Daily News Channel
Defending champion Venus Williams ensured the Wimbledon final would be another family affair with a devastating performance against Russia’s Dinara Safina in Thursday’s second semifinal. Third seed Venus produced an awesome display on Centre Court, crushing world No.1 Safina 6-1 6-0 in just 51 minutes, after sister Serena had earlier won an epic three-set semifinal against Elena Dementieva. There was no way five-times champion Venus, was being sucked into such a dogfight.
Roger Federer served notice of his determination to claim a record 15th Grand Slam crown by firing 23 aces as he shot down Robin Soderling to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals on the day the Centre Court roof was closed. Federer triumphed 6-4 7-6 7-6 in a repeat of the recent French Open final win that saw him defeat Swede Soderling and equal Pete Sampras’s haul of major titles. “Today was pretty much a serving contest,” admitted Federer of a match which featured just one break of serve
World number one Dinara Safina’s wait for her first grand slam title continues, after she was beaten in straight sets by compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final of the French Open at Roland Garros. Safina, who has reached the top of the world rankings despite not having a major title to her name, looked completely out-of-sorts against her fellow-Russian, who secured a comfortable 6-4 6-2 victory in just over an hour. The defeat was a crushing blow to Safina, who has long had to contend with the accusations that she is not a worthy world number one, and this third grand slam final defeat will do nothing to silence the doubters
Swede Robin Soderling swept into his first career Grand Slam semifinal with a spectacular 6-1 6-3 6-1 demolition of Russian 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko at the French Open on Tuesday. The 23rd-seeded Soderling had inflicted a first Roland Garros defeat on four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in the previous round and was in equally impressive form as he saw off his Russian rival
Seven-time grand slam champion Venus Williams crashed out of the French Open on Friday as she was thrashed 6-0 6-4 by Agnes Szavay of Hungary. It was the third straight year that Williams has gone out at the same stage on the clay of Roland Garros, but defeat to 29th seed was still unexpected. Third seed Williams had charted a perilous course to the last 32, saving a match point on Thursday against Lucie Safarova, but her luck ran out against Szavay
Maria Sharapova stepped up her comeback after injury to claim the scalp of 11th seed Nadia Pedrova to reach the third round of the French Open in Paris on Wednesday. The former world number one had come into the second grand slam of the season with only two matches in a minor tournament in Poland under her belt, but surprised fellow Russian with a 6-2 1-6 8-6 victory.