Henin, Venus, Top Women Plod Toward Late-Round Match-ups at Wimbledon
- 5 Comments
Yaaaaawn..wha? Oh! The ladies played tennis on Wednesday at Wimbledon, where Venus Williams baked a bagel against Russian opponent Ekaterina Makarova, and Kim Clijsters was another late-round favorite advancing.
ADHEREL
The elder Williams beat the Russian 6-0, 6-4, and Clijsters topped the one-promising-looking Karolina Sprem of Croatia 6-3, 6-4.
“She’s been playing really well, won a tournament last week,” said Williams of Makarova, showing the gulf between the top players and the lower echelon. “I think the grass suits her game. She hits it low and has a good serve. You know, I was very happy to get off to a good start and then to close it out at the end.”
Zzzzzzzzzz.
Venus did talk about watching TV — or not watching as much TV, specifically the World Cup — like her sister Serena.
“I don’t really turn the TV on a lot. It’s not something I do,” Venus said. “She turns the football on, so I guess I haven’t been keeping up as much as, you know, she has.”
Other seeds of note moving into the third round were No. 12 Nadia Petrova and No. 17 Justine Henin, who will next face each other in a match that could then lead to Henin facing Clijsters in the fourth round.
“I can play well on grass. I think I proved it enough in the past, beating Serena here in 2007, had pretty good results,” said Henin of her pursuit, and chances, for a first Wimbledon title. “I still have a challenge in my career right now.”
No. 4 seed Jelena Jankovic struggled against the flat-hitting Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak before rebounding for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win.
Seeds of lesser note dropping out Thursday were No. 13 Shahar Peer losing to German Angelique Kerber in three, No. 30 Yaroslava Shvedova falling to Russian Regina Kulikova, and No. 33 Melanie Oudin upset by Aussie Jarmila Groth in straights.
The scant highlights on Thursday at Wimbledon include (3) Caroline Wozniacki vs. Kai-Chen Chang, (16) Maria Sharapova vs. Ioana Raluca Olaru, and (1) Serena Williams vs. Anna Chakvetadze.
You Might Like:
Henin, Zheng Win; Venus, Serena Williams Next in Oz
Serena Willams Might Open 2010 Tennis Season Against Henin in Sydney
Federer, Henin Edged for 2007 AP Athlete of the Year Awards
Henin dominates Serena, but watch out for Venus
Henin v Clijsters, Venus v Bartoli in Miami Semifinals