Sharapova shows the door to Stosur

Samantha Stosur loses 6-4, 6-1 to a revitalised Maria Sharapova to exit in the fourth round of the Miami Masters.

MIAMI:

Australian fourth-seed Samantha Stosur lost 6-4, 6-1 to a revitalised Maria Sharapova to exit in the fourth round of the Miami Masters.

The Australian struggled with five double-faults and no aces in a contest lasting 81 minutes. Two-time Miami finalist Sharapova saved three of the four break points as clouds gathered over the stadium prior to possible forecast rain.

The US-based Russian, who has won three Grand Slam titles, improved her recent record and broke a losing streak against top-ranking players after she lost her last six matches against the world’s top five.

Djokovic destroys Blake

Novak Djokovic ran his phenomenal 2011 win streak to 20-0, with a 6-2, 6-0 thrashing of former top 10 player James Blake at the $9 million Miami ATP Masters.

The second-seeded Serb, winner of all three events he has played this season, remains the only man in the top 125 not to have lost a match this year. Djokovic raced to victory in just 52 minutes to reach the fourth round of the tournament.

“It’s been a dream run for me the last couple of months,” said Djokovic. “I’m playing the best tennis of my life.”

Del Potro continues good form

Former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro stormed further down his comeback path with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over fourth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling.

Del Potro thrilled his fans at Crandon Park with a victory over one of the year’s hottest players. Soderling has won 20 matches this year and clinched three titles. But now Del Potro has pulled alongside him as he produced his own 20th win of 2011.

Spain’s David Ferrer, the world number six, also produced a third-round victory as he defeated Indian Somdev Devvarman 6-4, 6-2. Mardy Fish kept the US flag flying as he defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-3.

Clijsters overcomes Sanchez

Meanwhile, Kim Clijsters led a string of women’s seeds into the fourth round. The second seed got past tricky Spanish left-hander Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

“My footwork wasn’t right there and I wasn’t playing the game that I should be playing,” said Clijsters. “I’m the one who should be going for the lines and being aggressive. A few times I felt like I was in a backhand rally with her, that she was dictating a lot of the points. That’s not the right thing to do against her.”

Third-seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia beat Australian Jarmila Groth 7-6, 6-2, while fifth-seeded French Open champion Francesca Schiavone beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain 6-4, 7-6.

Number eight Victoria Azarenka rallied to overcome Domenika Cibulkova 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 while Poland’s number nine Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Russian Maria Kirilenko 7-6, 6-3. French 15th-seed Marion Bartoli beat Ekaterina Makarova of 6-0, 6-2.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2011.