Serena, Li reach Madrid quarters
Print Edition
WORLD No. 1 Serena Williams remained on course for a third consecutive Madrid Open title with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro yesterday.
Williams was broken twice in her opening three service games, but Suarez Navarro was unable to consolidate the break and once the American moved ahead 4-2 she saw out the set comfortably.
More of the same was to come in the second set as Suarez Navarro held serve just once and, despite her serve being broken twice more, Williams went on to set up a meeting with fifth seed Petra Kvitova in the last eight.
“I played Carla on clay I think last year, but in Rome. I feel like she actually played really well today, she made me work for every point,” said Williams.
Kvitova was also a winner in straight sets as she overcame Czech compatriot Lucie Safarova 6-4, 6-3.
Second seed Li Na had a more difficult morning as she had to come from a set down to beat 16th-seeded American Sloane Stephens 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The Australian Open champion had no answer to Stephens’s power in the opener as she dropped her first set of the week.
However, she responded well as one break of serve was enough to take the match into a third set and the Chinese star quickly took control of the decider as she raced into a 4-0 lead before comfortably seeing out the match.
“I think she was hitting the ball like pretty heavy. Normally the girls play flatter, but she was playing pretty heavy and it was my first time playing against her so she caused me problems,” admitted Li.
Next up for Li is a meeting with four-time grand slam champion Maria Sharapova or Australian Sam Stosur in the last eight.
In the men’s, world No. 1 Rafael Nadal remained on course to retain his title with a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 win over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen at the Magic Box tennis center in the Spanish capital.
Nadal had come into the tournament looking to dispel doubts after falling in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open.
However, he has looked in fine form in Madrid as he has booked his place in the last eight for the loss of just six games in two matches and will play sixth seed Tomas Berdych in the last eight. The Czech rallied past 12th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori, seeded No. 10, caused a minor upset by edging eighth seed Milos Raonic of Canada 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).
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