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FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012
INDIAN WELLS: Top seed Victoria
Azarenka stormed into the last four of
the Indian Wells WTA tournament with a
ruthless 6-0 6-2 demolition of Agnieszka
Radwanska, improving her record this
year to 21-0. The Belarusian world number
one will next face Germany’s
Angelique Kerber, who upset eighth
seed Li Na of China 6-4 6-2 after one
hour 23 minutes in Wednesday’s night
session. Australian Open champion
Azarenka outplayed her Polish opponent
from the baseline, coasting
through the opening set in 25 minutes
and racing to a 5-0 lead in the second
before being surprisingly broken.
Though fifth-seed Radwanska then
held serve for the first time in the match,
Azarenka served out to clinch a onesided
victory in just over an hour when
her opponent netted a forehand. The
pony-tailed Belarusian clenched her
SCHLADMING: Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal skis down
during the season final men’s super-G race at the Alpine
ski World Cup finals yesterday. Svindal won the super-G
World Cup trophy. — AFP
Svindal grabs
super-G title
SCHLADMING: Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal snatched the super-
G title at the Alpine ski World Cup finals yesterday in a race which
strengthened the ambitions of Austria’s Marcel Hirscher for the
overall title. World Cup overall leader Beat Feuz lost his balance
and crashed halfway down the Planai piste, failing to score points
in one of his best events. Svindal finished 16th in the last super-G
of the season, won by world champion Christof Innerhofer of
Italy, but his two rivals for the discipline’s title, Feuz and Didier
Cuche, also had a disappointing day, handing the Olympic champion
the seventh World Cup trophy of his career.
Innerhofer won the race in one minute 21.24 seconds, with a
0.02-second lead over France’s Alexis Pinturault while Hirscher
was a surprise third, 0.06 adrift. Swiss Feuz’s hopes for the super-
G title vanished in his crash which also dented his prospects in
the overall competition. Hirscher’s third place, his first podium
place in a speed event, means the Austrian now trails Feuz by 75
points in the overall cup standings with two events left, the
slalom and giant slalom which he has dominated all winter.
The overall trophy is now expected to go to either Hirscher or
Feuz and will be decided on the final weekend of the season. “I
made a classic mistake and I skidded out,” said Feuz. “Hirscher is
now the favorite but I will keep fighting.” Hirscher was delighted
with his unexpected podium place. “It’s almost unreal, I can
hardly believe it,” he said. “I was feeling good but I didn’t expect
such a result. “I don’t want to make calculations, we’ll make them
on Sunday. Feuz showed today that mistakes can happen any
time.” With 200 points left to be won, Svindal - 199 points behind
in third place - still has the smallest mathematical chance.
However, though he is a former world champion in giant slalom,
he has not raced slalom in a year and has never finished better
than sixth in the discipline. —Reuters
Azarenka demolishes Radwanska
Li ousted by Germany’s Kerber
right fist in delight as she looked at the
players’ box, having moved into joint
second place in the all-time standings
for the best start to a WTA Tour season.
Swiss Martina Hingis leads the way with
37 consecutive victories to launch her
1997 campaign while American Serena
Williams, with 21 in 2003, and Azarenka
are next best.
“I was really impressed with the way I
played today,” a beaming Azarenka said
in a courtside interview after improving
her record to 9-3 against Radwanska. “I
didn’t expect to win that way. I’m proud
how I fought hard and played winning
tennis. “I had very good motivation
because I knew she’s an excellent player,
so I had to come up with a great match
today. “I was just really focused on every
moment, on every point I played, on
every ball I was striking. I didn’t really
think about the score,” added the 22-
INDIAN WELLS: Novak Djokovic and
Roger Federer each needed three sets to
reach the quarter-finals of the Indian
Wells ATP tournament on Wednesday
while Rafa Nadal advanced with a comfortable
victory over Alexandr
Dolgopolov. Djokovic held off a strong
fightback by Spaniard Pablo Andujar to
triumph 6-0 6-7 6-2, Federer recovered
from a shaky first set to beat Brazilian
Thomaz Bellucci 3-6 6-3 6-4 while Nadal
eased through 6-3 6-2.
Argentina’s David Nalbandian upset
sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France
3-6 7-5 6-3 and seventh seed Tomas
Berdych was beaten 6-4 6-0 by Spaniard
Nicolas Almagro, who had lost a bad
tempered fourth-round match to the
Czech at the Australian Open in January.
Almagro’s reward for reaching the last
eight at Indian Wells for the first time is a
matchup with Djokovic. World number
one Djokovic battled past unseeded
Spaniard Andujar at the Indian Wells
Tennis Garden after barely breaking
sweat with an attacking display in his
opening set.
However, the Serb fell 7-5 in a second
set tiebreak as Andujar upped his game
on the showpiece stadium court.
Champion here in 2008 and last year,
Djokovic broke his opponent in the first
game of the third set, and also in the
seventh, before sealing victory on his
first match point when the Spaniard hit
a forehand service return wide. “My
opponent is really a quality player who
deserves to be at this stage of the tournament,”
Djokovic said in a courtside
interview. “He surprised me with his
aggressive approach. He was taking the
ball early and was playing well.
“In the second set, I start playing a little
bit more defensive and I think that
allowed him to come back to the match.
All the credit for him to play the way he
played. “And then in the third set I
year-old, who converted six of her 12
break points.
KERBER UPSET
Kerber broke Li twice in the opening
set and three times in the second, completing
her first win over the Chinese in
four career meetings when her opponent
hit a backhand service return long.
“This is very special,” said the 24-year-old
Kerber.
“She’s a great player and I had nothing
to lose tonight. “My plan was to be
aggressive, play my normal game and
move very well,” added the German,
who saved two match points in her
opening match against American Sloane
Stephens and three in her fourth-round
victory over American Christina McHale.
“I am very happy to be in the semis.”
Radwanska came into Wednesday’s
match with a 20-3 record for this season,
regrouped. I managed to stay calm
mentally and just find my rhythm
again,” added the Serb, who won his
fifth grand slam crown at the Australian
Open two months ago.
COMMANDING WIN
Nadal, Indian Wells champion in 2007
and 2009, broke pony-tailed Ukrainian
Dolgopolov once in the opening set and
twice in the second to wrap up a commanding
win in one hour, 16 minutes.
“He is a very difficult player to play
against,” the Spanish left-hander said of
Dolgopolov. “He hits very hard, produces
winners from every part of the court. He
is a funny player, good for tennis.
“I started very strong and he made a
few mistakes, more than usual, with his
backhand, which helped me a lot. Being
in the quarter-finals here is fantastic for
me,” added Nadal, who has reached the
semi-finals in his last six attempts at
Indian Wells and will next take on
Nalbandian. For the second day in a row,
triple champion Federer lost the open-
Sports
all three of her defeats coming against
Azarenka. “She played very well today,
just way too good,” the 23-year-old from
Krakow said. “She was hitting really well
with pretty much no mistakes and making
the winners from those shots I didn’t
really expect.
“I had some chances, but when
you’re not really taking those chances
against good players, then you’re going
down. It was just her day.” Radwanska, a
winner of eight WTA singles titles, took
some consolation from her projected
rise to a career-high fourth when the
new rankings are issued on Monday. “I
didn’t really expect that,” she smiled.
“From the beginning of the year, my first
time at No. 6, then No 5, and now No 4,
and it’s only March. “I’m very happy
about that, of course. I’m just hoping
that I can play some good tennis, especially
in the grand slams.” — Reuters
Ailing Federer finds
a way into last eight
Djokovic, Federer, Nadal advance
INDIAN WELLS: Mirka Federer, Miyla Rose Federer and Charlene Riva Federer
in attendance during the match between Roger Federer of Switzerland and
Tomaz Bellucci of Brazilat the Indian Wells Tennis Garden California. —AFP
ing set but he then broke Bellucci in the
first and ninth games of the second to
level the match. The final set went with
serve until the Swiss maestro broke the
50th-ranked Brazilian in the 10th game,
converting his second match point
when the left-hander hit a forehand
long. “It’s always great to come through
in a three-setter,” said 16-times grand
slam champion Federer, who has been
trying to shake off a flu bug and slight
temperature. “I thought Thomaz played
great.
“I struggled early on to make the transition
from night (session) to day. I’m
happy and relieved to be through and
still alive in the tournament.” Federer will
next play ninth seed Juan Martin del
Potro of Argentina who overcame
Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin 7-6 6-7 6-2.
Big-serving American John Isner powered
past Australian qualifier Matthew
Ebden 6-4 7-5 to set up a meeting in the
last eight with Frenchman Gilles Simon,
who beat American Ryan Harrison 7-6 5-
7 6-1 — Reuters