomeev, who was wearing a synthetic “supersuit” long banned at events such as the Olympics, outpaced Australia’s Cameron McEvoy’s 20.88 set in
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The manager of the Yomiuri Giants, one of Japan’s most popular baseball teams, resigned yesterday after he was arrested for allegedly physically attacking his teenage daughter. Shinnosuke Abe allegedly grabbed the 18-year-old and forced her to the floor at their home in central Tokyo on Monday evening, reported national broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News, citing unnamed police sources. “Leaving like this really means I’m causing you a lot of trouble, and I feel truly sorry about that,” Abe told a hastily arranged news conference, his eyes red with tears. The former star catcher, who is among baseball-obsessed Japan’s most recognized sports figures,
Taiwanese tennis star Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles at the French Open, after she and German partner Mark Wallner defeated Slovenian Andreja Klepac and Briton Lloyd Glasspool in straight sets, despite temperatures exceeding 32°C in Paris, while Taiwan’s top men’s doubles player Ray Ho also reached the second round. Hsieh, who made it to the semi-finals in the mixed doubles at Roland Garros in 2024, and Wallner defeated Klepac and Glasspool 6-3, 7-5 in just more than an hour, converting three of five break points, while holding their opponents to just one conversion
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