Marathon battle: Maria Sharapova plays a shot from Australia's Samantha Stosur in their quarterfinal match at the Porsche Grand Prix on Friday. Sharapova won 6-7 (5-7). 7-6 (7-5), 7-5. APSTUTTGART, Germany — Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka needed nearly 3 hours to overcome big-serving Mona Barthel 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5 on Friday for a place in the Porsche Grand Prix semifinals that feature the top four players in the world rankings.Azarenka will face fourth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska, a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 winner over Li Na.Second seed Maria Sharapova rallied to outlast Sam Stosur of Australia 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 in a match that went a minute over 3 hours. Sharapova will face third-seeded Petra Kvitova, the Wimbledon champion who beat Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-4 in the last quarterfinal.Stosur, the U.S. Open champion, played nearly flawless tennis and a double fault by the Russian gave her a match point at 5-3 in the second set. But Sharapova saved it with a forehand winner and held serve.The first break point Stosur faced in the match came in the next game and she netted a forehand to allow Sharapova to level the score.Sharapova then started raising her game to win the tiebreaker and take control.She broke serve for a 6-5 lead and closed out the match in the next game despite a double-fault.Barthel fired 13 aces but her serve deserted her in the final game. The German failed to win a point and double-faulted on match point, one of her 16 double faults.Barthel came back from a break down and saved an earlier match point in the 10th game of the third set. The match on indoor clay lasted 2 hours, 48 minutes."She is very tough to play," Azarenka said. "She's much more confident now and her serve is right up there with the best. We were playing over two hours and she was still serving aces."Azarenka, the Australian Open champion, is looking for a tour-high fifth title of the year.BARCELONA, Spain — Rafael Nadal dispatched Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 6-2 Friday to advance to the Barcelona Open semifinals, while Milos Raonic served 14 aces and upset second-seeded Andy Murray 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).The top-seeded Nadal moved his Serbian opponent around the red-clay court with his powerful forehand.The second-ranked Spaniard broke Tipsarevic in his first service game to set the tone for his 32nd consecutive win at the tournament. Tipsarevic earned three break points in the last game of the first set, but Nadal recovered to win five straight points.Nadal was broken for the first time to make it 2-2 in the second set, giving the fifth-seeded Tipsarevic a glimmer of hope. But Nadal won the next four games, capping a dominating performance with two straight aces to close out the match in 1 hour, 23 minutes."In the first set I was playing really well, and then at the start of the second he attacked more while I left my shots short," Nadal said. "But I am satisfied with the match. I am in the semifinals again. Tomorrow I will have to play at my highest level."Nadal, a six-time champion at the tournament, will face fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco after Kei Nishikori was forced to retire with an injury when trailing 4-2 in the first set.Raonic, who trains at the Real Club de Tenis, used his strong forehand to beat Murray.The 11th-seeded Canadian broke the fourth-ranked Murray to lead 4-3 and then set up a set point with an ace before smacking a forehand down the line to take the first set.Murray managed only four points on Raonic's serve in the first set and continued to struggle on the return in the second. But Murray broke Raonic when the Canadian served for the match before losing in the tiebreaker."It's very, very difficult and a big plus in confidence for me," Raonic said. "Clay's not his best surface, but he consistently does well on it. Last year he reached the semifinals at the French Open, Monte Carlo and Rome, so he can play really well on it. For me, it was a big win, regardless of the surface."Raonic is one win away from his fourth final of the season. He will next face David Ferrer, who saved three match points while rallying to beat Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (9-7), 6-3.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Sharapova into Stuttgart semis
Marathon battle: Maria Sharapova plays a shot from Australia's Samantha Stosur in their quarterfinal match at the Porsche Grand Prix on Friday. Sharapova won 6-7 (5-7). 7-6 (7-5), 7-5. APSTUTTGART, Germany — Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka needed nearly 3 hours to overcome big-serving Mona Barthel 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5 on Friday for a place in the Porsche Grand Prix semifinals that feature the top four players in the world rankings.Azarenka will face fourth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska, a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 winner over Li Na.Second seed Maria Sharapova rallied to outlast Sam Stosur of Australia 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 in a match that went a minute over 3 hours. Sharapova will face third-seeded Petra Kvitova, the Wimbledon champion who beat Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-4 in the last quarterfinal.Stosur, the U.S. Open champion, played nearly flawless tennis and a double fault by the Russian gave her a match point at 5-3 in the second set. But Sharapova saved it with a forehand winner and held serve.The first break point Stosur faced in the match came in the next game and she netted a forehand to allow Sharapova to level the score.Sharapova then started raising her game to win the tiebreaker and take control.She broke serve for a 6-5 lead and closed out the match in the next game despite a double-fault.Barthel fired 13 aces but her serve deserted her in the final game. The German failed to win a point and double-faulted on match point, one of her 16 double faults.Barthel came back from a break down and saved an earlier match point in the 10th game of the third set. The match on indoor clay lasted 2 hours, 48 minutes."She is very tough to play," Azarenka said. "She's much more confident now and her serve is right up there with the best. We were playing over two hours and she was still serving aces."Azarenka, the Australian Open champion, is looking for a tour-high fifth title of the year.BARCELONA, Spain — Rafael Nadal dispatched Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 6-2 Friday to advance to the Barcelona Open semifinals, while Milos Raonic served 14 aces and upset second-seeded Andy Murray 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).The top-seeded Nadal moved his Serbian opponent around the red-clay court with his powerful forehand.The second-ranked Spaniard broke Tipsarevic in his first service game to set the tone for his 32nd consecutive win at the tournament. Tipsarevic earned three break points in the last game of the first set, but Nadal recovered to win five straight points.Nadal was broken for the first time to make it 2-2 in the second set, giving the fifth-seeded Tipsarevic a glimmer of hope. But Nadal won the next four games, capping a dominating performance with two straight aces to close out the match in 1 hour, 23 minutes."In the first set I was playing really well, and then at the start of the second he attacked more while I left my shots short," Nadal said. "But I am satisfied with the match. I am in the semifinals again. Tomorrow I will have to play at my highest level."Nadal, a six-time champion at the tournament, will face fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco after Kei Nishikori was forced to retire with an injury when trailing 4-2 in the first set.Raonic, who trains at the Real Club de Tenis, used his strong forehand to beat Murray.The 11th-seeded Canadian broke the fourth-ranked Murray to lead 4-3 and then set up a set point with an ace before smacking a forehand down the line to take the first set.Murray managed only four points on Raonic's serve in the first set and continued to struggle on the return in the second. But Murray broke Raonic when the Canadian served for the match before losing in the tiebreaker."It's very, very difficult and a big plus in confidence for me," Raonic said. "Clay's not his best surface, but he consistently does well on it. Last year he reached the semifinals at the French Open, Monte Carlo and Rome, so he can play really well on it. For me, it was a big win, regardless of the surface."Raonic is one win away from his fourth final of the season. He will next face David Ferrer, who saved three match points while rallying to beat Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (9-7), 6-3.
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