The Star Online: Sports
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- Top seed Azarenka races into Open third round
- Top seed Azarenka 'in the zone'
- Tsonga stops Go to reach third round
| Top seed Azarenka races into Open third round Posted: 16 Jan 2013 06:16 PM PST MELBOURNE: Defending champion Victoria Azarenka romped into the Australian Open third round Thursday with a comprehensive straight-sets thrashing of Greek Eleni Daniilidou. The world number one Belarusian lost just one game in the 6-1, 6-0 demolition and will next play either American Jamie Hampton or Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum. The victory keeps top-seeded Azarenka on course to meet former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter-finals as she defends her first Grand Slam title. Azarenka had only played the Greek once before, five years ago, and lost, but on a scorching hot day on Rod Laver Arena she opened her account with a serve to love then comfortably held, with the signs ominous for Daniilidou. The Belarusian easily broke again then held for 4-0, with the Greek till then having won just three points in the entire match. Azarenka's key rivals, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, have both scored double bagel whitewashes here and Azarenka looked intent on producing her own until Daniilidou finally won a game for 5-1, to big cheers. But it was only a hiccup for Azarenka, and with her renowned grunting growing in volume and shouts of "c'mon" becoming more regular, the pumped-up top seed raced through the second set in 31 minutes. While Azarenka is the world's top-ranked player, Sharapova and Williams are breathing down her neck and she needs to reach the final to have any chance of remaining number one. -AFP |
| Top seed Azarenka 'in the zone' Posted: 16 Jan 2013 07:12 PM PST MELBOURNE: Pumped up defending champion Victoria Azarenka said she was "in the zone" Thursday with her game exactly where she wants it as she cruised into the Australian Open third round. The world number one Belarusian lost just one game in a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of Greek Eleni Daniilidou and will next play American Jamie Hampton, who sent Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum packing. Azarenka's victory keeps the top seed on course to meet former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter-finals as she defends her first Grand Slam title, and she said she was in good touch. "I felt really good, I enjoyed a lot the way I was focused," she said. "I definitely stepped it up from my first match, and I was in the zone trying to execute all of my shots. I was trying to make everything happen, and that's what I'm happy about." Azarenka had only played the Greek once before, five years ago, and lost, but on a hot day on Rod Laver Arena she opened her account by breaking to love and then comfortably held, with the signs ominous for Daniilidou. The Belarusian easily broke again and held for 4-0, with the Greek till then having won just three points in the entire match. Azarenka's key rivals, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, both scored double bagel whitewashes here and Azarenka looked intent on producing her own until Daniilidou finally won a game for 5-1, to big cheers. But it was only a hiccup for Azarenka, and with her renowned grunting growing in volume and shouts of "C'mon" becoming more regular, she raced through the second set in 31 minutes. "I was just trying to focus on one point at a time and not looking too much at the scoreboard or anything. Just really executing myself and staying in the moment," she said, adding that the heat was motivation to get off court quickly. "It was pretty hot. That's why I was trying to play fast. The first match I got a little bit sunburned and you don't want to make that mistake again." While Azarenka is the world's top-ranked player, Sharapova and Williams are breathing down her neck and she needs to reach the final to have any chance of remaining number one. Both of her top rivals have also been in ominous form in Melbourne, but Azarenka said too much shouldn't be read into the scorelines. "Well, I think it's really competitive. The score sometimes doesn't tell the whole story about the match, and to win matches like 6-0, 6-0, it requires a lot of discipline, a lot of focus," she said. "Sometimes it's harder than winning, you know, 6-2, 6-2 or something like that. So I honestly can only speak for myself, but it seems like everybody is in great form, and it's going to be very interesting." -AFP |
| Tsonga stops Go to reach third round Posted: 16 Jan 2013 06:56 PM PST MELBOURNE: Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame a mid-match stumble against Japan's Go Soeda before taking his place in the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday. The 2008 runner-up was made to work hard for his 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 win over 73rd-ranked Soeda in 2hr 3min in hot temperatures on Margaret Court Arena. It was seventh-seeded Tsonga's second victory in straight sets in the tournament and puts him in the last 32 where he will face an unseeded opponent, Australian James Duckworth or Slovenia's Blaz Kavcic. Tsonga began well in the opening set but encountered stiffer resistance in the second set from Soeda, who broke the Frenchman's serve in the second game before he gave up the break with a forced error in the ninth. Tsonga was on song in the tiebreaker, ripping through with two mini-breaks before clinching it on the back of a 24-stroke rally. It was plain sailing in the final set for the Frenchman with a break in the sixth game, and he finished the match with 17 aces and 44 winners. "Go is a good player, he plays flat and didn't give me any rhythm and I'm pleased to go through in straight sets," said Tsonga, who now leads Go 3-0 in their matches. -AFP |
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