Federer, Serena march in Cincinnati
Print Edition
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 semifinals 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 hardcourt tournament, romped to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Serbian Jelena Jankovic in just 58 minutes.
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.”
Federer will face Canadian fifth seed Milos Raonic with surprising Frenchman Julien Benneteau meeting Spain’s David Ferrer in the other semifinal.
Raonic breezed past 15th seed Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-1, 6-0 in a quarterfinal mis-match 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 semifinal.
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 1-2 in the second with an early break, but won five of the next six games, closing out the match with back-to-back aces. Williams, unsuccessful in five previous attempts in Cincinnati, will face Dane Caroline Wozniacki next.
The other semifinal will 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 (5).
Sharapova, seeded fifth, outlasted Romanian Halep 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 and Ivanovic beat Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-3.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
