Tennis News

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SERENA BOWS OUT


Wimbledon champion Serena Williams has crashed out of the Bank of the West Classic.

Top seed Williams lost 6-2 3-6 6-2 to Australia's Samantha Stosur in the quarter-finals of the event at Stanford.

Stosur - who is seeking her first WTA Tour title - will play Marion Bartoli for a place in the final, after the eighth-seeded Italian defeated fourth-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic 3-6 7-6 6-3.

Venus Williams - beaten by her sister in the Wimbledon final last month - reached the semi-finals with a straight sets defeat of Maria Sharapova.

Williams won 6-2 6-2, accepting her second match point to wrap up victory in 80 minutes and set up a meeting with third-seeded Elena Dementieva, who beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-2 6-4.

 

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PETKOVIC PROGRESSES IN ISTANBUL


Andrea Petkovic moved closer to completing a surprise WTA Tour double after moving into the semi-finals of the Istanbul Cup with a 6-3 6-3 win over seventh seed Olga Govortseva.

The German 21-year-old, ranked 61 in the world, claimed her first tour title in Bad Gastein last week and after eight straight wins she now stands only two more away from repeating the feat.

Petkovic will take on eighth seed Lucie Hradecka in the last four after the Czech player survived a second-set comeback to beat Poland's unseeded Marta Domachowska 6-1 5-7 6-4.

Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky was in red-hot form as she hammered another Pole, Urszula Radwanska, 6-0 6-1. She will face fifth seed Vera Dushevina, who beat third seed Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1 6-2, in the second semi-final.

 

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SISTERS ON COURSE TO MEET AGAIN


The Williams sisters remain on course for a repeat of their Wimbledon final after booking their places in the quarter-finals of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford.

Wimbledon champion Serena took her winning streak to nine matches with a straight-sets defeat of Hungary's Melinda Czink.

The top seed won 6-3 7-6 to set up a clash against Austrian left-hander Samantha Stosur.

Second seed Venus, beaten by her sister in the final at SW19 earlier this month, reached the last eight with a 6-3 7-5 win over Russian qualifier Alla Kudryavseva.

Blocking her path to the semi-finals is former world number one Maria Sharapova, who is continuing her comeback from shoulder surgery.

Eighth-seed Marion Bartoli progressed with a 7-5 6-4 victory win over American qualifier Melanie Oudin.

Next up for the Frenchwoman is Serbia's Jelena Jankovic, as a result of the fourth seed's 2-6 6-2 6-4 defeat of Germany's Sabine Lisicki.

 

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ANDREEV INTO LAST FOUR


Russian third seed Igor Andreev moved into the semi-finals of the Allianz Suisse Open in Gstaad with an impressive 6-3 6-3 win over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy on Friday.

The Russian, seeking to end a four-year title drought, will next face Brazilian qualifier Thomaz Bellucci, who earned his last-four place in fortunate fashion when Nicolas Kiefer retired with a foot injury when leading 6-3 0-1.

Marcos Daniel ensured a second Brazilian presence in the semi-finals with a fine 6-4 7-6 (7/1) win over France's Florent Serra, including a comeback from 1-4 behind to take the first set.

Daniel's next opponent will be the world number 51 Andreas Beck, who earned his place in the last four with a 6-4 7-6 (7/5) win over the unseeded Romanian Victor Crivoi.

 

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FISH BACK FROM THE BRINK


Second seed Mardy Fish saved three match points against Australia's Chris Guccione before booking his place in the quarter-finals of the LA Open.

Guccione won the first set on a tie-break and had three chances to clinch victory in the second breaker.

However, Fish held firm and levelled matters before pushing on to win after an early break of serve in the deciding set.

He finally wrapped up a 6-7 (3/7) 7-6 (14/12) 6-4 success after two hours and 22 minutes on court.

Fish will tackle Leonardo Mayer for a place in the semis, after the Argentinian knocked out fifth-seeded Russian Igor Kunitsyn 7-6 (7/5) 6-7 (7/9) 6-3.

Elsewhere in the second round, fourth seed Dudi Sela reached the last eight with a 6-4 3-6 6-1 win over American Robert Kendrick.

Next up for the Israeli is sixth seed Sam Querrey, who beat fellow American Ryan Sweeting 6-3 6-7 6-3.

 

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BELLUCCI STUNS ANDREEV

Third seed Igor Andreev tumbled out of the Swiss Open at the semi-final stage as unseeded Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci set up a meeting with Germany's Andreas Beck in tomorrow's final in Gstaad.

Russian Andreev, the highest seed left in the draw, crashed out in straight sets as Bellucci, the world number 119, posted a 6-4 7-5 triumph in one hour and 38 minutes.

Next up for the 21-year-old is world number 51 Beck, who reached his maiden ATP final with a 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 win over Marcos Daniel, the world number 73 from Brazil.

 

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HRADECKA TO FACE DUSHEVINA

The Czech Republic's Lucie Hradecka will face Russian Vera Dushevina in Sunday's Istanbul Cup final.

Number eight seed Hradecka had a fight on her hands on Saturday, before edging past Germany's world number 61 Andrea Petkovic 6-7 (7/5) 7-5 7-5.

But it was a much easier passage for Dushevina in the second semi-final against Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky, which took just under an hour-and-a-half and finished 6-2 6-4 and would have been wrapped up even sooner had the Russian not squandered three match points.

 

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DAVYDENKO EASES INTO CROATIA FINAL

Nikolay Davydenko breezed into the final of Croatia Open with a 6-1 6-1 defeat of Jurgen Melzer in Umag.

The top seed never gave his Austrian opponent a sniff, overpowering him with the help of five breaks of serve.

In Sunday's final, he will play Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, who faced a stiffer test as he beat Andreas Seppi in the other semi.

The fifth seed looked set for a similarly easy day when he claimed the first set 6-1.

However, the second set went into a tie-breaker, which the Italian won 7-1, and the third looked to be heading the same way before Ferrero finally prevailed 6-1 6-7 (1/7) 7-5.

Davydenko, who recently returned to the world's top 10, has won two of four previous meetings against Ferrero, including their most recent encounter in Estoril this year.

 

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WILLIAMS TO MEET BARTOLI IN FINAL

Second-seeded Venus Williams will meet Italy's Marion Bartoli in the final of the Bank of the West Classic.

Williams, of the United States, was impressive in beating third seed Elena Dementieva in a little more than an hour.

The beaten Wimbledon finalist, targeting a third title at Stanford, gave the Russian few openings and dropped just one game in a 6-0 6-1 success.

Eighth seed Bartoli booked her place in the final with victory in three sets over Australia's Samantha Stosur, 6-3 1-6 6-1.

 

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CALIFORNIANS DREAMING

Two Californians will meet in the final of the LA Open after Sam Querrey and Carsten Ball won their semi-finals.

Number six seed Querrey sprung a surprise by knocking out top seed Tommy Haas 6-3 7-5.

In the clash of the two players who were making their first appearances in ATP tour semi-finals, qualifier Carsten Ball defeated Argentina's Leonardo Mayer 7-5 7-6.

 

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BELLUCCI ENJOYS MAIDEN TITLE

Brazilian qualifier Thomaz Bellucci won the first ATP title of his career at the Allianz Swiss Open in Gstaad today.

The 21-year-old Sao Paulo resident beat Germany's Andreas Beck 6-4 7-6 (7/2) in the final, following up his impressive semi-final victory over Russian third seed Igor Andreev.

Beck, the world number 51 who was also seeking his maiden tournament win, had been favourite against 119th-ranked Bellucci but was edged out in two tight sets.

 

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CROATIA JOY FOR DAVYDENKO

Top seed Nikolay Davydenko beat Juan Carlos Ferrero easily in the final of the Croatia Open.

In-form Russian Davydenko, ninth in the world rankings, crushed former French Open champion Ferrero 6-3 6-0 to add to the title he won last week in Hamburg.

Spaniard Ferrero had a highly successful grass-court campaign, reaching the Queen's Club semi-finals and then the Wimbledon quarter-finals, allowing him to climb back into the world's top 50.

However after losing the first set he crumbled against Davydenko in Umag on Sunday.

 

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ODESNIK AND GULBIS PROGRESS

American Wayne Odesnik progressed to the second round of the Legg Mason Classic in Washington after a first day of limited action.

The American, beaten in the first round of last year's event by Nicolas Mahut, made sure of a longer involvement in this year's event by defeating Chile's Paul Capdeville 4-6 6-2 6-4.

Latvia's Ernests Gulbis saw off America's Kevin Kim 7-5 3-6 6-3 in today's other opening round match.

 

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THIRD TIME LUCKY FOR QUERREY

Sam Querrey ended his final misery in the clash of the Californians to land the Los Angeles Open.

Querrey, beaten in back-to-back finals on the ATP tour in the last month, got it right at the third time of asking to see off qualifier Carsten Ball in three sets.

The 22-year-old number six seed defeated Los Angeles-born Australian Ball 6-4 3-6 6-1.

Querrey said: "It feels great. I didn't want to lose three finals in a row there. I was a little worried after that second set, but I came back strong in the third.

"He started to get a good read on my second serve and was hitting a fair amount of winners and putting a lot of pressure on me.

"Right before the third set I sat down, collected myself, and then had a high first serve percentage that was significantly higher than the second set and that was key.

"I was really mad I had lost two finals previously and didn't want to lose a third one. I was mad at myself, but I kept it together."

 

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BARTOLI BEATS WILLIAMS TO LAND TITLE

Marion Bartoli defeated Wimbledon finalist Venus Williams 6-2 5-7 6-4 to win the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.

The 24-year-old Frenchwoman, seeded eight, won her fifth and biggest Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title by prevailing in three sets against the second seeded American.

Williams, who had won this event twice, was out of sorts through the first set and a half of the final, losing the first set and falling 5-3 behind in the second before finding some form with four straight games.

However, Bartoli - who saved two match points in her semi-final defeat of Jelena Jankovic - regained her composure before winning the contest in two hours and 43 minutes.

She said: "It was really hard mentally to win the second set, because it was getting tighter and tighter. When I served for the match, she sensed I was tight, and she started coming up with big winners.

"I just tried to stay positive and focused in the third set. We had some great rallies in the third set. It was so hard to win the last game. The only chance to win that was to take my chances, because otherwise Venus wouldn't give me anything. I gave everything I had today."

 

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SHARAPOVA CRUISES PAST GROTH

Maria Sharapova breezed through to the second round of the WTA LA Women's Tennis Championships in Los Angeles with a straight-sets victory over Jarmila Groth.

The 22-year-old Russian triumphed 6-0 6-4 against her Slovakian opponent to secure a second-round date with third seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

The highest-seeded casualty was Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano, with Russia's Anna Chakvetadze defeating the 11th seed 7-6 (7/5) 6-3.

Fifteenth seed Kaia Kanepi of Estonia and Francesca Schiavone, the 16th seed from Italy, also suffered first-round exits.

Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic overcame Kanepi 6-3 7-6 (7/4) while American qualifier Jill Craybas was a 7-6 (9/7) 6-2 winner against Schiavone.

There were no such worries for 10th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta, although she was made to work hard for a 6-2 5-7 6-0 victory over American lucky loser Varvara Lepchenko.

Peng Shuai claimed her place in round two courtesy of a hard-fought 6-3 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 triumph over Dutch qualifier Michaella Krajicek.

Shahar Peer of Israel was 7-5 4-1 up on Anastasia Rodionova when the Russian qualifier retired with a left ankle injury, while Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine came from a set down to defeat American Meghann Shaughnessy 3-6 6-3 6-3.

Elsewhere, there were comfortable straight-sets victories for Russian pair Elena Vesnina and Alisa Kleybanova, Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, Ai Sugiyama of Japan and American wild card Vania King.

Finally, American Coco Vandeweghe advanced with a 6-4 6-4 win over Italy's Tathiana Garbin.

 

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HEWITT BAGS SECOND ROUND SPOT

Lleyton Hewitt began his summer hard-court campaign with a straight-sets victory over American wild card Donald Young at the ATP Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington DC on Monday.

The Australian, the 2004 champion here but playing in the event for the first time in three years, sealed his place in round two with a 7-5 6-2 triumph over 20-year-old Young.

Russia's Mikhail Youzhny, making his debut in Washington, required three sets to beat another American, Robert Kendrick, but eventually prevailed 7-5 3-6 6-1.

Philipp Petzschner of Germany had to battle from a set down to overcome Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili 4-6 6-3 6-4, while Yen-Hsun Lu (Tpe) managed the same feat in a 4-6 6-1 7-5 win over American wild card Michael Russell.

Frenchman Marc Gicquel was also made to work before downing Polish wild card Jerzy Janowicz 7-5 2-6 6-4.

Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman beat Yuichi Sugita of Japan 6-0 7-6 (8/6) and Canada's Frank Dancevic was another straight-sets winner, beating Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo 6-4 6-3.

American John Isner and Igor Kunitsyn of Russia also advanced with victories over Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan and Portugal's Frederico Gil respectively.

In a match between two qualifiers, Colombia's Alejandro Falla outlasted his American opponent Jesse Witten 6-1 6-4.

 

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SAFINA: I DESERVE TO BE NUMBER ONE

Dinara Safina insists she deserves her world number one ranking, despite the fact she is yet to win a Grand Slam title.

Safina has performed well so far this year, winning in Rome, Madrid and Portorotz and reaching the finals at the Australian and French Open.

However, the Russian's ranking has attracted criticism from world number two Serena Williams and Serbia's Jelena Jankovic.

Jankovic said: "To be number one, you should be complete and if you are number one you have to be beating the Williams sisters.

"I'm one of the rare players who has a positive record against the Williams sisters."

Jankovic's recent form against the Williams sisters is 8-8 whereas Safina has won just two of her 11 meetings.

"If I had to pick someone after me, I would pick Serena," Jankovic added.

Safina has now spoken out, telling her rival to take her questions to the WTA.

Safina said: "I don't do the ranking system. If she has questions, she can give them to the WTA.

"It has nothing to do with what your record is against them.

"Did she beat them in a final of a Grand Slam? No. It doesn't count when you beat the Williams sisters at a tier four tournament.

"It's the result of how you play the whole year, not just the four Grand Slams. I've been playing the whole year and I've been having great results all through the Grand Slams."

 

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SIMPLE WIN FOR SHARAPOVA

Maria Sharapova breezed through to the second round of the WTA LA Women's Tennis Championships in Los Angeles with a straight-sets victory over Jarmila Groth.

The 22-year-old Russian triumphed 6-0 6-4 against her Slovakian opponent to secure a second-round date with third seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

The highest-seeded casualty was Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano, with Russia's Anna Chakvetadze defeating the 11th seed 7-6 (7/5) 6-3.

Fifteenth seed Kaia Kanepi of Estonia and Francesca Schiavone, the 16th seed from Italy, also suffered first-round exits.

Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic overcame Kanepi 6-3 7-6 (7/4) while American qualifier Jill Craybas was a 7-6 (9/7) 6-2 winner against Schiavone.

There were no such worries for 10th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta, although she was made to work hard for a 6-2 5-7 6-0 victory over American lucky loser Varvara Lepchenko.

Peng Shuai claimed her place in round two courtesy of a hard-fought 6-3 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 triumph over Dutch qualifier Michaella Krajicek.

Shahar Peer of Israel was 7-5 4-1 up on Anastasia Rodionova when the Russian qualifier retired with a left ankle injury, while Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine came from a set down to defeat American Meghann Shaughnessy 3-6 6-3 6-3.

Elsewhere, there were comfortable straight-sets victories for Russian pair Elena Vesnina and Alisa Kleybanova, Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, Ai Sugiyama of Japan and American wild card Vania King.

Finally, American Coco Vandeweghe advanced with a 6-4 6-4 win over Italy's Tathiana Garbin.

 

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SIMPLE WIN FOR SHARAPOVA

Maria Sharapova breezed through to the second round of the WTA LA Women's Tennis Championships in Los Angeles with a straight-sets victory over Jarmila Groth.

The 22-year-old Russian triumphed 6-0 6-4 against her Slovakian opponent to secure a second-round date with third seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

The highest-seeded casualty was Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano, with Russia's Anna Chakvetadze defeating the 11th seed 7-6 (7/5) 6-3.

Fifteenth seed Kaia Kanepi of Estonia and Francesca Schiavone, the 16th seed from Italy, also suffered first-round exits.

Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic overcame Kanepi 6-3 7-6 (7/4) while American qualifier Jill Craybas was a 7-6 (9/7) 6-2 winner against Schiavone.

There were no such worries for 10th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta, although she was made to work hard for a 6-2 5-7 6-0 victory over American lucky loser Varvara Lepchenko.

Peng Shuai claimed her place in round two courtesy of a hard-fought 6-3 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 triumph over Dutch qualifier Michaella Krajicek.

Shahar Peer of Israel was 7-5 4-1 up on Anastasia Rodionova when the Russian qualifier retired with a left ankle injury, while Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine came from a set down to defeat American Meghann Shaughnessy 3-6 6-3 6-3.

Elsewhere, there were comfortable straight-sets victories for Russian pair Elena Vesnina and Alisa Kleybanova, Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, Ai Sugiyama of Japan and American wild card Vania King.

Finally, American Coco Vandeweghe advanced with a 6-4 6-4 win over Italy's Tathiana Garbin.