Serena Williams defeats Maria Sharapova to reach last eight
Defending Wimbledon Champion Serena Williams made a big step towards her title defence when she ousted former World Number 1 Maria Sharapova in fourth round match. World Number 1 American Serena was tested by Russian Sharapova in a mercury soaring day at Wimbledon. Serena won the match with the score of 7-6(11-9), 6-4 to book her place in quarter-finals.
16th seed Sharapova started the match confidently as she dealt damage to top seed in the early part of the opening set. She took the lead of 5-3 and even had three set points but Russian failed to convert either of them. Williams seeing the opportunity came back in the match and took the set to a tie-break. A gruelling battle took place in the tie-break between arch-rivals. Serena’s persistence eventually paid off as double fault at 9/9 proved costly for 2004 Wimbledon Champion Sharapova. After winning the first set, Serena’s confidence grew and her performance in second set was testimony of it. She broke the Russian to easily take the second set 6-4. After this Serena has eventually balanced out her loss to Sharapova in 2004 Wimbledon final.
Meanwhile, Serena’s sister Venus had to play like a ‘h**l-cat’ according to her father Richard to oust Australian Jarmila Groth. Five-time women’s champion Venus defeated Groth with the score of 6-4, 7-6(7-5) to reach last eight. 2nd seed Venus broke her Australian counterpart in the 10th game to take first set. However, Groth, who is the lowest ranked woman to reach the last 16, showed resolute as she battled out Venus in second set. She broke Venus’ serve twice, but couldn’t hold her serve either as the set progressed towards tie-break. Venus, capitalizing on her experience seized the tie-break to seal the match. Venus will now play Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in the last eight. Pironkova earlier beat 2007 runner up Marion Bartoli in straight sets. Bulgarian ousted the French Bartoli with the score of 6-4, 6-4.
On the other hand, in the Battle of the Belgians, Kim Clijsters defeated her compatriot Justine Henin to reach quarter-finals. This was the 25th time both players met each other. Both are Former World Number 1 and both came out of international retirement few months ago. 8th seed Clijsters defeated 17th seed Henin with the score of 2-6, 6-2 and 6-3. Their head-to-head record now stands 13-12 in favour of Clijsters. Their famous rivalry dates back to 1998.
Henin made a blistering start as she broke Clijsters twice to seal the opening set. However a fall during the first set appeared to have hurt her right wrist which threw her momentum. Exploiting on her opponent’s weakness, Clijsters came back in the match and won the remaining two sets easily. Clijsters will now face Russian Vera Zvonareva for a place in last four.
Henin was not the only big name to exit Wimbledon. She was followed by 4th seed Jelena Jankovic and 3rd seed Caroline Wozniacki. Jankovic’s average Wimbledon run continued as she retired during their round match. Serb Jankovic sustained a back injury during the match and therefore decided to retire in the second set. She at that time was trailing 6-1, 3-0 to Russian Vera Zvonareva. On the other hand, 3rd seed Wozniacki of Denmark was embarrassed by World Number 62 Petra Kvitova in third round encounter. Czech Republic’s Kvitova unsettled Wozniacki as she defeated her with the score of 6-2 and 6-0. This was one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far. Kvitova will now face Estonian qualifier Kaia Kanepi in the quarter-finals. Kanepi ousted Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic. Kanepi impressive run in Wimbledon continued as she produced another impressive display on grass court. She won the match with the score of 6-2, 6-4. Lastly, China’s Li Na kept her good form on grass surface continued as she reached the last eight of the Wimbledon for the second time. 9th seed Li Na defeated Polish 7th seed Agnieszka Radwanska with the score of 6-3, 6-2.
Tags: