|
|
Melbourne, Australia - Two-time defending champion Victoria Azarenka rolled to an easy third-round win Saturday at the Australian Open, while Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska also advanced. Azarenka needed exactly one hour in a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Austrian Yvonne Meusburger to start the night session at Laver Arena. Sharapova had a much easier time earlier in the day with cooler conditions and took full advantage in 6-1, 7-6 (8-6) win over Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, while Radwanska had to rally for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The second-seeded Azarenka traded breaks with Meusburger to start their match, but the native of Belarus dominated from there by winning the final 11 games. Azarenka broke serve seven times, won 71 percent of her first-serve points and ripped off 20 winners compared to just five for Meusburger. "It was just a good performance I think from me," said Azarenka. "I felt like I started well and I kept that momentum throughout the match, and thats what I wanted to do today." Its been a pretty smooth first three rounds for Azarenka, who was pushed to a tiebreaker in the first set of her opening match against Johanna Larsson and has since dropped a mere eight games. Next up is American Sloane Stephens in a rematch of last years semifinal affair. Azarenka prevailed in that one, 6-1, 6-4, blowing five match points in the ninth game of the second set before taking a controversial medical timeout. She then finally secured the victory in the following game. "I have great memories of last year," Azarenka said without going into detail. "We left it all last year here, and thats what is important for me, you know, is to play another match. Im looking forward to that match. "Sloane is a great player, very tough competitor. She has a great record here. Its going to be tough. It only gets tougher from here. Every round, you know, is more challenging." Stephens, who stunned Serena Williams in the quarterfinals last year, advanced Saturday with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine. The 13th seed was down 3-5 in the first set, but won six straight games to take control and didnt want to stir up anything from last year. "It was a tough match. Obviously, semis of a Grand Slam it was pretty intense," said Stephens when asked about Azarenka. "Last year has nothing to do with this year. Its a totally different year. A lot of things have happened. So, you know, Im just looking forward to getting back on the court." Sharapova was back on the court two days after her 3 1/2-hour marathon win over Karin Knapp that was played in sweltering heat. It was much cooler on Saturday and the third-seeded Russian breezed through the opening set in just 32 minutes. Cornet, though, battled back in the second with a trio of breaks, including one to force a tiebreaker. She then grabbed a 6-5 lead in the tiebreak, but the 2008 Aussie Open champ came up with a drop shot to save set point and won the next two to finally close it out. "I just didnt have a great rhythm," said Sharapova, who also practiced after the match. "It was quite tough in the end. She had a set point and she had a chance to level the match out, which is something I probably wouldnt want to do, is go into a third set. I was happy I was able to finish it in two." Sharapova will next meet Slovakias Dominika Cibulkova, who pasted 16th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1, 6-0. Radwanska rebounded Saturday after a difficult first set. She was also down 0-2 in the second set, but captured 12 of the last 14 games. Pavlyuchenkova had a 39-25 edge in winners, but committed 49 unforced errors compared to 19 for Radwanska, who wont have to face former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round. Spains Garbine Muguruza knocked off the 10th seed with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory. Muguruza has had a great start to 2014. She lost to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals of the season-opener in Auckland and won her first career title last week in Hobart. "I worked really hard this preseason, so I think this is the reward for working so hard," said Muguruza. Wozniacki, meanwhile, continued her downward spiral. A 21-time WTA winner but never a Grand Slam champion, the Dane has been ousted before the quarterfinals in each of the last eight major tournaments. Jelena Jankovic and Simona Halep won third-round matches Saturday and will meet in the fourth round. The eighth-seeded Jankovic notched a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Kurumi Nara of Japan, while the 11th-seeded Halep eased past Kazakhstan qualifier Zarina Diyas, 6-1, 6-4. Womens fourth-round play will open Sunday with Serena Williams headlining the action against 14th-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic. Also, fourth-seeded Li Na will take on Russias Ekaterina Makarova and ninth-seeded Angelique Kerber will meet Italys Flavia Pennetta. The night session at Laver Arena will start with Aussie native Casey Dellacqua against Canadian Eugenie Bouchard. Discount China Jerseys . The Detroit Tigers slugger fell short in his bid to become the first player to win the Triple Crown in successive seasons. Stitched Authentic Jerseys . The last team in the NBA that will have any sympathy for the Thunder is the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are showing signs of putting everything together after two years of devastating injuries. https://www.chinajerseysfreeshipping.com/. The ongoing funk on penalty kill and an unusually quiet night on home ice for the power play divided the Leafs from the Bruins at the ACC in a rare Sunday night affair. Cheap Jerseys From China . - The Chicago Bears have agreed to a one-year contract with free-agent centre Brian de la Puente. Cheap Jerseys Paypal . The 7-foot-1 Hawes, who is in the final year of his contract, is averaging 13 points and 8.5 rebounds, both career highs, and shoots 40 per cent from 3-point range. The 25-year-old Hawes is in his seventh NBA season.Orlando, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Late in the third quarter, the Brooklyn Nets led by as many as 26, but they had to survive a furious fourth-quarter comeback in their 100-98 win over the Orlando Magic on Friday. Orlando outscored Brooklyn 37-14 in the final period and cut its deficit down to one possession, but it could not hit a tying or go-ahead shot in the games final minute. Mason Plumlee led the Nets with 18 points and nine rebounds, and it was his reverse layup with 2:21 remaining that ended Orlandos 16-0 run to get back in the game. Better to learn in a win, but definitely a lot to learn from, said Plumlee. Too many turnovers, I had five myself. Cant turn the ball over ... if you take care of that, its not even a close game. Brooklyn also got 16 points each from Brook Lopez and Deron Williams off the bench in its sixth win in seven games. Joe Johnson added 14 points, including two clutch free throws in the closing seconds. Victor Oladipo led the Magic with 17 points despite not taking a shot in the final quarter. Elfrid Payton scored 16 points, handed out 10 assists and pulled down nine boards. In its second straight loss, Orlando also got 14 points from Ben Gordon and 12 apiece from Tobias Harris and Evan Fournier. Down 17 with just over a minute expired in the third quarter, Orlando went on a 10-0 run, capped by Payton converting a steal into a three-point play. Minutes later, the Nets went on a 9-0 run of their own. On back-to-back possessions, Plumlee threw down a dunk in transition after a no-look pass from Jarrett Jack, and Kevin Garnett followed that with his first 3- pointer since the 2012-13 season. Orlando did not hit a shot from the floor for the final three minutes of the quarter, and it would trail 86-61 after three periods. In the fourth, Alan Andersons 3-pointer at the 8:16 mark extended the Nets lead back to 24 points, but Orlando had one last run in them. They ran off 16 straight points to pull within eight. Gordon scored 10 in a row, and Payton chipped in the next four. Those two players combined for 14 of the Magics 16 points. Plumleees bucket ended the scoring drought that lasted nearly six minutes, but Orlando responded with back-to-back triples from Channing Frye and Fournier.dddddddddddd With 31.9 seconds left, Gordon missed a baseline jumper that would have pulled the Magic within one, and Fournier followed that with a missed 3 after a Nets turnover gave Orlando life. Johnson hit his free throws the following possession, and they proved to be crucial. With three seconds left, Payton hit a 3-pointer after grabbing an offensive rebound, but Orlando was unable to foul to stop the clock as the game ended. I just think we talked about in the huddle, just continuing to play, said Magic coach Jacque Vaughn. That group out there played really well together. They were feisty, they were competitive and had no quit in them. It was good to see. Despite making 10-of-16 shots from the field in the first quarter, the Nets trailed 25-22 after one Orlando turned seven Brooklyn turnovers into seven points and scored six on the break. The Nets continued to shoot well in the second, making 13-of-22 shots to finish the half shooting 60.5 percent. They also took control defensively, limiting Orlando to 15 points in the quarter on 22.7 percent shooting. Brooklyns turnaround was spurred by its bench featuring former All-Stars Williams and Lopez. The Brooklyn reserves scored 19 of their 26 first- half points in the second quarter when the Nets turned their three-point deficit into a 52-40 lead at the break. The Nets would have their best shooting performance in the third quarter. They hit 68.4 percent of their shots from the field in the period, including going 3-of-6 from long distance. Game Notes Brooklyns 16-16 record puts them at .500 for the first time since they were 4-4 on Nov. 13 ... The Nets improved to 13-1 when leading after three quarters ... Brooklyn has won three straight against the Magic ... Orlando scored 27 points off 22 Brooklyn turnovers compared to the Nets scoring 13 off Orlandos 11 giveaways ... The season series concludes at Brooklyn on April 15. ' ' '
|
Forum Statistiken
Das Forum hat 2899
Themen
und
2901
Beiträge.
|
Einfach ein eigenes Xobor Forum erstellen |