Top seed races to French Open quarter-final after beating Italian 6-1, 6-3
Serena Williams bludgeoned her way to another lopsided win at the French Open yesterday as she continued her quest for a second French Open title, 11 years after her first.
The top seeded American needed just 70 minutes to dispose of the world’s top doubles player, Roberta Vinci of Italy, 6-1, 6-3 and in four matches at Roland Garros this year, she has dropped just 10 games. The win puts her into a quarter-final matchup against unseeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia who won the title in Paris in 2009 after defeating Williams in a quarter-final thriller.
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Kuznetsova, who outlasted eighth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, said she would relish going up again against Williams, even given her current form.
“I mean, she’s the best in the world so far. She’s been playing unbelievable tennis,” she said.
Williams said that she expected a tough match every time she comes up against Kuznetsova.
“I mean, the last time we played here she won, so that will probably get her pumped up and she’s on a comeback,” she added.
“She has nothing to lose but everything to gain. She also wants to do well, and she’s won this tournament before. I have had some pretty tough matches this claycourt season, and I think for sure that will be another one.”
Sania-Bethanie in Round 2
Indo-American pairing of Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands advanced to the women’s doubles second round at Roland Garros here on Saturday.
Playing on Court No.1, the seventh seeds defeated French duo of Alize Cornet and Virginie Razzano in straight sets in the first round. Sania-Bethanie won 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 28 minutes.
Serves were regularly broken in both the sets, with the seventh seeds breaking one more than their opponents.
The duo will next face unseeded American pairing Lauren Davis and Megan Moulton-Levy.