World No.1 Roger Federer rolled over unseeded Jose Acasuso 7-6(5), 6-2 in a fourth round match at the $3.8 million ATP and WTA hardcourt tournament here at Miami on Tuesday. “Now I feel like I’m playing well,’’ said Federer who faces American Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. Second seed Rafael Nadal, who lost to Federer in the 2005 final, also reached the quarterfinals by beating 15th-seeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-4. Ninth-seeded American James Blake is through to the quarterfinals after claiming a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 27 Radek Stepanek. Roddick will join his compatriot in the last eight. Roddick struggled in the first set before rallying to beat unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov failed to move through as 10th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych claimed a 6-2, 6-2 win in their fourth round match. On the women’s side of the draw, Svetlana Kuznetsova spoiled the prospect of an all-Williams semifinal. Hours after Serena Williams was victorious in her quarterfinal, Kuznetsova defeated Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4. Williams was attempting to capture her fourth title at the event, having won the tournament in 1998, 1999 and 2001. Younger sister Serena had held up her end of the bargain earlier on Tuesday with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over top seed and World No. 1 Justine Henin. Henin had won three straight in the series against Serena — claiming quarterfinal victories at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open — but was outplayed by the American. Serena, who beat Henin here in last season’s championship match, captured three breaks in each set of the 80-minute match. It was another tough loss for the 25-year-old Belgian, who was playing her first tournament since being upset by Francesca Schiavone in the quarterfinals at Dubai. “Today I didn’t make as many errors,’’ Serena said. “I stayed positive no matter what happened.”
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment