Top-ranked Serena Williams advanced to the semi-finals at the Sydney International with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Vera Dushevina in windy conditions yesterday.
Elena Dementieva had to wait out a two-hour delay for rain at the start of the night session before ousting second-ranked Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-3 in a repeat of the outcome of last year’s Sydney final.
Dushevina sprayed a forehand wide to give Williams two match points and then double-faulted to finish the main day match in an hour in a swirling breeze at the Sydney 2000 Olympics venue.
PHOTO: AFP
Williams, playing her only warmup tournament ahead of her title defense at the Australian Open, next plays France’s Aravane Rezai, who had a 6-3, 6-0 win over Italian Flavia Pennetta.
She said the strong breeze was a relief after a hot opening win here, although experiencing both conditions was a good test before the season’s first major starts on Monday at Melbourne Park.
Defending champion Dementieva faces a semi-final today against sixth-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who advanced 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 over Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova.
PHOTO: REUTERS
On the men’s side, Lleyton Hewitt started his bid for a fifth Sydney title with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Italian Andreas Seppi, reaching the quarter-finals with a 55-minute victory.
Hewitt won six straight games, then overcame an early service break in the second set and won six straight games to finish when Seppi double-faulted at match point.
Fourth-seeded Hewitt, a former US Open and Wimbledon champion, squared his career head-to-heads at 2-all with Seppi.
Hewitt next plays 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, who ousted sixth-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia 7-5, 6-3.
Another Australian advanced to the quarter-finals when Peter Luczak had an upset 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over second-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.
Also advancing were Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet — who beat eighth-seeded Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-2, 7-6 (4) — and American Mardy Fish, a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Russia’s Evgency Korolev.
■HEINEKEN OPEN
AP, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Top-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain contended with a swirling wind to beat Germany’s Simon Greul 7-6 (1), 7-6 (2) yesterday and reach the quarter-finals of the Heineken Open.
In a late match suspended by rain for more than an hour, Arnaud Clement of France beat second-seeded David Ferrer of Spain 7-5, 6-4.
Third-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero was forced to retire from his match against Swiss qualifier Michael Lammer with an ankle injury.
“They say it’s not too bad. I will have to wait three or four days with some ice, take some anti-inflammatories and see how it goes,” Ferrero said.
Fourth-seeded Nicolas Almagro lost 6-0, 6-3 to 58th-ranked Marc Gicquel of France.
■HOBART INTERNATIONAL
REUTERS AND AP, HOBART, AUTSRALIA
Israel’s Shahar Peer defeated Australia’s Jelena Dokic 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the Hobart International yesterday.
Second seed Peer, who made the semi-finals in Auckland last week despite being heckled by political protesters, continued her impressive build-up to next week’s Australian Open by romping to victory in 55 minutes.
Fifth seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain beat Australia’s Alicia Molik 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, while Belgian qualifier Kirsten Flipkens and Italy’s Sara Errani both overcame seeded opponents.
Flipkens, who played three qualifiers just to get into the main draw, beat Ukrainian third seed Kateryna Bondarenko 7-6, 6-4, while Errani upset Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak 7-5, 6-2.
In the doubles quarter-finals, Chuang Chia-jung of Taiwan and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic defeated Czech duo Iveta Benesova and Lucie Hradecka 7-6 (5), 6-3.
Chuang’s compatriot Hsieh Su-wei joined forces with Peng Shuai of China to beat Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain and Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 5-7, 6-3, 10-8.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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,
RSS