Serena barely breaks sweat to reach quarter-finals

AFP, TORONTO: World number one Serena Williams continued her dominance over Germany's Andrea Petkovic with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the third round of the WTA Rogers Cup on Thursday.
Top seed Williams hammered 28 winners and blasted nine aces to beat the 16th seeded Petkovic for the fifth straight time.
"I think I served better than in my first match. It was a big difference," Williams said. "I still think I have a tremendous amount of improvement to do off the ground and everywhere else."
Williams, who never faced a break point and held all nine of her service games in the 62-minute match on center court, barely broke a sweat Thursday.
The 33-year-old American advances to the
quarter-finals where she will face Roberta Vinci who snapped the win streak of rising star Daria Gavrilova with a 6-4, 6-3 win.
Williams has beaten Vinci in all three of their previous meetings, losing just 14 games in total. Petkovic played like she was world class. Williams played like the world’s best.
While Petkovic won 70 per cent of points on her first serve and managed one ace, Williams won 88 per cent of first serve points and recorded nine aces. Williams never lost a service game, never faced a break point, and never lost two straight games.
Afterward she was adamant she was out of rhythm during the 61-minute win, but when presented with the stats even the perfectionist Williams had to relent.
“Maybe I’m too hard on myself,” she said. “Did it look that clean? ... So maybe it’s just me. I just didn’t feel it. Clearly, you know, statistics speak.”
But if Williams felt out of sorts, she might have had a point. Last month an elbow injury forced her to retire
in the round of 16 at a tournament in Sweden, and compelled her to skip the Stanford Bank of the West
Classic in late July.
Before this tournament she hadn’t played on a hard court since April, allowed that her recent layoff and might be keeping her from feeling like Serena Williams.
Second seed Simona Halep smashed an ace on match point to defeat red-hot Angelique Kerber 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 and reach the quarter-finals.
Kerber had won seven in a row and was coming off
her fourth title of 2015 after winning last week's Stanford tournament. Halep served well, especially in the third set where she rallied from a 3-2 deficit.
Halep held serve to make it three-all and after the
two traded breaks to get to four-all she roared home by winning the final two games at love to oust the number 13-seeded Kerber.
"I think I played better than yesterday," Halep said.
"I feel more confident now. My serve didn't work very well, but I returned well. So I'm really happy that I could win this match. I was fighting until the end."
She ripped an ace out wide to close out the match, which lasted two hours and 23 minutes. "I knew I had to win it, because at the end I was so tired I couldn't move anymore," Halep said.
Awaiting Halep is defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska, who rallied from 4-2 down in the third set to edge Alize Cornet 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

 

Serena barely breaks sweat to reach quarter-finals

AFP, TORONTO: World number one Serena Williams continued her dominance over Germanys Andrea Petkovic with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the third round of the WTA Rogers Cup on Thursday. Top seed Williams hammered 28 winners and blasted nine aces to beat the 16th seeded Petkovic for the fifth straight time. I think I served better than in my first match. It was a big difference, Williams said. I still think I have a tremendous amount of improvement to do off the ground and everywhere else. Williams, who never faced a break point and held all nine of her service games in the 62-minute match on center court, barely broke a sweat Thursday. The 33-year-old American advances to the quarter-finals where she will face Roberta Vinci who snapped the win streak of rising star Daria Gavrilova with a 6-4, 6-3 win. Williams has beaten Vinci in all three of their previous meetings, losing just 14 games in total. Petkovic played like she was world class. Williams played like the worlds best. While Petkovic won 70 per cent of points on her first serve and managed one ace, Williams won 88 per cent of first serve points and recorded nine aces. Williams never lost a service game, never faced a break point, and never lost two straight games. Afterward she was adamant she was out of rhythm during the 61-minute win, but when presented with the stats even the perfectionist Williams had to relent. Maybe Im too hard on myself, she said. Did it look that clean? ... So maybe its just me. I just didnt feel it. Clearly, you know, statistics speak. But if Williams felt out of sorts, she might have had a point. Last month an elbow injury forced her to retire in the round of 16 at a tournament in Sweden, and compelled her to skip the Stanford Bank of the West Classic in late July. Before this tournament she hadnt played on a hard court since April, allowed that her recent layoff and might be keeping her from feeling like Serena Williams. Second seed Simona Halep smashed an ace on match point to defeat red-hot Angelique Kerber 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 and reach the quarter-finals. Kerber had won seven in a row and was coming off her fourth title of 2015 after winning last weeks Stanford tournament. Halep served well, especially in the third set where she rallied from a 3-2 deficit. Halep held serve to make it three-all and after the two traded breaks to get to four-all she roared home by winning the final two games at love to oust the number 13-seeded Kerber. I think I played better than yesterday, Halep said. I feel more confident now. My serve didnt work very well, but I returned well. So Im really happy that I could win this match. I was fighting until the end. She ripped an ace out wide to close out the match, which lasted two hours and 23 minutes. I knew I had to win it, because at the end I was so tired I couldnt move anymore, Halep said. Awaiting Halep is defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska, who rallied from 4-2 down in the third set to edge Alize Cornet 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.