Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams cruised through to the Wimbledon second round on Wednesday with such ease that their argument for equal prize money was left looking decidedly unconvincing. Russian pin-up Sharapova, the 2004 champion, took only 51 minutes to see off Israeli veteran Anna Smashnova 6-2, 6-0.
Rafael Nadal moved to within three wins of defending his French Open crown when he subdued a battling and determined Lleyton Hewitt to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros on Monday. The 20-year-old Spanish second seed racked up his 57th consecutive clay court win with his 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 triumph.
In a women’s fourth-round match held over from Sunday, former world number one Martina Hingis beat Israel’s Shahar Peer 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. The 12th seeded Swiss will now face Belgian second seed Kim Clijsters for a place in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal marked his 20th birthday with a gruelling 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win against Paul-Henri Mathieu on Saturday to set up a mouth-watering clash against Lleyton Hewitt for a place in the French Open quarterfinals. Hewitt, playing Roland Garros for the first time in two years, swept past Slovakian 22nd seed Dominik Hrbaty.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal struck the first psychological blow in his French Open title duel against Roger Federer on Friday. While Nadal cruised into the third round with his 55th consecutive clay-court victory, Federer endured a lengthy struggle to put down the resistance of Chile’s Olympic champion Nicolas Massu.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal took his clay-court winning streak to 55 matches on Friday as he moved smoothly into the French Open third round. But 2004 champion Gaston Gaudio hammered out an ominous warning that he is returning to his best form by disposing of 2003 winner Juan Carlos Ferrero to move into the last 16.
Lleyton Hewitt and Anastasia Myskina, two players with plenty to prove at the French Open, moved into the third round on Thursday. Hewitt, the former world number one, overcame a difficult first set before seeing off French wildcard Mathieu Montcourt 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 and now faces Slovakian 22nd seed Dominik Hrbaty for a place in the last 16.
Top seed Roger Federer and Russian golden girl Maria Sharapova lifted the Paris gloom on Wednesday when they shrugged off the bitter cold and rain-choked skies to reach the French Open third round. And women’s top seed Amelie Mauresmo recovered from second set jitters before overpowering Russia’s Vera Dushevina of 6-1, 7-6 (7/5).
America’s Andy Roddick and Nadia Petrova of Russia became the first major casualties of the 2006 French Open on Tuesday. Roddick, the fifth seed, retired from his first-round match with Spanish journeyman Alberto Martin trailing 6-4, 7-5, 1-0, still feeling the effects of the ankle injury he picked up at the World Team Cup in Germany last week.
Rafael Nadal’s blockbuster success story opened another chapter on Monday when the Spanish teenager set a new record of 54 successive clay-court victories. Defending champion Nadal, the second seed, brushed past Sweden’s Robin Soderling 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 to get his French Open title defence off to a flying start.