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/ 4 September 2009
Former finalists Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic were eliminated in successive surprises in Arthur Ashe Stadium at the U.S. Open on Thursday.
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/ 25 January 2009
Top-ranked Jelena Jankovic went down in the fourth round and number three Dinara Safina was twice just a point away from following her.
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/ 21 January 2009
World number one Jelena Jankovic and men’s defending champion Novak Djokovic showed glimpses of their best form at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
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/ 19 January 2009
Roger Federer made heavy weather of little-known Andreas Seppi at the Australian Open Monday before joining Jelena Jankovic in the second round.
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/ 19 January 2009
Australia’s notorious summer sun made an unwelcome appearance on the opening day of the two-week tournament.
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/ 8 September 2008
Serena Williams hurled her racket skyward and bounded up and down after winning her third US Open title with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Jelena Jankovic.
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/ 6 September 2008
World number two Jelena Jankovic advanced to her first grand-slam final in the US Open on Saturday, setting up a showdown with Serena Williams.
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/ 1 September 2008
Roger Federer leapt into the fourth round and Jelena Jankovic zoomed in on a maiden Grand Slam crown at the US Open on Sunday.
Second seed Jelena Jankovic and former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova had to work hard to shake off their opponents in the second round of the US Open.
Jelena Jankovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova joined the Wimbledon scrapheap on Monday as the second week began with more shocks.
A ruthless Venus Williams and a hobbling Jelena Jankovic restored some order to the women’s draw on Saturday to keep their grand slam hopes alive.
It’s Serb against Serb in the women’s semifinals at the French Open on Thursday, the first time that has happened, for either of the sexes, in Grand Slam history.
Top seeds Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova both moved smoothly into the last 16 at the French Open on Saturday. Federer outplayed close friend Mario Ancic of Croatia, winning 6-3, 6-4 6-2 in cool, rainy, evening conditions on the Philippe Chatrier Centre Court. Earlier in the day, Sharapova defeated Italy’s Karin Knapp 7-6 (7/4), 6-0.
The queen has abdicated. The throne is bare and the pretenders are circling at the French Open, which began on Sunday, with expectations high for an unusually large number of women players who feel they have been handed the rarest of opportunities. For the first time in almost a decade, winning at Roland Garros will not mean having to beat Justine Henin.
Triple champion Rafael Nadal and the man whose ambitions he has thwarted each time in winning those titles, Roger Federer, both made smooth progress into the third round at the French Open on Thursday. Second seed Nadal brushed aside French qualifier Nicolas Devilder 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 to take his Roland Garros record to 23 wins in 23 matches.
Roger Federer cruised into the French Open second round on Monday while rival and triple champion Rafael Nadal was left kicking his heels in the locker room as torrential rain swamped Roland Garros. The world number one then had the unexpected bonus of seeing potential quarterfinal danger man Richard Gasquet pull out of the tournament.
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/ 25 January 2008
Wimbledon crowds could learn a lot from the Australian Open. Like the British, the Australians have no players to speak of, so they do the next best thing and adopt a few for the purposes of the fortnight. They fell in love with Martina Hingis. Then it was Kimmy Clijsters, the Belgian obliging by getting engaged to Lleyton Hewitt. Now it’s Aussie Ana.
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/ 24 January 2008
Maria Sharapova’s father on Thursday escaped punishment for a throat-slitting gesture at the Australian Open, but the ”gutter behaviour” cemented his place in the club of infamous tennis parents. Yuri Sharapov has been a fixture courtside at the season-opening Grand Slam, often unshaven and wearing dark glasses.
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/ 24 January 2008
Russian fifth seed Maria Sharapova crushed injured Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-1 in a one-sided semifinal on Thursday to reach her second successive Australian Open final. It means Sharapova, a losing finalist here last year, will meet either Serbian third seed Ana Ivanovic or Slovak ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova in Saturday’s title decider.
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/ 23 January 2008
Roger Federer was at his dominant best on Wednesday to book a place in the Australian Open semifinals as Ana Ivanovic brought Venus Williams’s tournament to a juddering halt. The Swiss ace kept his cool in two close-fought sets against 12th seeded American James Blake before running away a 7-5, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 winner.
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/ 23 January 2008
Europe tightened its stranglehold on the Australian Open when America’s sole survivor in the women’s singles, Venus Williams, was blasted out of the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Venus went the way of sister Serena, battered by a Serb baseliner, losing 7-6 6-4 to fourth seed Ana Ivanovic.
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/ 22 January 2008
Russian Maria Sharapova produced a blistering performance to overpower world number one Justine Henin 6-4 6-0 in the Australian Open quarterfinals on Tuesday. The fifth seed was in ebullient mood, smashing 30 winners as she took a tight first set and ripped through the second to line up a semifinal against Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic.
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/ 22 January 2008
A listless Serena Williams stumbled out of the Australian Open on Tuesday, the champion jettisoned by Serbia’s ”wounded animal” Jelena Jankovic. Rafael Nadal continued his assault on the first Grand Slam of the season with a muscular defeat of Finn Jarkko Nieminen and will next meet either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Mikhail Youzhny, who clash later on day nine.
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/ 21 January 2008
It was back to business as usual for Roger Federer on Monday as he clinically moved into an Australian Open quarterfinal against James Blake, with Venus Williams also working up a head of steam. The world number one rebounded from his uncharacteristic five-set scare in the third round to resume his sprint towards a 13th Grand Slam title.
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/ 18 January 2008
Sixth seed Andy Roddick was knocked out of the Australian Open after a bad-tempered five-setter early on Saturday, joining 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo on the third-round scrapheap. The American fell on his sword after a marathon three hours and 53 minutes of intense tennis against German 29th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber.
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/ 14 January 2008
Defending champion Serena Williams and top seed Justin Henin survived gritty encounters on the first day of the Australian Open on Monday, while Maria Sharapova set up a tough clash with Lindsay Davenport. Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo also showed glimpses of the form that won her the 2006 championship.
World number one Justine Henin goes into the Australian Open as the overwhelming favourite after an inspired 2007, but there is no shortage of challengers. Among them is superstar defending champion Serena Williams, who stunned the tennis world by winning the title last year in her comeback event following an injury-plagued 2006.
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/ 29 December 2007
It will be the year of the Golden Slam for tennis in 2008 and realistically only two names are in the running. Both Roger Federer and Justine Henin finished this year as clear number ones in their sport and they are set to dominate again. But from there to winning all four Grand Slams events plus Olympic gold in Beijing in the same calendar year is a huge step.
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/ 29 October 2007
Maria Sharapova clinched the final place at the season-ending WTA Championships on Sunday. She has qualified every year since winning on her debut in 2004. ”This has been a very frustrating year for me physically but I’m a big competitor and am determined to compete at the WTA Championships,” Sharapova said.
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/ 5 September 2007
A despondent Serena Williams grudgingly faced reporters after her 7-6, 6-1 defeat to top seed Justine Henin in Tuesday’s quarterfinals of the US Open, tears staining her cheeks after the bitter result. Williams was reluctant to give the Belgian any credit despite being mauled in a one-sided, 36-minute second set.
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/ 3 September 2007
Venus Williams underlined her title credentials at the US Open on Sunday after she reached the quarterfinals with an impressive 6-4 6-2 victory over fifth seed Ana Ivanovic. The Wimbledon champion, seeded 12th, was close to her dominant best as she made it four wins out of four against the Serb, clinching victory in 80 minutes.
After a lavish ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Althea Gibson’s first United States title, Venus and Serena Williams, the two women who carry the hopes of the nation at this year’s US Open, played their first-round matches back-to-back in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.