Serena, Sharapova remain on course, reach Madrid quarters
Source: Agencies |
May 10, 2013, Friday
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SERENA Williams and Maria Sharapova reached the quarterfinals at the Madrid Open yesterday as the two top-ranked players won in straight sets.
Williams, the top seed, needed a little over an hour to see off Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-1 in the third round, after Sharapova had dispatched Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-2, 7-5.
Williams dominated Kirilenko, who withered after dropping the first set with one of several unforced errors.
The defending champion battered Kirilenko with her strong return game, working the 12th-ranked Russian back and forth on the baseline of the Caja Magica's red claycourt with her precise forehand drives.
Williams will next face local favorite Anabel Medina Garrigues, who reached the quarterfinals after Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova withdrew with a right arm injury.
Earlier, Sharapova used her big serve to take the first set with relative ease, but Lisicki put up stubborn resistance in the second. Both players traded early breaks in the second set before Sharapova finally converted a fourth break point when Lisicki returned her well-placed slice into the net.
Sharapova didn't waste the opportunity to serve out the match, hitting an ace and forcing Lisicki into three errors in the final game to finish the contest in 1 hour, 42 minutes.
"She is the kind of opponent that plays extremely well against the top players," said Sharapova, who lost to Lisicki last year at Wimbledon.
The Russian former No. 1 will face either Daniela Hantuchova or Kaia Kanepi next.
The Madrid Open is a key warm-up tournament for the French Open, where Sharapova will be trying to defend her title this month. "(Last year) was an incredible memory for me and one that I will have for the rest of my life," she said. "I'm still very hungry to win it."
Williams, the top seed, needed a little over an hour to see off Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-1 in the third round, after Sharapova had dispatched Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-2, 7-5.
Williams dominated Kirilenko, who withered after dropping the first set with one of several unforced errors.
The defending champion battered Kirilenko with her strong return game, working the 12th-ranked Russian back and forth on the baseline of the Caja Magica's red claycourt with her precise forehand drives.
Williams will next face local favorite Anabel Medina Garrigues, who reached the quarterfinals after Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova withdrew with a right arm injury.
Earlier, Sharapova used her big serve to take the first set with relative ease, but Lisicki put up stubborn resistance in the second. Both players traded early breaks in the second set before Sharapova finally converted a fourth break point when Lisicki returned her well-placed slice into the net.
Sharapova didn't waste the opportunity to serve out the match, hitting an ace and forcing Lisicki into three errors in the final game to finish the contest in 1 hour, 42 minutes.
"She is the kind of opponent that plays extremely well against the top players," said Sharapova, who lost to Lisicki last year at Wimbledon.
The Russian former No. 1 will face either Daniela Hantuchova or Kaia Kanepi next.
The Madrid Open is a key warm-up tournament for the French Open, where Sharapova will be trying to defend her title this month. "(Last year) was an incredible memory for me and one that I will have for the rest of my life," she said. "I'm still very hungry to win it."
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