Serena, Djokovic cruise through
Source: Agencies |
January 22, 2012, Sunday
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SERENA Williams was so dominant in her 6-1, 6-1 third-round win over Greta Arn at the Australian Open in Melbourne that there's probably only one shot she'll remember more than most.
At 5-0 and a point from winning the first set, Williams lined up in the ideal position for an overhead but then completely shanked it, spraying the ball wide. She screamed and put a hand over her face.
"It was an awkward smash. Then she missed one and I felt a little better," she said. "I felt like, 'Am I losing my mind out here?'
"Everyone sometimes hits a shot that's a little bit insane - you just got to allow yourself to get over it."
The 92nd-ranked Arn saved another set point before holding serve for the first time. Williams responded by winning the next five games before Arn held again. The match ended in 59 minutes yesterday, on consecutive double-faults by the Hungarian.
"I'm nowhere near where I want to be," said Williams, who has won her last 17 matches at Melbourne Park. "I'm just trying to play through it. A little rusty - just trying to play through my rust."
Williams has won the Australian Open five times, including back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. She didn't get to defend her title last year due to injury.
Next up she faces Ekaterina Makarova, who beat fellow Russian and seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva 7-6 (7), 6-1.
Williams is the only American left in the singles at the Australian Open after Vania King lost earlier to former French Open winner Ana Ivanovic - the last US man exited the tournament on Friday when John Isner lost in five sets to Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
Novak Djokovic won the last Australian title at the beginning of a 41-match unbeaten run and finished 2011 with the No. 1-ranking after winning three of the four major titles. He next plays two-time grand slam winner Lleyton Hewitt, who reached the round of 16 in his 16th Australian Open after beating No. 23-seeded Milos Raonic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 on his third match point in the night match.
Against a Frenchman with a reputation for playing long matches, Djokovic wasn't exactly generous with his time.
Djokovic ensured Nicolas Mahut had a 30th birthday he won't quickly forget, routing him 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in 1 hour, 14 minutes. Mahut lost the longest match in grand slam history over 11 hours, 5 minutes against Isner at Wimbledon in 2010.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who lost the 2008 final here to Djokovic, beat Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
Like Djokovic, two-time Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray was also up against a French opponent and had no trouble advancing with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 victory over Michael Llodra.
In all six Frenchmen reached the third round, but only two of them advanced. Tsonga wasted hardly any time becoming the first of them to move into the round of 16 and will next play Kei Nishikori.
Nishikori became the first Japanese man to reach the fourth round in Melbourne in the Open era with a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau.
In the biggest upset of the day, No. 92-ranked Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan held off 14th-seeded Gael Monfils of France 6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 1-6, 6-4.
At 5-0 and a point from winning the first set, Williams lined up in the ideal position for an overhead but then completely shanked it, spraying the ball wide. She screamed and put a hand over her face.
"It was an awkward smash. Then she missed one and I felt a little better," she said. "I felt like, 'Am I losing my mind out here?'
"Everyone sometimes hits a shot that's a little bit insane - you just got to allow yourself to get over it."
The 92nd-ranked Arn saved another set point before holding serve for the first time. Williams responded by winning the next five games before Arn held again. The match ended in 59 minutes yesterday, on consecutive double-faults by the Hungarian.
"I'm nowhere near where I want to be," said Williams, who has won her last 17 matches at Melbourne Park. "I'm just trying to play through it. A little rusty - just trying to play through my rust."
Williams has won the Australian Open five times, including back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. She didn't get to defend her title last year due to injury.
Next up she faces Ekaterina Makarova, who beat fellow Russian and seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva 7-6 (7), 6-1.
Williams is the only American left in the singles at the Australian Open after Vania King lost earlier to former French Open winner Ana Ivanovic - the last US man exited the tournament on Friday when John Isner lost in five sets to Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
Novak Djokovic won the last Australian title at the beginning of a 41-match unbeaten run and finished 2011 with the No. 1-ranking after winning three of the four major titles. He next plays two-time grand slam winner Lleyton Hewitt, who reached the round of 16 in his 16th Australian Open after beating No. 23-seeded Milos Raonic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 on his third match point in the night match.
Against a Frenchman with a reputation for playing long matches, Djokovic wasn't exactly generous with his time.
Djokovic ensured Nicolas Mahut had a 30th birthday he won't quickly forget, routing him 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in 1 hour, 14 minutes. Mahut lost the longest match in grand slam history over 11 hours, 5 minutes against Isner at Wimbledon in 2010.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who lost the 2008 final here to Djokovic, beat Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
Like Djokovic, two-time Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray was also up against a French opponent and had no trouble advancing with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 victory over Michael Llodra.
In all six Frenchmen reached the third round, but only two of them advanced. Tsonga wasted hardly any time becoming the first of them to move into the round of 16 and will next play Kei Nishikori.
Nishikori became the first Japanese man to reach the fourth round in Melbourne in the Open era with a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau.
In the biggest upset of the day, No. 92-ranked Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan held off 14th-seeded Gael Monfils of France 6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 1-6, 6-4.
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