Venus Williams beat Russia's Maria Sharapova in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 yesterday to win the JB Group Classic exhibition in Hong Kong, a warmup for the upcoming Australian Open.
Both players held serve comfortably in the early games, but the Russian faltered first.
Serving at 4-5 in the first set, Sharapova sent a backhand into the net after a long rally and then missed another backhand to give the American a one-set lead.
World No. 5 Sharapova, a past winner at Wimbledon and the US Open, was erratic in the second set.
Down 2-3, she double faulted and missed a forehand to give the reigning Wimbledon champ the crucial break.
Sharapova did save two match points in her final service game, but Williams held to love to take the match, closing out the game with a forehand winner.
"It's very exciting, especially going into the Australian, having played very well against someone of her [Sharapova's] caliber," Williams said.
The opening Grand Slam event of the year, the Australian Open is scheduled to take place from Jan. 14 to Jan. 27.
World No. 8 Williams, a six-time Grand Slam winner, complained on Friday of a hamstring soreness but appeared unaffected yesterday.
She said the hamstring discomfort felt better after treatment. Williams also said she fell on her left wrist while practicing in Hong Kong but that the wrist felt 100 percent yesterday.
"I just had the opportunity to get my racket on the ball and play it deep. I guess I served well. I returned OK. So I guess it was about doing everything good," she said.
Sharapova said she took some chances because she was playing against an opponent in good form.
"When your opponent is serving big and serving consistently, you've really got to take your chances on opportunities, on second serves, which I did a poor job of," she said.
The eight-woman field at the JB Group Classic also featured Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, Russia's Elena Dementieva, China's Peng Shuai, Russia's Anna Chakvetadze, Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova and Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki.
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,
SPEEDSKATER: Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s run at the Asian Winter Games without a medal since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990 Speedskater Chen Ying-chu yesterday made history as the first athlete representing Taiwan to secure a medal at the Asian Winter Games. Competing at the HIC Speedskating Oval in Harbin, China, Chen clocked 10.510 seconds in the women’s 100m event, finishing third behind South Koreans Lee Na-hyum and Kim Min-sun, who posted times of 10.501 and 10.505 seconds respectively. Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s drought at the Asian Winter Games since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990. This year’s Games mark Chen’s debut at the event. Previously excelling in roller speedskating, she won six medals at world championships before transitioning
Taiwan’s Lin Yun-ju and Kao Cheng-jui were defeated by their Chinese counterparts 3-0 on Saturday in the men’s doubles final at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. Lin and Kao received their silver medals after being defeated by third-seeded duo Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin of China 2-11, 4-11, 11-13. The Taiwan pair were left playing catch-up early in the match after the Chinese duo proved unstoppable in the first and second game. Although Lin and Kao picked up their pace in the third game and at one point took a 10-8 lead, they were crucially unable to take
Australia yesterday won two of four races on the first day of the SailGP Sydney event on Sydney Harbour to finish the day atop the points table ahead of Britain and a French team who made an outstanding return after missing the first two events of the season. Australia also had a third and a second placing, finishing the day with 37 points, ahead of Britain with 32 points and France with 27. Britain won the second race of the day and Switzerland, who won the first race, were in fourth place overall. Australia’s prowess in the start box was again the