06/09/2009
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Fiery Serena, stoic Murray advance at United States Open
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Clijsters continues impressive comeback by beating compatriot Kirsten Flipkens
NEW YORK: Serena Williams and Andy Murray had brief hiccups on the way to convincing victories at the US Open, each choosing different tactics to remain on track for a long ride into the year's final grand slam, Rafael Nadal too follows suit the advancing army.
Williams screamed, pumped her first, and jumped up and down in a victory over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, while Murray was stoic after a swift, one-set wobble against Paul Capdeville.
"I got nasty today, but to myself," Williams said after her 6-3 7-5 victory Friday over the Spaniard. "I was just screaming to myself because I wasn't very happy with my performance." Murray, hoping to be the first Briton to win the US championship since 1936, calmly reversed the momentum after losing the second set to his Chilean opponent.
"I played three very good sets and one poor one. But you're allowed to play a bad set sometimes," the second-seeded Scotsman said after his 6-2 3-6 6-0 6-2 second-round victory.
"I came back well from it. I just felt a little bit lethargic, a little bit low on energy. I don't know why, but managed to pick it up at the end when I needed to."
There were no major upsets under sunny skies at the Open, with Belgian Kim Clijsters advancing on the women's side, and Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro among the men. Two-times champion Venus Williams was to face Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova before number three seed Rafael Nadal takes the court against Germany's Nicolas Kiefer.
Serena's match against Martinez Sanchez produced none of the drama some were expecting after their tiff on the clay courts at the French Open in May. When Williams beat Martinez Sanchez at Roland Garros, she branded her a "cheat" after the Spaniard claimed she had hit a winner only to have replays show the ball had glanced off her arm.
There was no sign of any continuing grudge between them in the match played in front of nearly 23,000 people at Arthur Ashe Stadium. "I just was trying to go out there and do my best," said Serena, who will play 22nd seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in the fourth round.
"We are players, and we see each other every week and we have to have a good relationship," offered Martinez Sanchez. Murray became the first man among the top 10 seeds to lose a set at Flushing Meadows yet felt good about his campaign to surpass last year's results when he lost in the finals to Roger Federer.
"It's sort of a good three, four months before the next grand slam comes around," Murray said. "So make sure you give it your best." Clijsters continued her impressive comeback by beating compatriot Kirsten Flipkens 6-0 6-2 to reach the fourth round, while Del Potro bounced Austrian Juergen Melzer 7-6 6-3 6-3 in his second-round match.
In a mild upset, eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus lost to Italy's Francesca Schiavone, the 26th seed, 4-6 6-2 6-2, in a third-round match. For Rafael Nadal what started out as a rout turned into a war of attrition on Friday, the stiff test leaving the third-seeded Spaniard feeling better prepared for an assault on a first US Open title.
"It was a very good practice for me, no?" the 23-year-old Nadal told reporters after his 6-0 3-6 6-3 6-4 second round victory over German Nicolas Kiefer that closed out the night session on the fifth day of play at the National Tennis Center.
The 32-year-old Kiefer burst into life after a 24-minute first-set blitz from Nadal and slugged it out toe-to-toe with the Spaniard for the remainder of the match.
"Playing three hours is a very good test," said Nadal, who has competed in just two tournaments since shutting down his season for two months following the French Open because of tendinitis in his knees.
"At the same time it's important. First day, I didn't have any bad moment, any pressure moment," he said about his straight-sets opening win against France's Richard Gasquet.
"Today I had to do more."
Nadal won the last two sets on the strength of one service break in each but the muscular Spaniard held Kiefer at bay by not facing a break point after the second set.
Kiefer, ranked as high as world number four in 2000, had never won a set against Nadal in four previous meetings. "I think he was getting a little tired," the 129th-ranked Kiefer told reporters. "I could see it, I could feel it. He didn't move so good. But a win is a win, and a loss is a loss. "Today was the first time I was thinking I could really beat him."
Nadal's victory meant that the top 16 men's seeds advanced to the third round for the first time in a grand slam. "(There are) Very good players right now at the top," Nadal explained. "The best players are winning. They don't have strange losses. I think that's good for tennis."
Nadal, however, was not as complimentary about the timing of his match. "It's too late," he said. "One-fifteen (am). I have to have dinner. Before 3:30 am is impossible to be sleeping. I think it is a little bit late."
Told he could ring his friends back home in Mallorca because it would be after seven in the morning there, Nadal smiled. "Yeah. They're probably coming back from a party," he said. Nadal's third-round opponent will be countryman Nicolas Almagro, who edged out American Robby Ginepri in five sets. -Reuters
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