TENNIS in DEPTH.

The world number nine strolled through to the quarter-finals as he won 6-3 6-3 in just under an hour-and-a-half. Fish will now face eighth seed Somdev Devvarman in the next round after the Indian brushed aside Tatsuma Ito 6-1 6-3. Lleyton Hewitt crashed out, though, as the former US Open champion lost 7-5 2-6 6-2 to American qualifier Rajeev Ram. Veteran Hewitt, who won at Flushing Meadows 10 years ago, had hoped to halt his slide down the world rankings after showing signs of his best at Wimbledon. But the Australian laboured against the world number 272 and exited in just under two hours.

Ram’s reward was a quarter-final meeting with compatriot Ryan Harrison after the 19-year-old upset fourth seed Xavier Malisse 6-7 (7-3) 6-4 6-4.

Bookmark It

Gisela Dulko, 26, will marry Real Madrid soccer player Fernando Gago next Tuesday in Argentina, the Spanish press reported. Last week, Dulko, who finished last season as a member of the No. 1 doubles team with Flavia Pennetta, was named her nation’s sportswoman of the year.

Bookmark It

Gael Monfils reached the quarter-finals of the German Open in Hamburg after taking one hour and 22 minutes to dispatch Czech veteran Radek Stepanek 6-4 6-4. Monfils will face an all-French clash with Gilles Simon in the last eight after the fifth seed battled to a tough 7-6 (7/4) 3-6 6-4 win over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen in two hours and 19 minutes.

Second seed Jurgen Melzer enjoyed a comfortable 6-2 6-3 win over 15th seed Fabio Fognini of Italy, and third seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 7-5. There was disappointment for the local wild cards with Cedrik-Marcel Stebe falling 7-5 6-2 to eighth seed Fernando Verdasco and Tobias Kamke beaten 3-6 6-3 6-2 by 12th seed Marin Cilic.

Julian Reister lost 6-3 6-3 to fourth seed Mikhail Youzhny, but the home fans were given something to cheer when sixth seed Florian Mayer beat Argentina’s Juan Monaco 7-5 7-5 to advance.

Bookmark It

Top seed Vera Zvonareva cruised into the quarter-finals of the Baku Cup in Azerbaijan when opponent Kristina Kucova retired with the Russian holding a 6-0 3-0 advantage. Zvonareva dominated play against her world number 187-ranked opponent and needed only 42 minutes to fashion her match-winning lead before Kucova withdrew with a left leg injury. Zvonareva will next play Anna Tatishvili, who took one hour and 39 minutes to defeat her fellow Georgian and lucky loser Tatia Mikadze, 7-6 (7/4) 6-3.

Russian second seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova survived some early pressure from compatriot Elena Bovina before easing to a 6-4 6-0 win and a quarter-final clash with Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva. But fourth seed Ekaterina Makarova failed to join her fellow Russians in the last eight after losing 6-1 6-4 to Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine. Bondarenko faces her compatriot Mariya Koryttseva next.

Bookmark It

Ana was recently interviewed in Serbia. The following is a translated extract from the Q & A session:

Ana, you recently got a new coach Nigel Sears, and you’re now back again with fitness coach Scott Byrnes. How do you feel about it, and what are you expectations from them?

I’m very happy. There’s a lot of positivity in the team. We all get on well and we’re very ambitious. But it’s going to take time. I am committed to working with Nigel and Scott for a long time and I know that it will be six months or so until I really see the results of our work. I have to be patient.

How did you spend your vacation?

I went to my holiday home in Mallorca for a week. I spent a relaxing time with my brother and some friends.. Every summer we explore more and more of that beautifull island.

You were with Novak at Hopman Cup at the beginning of the season, when this fantastic series started. Did you even imagine back then that Novak will have such a succesfull season and become number one?

I always believed he could do it, because he’s so talented and he really believes in himself. At the Hopman Cup I noticed how relaxed he and his whole team are, and how much fun they have during training. It’s definitely a great environment for achieving a lot of success, and I’m not surprised that he is No.1 now – he really deserves it. But I don’t think anyone, including Novak himself, would have believed that he would lose just one match in six months. It’s amazing.

Bookmark It

Kevin Anderson is through to the quarter-finals of the Atlanta Tennis Championships for the second consecutive year after a 6-1 7-5 win over Michael Russell. The big-serving second seed fired down 10 aces to set-up a last-eight meeting with Gilles Muller, who edged past wild card Robby Ginepri 7-6 (8-6) 2-6 6-2.

John Isner won an epic all-American clash with James Blake 7-6 (10-8) 6-7 (7-3) 7-5 in just shy of three hours. Blake battled back from a break down in the second to take the match to a decider but his younger opponent held on. Third-seeded Isner will now meet Yen-Hsun Lu after he recovered well from a set down to beat qualifier Marinko Matosevic 3-6 6-1 6-2.

Bookmark It

Top seed Gael Monfils booked his place in the third round of the German Open in Hamburg after taking 72 minutes to cruise past Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos 6-4 6-2. Second seed Jurgen Melzer also progressed with a 6-3 5-7 6-1 win over Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain while third seed Nicolas Almagro is also through after a 6-4 6-4 win over Czech lucky loser Lukas Rosol. Among the seeds to fall was 11th seed Nikolay Davydenko, who went down 6-3 7-6 (7/5) to fast-rising German 20-year-old Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, who had beaten former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero in round one. Ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic was beaten 6-2 6-4 by Argentina’s Juan Monaco and 16th seeded Spaniard Albert Montanes retired injured when trailing 6-1 3-2 to home favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber. Italian 13th seed Andreas Seppi fell 6-1 7-5 to Czech veteran Radek Stepanek, who will next face Monfils. Eighth seed Fernando Verdasco won his all-Spanish match with Pablo Andujar 6-2 6-3. German sixth seed Florian Mayer beat Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilham 6-4 7-6 (7/5), while 12th seeded Croatian Marin Cilic beat German qualifier Bastian Knittel 6-3 6-7 (4/7) 6-4.

Bookmark It

With four top-10 players committed, the 2011 acceptance list proves to be one of the most impressive yet and includes 11 overall players ranked within the top 30 in the world. Highlighting the 41st edition of the Bank of the West Classic will be 13-time Grand Slam Champion Serena Williams, three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova, defending champion Victoria Azarenka, 2011 French Open semi-finalist, Marion Bartoli, World No. 10 Samantha Stosur, and former World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic.

Maria Sharapova says that she would like a shot at the 13-time Grand Slam champion this summer. Williams has defeated the Russian the last five times they’ve played, twice at the Australian Open and at 2010 Wimbledon. Sharapova and Serena are scheduled to play four of the same events, including Stanford, Toronto, Cincinnati and the U.S. Open. ”I love playing against her,” Sharapova said in a conference call to promote the U.S. Open Series. “We’ve had very, very tough matches against each other. I don’t have a great record against her, and I would love to change that. There is no doubt I would love to play her this summer at some point.”

The 2011 Bank of the West Classic will be held from July 25th – 31st. Sharapova, a finalist at last year’s Bank of the West Classic, returns with hopes to reaching the final once again. This year the Russian superstar captured her 23rd WTA singles title in Rome and looks to be returning to the form that helped her win three Grand Slam titles. As a three-time Grand Slam Champion and World No. 6, Sharapova is a fan favorite and will undoubtedly bring excitement to this year’s player field. The commitment of 13-time Grand Slam Champion Serena Williams further adds to the thrill of this year’s top player field. This will mark Williams’ third appearance at the Bank of the West Classic, after reaching the semi-finals of the tournament in 2009.

Hoping to defend her 2010 singles title, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka will arrive at the Bank of the West Classic having already won two singles titles this year at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami and on the clay courts in Marbella, Spain. In 2010, the day after her 21st birthday, Azarenka defeated Sharapova to clinch the Bank of the West Classic singles title and earned herself a memorable birthday present. Also returning will be current World No. 9 Marion Bartoli and No. 10 Samantha Stosur. Bartoli, champion of the 2009 Bank of the West Classic, arrives with her sights set on another title run after reaching the semifinals of the French Open earlier this year, as well as the finals of both Indian Wells and Strasbourg. Stosur, who reached the finals at Rome earlier this year, advanced to semis at last year’s Bank of the West Classic.

The tournament also welcomes former World No. 1 Ava Ivanovic. The young Serbian star has a Grand Slam title under her belt having won the 2008 French Open and is a two-time Grand Slam finalist. With the addition of Ivanovic, the tournament will host three total former World No. 1 players. In addition, the Bank of the West Classic will host two former top-10 ranked players, Daniela Hantuchova and Kimiko Date-Krumm. Formally ranked as high as No. 5 in the World, Hantuchova boasts four career WTA singles titles and arrives having won a title at Pattaya City earlier this year. As a former World No. 4, Japanese legend Date-Krumm returned to the WTA in 2008 after a 10-year hiatus, and has earned eight WTA singles titles in her career. Her retirement did not slow her down as she boasts eight top-20 wins in the last year alone. The Bank of the West Classic will also welcome three additional top-20 players including No. 13 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 16 Julia Goerges, and No. 19 Yanina Wickmayer.

Bookmark It