WTA Tour - Williams marches on in Paris

Eurosport - Thu, 12 Feb 22:54:00 2009

World number one Serena Williams raced into the quarter-finals of the Paris Open with a 6-1 6-2 demolition of Croatian qualifier Karolina Sprem in a perfect day for the local favourites.

Serena Williams of the US returns the ball to Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic during their match in the Paris Open - 0

The American top seed, who won the tournament in 1999 and 2003, will face France's Emilie Loit for a semi-final spot after the qualifier reached the last eight.

Loit was joined in the last eight by compatriots Amelie Mauresmo, Alize Cornet and wild card Nathalie Dechy, who respectively beat Romania's Monica Niculescu, Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova and Swiss Patty Schnyder.

Australian Open champion Williams won all her points on her first serve and ended Sprem's ordeal with a return winner after 58 minutes on her first match point.

"I played better than yesterday but I have to say she did not play that well herself," Williams said in a courtside interview. "I served very well, that went fine."

Earlier, second seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia alternated brilliant winners with clumsy errors to beat China's Li Na 6-0 3-6 6-2.

Former world number one Jankovic, who had been made to work hard to beat Italy's Francesca Schiavone in the previous round, looked to be on her way to an easy victory, opening up a 6-0 3-1 lead.

She then started making a lot of unforced errors and allowed her opponent back into the match before taking control again in the decisive set.

The world number three saved three break points and wrapped it up on her first match point with a forehand passing shot that Li failed to retrieve.

"Some players, regardless of their ranking, give me more difficulties than others," said Jankovic.

"In the first set, I was dominating but then I lost my first serve percentage before regaining confidence."

Jankovic will next meet fifth-seeded Cornet, who recovered from a slow start to overcome Hantuchova 1-6 6-4 6-2.

World number four Elena Dementieva of Russia needed a set to adjust before outclassing compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-2 to set up a meeting with Dechy, who battled to a 3-6 6-4 6-3 win over Swiss sixth seed Schnyder.

Number eight seed Mauresmo was the third Frenchwoman to progress, with a 6-1 6-2 thrashing of Niculescu, and will next take on Poland's Agneszka Radwanska.

"It's not as good as yesterday but I still can hit some pretty good shots," said the former world number one.

Reuters

Comment 7 - 26 of 26

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. The Australian Open finals for both men and women­ resulted in two coincidentally well built athlets­ winning.Now ,the Federer fans and those who do not like­ serena character think they should not have won.Hence­ ,ridiculous drug test measures.Of course testing is­ important,but the timing should be negosiated.Most of­ them are not breaking the law .l will be surprised if­ Serena wins the French Open and the Wimbledon ,'cos­ she feels she is not liked there.Hence,l think she is­ not that committed.l love her and l hope she proves me­ wrong.

    From Ronald, on Fri 13 Feb 11:30AM

  2. what i hate is how some Williams fans, very few though,­ criticise other tennis players, even though they always­ complain people are constantly criticizing the­ Williams. now, i'm not like that, and i respect the­ Williams. having said that, @#$% like poorman have no­ place in these forums, and he can go @#$% himself.

    From aleksicn93, on Fri 13 Feb 6:37AM

  3. the Williams family truly has been blessed to have 2 of­ the best female tennis players the world has ever seen.­ well done Serena, perfectly played. come on JJ, your­ performance wasn't as good as Serena's, but in­ all honesty you had a tougher opponent. and attaha, why­ are you always criticizing Jelena? have you seen the­ match, and did you watch the post match interview?­ Eurosport only included two quotes from her interview.­ please have respect for Jelena, as i do for the­ Williams.

    From aleksicn93, on Fri 13 Feb 6:29AM

  4. no way girls go for the top price serena

    From Augustine A, on Thu 12 Feb 11:38PM

  5. well done serena.. JJ has never complemented her­ oponent.Na Li has beaten her several times and due to­ injury she managed a 3rd set with JJ.. She arrogantly­ said, some players give her tough time as if tennis is­ her name.. what a mean thing to say... Well freedom of­ speech

    From Augustine A, on Thu 12 Feb 11:37PM

  6. That's how a number one player should play at all­ times! Serena was amazing! Those groundstrokes can hurt­ your mama and then some....Good Luck Serena, love you­ much!

    From Vic M, on Thu 12 Feb 9:45PM

  7. we love photography --- provided you wear costumes­ provided

    tall guys here waiting for you

    From pam_wallis60, on Thu 12 Feb 8:53PM

  8. I HAVE TO SAY SERENA LOOKS REALLY FIT AND HAS LOST A­ LOT OF WIEGHT. PLAYING WELL HOPE ITS A AMELIE VS SERENA­ FINAL.

    From AJ, on Thu 12 Feb 7:58PM

  9. Good all round game from williams didn't loose a­ single point on her first serve,very impressive

    From ede o, on Thu 12 Feb 6:25PM

  10. As I predicted, Serena took revenge for big­ sister's questionable loss to Sprem at W 2004!­ Serena was on fire with her first serves, won 100% of­ her first serve! Has that ever been done before? I­ remembered Serena not missing a first serve the the­ second set of her demolition of Hingis in the 2002 USO­ semifinal. I can still hear @#$% Enberg saying,­ "she has pitched the perfect set" Best serve­ the women's game has ever seen period! Next up­ Emilie Loit. Remember her? She gave Serena fitz in the­ first round of the 2003 AO ! lol Serena will be­ certainly remember that!
    No more surprise! Go Serena!

    From tennisstudent, on Thu 12 Feb 5:30PM

  11. WOTT STUNNING BRIGHT BLUE EYES DEAR SARA ERRRANI

    From Lucie D, on Thu 12 Feb 2:14PM

  12. WELL MAURESMO HAD A GIFT ...!

    REPAYMENT FROM­ AUSTRALIA == 6-0 -- DID SHE DONATE A GIFT VOUCHER­ == LOOKS LIKE

    From Lucie D, on Thu 12 Feb 2:12PM

  13. This time around,Eurosport put a lovely pic of­ Serena.Well done Eurosport!!!!! We love to see this­ continue!!!!

    From Epic M, on Thu 12 Feb 2:00PM

  14. Poorman will remain a poorman forever.That is his­ curse.He wants to become popular on a negative note.No­ way for him.

    From Epic M, on Thu 12 Feb 1:58PM

  15. plz people do not loose a minute for poorman...his name­ says all
    just a poor stupid boring man

    From mike, on Thu 12 Feb 11:13AM

  16. well done See

    From mike, on Thu 12 Feb 11:12AM

  17. Poorman, attention seeker and a secret obsesed fan of­ serena

    From nechi, on Thu 12 Feb 10:11AM

  18. poorman3000
    A compelling case for­ euthanasia..........
    Alison M.

    From Nicholas, on Thu 12 Feb 9:55AM

  19. Anytime anywhere I admire the William Sisters. Do you­ think Its easy to make a name?
    Please say the best of­ people and stop critising so that you can be successful­ okay!

    From nikky o, on Thu 12 Feb 8:44AM

  20. poorman300o cant you see that no one enjoys your stupid­ write ups,so you have got to take it somewhere­ else.Your name actually suggests alot,you are just­ jealous cos she could buy you billions and billions­ over

    From ede o, on Wed 11 Feb 10:32PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account