Serena and Venus Williams set up another all-in-the family clash after both scored straight sets victories in the third round of the US Open on Friday.
Serena saw off Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-3, 6-4, and then watched older sibling Venus win 6-3, 6-3 for an eighth victory in as many games against Daniela Hantucheva of Slovakia.
Sunday's fourth round encounter will be the second time the pair have met this year, with Venus winning in straight sets in Miami in March. Prior to that, Serena had won six in a row including the 2003 final at Wimbledon the last time they met in a Grand Slam tournament.
They have twice met in the US Open final in 2001 when Venus won and the following year when Serena won, but only in the first of their 14 official WTA meetings, at the Australian Open in 1998, have they met earlier than the quarter-finals.
Wimbledon champion Venus said of the clash with her Australian Open champion sister: "There's going to be a lot of hard hitting, a lot of hard serving. We'll both have a few tricks up our sleeves."
In the men's tournament top seed Roger Federer safely negotiated the unique wizadry of Frenchman Fabrice Santoro winning 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) and will play tiny Olivier Rochus of Belgium for a place in the last 16.
On another day of the top players dominating their opponents in the women's draw, No 1 seed Maria Sharapova and tournament favourite Kim Clijsters also scored comfotable straight sets victories.
Sharapova cuffed unseeded German Julia Schruff 6-2, 6-4 and has lost just nine games in three rounds as she campaigns for her second Grand Slam title after last year's unexpected Wimbledon triumph.
She next takes on Sania Mirza after the Indian starlet had balanced 45 winners against 49 unforced errors in defeating France's Marion Bartoli 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
The Russian will start a huge favourite in the first meeting between the two 18-year-olds, but she said she would be taking her threat seriously.
Clisters, who won three out of the four buildup tournaments ahead of New York, breezed past Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama 6-1, 6-4 and into a fourth round tie against unseeded Venezuelan Maria Vento-Kabchi.
Also moving through to the last 16 were Russian ninth seed Nadia Petrova and up-and-coming Czech Nicole Vaidisova.
In the men's tournament, third seed Lleyton Hewitt set up a third round meeting with big-hitting American Taylor Dent, but he needed to dig deep at times to see off an unexpectedly stern challenge from Jose Acasuso.
The Argentinian, trying to adapt his claycourt game to the demands of hardcourt tennis, took the third seeded Australian to tie-breakers in the opening two sets, but lost both of them to fall 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.
Turning to Dent whom he beat in four sets at Wimbledon this year, Hewitt said: "I know what I am going to get. I just need to go in with the right game plan."
Mirza apart, there was Asian success in the men's tournament, too, as Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan showed a welcome return to form by defeating French Open semi-finalist and sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.
Paradorn will next take on the second oldest-man in the tournament, 33-year-old Davide Sanguinetti of Itay who defeated out-of-form Spaniard Carlos Moya 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. Spain's Fernando Verdasco, who ousted Tim Henman in his first outing, joined Paradorn and Sanguinetti in the third round with a 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 win over Paul Capdeville of Chile.
Comeback of the day went to Germany's Nicolas Kiefer who lost the first two sets to Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic before clawing his way back to win 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
But there was no such end of the rainbow stuff for the new blue-eyed boy of British tennis Andy Murray whose batteries ran dry after levelling at two sets all against Arnaud Clement.
He cramped up once again and lost the last six games to crash out. It was more mental than physical he insisted.
FEDERER OUT-FOXES SANTORO: Roger Federer continued his defence of his US Open title with a 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) second-round victory over crafty Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.
The world No 1 from Switzerland next faces 27th-seeded Belgian Olivier Rochus, who defeated Spain's Albert Montanes 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3.
COLLATED RESULTS (x- denotes seeded player):
MEN'S SINGLES (2nd round): Davide Sanguinetti (ITA) bt Carlos Moya (ESP x31) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4; Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Paul Capdeville (CHI) 6-4, 6-2, 7-5; Paradorn Srichaphan (THA) bt Nikolay Davydenko (RUS x6) 6-4, 7-5, 6-3; Max Mirnyi (BLR x30) bt Florent Serra (FRA) 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/4); Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) bt Bjorn Phau (GER) 6-2, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4; Taylor Dent (USA x25) bt Nicolas Amalgro (ESP) 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5; David Ferrer (ESP x17) bt Karol Kucera (SVK) 6-3, 6-0, 6-2; Lleyton Hewitt (AUS x3) bt Jose Acasuso (ARG) 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/3), 6-2; Dominik Hrbaty (SVK x15) bt Michael Lammer (SUI) 6-1, 6-1, 6-3; Olivier Rochus (BEL x27) bt Albert Montanes (ESP) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3; Novak Djokovic (SEM) bt Mario Ancic (CRO x22) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3; Arnaud Clement (FRA) bt Andy Murray (GBR) 6-2, 7-6 (7/2), 2-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-0; Nicolas Kiefer (GER) bt Radek Stepanek (CZE x16) 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3; David Nalbandian (ARG x11) bt Peter Wessels (NED) 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4); Fernando Gonzalez (CHI x21) bt Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; Roger Federer (SUI x1) bt Fabrice Santoro (FRA) 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (7/2).
WOMEN'S SINGLES (3rd round): Sania Mirza (IND) bt Marion Bartoli (FRA) 7-6 (7/4), 6-4; Maria Sharapova (RUS x1) bt Julia Schruff (GER) 6-2, 6-4; Nicole Vaidisova (CZE x26) bt Ivana Lisjak (CRO) 6-1, 7-6 (7/2); Serena Williams (USA x8) bt Francesca Schiavone (ITA x25) 6-3, 6-4; Nadia Petrova (RUS x9) bt Laura Granville (USA) 6-2, 7-5; Kim Clijsters (BEL x4) bt Ai Sugiyama (JPN x 30) 6-1, 6-4; Maria Vento-Kabchi (VEN) bt Shahar Peer (ISR) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; Venus Williams (USA x10) bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK x20) 6-3, 6-3.
Comments
Comments are closed.