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Top-ranked Federer beaten in Miami Masters tennis
Posted on 三月 13th, 2010 No commentsTop-ranked Federer beaten in Miami Masters tennis
Top-ranked Roger Federer suffered a fourth round defeat at the ATP and WTA Masters tennis tournament in Miami on Tuesday.
The Swiss lost to 16th-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-7 (3) and 7-6 (6) in two hours and 51 minutes, just his second loss to the Czech in their 10 career meetings.
Federer, who has 16 Grand Slam titles, was also knocked out in the third round of his last tournament two weeks ago at Indian Wells and had to withdraw from the Dubai event last month with a lung infection.
Berdych reached his fifth quarter-final of the season and has a 15-7 record this season. He lost to Nadal in the quarters at Indian Wells and made the semis at Brisbane before being eliminated by Roddick.
In other matches, six-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal and American Andy Roddick remained as the two of the top eight seeds advancing to the quarterfinals.
Nadal outlasted fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 7-6 (5), 6-4, and will next face eighth seed Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who beat No. 12 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 6-2.
Former champion Roddick beat the unseeded German Benjamin Becker 7-6 (4), 6-3, improving to 23-4 this year and advancing to his seventh quarterfinal in 11 previous appearances in the event.
Also, in the men\’s fourth round, American Mardy Fish retired with a back injury, trailing Mikhail Youzhny 6-1, 1-0. Robin Soderling reached the quarterfinals for the first time with a 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-2 win over Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, and Nicolas Almagro eliminated Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3).
In women\’s play, Venus Williams beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the semis. -
Roddick advances to quarters at Miami masters
Posted on 三月 13th, 2010 No commentsRoddick advances to quarters at Miami masters
Andy Roddick reached the quarterfinals at the Miami masters tournament by beating Benjamin Becker 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Seeded sixth, Roddick improved to 23-4 this year, and he leads the men\’s tour in wins. He\’s seeking his first Miami title since 2004 and hoping to spoil a potential showdown Sunday between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Three-time champion Venus Williams became the first women\’s semifinalist by beating No. 6 seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-1.
Roddick rallied on the strength of his dominating serve. He dug out of a 1-4, love-40 hole in the first set and won 34 of his final 39 service points, including all six in the tiebreaker.
A big serve helps, too. When Roddick found himself in another hole serving at 4-5, love-30, he responded with three service winners and an ace.
Roddick made another one on match point, closing out the victory with his seventh ace of the match and his 343rd of the year, second-most on the tour.
Roddick has been broken only once through three matches and next plays No. 33 seed Nicolas Almagro, who eliminated No. 27 Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3).
Top-ranked Serena has been sidelined by a knee injury since winning the Australian Open in January. In her absence, Venus has become the woman to beat as she bids for her fourth Miami title and her first since 2001.
The oldest women\’s quarterfinalist at 29, Venus is the hottest player on the WTA Tour. She has won 14 matches in a row, and two more would give her three consecutive tournament titles for the first time since 2002.
In the men\’s fourth round, Mardy Fish retired with a sciatic nerve injury trailing Mikhail Youzhny 6-1, 1-0. The injury occurred when Fish took a tumble in the first set, causing discomfort from his back to his calf.
No. 5 Robin Soderling beat No. 9 Fernando Gonzalez 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-2, and No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga swept No. 12 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 6-2. -
Jankovic beats Wozniacki to win Indian Wells title
Posted on 三月 13th, 2010 No commentsJankovic beats Wozniacki to win Indian Wells title
Jelena Jankovic of Serbia poses with the trophy after defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark during the final of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California. Jankovic won 6-2, 6-4. (Xinhua) -
Ljubibic beats Roddick to win Indian Wells title
Posted on 三月 13th, 2010 No commentsLjubibic beats Roddick to win Indian Wells title
Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia beat Andy Roddick 7-6(3), 7-6(5) to win the BNP Paribas Open men\’s title.
Ljubicic won on his fourth match point Sunday, blasting a big serve that Roddick couldn\’t return. At the age of 31, Ljubicic is the second-oldest winner at Indian Wells behind Jimmy Connors, whowas five months older when he won in 1984.
Roddick was trying to become the first American man to win since 2001, but he trailed in both tiebreakers. He had beaten Ljubicic seven times in ten meetings, winning their last meeting at Indian Wells in two tiebreakers in 2007.
Jelena Jankovic defeated Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-4 earlier Sunday to win the women\’s title, the Serbian\’s first in seven months. -
Willis shoots 65 for first-round lead
Posted on 三月 13th, 2010 No commentsWillis shoots 65 for first-round lead
American Garrett Willis, playing on a sponsors exemption, gained a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Tampa Bay Championship at the Innisbrook golf club and resort on Thursday in Florida.
Willis produced a six-under-par round of 65, with just a bogey on the par four third, to have a two shot advantage over six players including Retief Goosen and Jim Furyk.
The 36-year-old, whose only win on the PGA Tour came over nine years ago in Tucson, took advantage of lighter winds for the early starters, making 30 on the back nine.
\”I was fortunate to get off early before the wind really started kicking up, … when there is wind here then it is very difficult. So I was happy to get done when I did,\” he said.
Two-times US Open winner Goosen of South Africa and Swede Carl Pettersson were the two international players tied in second along with Americans Furyk, Jonathan Byrd, Jeff Maggert and Rickie Fowler.
Goosen said the direction of the wind was causing particular problems, even though he coped well.
\”It was playing cross on the whole course, every shot there was a cross wind. There were no holes where you were really playing downwind or straight into the wind,\” he said.
Pettersson, who won the first of his three PGA Tour events on the Innisbrook course, is aiming for his second top 10 finish of the year.
Ireland\’s Padraig Harrington, who dashed back to Tampa after attending a St Patrick\’s Day party at the White House on Wednesday, shot a two-under 69, helped by a birdie on the tough 445-yard par four 18th, which features 10 bunkers.
Spain\’s Sergio Garcia and Britain\’s Ian Poulter both finished two over while Fiji\’s Vijay Singh withdrew due to a back injury. -
Ljubicic sends Nadal packing
Posted on 三月 13th, 2010 No commentsLjubicic sends Nadal packing
Ivan Ljubicic rode his big serve to a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1) victory over defending champion Rafael Nadal on Saturday and a berth in the BNP Paribas Open final.
Ljubicic will play Andy Roddick in the final after the American outlasted Robin Soderling 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in Indian Wells, California.
Nadal teamed with fellow Spaniard Marc Lopez to win the men\’s doubles, 7-6 (8), 6-3 over top-seeded Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia.
\”After losing important singles, the victory in doubles makes me happy,\” Nadal said. \”It\’s always nice to end the tournament winning.\”
Serb Jelena Jankovic and US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark will play for the women\’s title.
Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia won the women\’s doubles 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 over third-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia and Samantha Stosur of Australia.
Ljubicic served 17 aces – giving him 64 in the tournament – and overcame 51 unforced errors to end a five-match losing streak against the world\’s third-ranked player.
The Croatian upset second-ranked Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the round of 16 and is in position to win an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time after three runner-up showings, the last in 2006 at Miami.
\”I hope this one is going to finally be the victory,\” he said.
Nadal was trying to end an 11-tournament title drought. He hasn\’t won since last May in Rome after being hampered by knee injuries last summer and at the Australian Open.
\”I am happy how I did after being at home a few weeks. It\’s not easy coming back and playing with this level,\” Nadal said. \”I was feeling I was playing better than probably closer to ever on this court.\”
Nadal appeared unbeatable in the opening set, powering forehands out of Ljubicic\’s reach. But the lefty\’s best stroke deserted him at times in the second set, when Ljubicic broke for a 5-4 lead on Nadal\’s double-fault. The Croatian served out the set and then broke again to open the third.
Nadal broke back in the next game, but he later blew a break point to go up 5-3. Ljubicic held with an ace to tie it 4-all. Both players stayed on serve to force the tiebreak, where Nadal committed four errors to fall behind 1-6.
Roddick will play his first Indian Wells final after losing in the semifinals three times, including last year to Nadal.
Roddick and Soderling took turns throwing their rackets in frustration as the momentum swung back and forth. Roddick gained control when he held for 3-all in the third, then broke the Swede en route to winning three of the final four games. -
Tigers aura gone, but what about skills?
Posted on 三月 13th, 2010 No commentsTiger\’s aura gone, but what about skills?
Oddsmakers didn\’t take long to make Tiger Woods the Masters favorite. Even his fellow competitors say they can see him trying on another green jacket.
They\’re expecting the Tiger of old at Augusta National. That might be because it\’s the only Tiger they know.
I say he\’ll be lucky to make the cut. It\’s not just the five months he has gone without hitting a shot for real, though that surely can\’t help. Woods will be rusty and the Masters is not a place to try to fine tune your game.
U.S. team member Tiger Woods watches play as he stands on the sixth hole during his foursome match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Harding Park golf course in San Francisco, California, in this October 8, 2009 file photo. (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)
No, it\’s because the Woods saga is a story that has morphed into a lot more than just the tale of a man who pretended to be something he wasn\’t. Once one of the most esteemed athletes in the world, he\’s now a soap opera-like figure whose last scripted apology clearly showed he has a lot more left to accomplish in his 12-step rehabilitation program.
He\’ll go to Augusta still stinging from the pasting he\’s taken from the tabloids and the late-night shows since crashing his car Thanksgiving night. He\’ll go there vulnerable and, for the first time, unsure what kind of reception he\’ll get.
The media will want to ask him questions. The fans will want him to act contrite.
Kind of hard to swagger down the fairway and say you\’re sorry at the same time.
Unfortunately for Woods, it\’s a new game. He will tee it up on No 1 the Thursday of the Masters with more questions swirling about him than the first time he played there as an amateur 14 years ago.
At least then we knew the answers. The kid was good and there was something about him that screamed greatness.
The aura grew over the years, as did the collection of green jackets. Now it\’s shattered for good.
The Woods we once knew seemed to enjoy sending his opponents broken and trembling to the scrap heap almost as much as he enjoyed picking up the winner\’s cheque.
The Woods we know now – wait! We still don\’t know who he is, do we?
\”We have all put him up on such a pedestal, not only in the golf, but we took for granted the personal side, too,\” golf\’s No 2 player Steve Stricker said on Wednesday. \”We\’ll have to wait and see what the golf brings when he comes back. This may fire him up even more and make him even stronger.\”
Hard to imagine that. The first glare may come not when he runs in a long putt to get into contention but when someone screams out the name of mistress No 5 in his backswing.
Who is going to fear a guy who spent the past two months confessing every failing of his life to a group of strangers?
The questions about Woods and the Masters used to be fairly simple, mostly about the state of his game. They\’re still fairly simple but very different: Will Elin be there?
There likely will come a day when Woods\’ career is examined in two parts and they likely will look very different. The first, of course, will be the 14 years since he turned pro – when he won 14 major championships, made a billion dollars and was generally acclaimed as the best player to pick up a 7-iron.
The second may be more notable for what Woods couldn\’t do. He would have had trouble matching his early success even before he crashed but it\’s even more unlikely now that he can dominate as he did in the past.
And that record of 18 major titles by Jack Nicklaus he so desperately wanted to break? It might now be out of reach, along with the title that goes with it: greatest golfer ever.
So, welcome back to Augusta, Tiger, and don\’t mind that tabloid helicopter buzzing overhead. Same thing for those guys going through your trash, hoping they\’ll find a few old phone numbers.
The Tuesday press conference is standard procedure, so you\’ll be invited to show up. If you do, don\’t count on guys wearing green jackets to line the back wall in support as they did for Hootie Johnson when Martha Burk raised the issue of women members a few years back.
And, if you\’re going to carry through on your plan to treat the game of golf with more respect, make sure caddie Steve Williams packs a pen for all those autographs you\’re going to sign with a smile.
Don\’t bother trying to pack your aura for the trip, though.
It\’s long gone. -
Nadal, Wozniacki survive seeds cull
Posted on 三月 13th, 2010 No commentsNadal, Wozniacki survive seeds cull
Rafael Nadal restored order on a day of upsets with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 fourth-round victory over big-serving American John Isner at the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday, after Novak Djokovic and Elena Dementieva were ousted.
Seeking his third title at Indian Wells, California, No. 3 seed Nadal withstood Isner\’s serve-and-volley game under the searing afternoon sun in front of a partisan crowd backing one of only two American men remaining.
Nadal ended things with a forehand winner into the open court, prompting a loud yell from the defending champion who is back in action after a six-week injury layoff.
\”I am feeling really well, and I am feeling good on court,\” said Nadal, playing his first tournament since the Australian Open, when he was hampered by knee injuries that also bothered him last summer.
Nadal rested after his singles match, then went out and won his doubles quarterfinal with countryman Marc Lopez.
\”I can return more aggressive than the singles and I practice a little bit more the serve,\” he said. \”I play more relaxed. I feel my volley improves in the last three days, so that\’s the important thing.\”
Isner fired 22 aces and had just one double-fault in his first match against Nadal.
Nadal advanced to the quarterfinals against 19th-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, a 6-1, 6-1 winner over No. 29 Viktor Troicki of Serbia.
No. 7 Andy Roddick defeated 22nd-seeded Jurgen Melzer 7-6 (5), 6-4, improving to 10 matches without loss against the Austrian. He\’ll next face No. 18 Tommy Robredo of Spain, who outlasted the 27th-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 7-5, 0-6, 6-4.
Andy Murray led Nicolas Almagro 6-2, 1-0 when the Spaniard retired with a left ankle injury. Scotsman Murray will play sixth-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden, who defeated France\’s No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-3, 6-4.
No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark rallied to beat 18th-seeded Zheng Jie of China, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, for the first time in three meetings.
Second-seeded Djokovic, the highest seeded men\’s player remaining and the 2008 winner, lost 5-7, 3-6 to No. 20 seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, a day after top-ranked Roger Federer dropped a third-set tiebreaker to Baghdatis after holding three match points.
No. 4 Dementieva struggled with her footwork in a 4-6, 3-6 quarterfinal defeat to fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who has yet to drop a set in four matches.
Former winner Dementieva\’s loss cleared the way for a first-time women\’s champion to be crowned on Sunday.
Ljubicic hadn\’t beaten Djokovic since their first clash in 2006, losing five in a row. But he believed the Serb was vulnerable because of his recent playing and travel schedule.
\”He has to aim to be 100 percent fit if he wants to win this tournament, and he wasn\’t. If I didn\’t get him, somebody would on the way,\” Ljubicic said. \”He was already struggling in Dubai. He played long matches there, and after that he went to Serbia, played Davis Cup, and then traveled here.\”
Ljubicic moves on to a quarterfinal against No. 21 Juan Monaco of Argentina, who got by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. -
Jankovic advances to Indian Wells semis
Posted on 三月 13th, 2010 No commentsJankovic advances to Indian Wells semis
Serbian Jelena Jankovic reached the semifinals on Thursday at the Inidan Wells WTA tournament with a straight sets victory over Alisa Kleybanova.
Former world No. 1 Jankovic, the sixth seed, beat the Russian 6- 4, 6-4 to reach the semifinals for the second time in nine appearances. In 2008 she fell in the semis to compatriot Ana Ivanovic, who went on to win the title.
Kleybanova, who ousted former world number one Kim Clijsters of Belgium in the third round, had Jankovic under pressure on her serve throughout the opening set, but couldn\’t convert any of her four break points.
Serving for the set, Jankovic double-faulted twice to give Kleybanova one last opportunity, but the Serbian won the next three points to take the set.
Kleybanova, ranked 27th in the world, gained the first break of the second set for a 4-2 lead, but she gave it back in the next game with the aid of two double-faults.
Jankovic came up with solid service game when she needed it, holding at love to level the set at 4-4 as she won the last four games of the match.
Jankovic, owner of 11 WTA titles, has played sparingly this year and hadn\’t made it past the third round. She parted with coach Ricardo Sanchez earlier this month.
\”I think every win that I\’m getting gives me a lot of confidence,\” Jankovic said. \”I feel that I\’m coming back, and my game is getting better and better. It gives me more motivation.\”
The second quarterfinal comes between eighth-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur and Spain\’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. -
Zheng Jie phased out at WTA tennis tournament
Posted on 三月 13th, 2010 No commentsZheng Jie phased out at WTA tennis tournament
Zheng Jie of China returns the ball during the quarter-final match against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark at the Indian Wells WTA tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California of the United States, March 17, 2010. Zheng lost 1-2. (Xinhua/Qi Heng)
