The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sharapova breezes past Sania

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Sharapova breezes past Sania

TENNIS / U.S. newcomer John Isner shocks Tommy Haas

— Photo: AP

CLINICAL DISPLAY: Maria Sharapova was in control throughout to beat Sania Mirza in straight sets in the quarterfinals at the Acura Classic.

SAN DIEGO: Top seed Maria Sharapova demolished Sania Mirza 6-2, 6-1 to reach the semifinals of the San Diego Classic. Eleventh-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder was nearly as impressive as Sharapova, defeating No. 4 Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-4, 6-4, on Friday.

She will meet another Russian, ninth seed Elena Dementieva, who overcame compatriot Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-4.

Anna Chakvetadze maintained her good run of form on U.S. hard courts when she staved off a match point before stunning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 6-2 in the quarterfinals. The third-seeded Russian will meet Sharapova for a place in the final.

Sania came into the match loaded with confidence after reaching the final of the Stanford Classic last week and having beaten eighth seed Dinara Safina in the previous round here.

Trouble

But she had trouble returning Sharapova’s serves and watched the Russian tear apart her second serve.

Sharapova was in control throughout the match, with Sania winning only 40 per cent of her service points.

“I stepped inside the court and played my game,” Sharapova told reporters. “I wanted to make sure I stepped in and hit it. The two most important things were my serves and returns because she’s pretty solid from the baseline.”

Playing in her first tournament since falling to Venus in the fourth round at Wimbledon, defending champion Sharapova seems to have regained her stride and has lost only 10 games in her last three matches.

The former World No. 1 has yet to win a title this year, but thinks her confidence may be returning.

“I’ll take these matches rather than 7-6 in the third,” Sharapova said.

“No matter how confident you are, you have to live in reality. I don’t know where confidence comes from, but it’s good to get these matches behind me and know I’m playing consistently and serving better.”

Since returning to the tour after six weeks off due to three broken ribs in May, Dementieva has struggled to regain her once top five form.

But the former U.S. Open finalist said she feels at home on the hard court — her favourite surface — and ran Kirilenko ragged.

“It was a difficult match,” Dementieva said. “She plays very smart. I’m very happy to be back on the tour and playing well again.”

Chakvetadze’s strategy

Chakvetadze wore Venus down from the baseline, sticking to a strategy of moving her taller opponent around the court and hitting behind her.

After blowing two set points at 5-2 in the opener and missing a simple backhand on the American’s first set point in the tiebreaker, Chakvetadze appeared to be heading for certain defeat.

However, buoyed by successive titles at Cincinnati and Stanford over the past two weeks, the Russian kept pegging away as Venus began to lose control of her groundstrokes.

The 10th seed did maintain her composure long enough to serve for the contest at 5-3 in the second set and even held a match point, but she wasted the opportunity with a double fault.

“I should have done something different, anything to get it in,” Venus said.

“This is the biggest win of my career,” said the 20-year-old Chakvetadze, who has won seven career titles.

Roddick rolls on

U.S. top seed Andy Roddick rolled into the ATP Washington Classic semifinals with a 7-6(6), 6-2 victory on Friday over South Korean fifth seed Lee Hyung-Taik while Marat Safin and Tommy Haas were ousted.

Roddick fired 16 aces and improved to 10-1 lifetime against Lee to book a date with seventh seed Ivo Karlovic, who defeated Chile’s Paul Capdeville 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5).

In the other semifinal 22-year-old U.S. newcomer John Isner — who beat German second seed Haas 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(5) — takes on 20-year-old fleet Frenchman Gael Monfils, who eliminated Russian third seed Safin 6-3, 7-5.

“He’s young as well. New wave coming,” Monfils said

Firing aces

Monfils fired 14 aces and chased down shot after shot to defeat Safin as he did last year at Cincinnati in their only prior meeting.

Karlovic, ranked a career-best 41st, blasted 29 aces to avenge a loss at Memphis that launched Capdeville to his only prior ATP quarterfinal. The Croatian seeks his third crown of the year after Houston and Nottingham titles.

“He kept me off balance but once again my serve kept me in the match,” Isner said. “I’m not that nervous. I have nothing to lose out there. I can go out there and swing away.

“To beat a player of Tommy’s calibre is unbelievable. I was fortunate to get through this.”

He was fortunate to get into it. The results: At Carlsbad: WTA Acura Classic: Quarterfinals: Anna Chakvetadze bt Venus Williams 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 6-2; Elena Dementieva bt Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-4; Maria Sharapova bt Sania Mirza 6-2, 6-1; Patty Schnyde r bt Nadia Petrova (Russia) 6-4, 6-4.

At Washington: ATP Legg Mason Classic: Quarterfinals: Andy Roddick bt Lee Hyung-taik 7-6(6), 6-2; Ivo Karlovic bt Paul Capdeville 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5); Gael Monfils bt Marat Safin 6-3, 7-5; John Isner bt Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(5).

At Sopot: ATP Prokom Open: Semifinals: Tommy Robredo bt Gilles Simon 6-3, 7-6(4); Jose Acasuso bt Albert Montanes 6-1, 6-2. Quarterfinals: Tommy Robredo bt Stefan Koubek 5-7, 6-4, 6-1; Gilles Simon bt Igor Andreev 6-4, 7-5; Jose Acasuso bt Florian Mayer 7-6(4), 6-3; Albert Montanes bt Martin Vassallo Arguello 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

At Stockholm: WTA Nordic Light Open: Semifinals: Vera Dushevina bt Julia Georges 6-4, 5-7, 6-3; Agnieszka Radwanska bt Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 6-3. Quarterfinals: Vera Dushevina bt Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3 ; Agnieszka Radwanska bt Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-1; Tsvetana Pironkova bt Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-1; Julia Goerges bt Emilie Loit 2-0 (retired). — Agencies

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