TENNIS in DEPTH.

Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki lost her opening match for the second consecutive week, falling to American Christina McHale 6-4, 7-5 Wednesday in the second round of the Western & Southern Open. Wozniacki also lost her opening match last week in Toronto. The Dane had not faced the 76th-ranked McHale, who broke Wozniacki in the 11th game of the second set with a delicate drop shot. She clinched the match when Wozniacki sailed a forehand long.

Serena Williams has withdrawn from the tournament in Cincinnati with a right toe injury. Williams, who won titles at Stanford and Toronto this summer, did manage to win her first-round match against Lucie Hradecka on Tuesday, but said that when she woke up on Wednesday morning her toe had swelled. Williams had surgery on right foot last fall. ”It’s not a good time to take a big chance,” she told reporters. “I might have a better chance [at the U.S. Open] if I rest up and get healthy. Venus advised me to do what’s best for my body and that’s rest. I’ll take a few days off and then resume and keep going for everything.” Williams is currently ranked No. 31 and despite her withdrawal will still likely be seeded at the U.S. Open.

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Australian 10th seed Stosur continued her strong US Open build up as she brushed past qualifier Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-3 6-1 on Tuesday. However her second round assignment looks an altogether different proposition as she now meets former world No.1 Williams, who is unseeded but on fire as she continues her comeback from a long injury and illness layoff. Stosur and Williams met just two days ago in the final of the WTA Rogers Cup tournament in Toronto, where the American triumphed 6-4 6-2 in just 77 minutes.

Williams beat Czech player Lucie Hradecka 6-3 7-6(5) in her Cincinnati first round clash as she chases her third title from five events since returning to the tour after 49 weeks out. Williams, who turns 30 next month, is already favoured to add to her tally of 13 grand slam crowns at the US Open which gets underway in less than two weeks. She leads the head to head match ups against Stosur 4-2.

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Serena Williams continued where she left off in winning the Rogers Cup last week as she barged past Lucie Hradecka in straight sets to reach the second round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Williams needed one hour and 39 minutes to complete her 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory and book a second-round tie against Samantha Stosur, whom she beat in the Toronto final. Stosur beat qualifier Eleni Daniilidou 6-3 6-1. Jelena Jankovic, the 13th seed, advanced with a 6-0 6-3 win over Iveta Benesova, while there were also early wins for Russian pair Nadia Petrova and Maria Kirilenko, plus 17th seed Yanina Wickmayer and Italy’s Flavia Pennetta.

In the only women’s second-round action, fifth seed Li Na, playing her first match since her shock Wimbledon loss to Sabine Lisicki, enjoyed a comfortable 6-3 6-4 win over Czech Lucie Safarova.

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Roddick was docked a point, giving his opponent a 2-0 lead in the third set, as Kohlschreiber won 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-1. Roddick, who had already been warned for slamming his racquet to the ground, was docked the point for hitting a ball into the stands in Cincinnati. Roddick admitted he had lost his cool but insisted the umpire had over-reacted. ”Obviously it’s a split second thing, as soon as I did it I wanted it back,” said the American, who is battling back to full fitness after injury. ”It was a judgment call for the umpire. I am pretty sure I saw an eight-year-old girl catch it on the way down. He was telling me I hit it as hard as I could. ”It just sucks. I can’t blame him, but I’m sitting here turning a six-week injury into a three-week injury, rehabbing eight hours a day, and a split second decision he interjects himself and it’s done.

“I think he did the right thing, but it’s tough to call,” Kohlschreiber said of the umpire’s decision to dock Roddick a point. ”I tried to stay calm. I thought, hopefully he’s not playing his best tennis now because he’s so pumped.” “I understand where the umpire is coming from but at a certain point, you know, you hit a tennis ball into a stadium, someone goes home with a souvenir, and it pretty much ruins the match from there. Seems counterproductive.”

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Andy Murray will try to kick-start his US Open preparations when he takes on David Nalbandian in his opening match at the Western & Southern Open. The Briton suffered a surprise loss to Kevin Anderson in Montreal last week and Cincinnati is his only remaining tournament ahead of Flushing Meadows. Murray had a first-round bye as the fourth seed, while Nalbandian defeated Japan’s Kei Nishikori.

Murray is in the same half of the draw as world number two Rafael Nadal, while Djokovic is seeded to meet Roger Federer in the semi-finals – although the Swiss has a tough opening match against 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro. World number 66 Nalbandian and Murray have met four times and share a 2-2 record, with the Scot having won their last two matches.

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Novak Djokovic won the Rogers Cup on Sunday for his ninth tournament victory of the year and record fifth in a season in an ATP Masters 1,000 event, beating Mardy Fish 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. The 24-year-old Serb, the Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, is 29-0 this year on hard courts and 53-1 overall. He also won the Rogers Cup in 2007. The sixth-seeded Fish was the only player to win a set a set against Djokovic this week. Fish has lost all seven career meetings with Djokovic, but gave the top seed a battle with his awkward mix of baseline and attacking play.

Djokovic, who played night matches this week, looked uncomfortable from the outset and needed to save six break points to get through the opening set. He saved his eighth of the match before Fish finally broke him with a perfect forehand down the line to take a 3-2 lead in the second set. Djokovic looked lost as he was broken again to close out the set. But Djokovic was near-perfect on his service in the final set, although he needed four break points, one of which he challenged a call and lost, before finally putting away Fish. Djokovic was in his first event since winning Wimbledon, while Fish has been the hottest player of the hard court season leading to the U.S. Open later this month. He has reached finals in three straight tournaments in the last month, winning in Atlanta.

In the doubles final, Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia and Michael Llodra of France beat American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan 6-4, 6-7, 10-5.

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Having spent a year on the sidelines through injury and illness, the 13-time grand slam winner showed signs she was on her way back to her best with victory in Stanford two weeks ago. And Williams further built on that with a 6-4 6-2 win over 10th-seed Stosur to take the title in Toronto. The American first broke her opponent in the ninth game of the opening set, before opening up a 5-1 lead in the second to leave Stosur with no way back. ”I’m so excited. I never expected to do this well,” Williams said afterwards ”I’m just so happy to be playing again, let alone winning. It’s really cool.”

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Tsonga had been expected to ask questions of Djokovic after a fine run through to the semi-finals, including a win over Roger Federer, but he pulled out of their contest when trailing 6-4 3-0. A right arm injury was cited as the problem affecting Tsonga, who had dropped serve in the the second game of the second set.

It goes down as a 52nd victory in 53 matches in 2011 for Djokovic, who is chasing his ninth title of the year. The 24-year-old Serbian should approach the clash with Fish full of confidence, not only because of his record on tour this year but also a head-to-head record which shows he has won on all six of their previous meetings. However Fish, the sixth seed, is having the best year of his career, with the 29-year-old up to number eight in the world rankings. He is the leading United States player, comfortably ahead of Andy Roddick. He beat another Serbian, unseeded Janko Tipsarevic, 6-3 6-4 to reach his third final inside a month. Fish took the Atlanta Tennis Championships title and was runner-up at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles in July.

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