The Hindu : Sport : Henin breezes past Makarova

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Saturday, Sep 01, 2007
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Henin breezes past Makarova

Mahesh Bhupathi has it good on a day of mixed fortunes for Leander Paes

NEW YORK: World No.1 Justine Henin breezed into the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Thursday while fellow French Open champion Rafael Nadal of Spain prepared for another test of his sore left knee.

Henin defeated Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 6-2 in 50 minutes to book a date with Russian Dinara Safina in the round of 16. Safina, the 15th seed and one of 10 Russians in the last 32, beat American Ahsha Rolle 6-4, 6-3.

“I was very happy with the way I played,” Henin said. “I was aggressive from the first point to the end. I’m very happy about that.”

Henin won 17-of-22 on her first serve and 23-of-35 on Makarova’s first serve, but the Belgian should have a tougher fight from Safina, who hit 69 percent of her first serves and won 30 of those 38 points with five aces and 24 winners.

Keenly focussed

“I try to go step by step and always try to build my confidence,” Henin said. “A big part of my success is that I focus on myself, try not to look on the other side of the net.”

Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro ousted Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 and his South American countryman Juan Ignacio Chela, seeded 20th, beat American Wayne Odesnik 6-3, 6-1, 7-5.

Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis stopped German Michael Berrer 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-1.

Defending champs out

In doubles action, Sania and Bethanie Mattek defeated Severine Bremond and Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 6-1in the women’s section.

In men’s doubles, defending champions Leander Paes and his Czech partner Martin Damm crashed out with a first-round defeat even as Mahesh Bhupathi and his Serbian teammate Nenad Zimonjic advanced.

Fourth seeds Paes and Damm lost 7-6(1), 3-6, 4-6 to unseeded Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut.

Bhupathi and Zimonjic, seeded sixth, downed the Russian pair of Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 7-5.

Leander Paes and Meghann Shaughnessy of United States reached the second round of mixed doubles, beating Janette Husarova of Slovakia and Pavel Vizner of Czech Republic 7-5, 6-3. — Agencies

THE RESULTS Men’s singles: Second round: 20- Juan Ignacio Chela (Arg) bt Wayne Odesnik (USA) 6-3, 6-1, 7-5; Juan Martin del Potro (Arg) bt Jurgen Melzer (Aut) 6-3, 6-1, 6-4; 6-James Blake (U.S.) bt Fabrice Santoro (Fra) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4; Stefan Koubek (Aut) bt Michael Llodra (Fra) 6-1, 6-3, 6-3; 10-Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Philipp Petzschner (Ger) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5; Thomas Johansson (Sw) bt Arnaud Clement (F ra) 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-7(9), 7-6(1); 4-Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt Nicolas Kiefer (Ger) 6-2, 6-2, 6-2; Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) bt Max Mirnyi (Blr) 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-3; 5-Andy Roddick (U.S.) bt Jose Acasuso (Arg) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 (Acasuso retd.); Lee Hyung-taik (Kor) bt 14-Guillermo Canas (Arg) 7-5, 7-5, 6-3; 19-Andy Murray (GBr) bt Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1; 9-Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt Simone Bolelli (Ita) 7-5, 6-3, 6-3.

Women’s singles: third round: 1-Justine Henin (Bel) bt Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) 6-0, 6-2; 15-Dinara Safina (Rus) bt Ahsha Rolle (USA) 6-4, 6-3; Second round: 2-Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Casey Dell’Acqua (Aut) 6-1, 6-0; Agnes Szavay (Hun) bt 32-Michaella Krajicek (Ned) 7-6(4), 6-3; 13-Nicole Vaidisova (Cze) bt Flavia Pennetta (Ita) 6-2, 7-6(0); Maria Kirilenko (Rus) bt 22 -Katarina Srebotnik (Slo) 6-4, 6-3; 7-Nadia Petrova (Rus) bt Anastasia Rodionova (Rus) 7-5, 6-1; 16-Martina Hingis (Sui) bt Pauline Parmentier (Fra) 6-2, 7-5; 11-Patty Schnyder (Sui) bt Severine Bremond (France) 6-3, 6-0; 4-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Camille Pin (Fra) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0; 6-Anna Chakvetadze (Rus) bt Nicole Pratt (Aus) 6-3, 6-4; 18-Shahar Peer (Isr) bt Bethanie Mattek (U.S.) 6-2, 6-1.

Men’s doubles: First round: 6-Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) & Nenad Zimonjic (Srb) bt Igor Kunitsyn & Dmitry Tursunov (Rus) 6-3, 7-5; Julien Benneteau & Nicolas Mahut (Fra) bt 4-Martin Damm (Cze) & Leander Paes (Ind) 6-7( 1), 6-3, 6-4.

Women’s doubles: First round: 16-Bethanie Mattek (U.S.) & Sania Mirza (Ind) bt Severine Bremond (Fra) & Jelena Jankovic (Srb) 6-2, 6-1.

Mixed doubles: First round: Meghann Shaughnessy (U.S.) & Leander Paes (Ind) bt Janette Husarova (Svk) & Pavel Vizner (Cze) 7-5, 6-3.

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