Archive for the ‘Tennis’ Category
Rafael Nadal made smooth progress into the fourth round of the US Open with a straightforward win over Gilles Simon.
The first two sets were closely fought but the world number one always had the edge and he ran through the third to complete a 6-4 6-4 6-2 victory and set up a last-16 clash against fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
The tone was set early on when Nadal broke for a 2-1 lead and he held on to that advantage to close out the set.
The second followed a similar pattern with one break, this time to establish a 4-3 advantage, proving enough.
Nadal was, by now, in full flow and Frenchman Simon, who became a father for the first time 48 hours ago, was unable to respond.
Further breaks in the first and third games of the third set effectively settled the match and with Nadal winning 91% of points when he got his ...
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September 6th, 2010 16:07 |
Posted by Vijay Kumar in Tennis |
Top Caroline Wozniacki set up an exciting fourth-round clash with former champion Maria Sharapova.
Wozniacki, a beaten finalist here last year, thrashed Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei 6-1 6-0 in the third round on Saturday and has dropped just three games in three matches so far.
And Sharapova went one better by whitewashing 18-year-old wild card Beatrice Capra 6-0 6-0 to leave Venus Williams as the only American woman left in the draw.
Jelena Jankovic’s bid for a first Grand Slam title had earlier been blown off court by a combination of Kaia Kanepi and the strong, blustery winds.
Kanepi coped best with winds gusting up to 25mph in New York, the 31st seed from Estonia winning 6-2 7-6 (7/1) to book her place in the fourth round.
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The 25-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon this year, served for the match at 5-3 in the second set but lost ...
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September 5th, 2010 10:18 |
Posted by Vijay Kumar in Tennis |
Jelena Jankovic’s bid for a first Grand Slam title was blown off court by a combination of Kaia Kanepi and strong, blustery winds.
Kanepi coped best with winds gusting up to 25mph in New York, the 31st seed from Estonia winning 6-2 7-6 (7/1) to book her place in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.
The 25-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon this year, served for the match at 5-3 in the second set but lost her serve twice in the next three games to give fourth seed Jankovic the chance to force a decider.
However, Kanepi quickly regained her composure to break back and force a tie-break which she won for the loss of just one point.
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September 5th, 2010 10:05 |
Posted by Vijay Kumar in Tennis |
Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi progressed to the men’s doubles pre-quarterfinals of US Open.
The 16th seed Indo-Pak pair secured a straight-set win over German-Finn pair of Michael Kohlmann and Jarkko Nieminen defeating them 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the season’s last Grand Slam.
The Wimbledon quarter-finalists though have a tough job at hand as they are up against second seeds Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia in the round of 16.
In the mixed doubles event, last year’s finalists Leander Paes and Cara Black of Zimbabwe moved to the second round after a 6-4, 7-5 win over Czech pair of Lucie Hradecka and Frantisek Cermak.
Paes and his estranged partner Mahesh Bhupathi may clash in the second round of the mixed doubles event if the latter along with his partner Daniela Hantuchova clear their opening hurdle.
Bhupathi and his Slovakian partner will open their campaign against Kaia Kanepi of ...
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September 4th, 2010 16:39 |
Posted by Vijay Kumar in Tennis |
American teenager Ryan Harrison squandered a great chance to claim a second shock victory of the week in the US Open.
Harrison, 18, who beat 15th seed Ivan Ljubicic in the opening round, was 6-3 ahead in the fifth-set tie-break but lost the next five points in succession – one of them by crucially serving a double fault – as Sergiy Stakhovsky held on for a 6-3 5-7 3-6 6-3 7-6 (8/6) victory.
“I just got a little bit tight when I needed to come through,” admitted Harrison, who has been tipped by John McEnroe to eventually become one of the top 10 players in the world.
“It was incredibly fun, the first time I’ve played in the main draw at the US Open was two days ago and to have a crowd like that behind me was incredible.
“I’m obviously not the happiest person in the world right now, but looking back it ...
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September 4th, 2010 04:23 |
Posted by Vijay Kumar in Tennis |
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are both through to the third round of the US Open after straight sets victories.
Federer ensured the high temperatures in New York did not cause him any concern by taking just one hour 41 minutes to beat Germany’s Andreas Beck 6-3 6-4 6-3 on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“It’s the perfect start, sure,” said Federer, who will face France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu in the third round.
“I played Monday, had two days off. I had another easy one physically today and here I am in the third round feeling like I’m completely in the tournament.”
Djokovic also comfortably made it through in his match against Philipp Petzschner. The only major talking point of his 7-5 6-3 7-6 (8/6) triumph over the German came midway through the first set when a fight broke out between spectators at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The best performance of day came from France’s Richard Gasquet who sent ...
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September 3rd, 2010 10:40 |
Posted by Vijay Kumar in Tennis |
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are both through to the third round of the US Open after straight sets victories.
Federer ensured the high temperatures in New York did not cause him any concern by taking just one hour 41 minutes to beat Germany’s Andreas Beck 6-3 6-4 6-3 on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“It’s the perfect start, sure,” said Federer, who will face France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu in the third round.
“I played Monday, had two days off. I had another easy one physically today and here I am in the third round feeling like I’m completely in the tournament.”
Djokovic also comfortably made it through in his match against Philipp Petzschner. The only major talking point of his 7-5 6-3 7-6 (8/6) triumph over the German came midway through the first set when a fight broke out between spectators at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The best performance of day came from France’s Richard Gasquet who sent ...
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September 3rd, 2010 10:29 |
Posted by Vijay Kumar in Tennis |
A slimline Mardy Fish continued his impressive form to power into the third round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows.
Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas served for the opening set at 5-4 before Fish stormed back to win 15 of the next 17 games to complete a 7-5 6-0 6-2 victory.
After knee surgery at the end of September last year, Fish hired a nutritionist to help him get back into shape, the 28-year-old American subsequently losing more than two stone.
And his new diet has certainly paid off, with Fish winning back to back tournaments for the first time in Newport and Atlanta and finishing runner-up in Cincinnati where he lost to Roger Federer in the final after beating Britain’s world number four Andy Murray and Andy Roddick.
“I really got aggressive with my training once I knew I was able to put in long hours and not get injured or have nicks and ...
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September 3rd, 2010 10:13 |
Posted by Vijay Kumar in Tennis |
Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams both went through to the third round of the US Open with straight sets victories.
Reigning champion Clijsters insisted her game was still a work in progress despite easing to a 6-2 6-1 victory over Australian Sally Peers.
Clijsters has lost just eight games so far at Flushing Meadows but admitted there was plenty of room for improvement after dropping her serve twice against qualifier Peers.
The 27-year-old Belgian, who won the title 12 months ago in only her 14th match and third tournament since coming out of retirement, also managed to get just 51% of her first serves in and committed 21 unforced errors.
“I just had to find my footing again a little bit,” said Clijsters, who is seeded second this year behind Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, the player she beat in last year’s final.
“I felt as the match went on I got to read her game a ...
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September 2nd, 2010 22:04 |
Posted by Vijay Kumar in Tennis |
John McEnroe believes Andy Murray is one of just three players who can win the US Open – but admits Roger Federer is still favourite.
Murray was finally due to begin his bid for a first Grand Slam title against Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko on Wednesday, with Federer having already cruised into the second round on Monday evening.
World number one Rafael Nadal is the other player McEnroe thinks can lift the title on September 12, but he and Murray will have to do it the hard way after being placed in the same half of the draw, the other half to Federer.
“Federer is not going to have to deal with both of them, which is good for him,” McEnroe said. “How much will Rafa and Andy beat up on each other in the semis?
“I would be very surprised if one of those guys did not win it. Andy can absolutely win it ...
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September 1st, 2010 11:45 |
Posted by Vijay Kumar in Tennis |