Five-time Cincinnati winner Roger Federer blunted Andy Murray’s attempt at a comeback, while women’s world No. 1 Serena Williams roared to victory as they moved into the semi-finals at the Western & Southern Open on Friday.
The second-seeded Federer defeated Murray 6-3, 7-5 after the Scot had taken a 4-1 lead in the second set.
Williams, bidding for her first title at the Ohio hard-court tournament, romped to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Serb Jelena Jankovic in just 58 minutes.
Photo: AFP
World No. 3 Federer said he had “lost a little bit of the rhythm” before rebounding against the eighth-seeded Murray in the second set.
“From the baseline, he was hitting the ball well — harder and deeper,” Federer told reporters. “I snuck in a quick break and next thing you know, I’m back. I feel like I stole that second set.”
Murray, though, thought he had blown an opportunity to get back in the match.
“Obviously I was well up in the second and blew it,” he said. “It’s a shame.”
The Scot broke Federer in the third and fifth games of the set for his 4-1 lead. However, his Swiss opponent fought back to level the set, breaking Murray twice and holding serve to pull even at 4-4. Both players held until Murray bowed out on his serve.
In the first set, Federer broke Murray for a 3-2 lead and closed out the set by breaking him again. Federer won 82 percent of his first-serve points (14 of 17) and saved both break points he faced on his own serve.
“I hit the ball well,” Federer said of the set. “I was the more aggressive guy out there. I was having more impact from the baseline and on the serve.”
Federer was to face Canadian fifth-seed Milos Raonic in yesterday’s semi-finals, with surprising Frenchman Julien Benneteau meeting Spain’s David Ferrer in the other.
Raonic breezed past 15th seed Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-1, 6-0 in a quarter-final mismatch that lasted only 57 minutes.
Benneteau delivered the day’s shock with a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 ousting of Swiss world No. 4 Stan Wawrinka to reach his first Masters semi-final.
Benneteau belted nine aces and broke serve four times as he earned his second victory over a top-10 opponent this year, and became the first Frenchman in 14 years to advance to the Cincinnati semis.
Ferrer outlasted fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 a day after Robredo, the 16th seed, had stunned world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Williams needed just 25 minutes to claim the first set against Jankovic. She fell behind 2-1 in the second with an early break, but won five of the next six games, closing out the match with back-to-back aces.
“She’s beaten me several times, so I knew today I just had to be focused and do the best I could,” Williams said after claiming her 10th win in 14 matches against Jankovic.
“It didn’t seem fast,” Williams said. “I was just trying my best. And she played some great points. I was just trying to not make many errors, stay focused and do the best that I could.”
The top seed wound up with as many winners as unforced errors at 22-22 while the eighth-seeded Jankovic finished with five winners and 24 unforced errors.
Williams, unsuccessful in five previous attempts at Cincinnati, was to face Dane Caroline Wozniacki yesterday for a chance to play for today’s title.
The other semi-final was to match Russian Maria Sharapova, who edged second-seed Simona Halep, against former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia.
The 12th-seeded Wozniacki upended fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).
Sharapova, seeded fifth, outlasted Romanian Halep 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, while Ivanovic beat Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-3.
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,
Ademola Lookman on Thursday scored on his Atletico Madrid debut in a 5-0 rout of Real Betis Balompie that sent Diego Simeone’s team to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. David Hancko, Giuliano Simeone, Antoine Griezmann and Thiago Almada also scored for Atletico as they advanced to the last four for the third straight season. Atletico are trying to reach their first Copa final since winning the competition in 2012-2013. Hancko opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute and Giuliano Simeone added to the lead in the 30th, before Lookman got his first goal for Atletico on a fast
SUPERSTAR DELIVERS: Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to propel the Spurs to a 135-123 victory over the Dallas Mavericks The Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday shook off the early exit of injured star Luka Doncic, rallying without him in the second half for a 119-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Austin Reaves, again coming off the bench in his second game back from a 19-game injury absence, scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, drilling a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lakers their first lead of the game early in the final frame. “Losing Luka, you know nothing’s going to be easy after that because he does so much for us, but we bonded together,” said
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