Federer and Serena oust local hopes
Source: Agencies |
January 26, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TOP-RANKED Serena Williams and Roger Federer showed little gratitude to their hosts as they knocked out the last remaining home players yesterday to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
Federer extended his winning streak against Lleyton Hewitt to 15 with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 victory in less than two hours, while Serena showed no mercy against Samantha Stosur, winning 6-4, 6-2 in a little over an hour.
Serena still needs to win three more matches to defend her title but the majority of her main rivals have fallen by the wayside ensuring she will retain her No. 1 ranking regardless of what happens over the remainder of the week.
Venus Williams booked her place in the quarterfinals with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Italian Francesca Schiavone. Venus has never won the Australian Open and time may be running out for her. At 29, she is the oldest woman left in the draw and if she beats Li Na she could face Serena in the semifinals.
She was well below her best against Schiavone, dropping the opening set then losing her first service game in the second set without winning a point. But once Venus found her rhythm the contest was over.
"I just realized I was rushing a little too much and I just really needed to take my time," Venus explained.
There have been few surprises in the men's event and the pattern continued as Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Russia's Nikolay Davydenko both won.
Djokovic, the 2008 champion, sealed his place in the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-2, 7-5 win over Poland's Lukasz, the only unseeded player to make the fourth round of the men's draw.
"If he's seeded or unseeded, if he comes to the second week of play, he must be a quality player," Djokovic said.
Davydenko had to work a lot harder before wearing down Spain's Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7, 6-3.
The Russian had won his three previous matches in straight sets but was grateful for the workout with Federer next.
Federer extended his winning streak against Lleyton Hewitt to 15 with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 victory in less than two hours, while Serena showed no mercy against Samantha Stosur, winning 6-4, 6-2 in a little over an hour.
Serena still needs to win three more matches to defend her title but the majority of her main rivals have fallen by the wayside ensuring she will retain her No. 1 ranking regardless of what happens over the remainder of the week.
Venus Williams booked her place in the quarterfinals with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Italian Francesca Schiavone. Venus has never won the Australian Open and time may be running out for her. At 29, she is the oldest woman left in the draw and if she beats Li Na she could face Serena in the semifinals.
She was well below her best against Schiavone, dropping the opening set then losing her first service game in the second set without winning a point. But once Venus found her rhythm the contest was over.
"I just realized I was rushing a little too much and I just really needed to take my time," Venus explained.
There have been few surprises in the men's event and the pattern continued as Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Russia's Nikolay Davydenko both won.
Djokovic, the 2008 champion, sealed his place in the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-2, 7-5 win over Poland's Lukasz, the only unseeded player to make the fourth round of the men's draw.
"If he's seeded or unseeded, if he comes to the second week of play, he must be a quality player," Djokovic said.
Davydenko had to work a lot harder before wearing down Spain's Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7, 6-3.
The Russian had won his three previous matches in straight sets but was grateful for the workout with Federer next.
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