China Open: Azarenka, Sharapova reach Beijing’s quarters
Top seeds overcome opponents in straight sets.
BEIJING:
Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova reached the last-eight of the China Open, both recording their third consecutive straight-sets victories, but there was a shock in the men’s draw with Richard Gasquet losing.
World number one and top-seed Azarenka dispatched Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-3 to set up a quarter-final tie with Switzerland’s Romina Oprandi. The 23-year-old from Belarus defeated France’s Alize Cornet 6-1, 6-0 in the first round and Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-4, 6-2 in the second.
“It was a little bit of a challenge for me in the match today, for sure,” said Azarenka. “I felt like I could have been a bit more aggressive and not hesitate so much. When I won that last point, I was relieved and happy to finish the match in two sets.”
Second-seed Sharapova defeated Slovenian qualifier Polona Hercog, ranked 90th in the world, 6-0, 6-2 at the capital’s National Tennis Stadium yesterday. Sharapova, 25, had beaten Romania’s Simona Halep 7-5, 7-5 in the first round and Sorana Cirstea, also of Romania, 6-2, 6-2 in round two.
“I had a long first round, even though it was two sets, but today and yesterday was definitely a little bit quicker,” said Sharapova. “I played really well in the beginning of the match and got a little tense in the second set, but I felt like I really needed that challenge. It’s nice to be in the quarter-final stage of this tournament.”
Sharapova will take on fifth-seed Angelique Kerber of Germany in the next round.
Gasquet suffers shock loss
Meanwhile, in the men’s draw, fifth-seed Gasquet of France suffered a second-round loss to Chinese wild card Zhang Ze.
Ze defeated Gasquet, who won the Thailand Open last week to end a two-and-a-half-year title drought, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. The Frenchman admitted afterwards that his exploits in Bangkok had left him tired but said Ze, cheered on by an excited home support, had been the better player and deserved his victory.
“He is a very talented player. He played aggressive and fast tennis and was definitely the better player on the day,” said Gasquet. “At the end he played much better tennis than I did. He deserves this victory.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2012.
Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova reached the last-eight of the China Open, both recording their third consecutive straight-sets victories, but there was a shock in the men’s draw with Richard Gasquet losing.
World number one and top-seed Azarenka dispatched Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-3 to set up a quarter-final tie with Switzerland’s Romina Oprandi. The 23-year-old from Belarus defeated France’s Alize Cornet 6-1, 6-0 in the first round and Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-4, 6-2 in the second.
“It was a little bit of a challenge for me in the match today, for sure,” said Azarenka. “I felt like I could have been a bit more aggressive and not hesitate so much. When I won that last point, I was relieved and happy to finish the match in two sets.”
Second-seed Sharapova defeated Slovenian qualifier Polona Hercog, ranked 90th in the world, 6-0, 6-2 at the capital’s National Tennis Stadium yesterday. Sharapova, 25, had beaten Romania’s Simona Halep 7-5, 7-5 in the first round and Sorana Cirstea, also of Romania, 6-2, 6-2 in round two.
“I had a long first round, even though it was two sets, but today and yesterday was definitely a little bit quicker,” said Sharapova. “I played really well in the beginning of the match and got a little tense in the second set, but I felt like I really needed that challenge. It’s nice to be in the quarter-final stage of this tournament.”
Sharapova will take on fifth-seed Angelique Kerber of Germany in the next round.
Gasquet suffers shock loss
Meanwhile, in the men’s draw, fifth-seed Gasquet of France suffered a second-round loss to Chinese wild card Zhang Ze.
Ze defeated Gasquet, who won the Thailand Open last week to end a two-and-a-half-year title drought, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. The Frenchman admitted afterwards that his exploits in Bangkok had left him tired but said Ze, cheered on by an excited home support, had been the better player and deserved his victory.
“He is a very talented player. He played aggressive and fast tennis and was definitely the better player on the day,” said Gasquet. “At the end he played much better tennis than I did. He deserves this victory.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2012.