Professional Tennis
Four-time champion Serena Williams survived a grueling match from Yaroslava Shvedova to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 victory on Monday. Serena looked set to cruise through as she took the first set in emphatic fashion. On the other hand, Kazakh wildcard Shvedova has been in superb form, winning all 24 points…
As week one of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships comes to a close the drama is just beginning to unfold. The first day of the Championships was already bursting with storylines. Several big names were sent packing in shocking fashion. Two Americans, John Isner and Wimbledon legend Venus Williams, were perceived as threats going into the…
World number three-ranked Roger Federer nearly joined world number two Rafael Nadal on the sidelines at Wimbledon, but overcame a two-set deficit to edge Julien Benneteau, 4-6, 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-6(6), 6-1 in action on Friday. Federer moves on to play Belgium’s Xavier Malisse, a 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 winner over the number 17 seed, Fernando Verdasco…
Due to rain showers on Friday at Wimbledon, top-seeded Novak Djokovic played on Centre Court under the retractable roof, defeating Radek Stepanek, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the next round. Tournament officials decided to close the roof for Djokovic’s match. Once the roof was fully closed, the sun came out and outside courts…
Windy conditions at Wimbledon proved to be tough on Maria Sharapova’s serve, but she rallied to beat Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei 6-1, 6-4 in the third round. Sharapova broke Hsieh three times in the first set with an easy victory seeming to be in sight, however, the wind began to blow in the second set, and Sharapova…
Christina McHale of the United States has advanced to the third round at a fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament, after her 7-5, 7-5 second-round victory over Mathilde Johansson of France on Thursday. The 28th-seeded McHale, a 20-year-old from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., will next face the eighth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany. ”It was weird: The first and second sets…
World number one-ranked Maria Sharapova overcame a second-set bump in the road before finishing off Tsvetana Pironkova, 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 6-0 on Thursday to reach the third round at Wimbledon. Fresh off her win at Roland Garros and clinching the final piece to her career Grand Slam, Sharapova is aiming for a second Wimbledon crown after winning…
In Thursday action at Wimbledon 2012, Andy Murray gave the home crowd at Centre Court some concern when he was broken in his first service game, but held the rest of the way and broke Ivo Karlovic four times for a 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-6(4) win to reach the third round. Murray has reached the semifinals at the…
World number three-ranked Roger Federer cruised into the next round of Wimbledon with a dominating performance against Italy’s Fabio Fognini, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2. Fognini began to show more effort in the second and third sets, but Federer dominated in just 74 minutes. Federer hit 35 winners and 13 aces throughout the match. He also won 21…
Samantha Stosur was defeated by Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, 6-2, 0-6, 6-4, making her the highest seed to be knocked out of this year’s Wimbledon so far. The fifth-seeded Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open champion, surrendered the first set by losing six games in a row, but came back to win the next six games…