Wozniacki tops Halep in straights
Caroline Wozniacki could have been forgiven, at times, for thinking she was looking into a mirror on the other side of the net. Her opponent, 20-year-old Simona Halep of Romania, is a 5-foot-6 baseliner with a two-handed backhanded and a steady baseline game that at times resembles Wozniacki’s.
But the comparison only goes so far, and if Wozniacki’s 6-2, 6-3 win over the No. 53 Halep showed us anything, it’s how tough an opponent she remains to break down. The two traded holds until Halep served at 2-3. At that point, Halep’s concentration wavered for a split second, a couple of loose errors followed, and the set was essentially over. Wozniacki may be struggling against higher-ranked players and bigger hitters, but she never needed to leave her comfort zone today. She kept the winners and errors low, kept her returns, especially on the backhand side, forceful and deep, approached the net when she could, and ran out to a 6-2, 3-0 lead.
Wozniacki’s recent losses must have taken some mental toll, though, because she grew shaky trying to close out what had appeared to be a routine win. She was broken for 2-3 and for 3-4 before finally wrapping it up. Her forehand, always her weaker wing, betrayed her on a couple of occasions. Some of this can be chalked up to Halep’s ball-striking ability. For an undersized player, she packs a punch, and she can flatten out a forehand in a way that Wozniacki normally can’t. The Romanian has been stradily climbing the rankings for the last three years, and it doesn’t appear that climb is over.
Still, she was only going to climb so far today. The most telling moment came when Halep was serving at 3-4, 30-40, break point in the second set. Over the previous four games, she had built a little momentum and taken control of some of the rallies , but she needed this point. The two engaged in a long rally; when it became clear that Wozniacki wasn’t going to blink, Halep tried a desperation bailout drop shot. It floated hopelessly into the bottom of the net.
Wozniacki is no longer No. 1, but she can still drive an opponent to despair. We’ll see if she can do it to another former top woman player, Ana Ivanovic, in the next round.
—Steve Tignor
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Tsonga, Tipsarevic advance to Marseille quarters
MARSEILLE, France (AP)—Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France and Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia won in straight sets Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Open 13.
The top-seeded Frenchman did not face a break point, winning 36 of his 41 service points.
Tsonga took a 3-0 lead in the first set and broke Mahut twice in the second. He will play Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who defeated Flavio Cipolla of Italy 6-3, 6-0.
The third-seeded Tipsarevic saved six break points to oust Belgian qualifier David Goffin 6-4, 6-2.
Tipsarevic had an ace to win the first set and clinched the match with a forehand pass down the line.
In the first round, Alexandr Dolgopolov defeated Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3.The sixth-seeded Ukrainian broke for a 3-1 lead in the final set.
He’ll face Michael Llodra of France, who edged Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3).
Llodra, a 2010 champion, had 12 aces.
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Stosur, Jankovic, Lisicki advance in Dubai
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)—U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur advanced to the third round of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Wednesday by defeating Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-1.
Caroline Wozniacki also advanced Wednesday after the third-seeded Danish player opened her title defense by beating Romania’s Simona Halep 6-2, 6-3.
Earlier Wednesday, top-ranked Victoria Azarenka pulled out of the Dubai tournament because of a left ankle injury. The Australian Open champion, who has won 17 straight matches so far this season, says she will rest for two or three days.
“Obviously it’s very disappointing, but, I mean, it’s life. It’s sport. I just have to take care of it and that’s it,” Azarenka said. “I take a couple of days off just to see and hopefully it will settle down. … But it has to be taken care of right away.”
Azarenka injured her left ankle during last week’s semifinal match at the Qatar Open. However, Azarenka shook off the injury to beat Stosur in the final.
In Dubai, the fourth-seeded Stosur of Australia broke Safarova twice in both the first and third sets, and saved all nine break points she faced in the match.
She will meet eight-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the third round on Thursday. Jankovic defeated Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 7-5, 6-4. Stosur and Jankovic last played in the quarterfinals in the 2011 Dubai tournament, with the Serb winning.
“Good chance for me to try and bounce back from that loss that I had against her,” Stosur said, adding that Thursday’s match will be one of those “where I think I’ve got to really step up and play aggressive and realize she’s (Jankovic) not going to make too many errors.”
Wozniacki will face Ana Ivanovic after the Serbian player defeated Maria Kirilenko of Russia, 6-2, 7-6 (4).
The ninth-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany also advanced after defeating Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3. Lisicki will play Agnieszka Radwanska in the third round, after the fifth-seeded Polish player defeated Israel’s Shahar Peer 7-5, 6-4.
Azarenka said the packed tennis schedule and increasingly tough competition could be partly to blame for so many injuries among the players.
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, French Open winner Li Na and Vera Zvonareva have also pulled out the Dubai tournament because of injury and illness.
“For me, obviously I played so much, and it was an unfortunate situation what happened in Doha,” Azarenka said. “But I mean, it’s just the game became so physical. Sometimes it’s really tough on the body week after week to play. For example, these tournaments back-to-back with such a tough field, it takes a lot out of you physically. It’s just tough.”
Wozniacki, who was ranked No. 1 until Azarenka unseated her last month by winning the Australian Open, said she hoped her Belarusian rival will recover from her injury after a good rest.
“Vika (Azarenka) has had a great start to the year. I’m sure her body is feeling very tired at the moment, and she needed the rest before Indian Wells,” Wozniacki said. “You know, injuries happen in tennis. Just need to be happy when you’re healthy.”
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Sears: Ivanovic won Grand Slam title too early
Nigel Sears, who has been coaching Ana Ivanovic since last July, says the former No. 1 is making gradual progress, but we should not expect her to immediately become a dominant player. “Bit by bit she is getting back to the standard Ana wants but there is no quick fix and you cannot just flick a switch and she’s suddenly playing the sort of tennis to win Grand Slam titles again,” Sears told the Gulf Times. “There have been some very good performances in the recent few months, she did OK at the Australian Open and there have been a couple of other occasions when she did extremely well like winning the title in Bali at the end of last year. But it’s a process which requires patience and it’s an ongoing process.”
Sears, who once coached Daniela Hantuchova and headed the LTA’s women’s coaching department, said that Ivanovic’s 2008 French Open title at age 20 may have thrown her off course. The Serbian has reached the quarterfinals of Dubai and will face another former No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki.
“It’s probably fair to say she won a major title too early in her career and it was always going to be difficult after that point so a lot of things needed to worked on,” Sears said. “It’s a great challenge and I now see really encouraging signs that everything is coming together and she is really moving in the right direction again.”
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Querrey: Return to Top 20 will be slow
Former Top 20-player Sam Querrey scores just his second win in seven matches this year when he defeats Alejandro Falla in Memphis, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. The 24-year-old American has fallen to No. 99 in the rankings. He was sidelined three months last summer after elbow surgery.
Querrey has begun to work coach Brad Gilbert on a trial basis. “It’s tough because I feel when I’m playing well I’m a Top 20 player, but I can’t jump right back into the Top 20 by making the semis here,” Querrey told reporters. “It’s a process and it’s frustrating, but I’ve kind of come to terms that it might take six to eight months to get myself back to where I was.”
His sometimes doubles partner John Isner added. “It’s only a matter of time before he gets back in the Top 20.”
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Peer now ‘very comfortable’ in Dubai
Israel’s Shahar Peer, who was denied a chance to play in the 2009 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships—which created a firestorm of controversy—tells ESPN.com that she is now being treated well in that country.
“Yes, I’m very comfortable here [in Doha] and in Dubai,” said Peer, who fell to Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round of this week’s Dubai Championships. “Everything is good, they’re taking care of me nicely here and also in Dubai. I’m enjoying always coming back. I think in general, and for the world, I think it’s a positive thing to break barriers. I’m trying to make sure that sport and politics don’t get involved. I do for myself. This tournament does for itself. And everything is working out well.”
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Blake suffers lopsided loss in tour return
In his first match since last October in Basel, former Top 5-player James Blake is routed by Ryan Sweeting in Memphis, 6-0, 6-2. Blake has been contending with a right knee injury over the past few years and skipped the Australian Open to rehab. He told ATP staff in Memphis that his knee feels better and attributed the score to feeling rusty. He will play the tournament in Delray Beach next week. The 32-year-old is currently ranked No. 61.—MC
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Tsonga advances to Marseille quarterfinals
MARSEILLE, France (AP)—Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced to the quarterfinals of the Open 13 by beating Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 6-2 Wednesday.
The top-seeded Frenchman did not face any break points, winning 36 of his 41 service points.
Tsonga took a 3-0 lead in the first set and broke Mahut twice in the second. He will next play Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who defeated Flavio Cipolla of Italy 6-3, 6-0.
Roger-Vasselin won the last eight games and broke Cipolla three times in each set.
In the first round, Alexandr Dolgopolov rallied to beat Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3. The sixth-seeded Ukrainian broke for a 3-1 lead in the final set and will next face Michael Llodra of France, who defeated Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3).
Llodra, a 2010 champion, had 12 aces in his victory.
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Stosur beats Safarova in Dubai second-rounder
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)—U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur defeated Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-1 Wednesday to advance to the third round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
The fourth-seeded Australian broke twice in the first and third sets. Stosur saved all nine break points she faced in the match.
Earlier Wednesday, top-ranked Victoria Azarenka pulled out of the Dubai tournament because of a left ankle injury. The Australia Open champion, who has won 17 straight matches this season, says she will rest for two or three days.
Later, No. 4 Caroline Wozniacki is scheduled to open her title defense against Simona Halep of Romania.
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Dolgopolov reaches second round in Marseille
MARSEILLE, France (AP)—Alexandr Dolgopolov rallied past Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3 Wednesday to reach the second round of the Open 13.
The sixth-seeded Ukrainian broke for a 3-1 lead in the final set and will face Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli or Michael Llodra of France.
Also, Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin cruised past Flavio Cipolla of Italy 6-3, 6-0 to move into the quarterfinals. Roger-Vasselin won the last eight games and broke Cipolla three times in each set.
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