Serena crushes Hlavackova; Federer gets walkover

NEW YORK — Didn't take long for Serena Williams to show her fourth-round opponent at the U.S. Open where things were headed.

"The first point of the whole match," 82nd-ranked Andrea Hlavackova explained, "when I served, and she returned, like, a 100-mph (161-kph) forehand return, I was like, 'OK, I know who I'm playing. You don't have to prove it to me. I know.' "

Monday's match was less than 15 seconds old. It might as well have been over.

Dominant from the moment she ripped that return of a second serve, forcing Hlavackova into an out-of-control backhand that sailed well long, to the moment she powered a service winner on the last point, Williams extended her 2?-month stretch of excellence with a 6-0, 6-0 victory to get to the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows.

Those two big zeros pretty much tell the story; it's the fifth time in her career Williams won with what's commonly called a "double bagel."

Some other impressive numbers: Williams won 60 of 89 points, built a 31-9 edge in winners and improved to 23-1 since losing in the first round of the French Open. That run includes singles and doubles titles at both Wimbledon and the London Olympics.

Hlavackova knows this act all too well: She and Lucie Hradecka were the doubles runnersup at both of those events. Not that those 2-on-2 encounters helped prepare for the 1-on-1 match in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday.

"Singles is completely different," said Hlavackova, who chose the phrase "What can you do"? more than once when analyzing what it's like to face 14-time major champion Williams.

"My coach warned me to not go on the court and play for a score," Hlavackova said, by which she meant just trying to keep it as close as possible.

Next for the fourth-seeded Williams, who won the U.S. Open in 1999, 2002 and 2008, is a match against former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, who reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time since winning the 2008 French Open by defeating 55th-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-0, 6-4.

Williams — who lost in the third round of doubles with older sister Venus on Monday night — is 3-0 against Ivanovic, including a straight-set victory in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows last year.

It must not have left much of an impression on the American, because when asked what she remembers most about their most recent match, Williams replied: "Was it here?"

Assured that it was, in 2011, Williams said with a smile: "OK. Yeah, I remember, clearly, not a lot, but I will be looking at the film."

In the semifinals, the Williams-Ivanovic winner will meet either No. 10 Sara Errani or No. 20 Roberta Vinci, doubles partners who both eliminated higher-seeded women Monday and now face the uncomfortable prospect of trying to beat a best buddy.

"Our friendship won't change, no matter what, no matter who wins," said Vinci, noting that she expects they'll have dinner together, as usual, Monday and Tuesday.

Errani and Vinci teamed up to win the French Open doubles championship in June, and now one of them is going to be the first woman from Italy to play in the U.S. Open semifinals since the professional era began in 1968.

Errani, the runnerup to Maria Sharapova at the French Open, got past No. 6 Angelique Kerber of Germany 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

Vinci stunned No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-4.

"I really had the worst day," said Radwanska, who could have moved up to No. 1 in the WTA rankings by reaching next weekend's final.

Radwanska could sympathize with Hlavackova's plight, having lost to Williams in the Wimbledon final.

"When she's on fire, you can't do anything about it. It doesn't matter what you try to do, it's going to be a winner," Radwanska said. "It's just Serena. She's a great champion."

So is No. 1-seeded Roger Federer, of course, owner of a record 17 Grand Slam titles, including five at the U.S. Open.

As he attempts to add to those numbers, Federer got some extra rest Monday, because his fourth-round opponent, 23rd-seeded Mardy Fish of the United States, withdrew hours before their scheduled match for precautionary reasons, citing medical advice.

The man Federer beat in July's Wimbledon final and lost to in August's Olympic final, Andy Murray, muted 15th-seeded Milos Raonic's big serve and won 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 Monday night to reach an eighth consecutive major quarterfinal.

"Today was by far my best match of the tournament," Murray concluded.

No. 3 Murray will play No. 12 Marin Cilic of Croatia, who put together a 7-5, 6-4, 6-0 victory over 50th-ranked Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

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Serena beaten in first round

Beaten: Serena Williams reacts during her 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 first-round loss to Virginie Razzano at the French Open on Tuesday. AP

PARIS — For more than a decade, whatever the state of her health or her game, no matter the opponent or arena, Serena Williams always won first-round matches at Grand Slam tournaments.

Giant-killer: Virginie Razzano plays a shot against Serena Williams at Roland Garros on Tuesday. AP

Always.

Until Tuesday at the French Open. Until Williams came within two points of victory nine times, yet remarkably failed to close the deal against unheralded and 111th-ranked Virginie Razzano of France.

Until a theatrical, 23-minute final game filled with 30 points, more than enough to fill an entire set, featuring ebbs and flows, high-pressure shotmaking and nerves — and even thunderous protests from the crowd when the chair umpire docked Razzano a point. That look-away-and-you-miss-something game included five wasted break points for Williams, and seven match points that she saved, until Razzano finally converted her eighth, 3 hours and 3 minutes after they began playing.

All told, until Tuesday, Williams was 46 for 46 in openers at tennis' top venues, and those encounters tended to be routine and drama-free, befitting a woman so good that the goal — and 13 times, the end result — was a major championship.

Not this time. Now Williams' first-round Grand Slam record is 46-1 after as stunning a denouement as could be in a 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 loss to Razzano on the red clay at Roland Garros.

The fifth-seeded Williams, considered by many a pre-tournament favorite, led 5-1 in the second-set tiebreaker, before dropping the next 13 points in a row.

"I've been through so much in my life, and . . . I'm not happy, by no means," said Williams, her eyes welling with tears. "I just always think things can be worse."

The 30-year-old American returned to action last year after missing about 10 months because of a series of health scares, including two foot operations and blood clots, a scary stretch she says altered her worldview.

The rowdy spectators in Court Philippe Chatrier chanting Razzano's first name would have been pulling for her anyway, of course, because of her citizenship. But their support was particularly strong because of her recent heartbreak, well-known in France: Razzano's fiance — Stephane Vidal, also her longtime coach — died at age 32 of a brain tumor in May 2011, a little more than a week before her first-round match at last year's French Open.

He had encouraged her to go ahead and enter the tournament, so she did, honoring his memory by stepping on court to play, a black ribbon pinned to her shirt. When she walked out of the locker room for what turned out to be a straight-set loss, she wore a gold chain that Vidal had given her as a Valentine's Day gift a few years earlier.

"Honestly, the past is the past," Razzano said Tuesday. "I think now I did my mourning. I feel good today. It took time."

Said Williams: "I know of her story and her husband. We all have stories. I mean, I almost died, and Venus is struggling herself. So, you know, it's life. You know, it just depends on how you deal with it. She obviously is dealing with it really well."

Defending men's champion Rafael Nadal had no such trouble, starting his quest for a record seventh French Open title by beating Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. Maria Sharapova had an even easier time, scoring a "double bagel" in her 6-0, 6-0 win over Alexandra Cadantu of Romania.

PARIS — Forty-one-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm's hopes of becoming the oldest player to win at the French Open in the professional era were crushed Tuesday with a first-round defeat to Italian 14th-seed Francesca Schiavone.

Schiavone, the 2010 champion at Roland Garros and runnerup to China's Li Na last year, was never in serious danger against the Japanese former world No. 4, prevailing 6-3, 6-1 in 74 minutes to move into the second round.

"I didn't completely fall apart after losing the eighth game (in the first set), but I couldn't make any headway," said Date-Krumm. "I couldn't put her in a corner and I'm not even half satisfied with the way I played."

It was not all bad news for Japan, though, as Ayumi Morita came from behind to win her opening match for the second year in a row, beating 39th-ranked Polona Hercoq of Slovenia 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

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Serena makes return, dreading new season

BRISBANE, Australia — After winning the first match she's played since her U.S. Open final defeat last September, Serena Williams admitted she's dreading another season of grueling workouts but still can't live without tennis.

Take it or leave it: Serena Williams hits a shot during her 6-2, 6-3 win over South Africa's Chanelle Scheepers at the Brisbane International on Monday. AP PHOTO

The 30-year-old Williams had her service broken in the opening game Monday before settling in and beating Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa 6-2, 6-3 at the Brisbane International. She needed just 68 minutes to advance, firing seven aces and taking advantage of eight double-faults by Scheepers.

She was asked after the match whether her four-month layoff indicated she may have fallen out of love with tennis.

"It's not that I've fallen out of love . . . I've never really liked sports, I never understood how I became an athlete," Williams said.

She added, laughing, that she's never liked working out and "I don't want anything that has to do with working physically.

"If it involves sitting down or shopping I am excellent at that. I don't love tennis today . . . but I can't live without it so I am still here."

Williams has said previously that she plans to cut down on her schedule in 2012.

"I just want to be able to do other things I am doing and expand on that," she said Monday. "I think that will help keep my motivation up. I have always been preparing myself for life after tennis."

Not that the 13-time Grand Slam winner is planning on retiring any time soon. She'll play young Serbian Bojana Jovanovski in the second round in her only warmup tournament before the Jan. 16 start of the Australian Open, a major she has won five times.

In other matches Monday, top-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia, who beat Williams for the U.S. Open title, advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus and sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia defeated Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-4, 6-2.

Former No. 1-ranked Ana Ivanovic beat Tamira Paszek of Austria 6-3, 6-3 and American qualifier Vania King defeated Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-3, 6-4.

Ivanovic will play Australian Open defending champion Kim Clijsters in the second round.

The last time the two met, former French Open champion Ivanovic blew five match points at Miami last March. Ivanovic had three break points when leading 5-1 in the deciding set before Clijsters came back to win 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) and improve her career record with Ivanovic to 4-0.

LONDON — Andy Murray has hired eight-time Grand Slam winner Ivan Lendl as his coach.

The fourth-ranked Briton will begin working immediately with Lendl as he prepares for the Australian Open next month.

Murray says in a statement he hopes Lendl will provide "fresh insight," adding that "Ivan's impact on the game is unquestionable."

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