Easy for Nadal, Peng through
Source: Agencies |
January 23, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
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RAFAEL Nadal didn't let the much-hyped potential future star of Australia stop him in his quest for a fourth consecutive major title.
Overcoming a mostly parochial crowd of 15,000 at Rod Laver Arena, the top-ranked Nadal had a 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 win over 18-year-old wildcard Bernard Tomic in an Australian Open third-round match yesterday.
Nadal advanced to a fourth round match against Marin Cilic, and a continuing date with destiny.
"I think I started playing well, but he's the kind of player who can make you play bad," Nadal said of Tomic. "I have to play a bit better if I want to get to the quarterfinals."
It wasn't always easy - Nadal trailed 0-4 in the second set before giving Tomic a clinic in comeback tennis. At 5-5, he broke Tomic's service, then held in the next game to clinch the set.
Earlier, Andy Murray tackled Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and the 2010 finalist was doing his best to get into the feel of the third-round match. After hitting a high lob to the back of the court, he watched as Garcia-Lopez ran it down and, facing the back of the court, hit a between-the-legs winner.
"It was the first time someone passed me on a through-the-legs shot on the tour," Murray said. "It was a very close one on the line."
Instead of marveling too long at one of the more unusual shots in tennis, Murray broke the Spanish player's serve and went on to beat Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.
In other men's results, No. 4 Robin Soderling advanced, as did Marin Cilic, who beat American John Isner in five sets.
In the women's event, Peng Shuai told herself before her match to pretend this wasn't a grand slam. The 25-year-old Chinese player didn't want her nerves to prevent her from reaching a fourth round at a grand slam for the first time.
It was one of several inner conversations that helped her defeat Japan's Ayumi Morita 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to become the third Chinese player to ever get that far in Melbourne.
Cramps nearly hobbled her in the third set. Peng saved seven break points in the seventh game of the deciding set.
"I just told myself, 'Don't think about the cramping," she said. "I just told myself to fight. Before the match, I just told myself, 'Don't think this is grand slam, because I really want to win."
Li Na and Zheng Jie reached the Australian Open women's semifinals last year, the first time two Chinese players had gone so far in the same grand slam. Li Na advanced to the fourth round on Friday. Zheng Jie is injured and is not competing.
No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska beat Simona Halep 6-1, 6-2 and will next play Peng.
US Open champion Kim Clijsters, meanwhile, beat Alize Cornet 7-6 (3), 6-3 of France, getting closer to win her second grand slam in a row.
Cornet, trying to celebrate her 21st birthday, provided a tougher challenge for Clijsters, who had only conceded four games in her first two rounds. The French player was presented with a birthday bouquet of flowers after the match, a small consolation for losing to one of the tournament favorites.
Second-seeded Vera Zvonareva kept alive her bid for a third consecutive grand slam final with a 6-3, 7-6 (9) win over Lucie Safarova.
Zvonareva, who lost the US Open final to Clijsters, served for the match twice against Safarova but was extended to the tiebreaker. Safarova led 4-2 and 5-3 in the tiebreaker before Zvonareva finally sealed it on her fourth match point.
Zvonareva has a chance to move into the No. 1 ranking by winning the title. Her priority now is getting past a fourth-round match against Iveta Benesova, who beat No. 16 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.
French Open finalist Sam Stosur lost 7-6 (5), 6-3 to No. 25 Petra Kvitova, ending Australia's hopes in the women's draw. No. 10 Shahar Peer was ousted, losing 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 to No. 22 Flavia Pennetta.
Cilic had a 4-6, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2), 9-7 win over No. 20 Isner in 4 hours, 33 minutes. It was the first five-set match Isner had played since his epic encounter against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon last year which finished 70-68 in the fifth and was the longest match in history measured by games and elapsed time.
Isner's departure left Andy Roddick as the only American in the men's or women's draws.
Two former finalists also went out. Marcos Baghdatis, the 2006 runnerup, retired from his third-round match due to a finger injury when he was trailing No. 11 Jurgen Melzer 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1, 4-3.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2008 finalist, lost 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 to Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Milos Raonic, a 20-year-old Canadian qualifier with the fastest serve in the first two rounds of the tournament at 143 mph, fired 31 aces while beating No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
Raonic will play No. 7 David Ferrer, a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 winner over Richard Berankis, in the next round. Soderling, who beat Jan Hernych 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 and next plays Dolgopolov, hasn't dropped a set and is on an eight-match winning streak.
Overcoming a mostly parochial crowd of 15,000 at Rod Laver Arena, the top-ranked Nadal had a 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 win over 18-year-old wildcard Bernard Tomic in an Australian Open third-round match yesterday.
Nadal advanced to a fourth round match against Marin Cilic, and a continuing date with destiny.
"I think I started playing well, but he's the kind of player who can make you play bad," Nadal said of Tomic. "I have to play a bit better if I want to get to the quarterfinals."
It wasn't always easy - Nadal trailed 0-4 in the second set before giving Tomic a clinic in comeback tennis. At 5-5, he broke Tomic's service, then held in the next game to clinch the set.
Earlier, Andy Murray tackled Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and the 2010 finalist was doing his best to get into the feel of the third-round match. After hitting a high lob to the back of the court, he watched as Garcia-Lopez ran it down and, facing the back of the court, hit a between-the-legs winner.
"It was the first time someone passed me on a through-the-legs shot on the tour," Murray said. "It was a very close one on the line."
Instead of marveling too long at one of the more unusual shots in tennis, Murray broke the Spanish player's serve and went on to beat Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.
In other men's results, No. 4 Robin Soderling advanced, as did Marin Cilic, who beat American John Isner in five sets.
In the women's event, Peng Shuai told herself before her match to pretend this wasn't a grand slam. The 25-year-old Chinese player didn't want her nerves to prevent her from reaching a fourth round at a grand slam for the first time.
It was one of several inner conversations that helped her defeat Japan's Ayumi Morita 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to become the third Chinese player to ever get that far in Melbourne.
Cramps nearly hobbled her in the third set. Peng saved seven break points in the seventh game of the deciding set.
"I just told myself, 'Don't think about the cramping," she said. "I just told myself to fight. Before the match, I just told myself, 'Don't think this is grand slam, because I really want to win."
Li Na and Zheng Jie reached the Australian Open women's semifinals last year, the first time two Chinese players had gone so far in the same grand slam. Li Na advanced to the fourth round on Friday. Zheng Jie is injured and is not competing.
No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska beat Simona Halep 6-1, 6-2 and will next play Peng.
US Open champion Kim Clijsters, meanwhile, beat Alize Cornet 7-6 (3), 6-3 of France, getting closer to win her second grand slam in a row.
Cornet, trying to celebrate her 21st birthday, provided a tougher challenge for Clijsters, who had only conceded four games in her first two rounds. The French player was presented with a birthday bouquet of flowers after the match, a small consolation for losing to one of the tournament favorites.
Second-seeded Vera Zvonareva kept alive her bid for a third consecutive grand slam final with a 6-3, 7-6 (9) win over Lucie Safarova.
Zvonareva, who lost the US Open final to Clijsters, served for the match twice against Safarova but was extended to the tiebreaker. Safarova led 4-2 and 5-3 in the tiebreaker before Zvonareva finally sealed it on her fourth match point.
Zvonareva has a chance to move into the No. 1 ranking by winning the title. Her priority now is getting past a fourth-round match against Iveta Benesova, who beat No. 16 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.
French Open finalist Sam Stosur lost 7-6 (5), 6-3 to No. 25 Petra Kvitova, ending Australia's hopes in the women's draw. No. 10 Shahar Peer was ousted, losing 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 to No. 22 Flavia Pennetta.
Cilic had a 4-6, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2), 9-7 win over No. 20 Isner in 4 hours, 33 minutes. It was the first five-set match Isner had played since his epic encounter against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon last year which finished 70-68 in the fifth and was the longest match in history measured by games and elapsed time.
Isner's departure left Andy Roddick as the only American in the men's or women's draws.
Two former finalists also went out. Marcos Baghdatis, the 2006 runnerup, retired from his third-round match due to a finger injury when he was trailing No. 11 Jurgen Melzer 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1, 4-3.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2008 finalist, lost 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 to Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Milos Raonic, a 20-year-old Canadian qualifier with the fastest serve in the first two rounds of the tournament at 143 mph, fired 31 aces while beating No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
Raonic will play No. 7 David Ferrer, a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 winner over Richard Berankis, in the next round. Soderling, who beat Jan Hernych 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 and next plays Dolgopolov, hasn't dropped a set and is on an eight-match winning streak.
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