|
 World number one Williams comfortably ousted Slovakian Dominika
Cibulkova 6-3 6-3 in 61 minutes, winning the first set without
losing a point on serve — a feat the American had not achieved since
she was a junior.
Sharapova was involved in an error-strewn battle, coming from a set
down to defeat Estonia's Kanepi 4-6 6-3 6-2 in two hours.
The pattern was set at the start as the match began with four
successive breaks of serve.
Had 2012 champion Kanepi been in better form, the Sharapova-Williams
showdown that the tournament organizers hoped for would have been
scuppered.
The Russian improved as the match went on and in the third set her
service accuracy improved to 84 percent, nearly double her efforts
in the first two sets.
"You're going up against a great champion that's playing great
tennis at the moment," Sharapova told reporters of her clash with
Williams. "You know that you have to raise your level in order to
beat her.
"I think the intensity level of our matches are always high. I think
she goes up and wants to play the best tennis against me."
[to top of second column] |
FROSTY RELATIONSHIP
When asked about her frosty off-court relationship with
Williams, the Russian replied: "I have said everything I have to say about
it."
The American played down the animosity between the pair, saying:
"I don't have anything against her".
Elsewhere, second seed Victoria Azarenka let slip nine match
points before finally beating Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland
6-4 6-7 (7-9) 6-1.
The Belarusian next plays fourth-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic who
defeated German Angelique Kerber 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 6-1.
In the men's event, unseeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt beat
sixth-seeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 7-5 6-3 and next faces
Romanian qualifier Marius Copil in the quarterfinals.
Copil put out third seed Gilles Simon of France 7-5 6-3.
(Editing by Tony Jimenez)
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