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Sharapova, Wawrinka Reach U.S. Open Third Round

Sharapova, Wawrinka Reach U.S. Open Third Round

New York (AFP) — French Open champion Maria Sharapova and Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka survived some shaky moments Wednesday to book their third-round berths at the U.S. Open.

Sharapova, who lifted her fifth Grand Slam title at Roland Garros this year, fought back from a set down in a gritty 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over 95th-ranked Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru.

The fifth-seeded Russian was reluctant to blame the windy conditions in the cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium court for her difficulties, which included 46 unforced errors.

And after two hours and 26 minutes on court — in a match that began in hot sunshine and ended under the floodlights — she had her 17th three-set win of the season, the most on the WTA Tour.

“It was difficult,” Sharapova said. “Obviously the conditions were tough. You start in the sun, you finish under the lights.

“Overall I felt like in the end I was in much better shape than she was and I could have played another few sets. Mentally that helped me a lot.”

Sharapova and Wawrinka were the day’s headliners as two-time defending women’s champion Serena Williams and the top men Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray all had the day off.

Wawrinka, the third seed from Switzerland, turned back the challenge of Brazilian left-hander Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/1) to become the first men’s seed into the third round.

Wawrinka was untouchable on his serve through two sets, not facing a break point until Bellucci broke him twice to take the third.

The Brazilian broke Wawrinka in the third game of the fourth, but the Swiss broke back to knot the set at 3-3. After holding at love for a 5-4 lead, Wawrinka had two match points against Bellucci’s serve in the 10th game but couldn’t convert either.

He grabbed the tiebreaker by the throat, however, and finished it off with a service winner after two hours and 36 minutes with the hands of the clock creeping toward 1 a.m.

“I was playing really well,” Wawrinka said of his sparkling start. “I was really aggressive and serving really well.

“When you drop your level a little against Bellucci, it’s tough. He starts to play better.”

The tension seemed to get to Wawrinka at least briefly when he told one loud courtside fan to shut-up.

But he was able to get back on the attack.

“The fourth set I tried to focus on my game,” he said. “I was more aggressive at the end of the match.”

Most of Wednesday’s men’s action was wrapping up the first round, and the exits of Steve Johnson and Ryan Harrison meant just three American men reached the second round — the fewest in U.S. Open history.

American women were keeping the home flag flying, and five-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams did her part.

The two-time winner, who hadn’t made it past the second round the past three years, reached the third round with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Timea Bacsinszky.

Fourth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska became the tournament’s biggest upset victim, falling 6-3, 6-4 to China’s Peng Shuai.

Peng avenged a loss to Radwanska at the 2011 Australian Open where the Chinese player had held two match points.

Poland’s Radwanska, a former Wimbledon finalist who counts this year’s Australian Open among two other Grand Slam semi-final spots, was left to ponder why she has never made it past the last 16 in nine US Open appearances.

World number two Simona Halep needed less than an hour to book her third-round berth, with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Slovakian Jana Cepelova.

Halep was broken early to trail 0-2, but won 12 of the next 13 games to secure the win.

Sixth-seeded German Angelique Kerber also advanced on cue, downing Russian Alla Kudryavtseva 6-2, 6-4.

Men’s sixth-seed Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic brought Lleyton Hewitt’s 62nd Grand Slam appearance to a quick end, downing the former world number one, and 2001 champion, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

– Dimitrov breaks jinx –

Seventh-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov finally ended his U.S. Open jinx. After coming up empty in three straight appearances, he defeated U.S. wildcard Harrison 6-2, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.

South African Kevin Anderson rallied from a break down in the final set to defeat Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/1) in just over four hours.

But three men’s matches were cut short by injury retirements.

Wimbledon quarter-finalist Marin Cilic of Croatia advanced when a right ankle injury forced Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis to retire while trailing 6-3, 3-1.

Spain’s Feliciano Lopez advanced when Croatian Ivan Dodig retired with cramping and muscle cramps also left Johnson unable to continue against Japan’s Tatsuma Ito.

AFP Photo/Stan Honda

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Djokovic At The Double As Former U.S. Open Champs Advance

Djokovic At The Double As Former U.S. Open Champs Advance

By Rebecca Bryan

New York (AFP) — Novak Djokovic wasted no time in seeing off Argentinian challenger Diego Schwartzman as four former U.S. Open champions reached the second round with varying degrees of difficulty.

World number one and top seed Djokovic defeated 79th-ranked Schwartzman 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, wrapping up the marquee match on Arthur Ashe Stadium court minutes before midnight.

“I hope it was a midnight delight,” the reigning Wimbledon champion told fans, although in truth the contest offered little drama.

Schwartzman, playing just his second Grand Slam tournament and his first tour-level hardcourt event, pulled the Serbian star into rallies from the baseline, even breaking him for his only game of the opening set.

Trailing 2-3 in the third, Schwartzman broke Djokovic to knot the set at 3-3, but Djokovic, seeking to add a second U.S. Open title to the one he captured in 2011, promptly broke him at love for a 4-3 lead and sealed the victory on his second match point with a shot that clipped the net and fell his way.

“I thought I hit the ball very well throughout the whole match,” Djokovic said. “I’m very pleased. It’s never easy to start a U.S. Open smoothly.”

That was the common refrain on the opening day, as former champions Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova, and Venus Williams also advanced, taking center stage with two-time defending champion Serena Williams and five-time champion Roger Federer due to launch their campaigns on Tuesday.

Murray lumbered through a 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 1-6, 7-5 victory over 70th-ranked Dutchman Robin Haase, battling painful muscle cramps that struck without warning.

“I could have easily lost that match,” said Murray, who thought he’d have been in real trouble in a fifth set. “I was very close to losing the match.”

Murray twice fought back from a break down in the fourth — Haase unable to press his advantage at 4-1 and again at 5-3 even as Murray could be seen clutching various areas of his body on shot after shot.

“I don’t know exactly why it happened today,” said Murray, who trains in the steamy heat of Miami and didn’t think the 30 C temperatures on Louis Armstrong Stadium were excessive. “At the time it happened I wasn’t exhausted.”

Murray finally gained the decisive break for a 6-5 lead and finished off the match after just over three hours.

– U.S. Open goosebumps –

Fifth-seeded Sharapova, who lifted the trophy in 2006, rallied with a vengeance from an early break against fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko.

Trailing 2-4, Sharapova won the next 10 games to take the match.

“It’s always tough to start here in New York,” said French Open champion Sharapova, who was just happy to be back under the lights on Ashe after missing last year’s edition with a season-ending shoulder injury.

“You feel the goosebumps when you go out in a night match on Ashe,” Sharapova said.

Venus Williams, the winner in 2000 and 2001, punched her second-round ticket with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm.

Other notable names in action included Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka, the men’s third seed who defeated Czech Jiri Vesely 6-2, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/3).

Big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, the fifth seed, pelted Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel with 20 aces in a 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/1) victory.

Women’s second seed Simona Halep shook off first-round jitters to defeat unranked U.S. wildcard Danielle Collins 6-7 (2/7), 6-1, 6-2.

Romania’s Halep, who has quietly risen to number two in the world, admitted she was a bit intimidated to find herself the first match of the tournament on the imposing Ashe court.

“It’s not easy to manage the situation, but I think after first set did I very well,” said the 22-year-old who was runner up to Sharapova at Roland Garros.

Agnieszka Radwanska showed no sign of big-tournament nerves, but the fourth-seeded Pole said she felt them nonetheless in a 6-1, 6-0 drubbing of Canadian Sharon Fichman.

“First match is always tricky,” Radwanska said.

AFP Photo/Don Emmert

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Djokovic, Sharapova Set To Shine In New York

Djokovic, Sharapova Set To Shine In New York

By Rebecca Bryan

New York (AFP) — World number one Novak Djokovic, seeking to consolidate his Wimbledon win, is one of four former champions in action Monday on the first day of the U.S. Open.

The Serbian star ended a maddening spate of near-misses in majors with a five-set triumph over Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final.

With his seventh Grand Slam title in hand, the 27-year-old will be trying to claim a second title at Flushing Meadows, where he won the title in 2011 but finished runner-up in 2007, 2010, 2012, and 2013.

“It’s going to be a long two weeks’ journey for all of us,” said Djokovic, who will play 79th-ranked Argentinian Diego Schwartzman under the lights on Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

The two have never met, and Djokovic said he’d be relying on scouting reports from his team to prepare.

“Obviously it’s never easy when you play against somebody you have never played against,” Djokovic said. “He’s a young player from Argentina, and, sure playing on the center court for him is a great experience. He has nothing to lose.”

The absence of defending champion Rafael Nadal with a right wrist injury has opened up the men’s draw somewhat, but many reckon the second-seeded Federer stands to benefit the most from the Spaniard’s absence.

The Swiss great, who claimed the last of his 17 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon in 2012, is enjoying a resurgence that included a picture-perfect build-up to the U.S. Open.

“Favorites? I leave it to the people to really judge who is the one, two, three, or number four favorite,” said Djokovic, who on paper faces a tougher path to the final with 2012 champion Andy Murray, French dangerman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and big-serving American John Isner in his quarter.

“I know that there is one thing for sure,” Djokovic said. “Everybody is starting from scratch. Everybody starts from Monday.”

Murray, seeded eighth, hasn’t reached a final of any kind since his Wimbledon triumph last year, but he says he has at last regained the level of fitness he had before back trouble slowed him late in 2013.

He was pleased to be getting underway on Monday with a potentially tricky first-round match against Dutch veteran Robin Haase on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Former women’s champions Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams are also in action on Monday, along with reigning Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka, Tsonga, U.S. hope Sloane Stephens, and rising Canadian star Milos Raonic.

While younger sister Serena Williams manages the pressure of expectations as the two-time defending champion, Venus Williams — who lifted the trophy in 2000 and 2001 — will be trying to make it past the second round for the first time since 2010.

The 34-year-old American, ranked 20th in the world opens against a veteran she has beaten in three past encounters — 43-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm.

– Dangerous opponent –

Sharapova won the title in 2006 but missed last year’s U.S. Open with a shoulder injury. The reigning French Open champion will take on fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko on Monday night.

Kirilenko, 27, is a former top-10 player who is currently ranked 113th and has endured an injury-plagued season.

Sharapova, who has won five of her seven career meetings with Kirilenko, said it was nevertheless a potentially awkward match-up.

“You never know because I think it’s also an opportunity for someone like that to come in and have no expectations because they haven’t really played a match and (they can) go out and swing away,” she said.

“Sometimes that’s a very dangerous opponent.”

The glamorous Sharapova has long been a favorite of the New York crowds, whose boisterous behavior is part of the fabric of the U.S. Open.

Fifth-seeded Raonic thrives on the hectic atmosphere at the final Grand Slam of the year.

“I like the rowdiness here particularly,” said Raonic, who was warily looking forward to a meeting with Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel on Monday.

“Especially being the first match for me and he’s already played three matches, it’s going to be about finding myself in that first match, figuring out what I need to do, and sort of finding my range and keeping it very simple and not really trying to do much,” Raonic said.

AFP Photo/Carl Court

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Serena Powers Into Miami Final

Serena Powers Into Miami Final

Miami (AFP) – World number one Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to reach the final of the Miami hardcourt tournament.

Williams extended her dominance over the fourth-seeded Russian and now leads their career head-to-head 16-2.

The American has won 15 straight matches against Sharapova, whose two victories in their rivalry came back in 2004.

In the final, Williams will be gunning for a second straight Miami crown and a seventh overall.

She’ll face the winner of Thursday night’s match between world number two Li Na of China and 10th-seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova.

Li has won all six of her meetings with Cibulkova, including January’s Australian Open final and a quarter-final clash at Indian Wells this month.

For Sharapova it was another disappointing finish in Miami, where she has reached five finals but never lifted the trophy.

Andy Lyons