Victoria Azarenka was knocked out of the French Open fourth round yesterday and could now lose her world No. 1 ranking.
The top-seeded Belarussian was beaten 6-2, 7-6 by Slovak 15th seed Dominika Cibulkova and must wait to see if Russian Maria Sharapova will claim the top spot.
Sharapova, who meets unseeded Czech Klara Zakopalova in the last 16 today and has yet to drop a set here, must get to the Roland Garros final for the first time to become No. 1.
Photo: AFP
Cibulkova, who reached the French semi-finals three years ago and had lost seven times to Azarenka in eight previous meetings, collapsed on to her back, a big grin on her face, after winning the tiebreak 7-4 with a backhand crosscourt on her second match point.
Asked how she would recover from the defeat, a stone-faced Azarenka said sarcastically: “I’m going to kill myself!”
Analyzing what went wrong, she said: “Pretty much everything, really. I don’t know how to describe my performance today ... I wasn’t satisfied being out there playing that way, but I guess it happens.”
Photo: AFP
Italy’s Sara Errani saw off her second French Open champion in two rounds when she beat Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-0, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals of the claycourt Grand Slam for the first time.
“I am curious to see how far I can go, what level I can get to,” said clay specialist Errani, who had knocked out Serbian Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 winner, in the previous round.
Yesterday’s matches were played under cloudy skies and Kuznetsova, who won in 2009, said the gloomy weather had affected her.
“Today the weather was so bad. I felt cold during the whole match. For me to move was really complicated, I couldn’t make my feet move,” said the Russian, who started working with Marat Safin’s old coach, Hernan Gumy, a week before the tournament.
Errani will now play another first-time quarter-finalist here, 10th seed Angelique Kerber, who beat Croatian Petra Martic 6-3, 7-5 on Suzanne Lenglen Court.
On Saturday, Caroline Wozniacki made no apologies for her behavior on court at the French Open, even calling the officiating a “disgrace” after losing in the third round.
The ninth-seeded Wozniacki, still searching for her first Grand Slam title, argued several line calls in a 6-1, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3 loss to No. 23 Kaia Kanepi of Estonia. And it was one particular ruling that drew the most severe comments from the former top-ranked Dane.
“It’s a disgrace that mistakes like this are made,” said Wozniacki, who was broken in the third game of the second set on a ball she thought was past the baseline. “It wasn’t even like, ‘Could have been in, could have been out.’ It was clearly out.”
Rafael Nadal had no problems on Philippe Chatrier Court, beating Eduardo Schwank of Argentina 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 to improve his French Open record to 48-1. And Sharapova completed her third straight rout, defeating Peng Shuai of China 6-2, 6-1. Sharapova has lost only five games through three matches at Roland Garros this year.
Defending champion Li Na, the seventh seed, battled back to defeat the US’ Christina McHale 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
The 30-year-old Li had to draw upon her 10-year age gap to prevail over the 36th-ranked American, who had fallen in the first round in 2010 and last year.
The seventh-seeded Li will face qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan for a place in the quarter-finals.
Also, 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy lost to Varvara Lepchenko of the US 3-6, 6-3, 8-6.
Wozniacki looked nothing like the player who finished the past two seasons as the No. 1-ranked woman in the world. She held serve only once in the first set and then held to open the second. However, in the third game, she was broken on a disputed point.
She called for the chair umpire to show him the spot, which she claimed as evidence that Kanepi’s shot should have been called out.
Spanish umpire Poncho Ayala, however, agreed with the original call that the ball hit the line.
“How can you sit there and be so arrogant?” Wozniacki said to Ayala. “Have you gone to school?”
After coming back to win the second set, Wozniacki again argued a line call in the third.
Kanepi, who finally won on her fifth match point despite being broken four times while serving for the match, said she wasn’t affected by the uproar.
“Well, I think that those things happen in tennis matches, so it’s OK if she wants to argue,” Kanepi said. “I have to be ready for that and take it easy.”
HEATED RIVALRY: The pair had met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of the encounters and entering the final as the favorite to take the title Elena Rybakina took revenge over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win a nail-biting Australian Open final yesterday and clinch her second Grand Slam title. The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2 hours, 18 minutes. It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis. The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022. It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open
GUNNING FOR A WIN: The victory sending Arsenal to the final for the first time in six years was cathartic for a team who had lost their previous four semi-finals Arsenal on Tuesday reached the League Cup final for the first time in eight years as Kai Havertz sealed a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the semi-final second leg. Mikel Arteta’s side had put themselves in pole position in the first leg and Havertz came off the bench to finish the 4-2 aggregate victory in the closing moments at the Emirates Stadium. It was a cathartic triumph for the Gunners, who had lost their previous four semi-finals in last year’s UEFA Champions League and League Cup, the 2022 League Cup and the 2021 UEFA Europa League. In their first final for six years,
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic returned from a 16-game injury absence to post a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double on Friday and propel the Nuggets to a 122-109 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had not played since suffering a bone bruise in the left knee he hyperextended in a game against Miami on Dec. 29 last year. The Serbian big man did not miss a beat. He led all scorers, connecting on eight of 11 shots from the field, and also handed out five assists with three steals while playing just 24 minutes, 32 seconds as the
DEADLINE DAY: Rennes’ Jacquet had been linked with a transfer to Chelsea earlier this month, but was reportedly put off the move due to the Blues’ bloated squad Liverpool on Monday won the race to sign Stade Rennais defender Jeremy Jacquet on the quiet final day of the English Premier League transfer window, while Crystal Palace swooped for Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Jorgen Strand Larsen despite the collapse of Jean-Philippe Mateta’s move to AC Milan. The Reds agreed a reported fee of up to ￡60 million (US$82 million) for the highly rated Jacquet. However, the 20-year-old will not join the Premier League champions until the summer despite Liverpool’s need for defensive reinforcements. Jacquet had been linked with a transfer to Chelsea earlier this month, but was reportedly put off
RSS