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| March 30, 2007 | Friday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 10, 1428 |
Serena stays on course as Nadal, Roddick stumble out
MIAMI, March 29: Serena Williams stayed on course for a fourth Sony Ericsson Open title with a ruthless 6-1 6-4 win over Czech Nicole Vaidisova in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
The men's draw took a surprising turn for the second successive day, however, with second seed Rafael Nadal and number three Andy Roddick joining world No 1 Roger Federer on their way out of the tournament.
After losing to Nadal in last week's final at Indian Wells, Serb Novak Djokovic took quick revenge, shocking the Spaniard 6-3 6-4 to advance to the semi-finals without dropping set.
The 19-year-old Serbian will now meet Britain's Andy Murray, who reached the final four when Roddick was forced to retire with a hamstring injury trailing 5-3 in the first set.
After disposing of top seed Maria Sharapova in the fourth round, Williams made quick work of Vaidisova, overwhelming the 17-year-old in just 67 minutes to advance to the last four.
Playing her first tournament since lifting her eighth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, Williams has gained form and confidence with every match, underlining her determination to return to the top of the world rankings.
Williams raced through the opening set but met resistance in the second when the eighth-seeded Vaidisova threatened to seize control, securing triple break point at 4-4.
But the young Czech failed to capitalise and Williams immediately made her pay, recording the decisive break to go up 5-4 and winning 13 of the final 14 points to close out the match.
Williams will next meet 14th seed Shahar Peer of Israel who booked her place in the final four with a 6-0 6-3 rout of Italy's Tathiana Garbin.
World No 1 Justine Henin of Belgium will take on Russian ninth seed Anna Chakvetadze in the other semi-final.
Murray, the 12th seed, was leading 4-3 when American Roddick called for a medical timeout to receive treatment in the locker-room.
The third seed returned to the court but was immediately broken. Roddick walked to the net to shake hands then informed the umpire he could not continue.
The 19-year-old Murray moved into the semi-finals for the second successive Masters Series event having reached the last four at Indian Wells.
Earlier in the week, Nadal ruled himself out of Spain's Davis Cup tie because of a sore foot but refused to use the nagging injury as an excuse for his loss.
Federer lost to Argentine Guillermo Canas on Tuesday.
Wednesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Men’s singles:
Quarter-finals: 10-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) 6-3, 6-4; 12-Andy Murray (Britain) beat 3-Andy Roddick (US) 5-3 – retired.
Women’s singles:
Quarter-finals: 13-Serena Williams (US) beat 8-Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic) 6-1, 6-4; 14-Shahar Peer (Israel) beat 24-Tathiana Garbin (Italy) 6-0, 6-3.
Tuesday’s results:
Men’s singles:
Fourth round: Nadal beat Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) 6-0, 6-4; Djokovic beat Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 6-0, 6-3; 7-Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) beat 20-Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4; Guillermo Canas (Argentina) beat 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 7-6 (7-5); 23-Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) beat Amer Delic (US) 6-3, 6-2; Roddick beat 13-David Ferrer (Spain) 7-5, 6-3; 6-Tommy Robredo (Spain) beat 24-Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 7-6 (7-3); Murray (Britain) beat Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Women’s singles:
Quarter-finals: 2-Justine Henin (Belgium) beat 6-Nadia Petrova (Russia) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4); 9-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) beat 15-Li Na (China) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Fourth round: Serena Williams beat 1-Maria Sharapova (Russia) 6-1, 6-1.
Monday’s results:
Men’s singles:
Third round: Nieminen beat 11-David Nalbandian (Argentina) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3); Ljubicic beat Fabrice Santoro (France) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Canas beat 15-Richard Gasquet (France) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; Federer beat 29-Nicolas Almagro (Spain) 7-5, 6-3; Chela beat 14-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6); Stepanek beat Alejandro Falla (Colombia) 6-3, 6-2; Robredo beat Florian Mayer (Germany) 6-4, 6-4; Delic beat 4-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Women’s singles:
Fourth round: Vaidisova beat Vera Dushevina (Russia) 6-2, 6-4; Peer beat 3-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3; Li Na beat 4-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; Garbin beat Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) 6-4, 6-2; Henin beat 18-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) 6-3, 6-2; Chakvetadze beat 32-Mara Santangelo (Italy) 6-1, 7-5; Petrova beat 10-Dinara Safina (Russia) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Third round: 3-Serena Williams beat 23-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) 6-3, 6-4.—Reuters
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