Professional Tennis
Both world number one-ranked Victoria Azarenka and number two-ranked Maria Sharapova were first round winners at the 2012 China Open on Monday. Azarenka, back in action after withdrawing from last week’s Toray Pan Pacific Open due to dizziness, took a little over an hour to defeat her fellow countrywoman Alizé Cornet 6-1, 6-0. Sharapova needed nearly two hours…
World number 14-ranked Nadia Petrova defeated world number three Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 in the finals of the 2012 Toray Pan Pacific Open. Petrova breezed through the first set 6-0, playing almost flawless tennis, serving up 16 winners to three unforced errors, but she slipped up in the second set, hitting seven winners to 14 unforced…
Both Serena and Venus Williams have announced their withdrawal from the 2012 China Open, set to begin this weekend in Beijing. Serena is battling lingering effects of the flu, while Venus is suffering from a back injury. Serena won the China Open title in 2004. Serena’s own Twitter account carried a short message saying: ”Flu…
Fourth-seeded Gilles Simon advanced to his sixth ATP World Tour semifinal of the season on Friday as he defeated fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-1 at the Thailand Open in Bangkok. Simon won the event in 2009, and lost to Andy Murray in the semifinals in 2011. Simon improved to a 37-20 in 2012. "It was…
Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Angelique Kerber, 6-1, 6-1 on Friday to advance to the finals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open. The third-seeded Radwanska was at her best against one of the most solid players on the WTA this year, playing rock solid defense and hitting winners all over the place against the fifth-seeded seeded Kerber, who hit…
Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka was forced to withdraw from the 2012 Pan Pacific Open quarterfinals on Thursday, a day after experiencing dizziness in her third-round win over Italy’s Roberta Vinci. Azarenka’s scheduled opponent on Thursday, fifth-ranked Angelique Kerber of Germany, advanced to the semifinals on a walkover. "I’m very sorry to be withdrawing. I would have loved…
French Open champion Maria Sharapova was upset by eighth-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-4, 7-6 in their quarterfinal match at the 2012 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. The second set tie-breaker was a battle where both players had multiple set points, before Stosur pulled it out 12-10. Stosur had won just one of her previous 11…
World number nine-ranked Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia advanced to the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open in Bangkok, defeating Japanese qualifier Hiroki Moriya 6-4, 6-4. Tipsarevic is looking to boost his chances of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with a strong showing in the ATP World Tour Asian Swing. The Belgrade native is currently…
Rafael Nadal still remains unclear about his return to the courts following a knee injury. The Spaniard, who hasn’t played since losing in the second round of Wimbledon in June to Lukas Rosol, skipped the 2012 London Olympics and this month’s 2012 U.S. Open. The 11-time Grand Slam champion is recovering from a partially torn patella tendon…
At the Toray Pan Pacific Open, world number 73-ranked Petra Martic upset world number five Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets for the biggest win of her career. This was the second time this year that Martic defeated a top-10-ranked player, after her win over then-eighth-ranked Marion Bartoli at the French Open. In round one, Martic defeated the…