The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Del Potro beats Baghdatis to reach Kooyong final
- Azarenka may face Serena in Australian Open semi-final
- Djokovic, Murray drawn to meet in Australian final
| Del Potro beats Baghdatis to reach Kooyong final Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:34 PM PST MELBOURNE: Argentine Juan Martin del Potro crushed Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-1 to reach the final of the Kooyong Classic Friday, taking barely an hour to complete the demolition job. Cypriot Baghdatis, the Australian Open finalist from 2006, was left flat-footed on a windy day at the former home of the Open as he went down with more than 20 unforced errors in his abbreviated appearance. Del Potro, the 2009 US Open winner who has twice reached the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park, kept his mistakes to fewer than 10 in the rout at the tune-up event prior to Monday's start of the first major of the season. Del Potro will test himself on Saturday against Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who won the Kooyong title in his first appearance in 2011. The 24-year-old Argentine will need to put his emotions aside as he takes on his favourite player from childhood. "Hewitt is my idol," said the South American, who has won two of the three matches he has played against the 31-year-old Australian, a former world number one and two time Grand Slam winner. "It will be an interesting match for me. He was always my favourite player. he's a good example for me, a great champion." Once del Potro got his big serve uncranked and found his feet in the blowing, hot conditions, there was little hope for Baghdatis, who commands a huge fan base in multi-ethnic Melbourne due to his Cypriot nationality. Del Potro dominated in the closing stages, winning eight of the last nine games as he uncoiled his arsenal in the one-way second set. "It's a nice court to play on, and this week is very good preparation for the Open, It's important to be winning matches," he said. "I improved a bit today but I need to do that even more for next week if I want to have a chance to win. Baghdatis plays his Australian Open first round against Albert Ramos of Spain while del Potro, the 16th seed, faces a qualifier. - AFP |
| Azarenka may face Serena in Australian Open semi-final Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:33 PM PST MELBOURNE: World number one Victoria Azarenka and 15-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams were Friday pitted in the same half of the women's singles draw for next week's Australian Open. Azarenka, who broke through for her first major title in beating Maria Sharapova in last year's Melbourne final, faces a tough task to defend her crown with a potential semi-final against the American great. Second seed Sharapova has Polish world number four Agnieszka Radwanska in her bottom half of the draw. The Belarusian Azarenka will open her title defence against Romania's Monica Niculescu while five-time Australian Open champion Williams takes on another Romanian, Edina Gallovits-Hall, first up. Sharapova, who pulled out of the lead-in Brisbane International tournament with a collarbone problem, gets her campaign underway against fellow Russian Olga Puchkova. Radwanska, who is on a winning streak of eight matches this year and will go into the Australian Open having already played in two finals in Auckland and Sydney in 2013, faces Australian Bojana Bobusic in the opening round. China's sixth seed Li Na faces a potential quarter-final with Radwanska, whom she lost to in the Sydney semis on Thursday. In other prominent first round pairings, former world number one and 10th seed Caroline Wozniacki starts against German Sabine Lisicki and 2010 French Open champion and unseeded Francesca Schiavone plays 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. Australian ninth seed Samantha Stosur will look to get her home Grand Slam off to a winning start against Taiwan's Kai-Chen Chang, and could face China's Zheng Jie, who beat her this week in Sydney, if she makes the second round. Quarter-final projections based on seeding: Victoria Azarenka v Sara Errani, Serena Williams v Petra Kvitova, Li Na v Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber v Maria Sharapova. - AFP |
| Djokovic, Murray drawn to meet in Australian final Posted: 10 Jan 2013 07:34 PM PST MELBOURNE: World number one Novak Djokovic and his US Open conqueror Andy Murray have been put in separate halves of the men's singles draw at the Australian Open, starting in Melbourne on Monday. In the official draw made Friday, Djokovic faces a potential semi-final against Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer, while 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer could face world number three Murray in the last four. Djokovic, bidding for a hat-trick of Australian Open victories after downing Rafael Nadal in a titanic five-set final last year, will start his defence against Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in the first round. Second seed Federer, bidding for his fifth Australian title, begins his Melbourne campaign against Frenchman Benoit Paire, while Murray takes on Dutchman Robin Haase first up. Eleven-time Grand Slam winner Nadal will miss the year-opening slam with a stomach virus. In other prominent first-round pairings, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt, unseeded this year, takes on Serbian eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic, while in-form fellow Australian Bernard Tomic faces Argentina's Leonardo Mayer. Leading Asian ranked player Kei Nishikori of Japan takes on Romanian Victor Hanescu first up and has been drawn in the second quarter with Ferrer. Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a finalist here in 2008 and seeded seven, opens against fellow countryman Michael Llodra. Quarter-final projections based on seedings: Novak Djokovic v Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer v Janko Tipsarevic, Juan Martin Del Potro v Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga v Roger Federer. - AFP |
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