|
Serena, Henin remain on track
18/01/2008 09:04 - (SA)
Melbourne - Champion Serena Williams and top seed Justine Henin wasted no time in slicing their way through the Australian Open draw on Friday, both favourites booking fourth-round slots in routine fashion.
Henin had the harder time of the two but still advanced
without losing a set by beating tricky Italian Francesca
Schiavone 7-5 6-4.
"Francesca is always a tough player, tough opponent, and I knew that," the top seed told reporters. "I knew it was going to be a good fight."
Henin, who has now won 31 consecutive matches since losing
in last year's Wimbledon semi-finals to Marion Bartoli, meets
Hsieh Su-wei for a place in the quarters after the Taiwanese
player ousted France's Aravane Rezai.
Williams booked her place in the fourth round with a
routine 6-3 6-4 win over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.
Next up for her is 12th-seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova who
ousted Japan's Ai Sugiyama.
Third seed Jelena Jankovic shrugged off fatigue and nagging
injuries to beat Virginie Razzano 6-2 4-6 6-1.
Struggled
The Serb had struggled through her opening two matches,
saving three match points against Tamira Paszek in the first
round, and the clash with Razzano was no different.
After racing into a 3-0 lead, Jankovic struggled,
consistently forced to break serve to stay in the contest when
her own service game was placed under pressure.
The 22-year-old, hampered by a shoulder injury and fatigue
during the tournament, lost the second set but ran away with
the third and clinched victory on her second match point.
Men's fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko slipped through to the
fourth round and revelled in his relative anonymity - he is
yet to play on the main show court despite his high ranking.
"I don't think about centre court for me now," the Russian told reporters after beating Marc Gicquel of France 6-3 6-2 6-3.
"I know I need to win four matches to be in the
quarter-finals - and I'll be on the centre court."
Men's second seed Rafael Nadal takes on Frenchman Gilles
Simon later on Friday and women's fifth seed Maria Sharapova
faces compatriot Elena Vesnina.
Australia will cheer Casey Dellacqua on centre court in the
night session when she plays former champion Amelie Mauresmo.
American Andy Roddick ends the day's entertainment with a
third-round match against German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
|
