Posts Tagged ‘Advances’

Wimbledon 2011 Scores: Maria Sharapova Advances To Finals

Wimbledon 2011 Scores: Maria Sharapova Advances To Finals
Maria Sharapova advanced to the Wimbledon finals on Thursday for the first time since 2004 as she defeated Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 6-3. Sharapova dropped the first three games of the first set before battling back to defeat Lisicki in straight sets – something she has done throughout the entire tournament so far as Sharapova has yet to lose a set this year in Wimbledon. Sharapova will be opposed by …

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Tennis Capsules: Djokovic, unbeaten in 2011, advances in Serbia

Tennis Capsules: Djokovic, unbeaten in 2011, advances in Serbia
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Novak Djokovic won his 26th straight match to remain unbeaten in 2011, defeating Slovenia’s Blaz Kavcic 6-3, 6-2 Friday in the Serbia Open quarterfinals. This is the best start to an ATP tour season since Ivan Lendl in 1986.

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Sharapova struggles but advances in Beijing

Sharapova struggles but advances in Beijing
Agencies Beijing, Oct 3: Three-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova struggled at times to find her rhythm but eventually advanced to the second round of the China Open on Sunday thanks to her brute force from the backcourt.

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Williams advances to U.S. Open semi-finals

Williams advances to U.S. Open semi-finals
U.S. third seed Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, advanced to the U.S. Open semi-finals on Tuesday by defeating Italian sixth seed Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

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Monfils advances to U.S. Open quarter-finals

Monfils advances to U.S. Open quarter-finals
Gael Monfils became the first Frenchman in the U.S. Open quarter-finals since 2000, ousting countryman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 on Monday to reach the last eight on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts.

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Third-seeded Djokovic advances, to face Blake next

Third-seeded Djokovic advances, to face Blake next
NEW YORK (AP) — Novak Djokovic has reached the third round at the U.S. Open with a 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory over 52nd-ranked Philipp Petzschner of Germany.

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Clijsters advances to WTA Montreal Cup quarters

Clijsters advances to WTA Montreal Cup quarters
Reigning US Open champion Kim Clijsters cruised into the quarter-finals of the two million-dollar WTA Montreal Cup by defeating Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 6-1.

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Roland Garros- Federer Advances to Quarterfinals after Beating Wawrinka

The world number one, Roger Federer, eliminated compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round of Roland Garros.  Federer won on Sunday in straight sets 6-3, 7-6, 6-2, in one hour and 56 minutes in Philippe Chatrier center course of Roland Garros.

After overcoming the first three rounds at Roland Garros without dropping a set, Stanislas Wawrinka was hoping to play an excellent game against the best player in the world, with whom he won the gold medal in doubles at the Beijing Olympics 2008. However, Federer gave him a hard time. Even though Wawrinka broke Federer’s serve in the second set, he still couldn’t overcome the world No.1. This was the seventh meeting between the two Swiss. Roger Federer has won 6 of them.

During the opening set, the defending French Open champion demonstrated his superiority and won the first set with ease after breaking its compatriot’s serve in the third game, grabbing the set with a score of 6-3.

In the second set, Wawrinka responded with an aggressive game, breaking Federer’s serve in the first game and putting things 1-0. But the world No.1 didn’t lose his calm and managed to recover and force the set to a tie-break.

In the tie-break, Federer was more effective and won with a 7-5 score after fighting for almost an hour. Wawrinka threw his racket to the clay court showing his frustration after losing the second set.

The third set was easier for Roger Federer. He beat a demoralized and tired Wawrinka who felt hopeless after his great effort in the second set. The world No.1 turned the game at his pace and Wawrinka began to make too many unforced errors.  During the key moments Federer played at his best to gain a victory that would allow him to qualify into the quarterfinals.

At the end of the game, in press conference, Roger Federer stated he was happy with his performance against Wawrinka and despite he has trouble in the previous matches, he hopes to keep going until the final to defend his title.

“I could have lost a set against Alejandro Falla in the second round and today against Stan and after this, you never know. So I am happy with what’s happened. I’m playing well, serving well and moving well. I hope it continues like this,” said Roger Federer.

Roger Federer smashed 7 aces and 38 winners in the match. On the other hand, Wawrinka seemed frustrated after losing the second set. At the end the only thing that the Swiss expressed was his disappointment after playing so well in the first meetings at Roland Garros and losing like that against his compatriot Roger Federer was unbelievable.

“Frustration. Nothing but frustration,” said Wawrinka

The world number one will now face the Sweden Robin Soderling, his victim in last year’s Roland Garros final.  Soderling advanced to the quarterfinals after eliminating  Croatian Marin Cilic with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

Australian Open- Nadal Retires; Hennin Advances To Semis

Rafael Nadal definitely didn’t have a good day on Tuesday. Playing in the quarterfinals against Andy Murray, the Spaniard re-injured his knee and decided to retire from the tournament in the third set of the game; he was losing 6-3, 7-6 (2), 3-0. This is the second time that Nadal has had to retire from a major tournament because of knee problems. Knee tendinitis had pushed him off of the courts for at least one month after Wimbledon. As a result, he was excluded from the Roland Garros final last year. The problem seems to be back; Nadal required medical assistance in the third game of the third set, after which he decided to exit not only the game, but the tournament as well. Nor did he refer to the problem after the game. His uncle, Tony Nadal, told the press that the player would make a statement after being submitted to several scans and MRIs in Spain, when his doctor would be able to examine him more thoroughly. For Murray, the early exit was a little disappointing; the Scott was playing a great game, not realizing that Nadal was suffering from knee pain. “When the big moments came in the match, I thought I dictated what happened on the court,” Murray said. “Obviously, I didn’t know when he hurt his knee…but from my side, I played really well and deserved to be up when the match was stopped.” Murray is struggling to win his first Grand Slam title; if he manages, he will be the first Brit to do so in 74 years. On the women’s side, Justine Hennin had a good match against the Russian Nadia Petrova, defeating her 7-6, 7-5 and guaranteeing her ticket for the semifinals. Petrova gave Hennin a hard time at the beginning of the second set, when she was able to break the Belgian’s serve; Hennin, however, was able to recover the game, winning seven of the next nine games of the set. This with Petrova coming off of amazing defeats of Kim Clijsters and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. The victory is a great comeback for Hennin, who is playing her second tournament after returning from an 18-month retirement. She moved on for a match against Zheng Jie, who was able to beat Venus Williams in the quarterfinals. She defeated Zheng in 51 minutes, 6-1, 6-0. Hennin has won seven Grand Slam titles in the past and is considered one of the best tennis players in history.

Federer Advances, Berdych Blasts Murray at French Open; Nadal on Deck

Federer Advances, Berdych Blasts Murray at French Open; Nadal on Deck
Roger Federer showed little signs of worry today in a straight set 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-2 win over his best bud from Switzerland Stan Wawrinka to advance to the quarterfinals of the French Open.

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Australian Open – Nadal Advances to Quarterfinals by Beating Gonzalez

The 5-time Grand Slam champion and currently No.1 of the world, Rafael Nadal, was able to maintain his unbelievable record of not losing a set in this tournament by beating Fernando Gonzalez in great way 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. The game lasted a little less than 2 hours, which was not as long as everyone expected for this game, especially because everyone though that the battle between this two players was going to be more fierce. However, the Spaniard played incredibly good, hitting 33 winners with amazing power shots from different angles and touch, varying speeds and heights.

During the match, Nadal was really confident on his game and it was shown in the first two sets where he won comfortably 6-3, 6-2. Gonzalez was fighting but his poor shots and unforced errors were not helping in the first two sets. Nevertheless, the 2007 runner-up and Chilean Fernando Gonzalez found his way and went up 3-0 in the third set. But the motivation and focused mind of Nadal, gave him the strength to come back to the game by winning five straight games of the set and getting up 5-3 to later enclose the victory with a winner serve. Gonzalez made 35 unforced errors compared to the 11 of Nadal, whereas Nadal had 33 winners contrasting to 22 from the Chilean.

“I am playing well… but you never know if it’s gonna be enough. I hope I continue playing like this, because all the (remaining) matches are very, very difficult. I have to be ready for everything. Maybe the only thing today I can improve a little bit more is the serve,” expressed the Spaniard.

This was the first meeting between Nadal and Gonzalez since the final match of the Beijing Olympics, where Nadal also defeated him in straight sets and won the gold-medal. But we also cannot forget that Gonzalez beat Nadal two years ago in this same Grand Slam scenario. Nevertheless, this time was the chance for the No.1 of the world, who has clearly improved his game since then.

According to some analysts, Nadal’s game is currently ahead of Federer’s, especially in this tournament were Nadal has been unstoppable and Federer has struggled a little on some games, especially in the one against Thomas Berdych, where he lost the first two sets. However, Federer has a great mental strength and a great capacity to get out of the hole when things are not going his way, both are great players and had their goals pretty set for this tournament; Federer is willing to recover the No.1 spot in the ATP and Nadal is looking to win his first hard-court Open.

The next opponent of Rafael Nadal will be the French Gilles Simon, who got into the quarterfinals after his victory against his countryman and friend Gael Monfils. On the other hand, the next contender of Roger Federer will be No. 8 seeded Juan Martin Del Potro, who defeated Marin Cilic in four sets.

We hope the best for Rafael Nadal, who is giving a display of great tennis and amazing mental strength at Melbourne, especially by not dropping a single set in the tournament. His next contender, Simon, is entering to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal and may have a difficult time against this experienced and talented Spaniard, who is in such a great streak.

Federer advances; Roddick withdraws

Federer advances; Roddick withdraws
MADRID (AP) — Defending champion Roger Federer improved his clay-court game, defeating Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-2, 7-6 (4) yesterday to reach the third round of the Madrid Masters.

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Dubai Open- Djokovic Advances; Murray And Davydenko Ousted In Dubai

Andy Murray’s journey for the Dubai Open title ended abruptly when the Brit lost to the Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4 on Wednesday. That tournament was the first in which Murray participated since the Australian Open, during which he was upset by Roger Federer in the final.

Murray has never had an easy time with the Serb, who evened their career record to 3-3 and challenged a player who displayed not even a shadow of the skill seen in the Australian Open games in early January.

Murray entered the Dubai tournament coming from a long break and stated that he didn’t expect much from the tournament since he wasn’t well prepared for it. He wasn’t yet, he claimed, playing his normal game; instead, he was still experimenting on the court. There was much more serve and volley than there was aggression and big shots.

Tipsarevic took the lead in the first set and took the tiebreak 7-3. Murray broke the Serb’s serve in the first game of the second set, the Brit’s only break in the match. It was enough, though, to bring the match to a tie at the end of the second set.

In the third, Murray struggled with 3-0, trying to equalize. He failed to take five break points, costing him the match in the end.

“It was obviously disappointing to lose, but I tried some things out and I think it was a good learning experience for me,” Murray said. “I would like to have won, but it’s not the end of the world. If it was a Slam or something my tactics and my game style would have been a bit different.”

Nikolay Davydenko also left the tournament early, retiring after losing his first set against the German Michael Berrer because of a painful wrist. Davydenko claimed to have injured the wrist two weeks ago while playing in Rotterdam.

In the Dubai tournament, Davydenko stated that he first felt the pain in his wrist on Tuesday. The discomfort subsided briefly, and then resurged during the match against Berrer. The injury leaves his position in Russia’s Davis Cup tie, in which he was formerly the favorite, in doubt.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic was the only one in the top 10 that passed the second round.  Djokovic defeated fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 3-6 6-4 6-2. Djokovic recovered from being one set down against Troicki, who proved a formidable opponent.

Troicki broke Djokovic’s serve twice in the first set, in the second and ninth games. But Djokovic responded quickly, breaking Troicki’s serve in the second set and tying the match. In the third, Djokovic clinched a 4-0 advantage against Troicki, who tried to recover, but couldn’t overcome his compatriot.

“He (Troicki) was the better player in the first set and a half and I was struggling a lot,” Djokovic said. “He was serving well and the balls were going very fast. There’s a big difference playing at night and in the day.”

Djokovic will face Ljubicic in quarterfinals on Thursday. 

Australian Open- Federer Advances To Quarterfinals After Beating Lleyton Hewitt

Swiss tennis player Roger Federer continued his winning streak on Monday, defeating Lleyton Hewitt and qualifying for the Australian Open’s quarterfinals for the seventh consecutive year. The world number 1 showed his best game against his old rival, reaching a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 victory in less than two hours in front of a packed Rod Laver Arena. Hewitt, the last local player at the tournament, hasn’t beaten Federer since 2003, and the gap between the current and former world no. 1 has never seemed greater. Federer was very effective from the beginning, with clean backhands and spectacular serves. Hewitt, on the other hand, approached the net only three times in the first set, winning two games. Hewitt didn’t win any points serving, volleying, or charging; his mission was to get Federer out of position on the baseline, then come in and put away a comfortable volley. His strategy, however, gave little in the way of results. At the end of the first set, Hewitt lost 6-2. In the second set, Federer kept up his good performance, breaking Hewitt in the fourth game of the second set with a wrong-footing backhand drive. With the same shot, Federer won the second set 6-3 and increased his advantage to two sets. In the third set, though, things finally got a little complicated for the Swiss player. Hewitt tied the set with a score of 4-4, but the world No. 1 upped the ante, finally beating the Australian 6-4. With the final score, Federer moves into the quarterfinals, where he will face the Russian Nikolay Davydenko, who beat the Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in an electrifying match, 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3. Federer managed seven aces and 49 winners; he only needed an hour and 55 minutes to put the Australian away. Now, with Hewitt’s exist, Australia has no representative players in the final stages of its Open. After the game, Federer stated that he was very pleased with his performance and his ability to maintain his focus, committing hardly any errors and concentrating on his game plan. “Hardly made any unforced errors. If there were some, they were at moments I can live with. I was really able to press on the offensive, serve well when I had to, and I moved well as well, overall I’m extremely happy” said the Swiss, who committed 30 errors and converted 49 winners. Hewitt, on the other hand, despite his loss, was happy with the way he played. He acknowledged Federer’s skill and recognized him as the best player in the circuit. “He played special tennis. Tonight was as good as the US Open final in 2004. I prepared exactly the way that I wanted to prepare for the Australian summer. Gave 100% every time. But I ran into the best player at the moment, I would say.” Now in the quarterfinals, Federer will face Davydenko on Wednesday January 27th. Davydenko is certainly the most constant tennis player in the circuit, as he closed in 2009 with victories at the Masters 1000 of Shanghai in China and the Masters Cup in London, and opened 2010 with a successful victory in Doha. Despite losing the last Australian Open to Rafael Nadal, Federer is the favorite to win the tournament.

Tennis- Serena advances while Nadal is beaten by Del Potro at the Sony Ericsson Open

Serena Williams beat her sister Venus Williams at the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open yesterday on a very interesting match, where Serena demonstrated again why she is the No. 1 seed of the World. The game ended with a 6-4, 3-6 and 6-3 making Serena reach the final and accomplish the record that Steffi Graf had of 5 titles at Key Biscayne, completing six titles in the last eight years.

Serena said that her sister is a great player and it was a very tough match; she was glad of being able to reach the victory, mostly after losing the last two matches in the sisters rivalry, so right now she feels very proud of herself for equalizing the head to head with Venus (10 wins each), but most of all, she’s delighted for remaining as the No1 seed; if she had lost, she will have been replaced by Dinara Safina in the No. 1 spot.

For her part, Venus was not as happy as her sister, “Even though she’s my sister, I’m still here to win,” Venus said. “I can’t give anyone anything. So I’m disappointed that I lost tonight, whether or not she kept the ranking. It was a well-fought match; my serve wasn’t going as well as I wanted. But she brought a lot of balls back and played tough.”

This victory will give Serena some advantage and now she is considered favorite against Victoria Azarenka from Belarus tomorrow in the women’s final. Azarenka won the semifinal match against Svetlana Kuznetsova and expressed that she feels very happy to play against Serena since she admires her very much, and thinks that she is a great champion.

On the other hand, the No.1 seeded Rafael Nadal lost against the Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3) final score. A lot of Argentinean fans were in the public screaming for him and trying to give him the support that he needed to win the match against the best player of the world and it seemed to work; it made Nadal feel a little frustrated and desperate some times.

Del Potro was consulted after the match and he said that this was the best day of his life as a tennis player. For the first time, he thought that he was dominating the match with his great game against Nadal; Del Potro had lost the previous four games against the Spaniard and had not even winning one single set against before yesterday. So, this win meant the world for him since he was able to demonstrate he is a great player too.

For Nadal the game was a complete disaster. He said very honestly that he played bad the whole game and that it was very good match for the crowd but very bad for him. He also added that he could say many things that went wrong about this game, but in the end, the truth was that Del Potro played better than him and took advantage of the situation.

Now Del Potro will face Andy Murray in the semifinal on Friday and the winner of this match will face Novak Djokovic, who defeated No.2 Roger Federer, on the final of the Miami Masters next Sunday.

ATP Tennis – Federer Advances to the Fourth Round of the Sony Ericsson Open

The 27-year-old and seeded No.2, Roger Federer advanced to the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami by beating the German Nicolas Keifer 6-4, 6-1.  It was a great game for the Swiss, who had to play with strong winds and with a little bit of rain. However, despite all this difficulties, the Swiss played amazingly well and this win gives some more confidence in his game to the world No.2 and a secure place to play the fourth round of the tournament; hoping for his first title of the year, and the first Masters title in quite a while, since he won his last one in August, 2007.

At the beginning of the game, the German started in a very good shape, winning the first game of the first set, but the Swiss without problems recaptured the control of the game by breaking Keifer’s serve in two occasions and even with good plays from Keifer, Federer imposed himself with great tennis. During the first set, the Swiss was having close to 70% on first serve effectiveness while the German was having close to 50%. During the second set, Federer was without a doubt in control of the game and the victory seemed remarkably on his hands. The German lost his confidence at the end of the game, which was notable especially by his many unforced errors from which Federer took advantage off and finished the set 6-1. With that result, the game was over in favour of the Swiss, who after 70 minutes got his qualification to the next round.

The following contender of Roger Federer will be the American Taylor Dent, who after several surgeries due to back problems and years of absence, defeated the 15th seeded Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-3 in the third round at Crandon Park in Miami.  This was a surprise upset for many fans of tennis, but it is very refreshing to see this American doing such a great comeback presentation in this important U.S tournament.

For Federer, playing against Dent will be very interesting and a great experience. “It’s great to see him back playing,” said the world No.2. “He was always a dangerous player on tour because he was aggressive, offensive and kind of making the match decides on a couple of passing shots here and there. It’s going to be interesting for me to see how he plays. I actually never played him, so I can’t compare before and after injury. I’m looking forward to a good match.” 

Both players are really excited for this game and hope for the best results. Federer is conscious that he needs to win this tournament to regain some points in the rankings and recapture some confidence in his game, while also accomplishing his first title of the year. Federer has won this tournament in two occasions, one in 2005 where he defeated Rafael Nadal in five sets and then in 2006 against Ljubicic where he beat him in three tie-breaks. On the other hand, winning this game would be a plus to Dent’s recovery and would give him a better position in the rankings as well. We wish the best of lucks for both players and hope for them to give us all the tennis fans a great game to watch.