Second seed Serena Williams powered into the fourth round at Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Italy’s Roberta Vinci yesterday.
Williams, a two-time Wimbledon champion, gave a masterclass in baseline play to bury Vinci under a barrage of brutal ground-strokes and set up a last 16 match against Japan’s Ai Sugiyama or Daniela Hantuchova.
Serena has yet to drop a set at Wimbledon this year and never looked likely to lose that impressive record in her 200th Grand Slam match. It is six years since Serena last won Wimbledon and, with last year’s final defeat to her sister Venus in mind, the Australian Open champion has the look of a woman on a mission to regain her crown.
PHOTO: AP
Williams, who took just 58 minutes to dispose of Jarmila Groth in the second round, seemed determined to make short work of Vinci. She broke for an early 2-0 lead then, after dropping her own serve, extinguished the Italian’s hopes with another morale-crushing break.
Serena’s power hitting was too much for Vinci. With almost every ball racing back at Vinci, it was a surprise when Serena won a point with a more subtle touch.
When Vinci scampered to the net to retrieve a Williams drop-shot, she was left horribly exposed, but instead of blasting the ball at her opponent, Serena simply clipped a gentle winner down the line.
Andy Murray made light work of a tricky tea-time assignment at Wimbledon on Thursday, while Lleyton Hewitt, the man who has already lifted the trophy the Scot so cherishes, rolled back the years to cause a big upset.
Murray devoured Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 to clear another hurdle toward becoming Britain’s first men’s singles champion in 73 years.
Murray was joined in the third round by dogged Australian Hewitt, the 2002 champion, who produced a vintage display to dispatch fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets.
Women’s third seed Venus Williams powered past Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko to remain firmly on course for a hat-trick of singles titles. However, Venus was evasive about what was wrong with her knee, which was strapped above and below.
Argentina’s Del Potro, occupying the place in the draw vacated by injured champion Rafael Nadal, was given a lesson in grasscourt play by Hewitt, who posted a 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 victory.
Elena Baltacha’s 7-5, 6-1 defeat by Belgian Kirsten Flipkens left Murray as the sole British representative in the singles.
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Japan yesterday secured a second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup finals appearance with a 2-1 win over 2023 champions Canada, thanks to Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama’s 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Kayla Cross and Rebecca Marino in the qualifying doubles decider. Shibahara and Aoyama powered through the opening set 6-3, breaking twice for a quick 3-0 lead. Cross and Marino hit back in the second, edging it 7-5 to level the match, before the Japanese pair regained control in the third. Canada’s 18-year-old Victoria Mboko edged Shibahara 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5 in a marathon opening clash. Mboko fired eight aces to
DAY OF BLOWOUTS: Elsewhere, the Lakers clinched the third seed in the Western Conference with a 140-109 pounding of the under-strength Houston Rockets The Denver Nuggets on Friday improved their playoff position, with a triple double from Nikola Jokic helping them to a 117-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Serbian put up 26 points, 13 assists and 16 rebounds. The triple-double performance, his 34th this season, ensured that he will finish the regular season as just the third NBA player to average a triple double across an entire season. The win meant the Nuggets improved to 49-32 on the season and gave them a real chance of grabbing fourth place and home-court advantage in the playoffs. Aaron Gordon top scored with 33 points for Denver,
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