TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Venus Ousted; Sharapova Rolls

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOHN PYE, The Associated Press

Published: January 23, 2008

MELBOURNE, Australia - Venus Williams followed her sister Serena out of the Australian Open in the quarterfinals, both in losses to Serbian players.

Venus went down 7-6 (3), 6-4 to fourth-seeded Ana Ivanovic today, a day after defending champion Serena lost to No. 3 Jelena Jankovic.

Ivanovic, who had never taken a set from Williams in four previous contests, is into the semifinals for the third time at a Grand Slam and next faces first-timer Daniela Hantuchova, who beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-2 in Wednesday's other quarterfinal.

Jankovic will meet No. 5 Maria Sharapova in Thursday's semifinals. Sharapova ended top-ranked Justine Henin's 32-match winning streak with a 6-4, 6-0 win Tuesday.

Hantuchova had not been to the second week of a Grand Slam tournament since her quarterfinal exits at three consecutive majors, ending with a loss to Venus Williams in the Australian Open in 2003.

"It feels great. I kept fighting for every point, even in matches I wasn't playing very well," she said. "I kept believing I could do it, and here I am."

Williams was in the second week at Melbourne Park for the first time since '03, when she lost to her sister in the final.

She squandered a break in the second set and had double-break point in the last game before Ivanovic reeled off four straight points to advance.

Serena Williams slumped 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday to Jankovic, who reached the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the first time and only the third time in a major.

Serena Williams was unseeded and ranked No. 81 when she made her stunning run to a third Australian and eighth Grand Slam title here 12 months ago, punctuating that with an emphatic 6-1, 6-2 win against Sharapova in one of the most lopsided Grand Slam finals.

That loss stung Sharapova, who wants to make amends this year.

"Even though I beat Justine, it's definitely not over," she said. "I still have a lot of business to take care of."

Sharapova, who struggled with a shoulder problem for most of last season, started returning to her best at the WTA championships in November before losing in three sets to Henin in 3 hours, 24 minutes - among the dozen longest women's tour matches in the Open era.

She turned the tables in only 1:38 on Tuesday, inflicting the first 6-0 set on Henin since 2002.

"I really felt like I was in a bubble," No. 5 Sharapova said. "I think it was one of the most consistent matches where I did all the things I wanted to do, and I did them correctly from the beginning to the end ... and just played the way I can play."

Henin, who struggled with her serve and was broken five times by Sharapova, said she had a minor concern over a lingering knee injury but put the end of her winning streak down as an inevitability.

"It's very hard to be at your best level all the time," she said. "I'll have to think about that and build again for the future."

Sharapova will be looking back for lessons to take into the semis against Jankovic, her old tennis academy pal.

"Ever since the juniors we've always played really tough and we've always battled it out, and it's great to see her in the semis," Sharapova said. "It's great we're playing together."

Another Serbian player has a chance of making the semis, with No. 3 Novak Djokovic playing David Ferrer of Spain in the men's quarters.
Defending champion Roger Federer went against No. 12 James Blake of Tampa in the night match.

Blake is 0-7 against Federer, who beat him in the 2006 U.S. Open quarterfinals.

No. 2 Rafael Nadal, the only player to beat Federer at the last 10 Grand Slams, advanced to his first Australian Open semifinal with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 win against No. 24 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland.

"Maybe I wasn't playing my best match, my best tennis today, but it was enough," the three-time French Open champion said. "It's a good moment for me, first semifinals on hard court, Grand Slam."

He will play 22-year-old Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 6-0, 7-6 (6) late Tuesday.

The 38th-ranked Tsonga already has upset No. 9 Andy Murray and No. 8 Richard Gasquet so far at Melbourne Park with his high-energy game.

Keyword: Australian Open, for the latest scores from Melbourne, including today's quarterfinal-round match between top-seeded Roger Federer and Tampa's James Blake.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT