Serena sets up Stosur final
Source: Agencies |
August 15, 2011, Monday
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SERENA Williams advanced to her second straight final by beating fourth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 6-3 at the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Saturday and declared her game was approaching its grand-slam winning best.
The former world No. 1, who returned to competition in June after 11 months out with injuries and health problems, will carry a 10-match winning streak into the final against Samantha Stosur and appears in ominous form ahead of the US Open starting on August 29.
Australian Stosur booked a spot in her second final of 2011 with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 win over Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, who came into the match riding a nine-match win streak and having not dropped a set all week.
Williams, who won the Stanford Classic last month in her third tournament back, said her game was reaching her Wimbledon-winning form from last year.
"I feel it's better today than it has been the past couple rounds but I feel it's coming along," Williams told reporters. "I still can do better but overall I am almost where I was but I want to exceed that level."
After spending over two hours on court and being forced to three sets in each of her last two matches, Williams simply overpowered Azarenka, who entered the semifinal having lost just six games in three matches.
The first set went with serve until Williams broke Azarenka in the sixth game with a cross-court winner that prompted the 13-time grand slam champion to pump her fist and belt out a loud "come on!" in front of an adoring crowd.
The players exchanged breaks over the next two games before Williams clinched the set with an ace. She stayed in control the rest of the way, breaking Azarenka's serve in the seventh and ninth game to take the match.
Williams has a 3-2 edge in head-to-head meetings with Stosur, but the 27-year-old Australian won their last match in the 2010 French Open quarterfinals.
In Montreal, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic advanced to the final of the Rogers Cup when Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired trailing 4-6, 0-3 on Saturday, leaving the sensational Serb on the brink of a record-smashing title.
Tsonga's retirement with an injured forearm provided a shock ending to their mouth-watering Wimbledon semifinal rematch but the Frenchman's surrender in the face of the Djokovic juggernaut seemed almost predictable.
Djokovic will now take on in-form American Mardy Fish in the final and have the chance to become the first to capture five Masters series titles in a single season.
Tsonga said the injury had dogged him for three days and the pain had worsened in that time.
"It was difficult for me to hit the ball well and hard. That's why I took this decision. I don't have the pretension to beat Novak without my arm."
Djokovic can expect plenty of fight from a feisty Fish, who swept past Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-4 to reach his third consecutive final.
The former world No. 1, who returned to competition in June after 11 months out with injuries and health problems, will carry a 10-match winning streak into the final against Samantha Stosur and appears in ominous form ahead of the US Open starting on August 29.
Australian Stosur booked a spot in her second final of 2011 with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 win over Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, who came into the match riding a nine-match win streak and having not dropped a set all week.
Williams, who won the Stanford Classic last month in her third tournament back, said her game was reaching her Wimbledon-winning form from last year.
"I feel it's better today than it has been the past couple rounds but I feel it's coming along," Williams told reporters. "I still can do better but overall I am almost where I was but I want to exceed that level."
After spending over two hours on court and being forced to three sets in each of her last two matches, Williams simply overpowered Azarenka, who entered the semifinal having lost just six games in three matches.
The first set went with serve until Williams broke Azarenka in the sixth game with a cross-court winner that prompted the 13-time grand slam champion to pump her fist and belt out a loud "come on!" in front of an adoring crowd.
The players exchanged breaks over the next two games before Williams clinched the set with an ace. She stayed in control the rest of the way, breaking Azarenka's serve in the seventh and ninth game to take the match.
Williams has a 3-2 edge in head-to-head meetings with Stosur, but the 27-year-old Australian won their last match in the 2010 French Open quarterfinals.
In Montreal, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic advanced to the final of the Rogers Cup when Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired trailing 4-6, 0-3 on Saturday, leaving the sensational Serb on the brink of a record-smashing title.
Tsonga's retirement with an injured forearm provided a shock ending to their mouth-watering Wimbledon semifinal rematch but the Frenchman's surrender in the face of the Djokovic juggernaut seemed almost predictable.
Djokovic will now take on in-form American Mardy Fish in the final and have the chance to become the first to capture five Masters series titles in a single season.
Tsonga said the injury had dogged him for three days and the pain had worsened in that time.
"It was difficult for me to hit the ball well and hard. That's why I took this decision. I don't have the pretension to beat Novak without my arm."
Djokovic can expect plenty of fight from a feisty Fish, who swept past Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-4 to reach his third consecutive final.
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