Wimbledon - Women: Safina through under roof

Eurosport - Tue, 30 Jun 13:30:00 2009

World number one Dinara Safina needed all her battling qualities to beat former champion Amelie Mauresmo 4-6 6-3 6-4 under the closed Centre Court roof.

Dinara Safina of Russia reacts after defeating Amelie Mauresmo of France during their match at Wimbledon REUTERS - 0

Safina, the world's top ranked player who still awaits a Grand Slam title, found it difficult to impose her all-guns blazing baseline game on the Frenchwoman but finally prevailed after two hours and nine minutes.

Mauresmo, seeded 17, trailed 3-0 in the opener before finding her form and taking it with two breaks of serve.

Safina hit back to level the match and though Mauresmo - who became the first player to hit a ball under the new roof when drizzle halted play - led 2-0 in the decider, the Russian kept her focus to hold serve for the match, clinching it when Mauresmo netted a forehand.

She will next play unseeded German Sabine Lisicki, who added Danish ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki to her list of Wimbledon scalps this year with a 6-4 6-4 victory.

Lisicki, the world number 41 who accounted for French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round, played with more consistency and poise to come through in an hour and 19 minutes on Court Four.

A single break of serve was sufficient in each set for the 19-year-old, who sealed victory when Wozniacki ballooned a forehand long.

Defending champion Venus Williams booked her place in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon after Serbian 13th seed Ana Ivanovic retired injured in their fourth-round clash.

Venus, chasing her third straight title and sixth overall, was making a mockery of Ivanovic's former world number one ranking by storming to the first set 6-1 when the Serb called for the trainer in the opening game of the second.

Former French Open champion Ivanovic received treatment to her hip and then held her serve to go 1-0 up in the second before tearfully informing the umpire she could not carry on.

Williams will play 11th seed Agnieszka Radwanska for a place in the semi-finals, after the Pole ended the run of 17-year-old American qualifier Melanie Oudin 6-4 7-5.

Olympic champion Elena Dementieva became the first player to book a place in the last eight when she cruised past fellow Russian Elena Vesnina 6-1 6-3.

The fourth seed reached the last eight for the second year in a row at the All England Club after displaying superior shot range and court coverage to world number 37 Vesnina, whom she has now beaten in all three of their career meetings.

Dementieva cruised through the first in 29 minutes without Vesnina getting close to a break point, and duly polished off the second set when Vesnina sent a backhand volley long after an hour and 10 minutes.

She will play Francesca Schiavone next, after the Italian beat French 26th seed Virginie Razzano 6-2 7-6(1).

Second seed Serena Williams wasted little time in joining sister Venus in the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-1 demolition of unseeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova.

Serena, a two-time champion here and the reigning Australian Open champion, never looked in any danger as her superior power in all departments gave Hantuchova minimal options.

She raced to the opening set in just 30 minutes before Hatuchova's game folded completely in the second and she clinched victory after just 56 minutes when the Slovak sent a forehand on the run wide.

She will play Victoria Azarenka for a place in the semi-final, after the eighth seed battled her way into through with a hard-fought 7-6(5) 2-6 6-3 victory over Russia's Nadia Petrova .

The eighth seed, the first woman from Belarus to reach the last eight at Wimbledon since Natasha Zvereva in 1998, will have to raise her game to stand a chance against Serena in the last eight.

An abysmal first set was awash with unforced errors, both players each losing their serve three times apiece before Azarenka, yowling with effort on every point, squeaked home 7-5 in a tight tiebreak.

Petrova, treated at the end of the set with ice packs to counteract the heat, came back with all guns blazing to level the match but could not maintain the pressure in the decider and Azarenka wrapped it up after two hours and 25 minutes.

Reuters

Comment 28 - 47 of 67

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  1. Demented SAmm, will u stop already with ur gibberish.­ Ur love for the Williamses is making u crazy. U're­ so fixated on them that u cant do anything else other­ than wait, watch and drool over them when they play and­ then u come to tennis forums to display ur madness. Pls­ get help!!!!!!!!!

    From j.nkechi, on Tue 30 Jun 12:25AM

  2. Venus and Serena just make it look too easy. It's­ ridiculous the stranglehold these two have on wimbledon­ in the women's game. They only have to walk out on ­ court and their opponent starts behaving as if­ they've lost already. These two women also have­ OTHER careers as well unlike most of the women, yet­ still manage to 'walk' into finals. The hype­ that surrounds players like Sharapova, and Ivanovic­ also amazes me. Sharapova looks like she'll never­ repeat her 2004 win at Wimbledon while Ivanovic­ looks...well, more like a model than a professinal­ female athlete.

    From Gizmo1, on Tue 30 Jun 12:09AM

  3. Good job Vika! :]
    Kick Serena's @#$% in the next­ round!

    From Pieter D, on Tue 30 Jun 12:06AM

  4. At the risk of sounding controversial, i don't­ think female tennis players should be getting as much­ as the guys. For a start womens' tennis is less­ competitive in terms of strength in depth, and genuine ­ potential Grand Slam winners, and then of course they­ don't play five setters.

    People who come out with­ 'well that's because they're women' and­ therefore shoudln't have to are missing the point.­ How about fining players for go above a certain level­ of decibels? at least then we'd all be spared some­ of the ear bashing screeching that goes on, most of­ which is entirely unnecessary. It's not because­ they're hitting every ball so hard that it's­ taking something out of them, they just do it to­ unnerve their opponent. Until women's tennis is­ open to playing possible five setters the money is­ disproportionate compared with the men's game.­

    I'm not a sexist pig, and no doubt they'll be­ women reading this that think i am - and good luck to­ them, but there must be sense here, at the moment­ it's not fair on the guys.

    From Gizmo1, on Tue 30 Jun 12:04AM

  5. Hell Y(46)....Samm is sick and you are crazy! You went­ really low to copy and paste my line[sentence] just to­ to look good. Comment 46 is originally made by me. STOP­ copying and pasting peoples' comments. Be original­ and construct one of your own.

    From Chukwuemeka, on Mon 29 Jun 11:55PM

  6. LOL... I just read this news on some tall interesting­ place called: ___T allmingle Co M____ the most popular­ place for h ot mo dels, handsome men me et and mi ngle!­ u might be surprise what u end up with!!LOL :-)

    From katessmith24, on Mon 29 Jun 11:18PM

  7. venus was on her way to a 6-1, 6-0 when Ana quit. ­

    it's a pity Ana couldn't finish and i hope­ she's ok, but she was NEVER gonna win this match.

    From jay, on Mon 29 Jun 11:10PM

  8. LOL I knew Venus would crush Ana, but I didn't know­ Ana would stoop as low as retiring to avoid further­ humiliation :O how lame...then again justice is served­ as she shouldn't have got past R1 *rolls eyes* x

    From opera.aria, on Mon 29 Jun 11:07PM

  9. Viva Williams Sisters Viva..Sail on sisters and good­ luck.
    You samm on the other hand, need proper­ psychiatric sectioning because you are a sick, twisted­ psycho.Do yourself a huge favour,everytime they­ play,DONT WATCH THEM,go and seek help b 4 its too late­ mate.You come accross as f****** looser with no purpose­ of life,and you know what,an animal is you­ sunshine.PEACE.

    From collinmasec, on Mon 29 Jun 11:07PM

  10. "Perry Neeham" You got flies, because you are­ full of sh't.

    From l, on Mon 29 Jun 11:01PM

  11. Venus rising........Venus a class act just like little­ sis.

    From l, on Mon 29 Jun 10:57PM

  12. Goodluck to Venus. She was untouched despite the­­ distraction of injury time to offset her rythym. Ana­­ just chickened out.
    On the other hand Serena dealt a­­ devastating knock out on Daniella.

    Go Williamses. The­­ final is set

    From l, on Mon 29 Jun 10:56PM

  13. YEAH...YEAH...YEAH...WILLIAMS SISTERS MARCH ON!!!­ ENJOY­ IT HATERS!!! :p :p :p

    From l, on Mon 29 Jun 10:55PM

  14. Samm, you must have forgotten your medication. I sure­­ hope you wouldn't do anything stupid like stalking­­ The Williams Sisters and consequently raising the­­ stakes of your hatred against them. The symptoms are­­ manifesting here on this forum. Seek help!

    From l, on Mon 29 Jun 10:54PM

  15. yes Moderator do your job.

    From l, on Mon 29 Jun 10:54PM

  16. The only man is Ana Ivanovic, she got a bearded. They­ should check her DNA.

    From l, on Mon 29 Jun 10:53PM

  17. Venus looklike a super model, great show. Well done

    From l, on Mon 29 Jun 10:52PM

  18. Williams sister all the way Good luck

    From carolette f, on Mon 29 Jun 10:52PM

  19. Serena and Venus are just too good! They are the best­ for sure!

    From Vic M, on Mon 29 Jun 10:51PM

  20. HELLO!!!! Moderator ?????
    Get this Samm out of here!!!­ today!!!
    Can YOU HEAR ME???

    From Paul J, on Mon 29 Jun 10:51PM
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