The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Serena Williams destroys Henin

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Serena Williams destroys Henin

Roddick meets Federer; Tipsarevic upsets Youzhny

KEY BISCAYNE: Serena Williams made the world’s top-ranked woman look like a beginner, beating nemesis Justine Henin 6-2, 6-0 in the Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinals on Tuesday. Williams won the final 10 games by playing nearly flawless tennis while Henin unravelled after she double-faulted three times to fall behind 4-2.

“It wasn’t easy,” Williams said. “It was just the fact of me making the right shots at the right time.”

Venus eclipsed

A few hours later, Svetlana Kuznetsova prevented an all-Williams semifinal. Kuznetsova, the 2006 Key Biscayne champion, eliminated three-time champ Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4.

Top-ranked Roger Federer advanced to the men’s quarterfinals by beating Jose Acasuso of Argentina 7-6(5), 6-2 while No. 2 Rafael Nadal swept Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 6-4, 6-4.

Federer, still seeking his first tournament title this year after a bout with mononucleosis, had 31 winners and only 11 unforced errors. He lost just 10 points on his serve. “It’s always nice when you feel well from the beginning on your serve,” he said.

Sixth-seeded Andy Roddick rallied past Julien Benneteau of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to earn a shot at Federer on Thursday. Roddick is 1-15 against Federer and has lost their past 11 meetings.

Nadal improved to 8-0 against Mathieu, but he’ll take a 1-3 record into his quarterfinal with James Blake.

Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia defeated Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 and ensured an unseeded player in the last eight for a 24th straight year.

The results:

Men: Fourth round: Roger Federer bt Jose Acasuso 7-6(5), 6-2; Rafael Nadal bt Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-4; Nikolay Davydenko bt Mario Ancic 4-6, 6-3, 7-5; Andy Roddick bt Julien Benneteau 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; James Blake bt Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-4; Tomas Berdych bt Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-2; Janko Tipsarevic bt Mikhail Youzhny 3-6, 6-0, 6-3; Igor Andreev bt Guillermo Canas 6-4, 7-6(6).

Women: Quarterfinals: Serena Williams bt Justine Henin 6-2, 6-0; Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4. — Agencies

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