TENNIS in DEPTH.

The ninth-seeded American was comprehensively outplayed in the opening set of their third-round tie on Thursday, but hit back to wrap up a 1-6 6-3 6-2 victory in one hour and 42 minutes. Williams was broken three times in the first set by her Danish opponent, seeded sixth, but turned the tables on Wozniacki with four breaks of her own over the next two sets. ”I had a slow start today, I don’t know why,” said the 30-year-old. “I was sluggish and mentally maybe fighting some demons. ”I started trying to play better, the first set was not me at all. I knew I had to get better. I just tried to play my game.” Williams has now won 10 straight matches on clay, a run which took in the title in Charleston last month. The reward for her latest win is a last-eight clash with second seed Maria Sharapova. The Russian, a recent winner in Stuttgart, advanced after opponent Lucie Safarova withdrew before their clash through illness.

Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska also progressed to the next round, beating Roberta Vinci, of Italy, 7-6 (7/1) 6-4. Qualifier Lucie Hradecka, who accounted for third seed Petra Kvitova on Wednesday, continued her run with a 6-2 7-6 (7/5) success over Ekaterina Makarova to reach the quarter-finals.

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Caroline Wozniacki will attempt to win her third consecutive e-BoksOpen title in Copenhagen on Sunday after booking a final clash with Angelique Kerber. Denmark’s former world number one produced a strong performance to see off unseeded Croatian Petra Martic in their semi-final, winning 6-3 6-2. Wozniacki, 21, dropped her serve only once and it was from the only break opportunity she faced.

Now second seed Kerber stands in her way, with the 24-year-old German recording an impressive 6-2 6-1 win over Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic. Jankovic, herself a one-time world number one, made little impression against the Kerber serve, earning only one break point which she failed to capitalise on.

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Ana Ivanovic scored one of her best victories of recent years as she swept aside defending champion Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open. In beating the world No.4 in just 70 minutes, Ana reaches the last eight in Indian Wells for the fifth time in seven appearances. Both former world No.1s struggled with their serve in the early stages of the match. The first four games all went against the serve and a fifth break looked likely as Ana faced four break points, but she cleared them all away expertly. It proved to be a turning point in the match and the beginning of a superb performance by the 24-year-old, who overpowered her opponent in the first set, hitting cleanly off both wings. Ana took full advantage of the momentum she had, while across the net Wozniacki looked forlorn. The Dane managed to get rid of two break points in the first game of the second set, but she was unable to cope with the crushing groundstrokes from the 15th seed. Ana broke the Wozniacki serve twice more, the last time with a fabulous drop shot to seize a long rally. She served out the match to love to score a morale-boosting victory.

“I’m really happy the way I played tonight,” enthused Ana during her on-court interview. “We had a tough match a few weeks ago and I tried to learn from that. Asked what the win will do for her confidence, Ana said: “It’s huge, especially after last night, having a tough match and coming back today and going on a high level.”

The 24-year-old will face French world No.7 Marion Bartoli on Thursday in a re-match of their 2011 quarter-final. The Frenchwoman advanced to last eight by brushing aside Lucia Safarova from the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-4.

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Four of tennis’ biggest names took the court at Madison Square Garden on Monday for the mix of playfulness and intense play that comes with exhibitions. With Wozniacki a game away from losing 6-3, 6-4 to Sharapova, she invited her boyfriend onto the court a day after the golfer won the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., to ascend to No. 1 in the world for the first time.

“He wasn’t too pleased with me,” Wozniacki said later. In jeans and a sweater, McIlroy showed off a one-handed backhand, and Sharapova hit his lob wide. Asked if he was surprised to win the point, McIlroy said with a smile: “I’ve won a few off Caroline.”

Early in Roddick’s 7-5, 7-6 (7) win over Federer, some smart-aleck fans yelled, “Let’s go, Rafa!” So Roddick played along by pushing up his sleeves and switching his racket to his left hand. He wound up playing the point right-handed, but grunted with every shot and celebrated winning the point with an exuberant fist pump that would have made Nadal proud. Roddick, a self-described “massive” sports fan, was playing in the Garden for the first time during the BNP Paribas Showdown. He remembers Michael Jordan’s big games there, Reggie Miller trash-talking with Spike Lee. “To be able to play here where so much history has happened, so many events have happened in every area of entertainment, it was a real special experience for me,” he said. Coming back from a right hamstring and right ankle injury, Roddick has fallen to No. 31 in the world. “It was a great atmosphere,” he said. “I really enjoyed myself and that led to me playing well. Hopefully I can use this a little bit.”

When Roddick failed to match Federer’s between-the-legs shot on one point, he threw his racket then winced when it almost hit a ball girl. Roddick was 2-21 in his career against Federer. “I heard Andy was struggling a little bit so it’s good see him play so well and hopefully make a run again into the top 10,” the third-ranked Federer said.

Wozniacki has been ranked No. 1 for 67 weeks in her career, though she’s currently down to No. 4. McIlroy knows he’ll need to stay on top for “another couple of years” to catch his girlfriend in that stat. In between taking photos with fans after the match, McIlroy said, “It’s nice to take a little break from golf.” The couple plans to meet up in Miami before he plays a World Golf Championship event there and she heads to Indian Wells, Calif. McIlroy stopped signing autographs for a moment to listen to Wozniacki’s on-court interview. “He’s 100 percent against Maria,” she told the crowd. Asked earlier Monday whether she sent him flowers after his win Sunday, Wozniacki said, “Well, I don’t want his head to become too big, so, um, no.” Sharapova and Wozniacki got into the spirit of the exhibition at times: exchanging smiles after a well-played rally, surrendering a point to make up for a missed call, dancing with fans before the final game. The second-ranked Sharapova wasn’t conserving energy, though. After breaking back to 4-4 in the second set, she chased down a drop shot and then a lob, throwing her hands up in frustration when her shot ricocheted off the scoreboard.

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Caroline Wozniacki lost in the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, falling to Julia Goerges 7-6 (3), 7-5 Friday. The former-top-ranked Dane led 4-2 in the second set, but Goerges rallied to advance in straight sets. Goerges will face Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in Saturday’s final. Radwanska defeated Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-2, 2-6, 6-0.

The fifth-seeded Radwanska took an early 4-1 lead and won the first set in 33 minutes. The Polish player faltered in the second when Jankovic broke twice. Radwanska regrouped and wrapped up the match without losing another game. She said she regained her confidence by breaking early in the third set. “She just start to play much better in the second set. I was really in trouble,” Radwanska said. “But in the third set, I was just trying to be focused on my game and just fight until the end. “I really get more confident after that, and I think she get a bit angry.”

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Caroline Wozniacki failed to convert three match points as she was ousted by Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in her opening match at the Qatar Open on Wednesday. Wozniacki, playing her first match since losing the No. 1 ranking after the Australian Open, received a bye into the second round. She had all three match points in the 10th game of the third set. “I am disappointed to have lost like this, said the Dane, the runner-up in Doha last year. “I had three match points but wasted them. I just want to move on from here.”

Meanwhile, new Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, in her first match as the new No. 1, dispatched Mona Barthel of Germany 6-1, 6-0. Safarova saved the match points with groundstroke winners, broke Wozniacki, and went into the tiebreaker. From 3-3, Safarova produced three doubled-handed winners from the baseline against a tiring Wozniacki to race away to 6-3 and win on her first match point to end the contest after nearly 2 1/2 hours. It was her second win over the Dane in three matches. “I just kept fighting and I am so happy I didn’t give up in the third set,” Safarova said. “I turned the match around. It was amazing.” Safarova will meet Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round on Thursday. Kuznetsova beat Russian compatriot Maria Kirilenko 6-4, 6-4 to continue her quest for her first Qatar Open title having played two finals.

Unseeded Shahar Peer of Israel stunned former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (4), 6-2 for the first time, and defending champion Vera Zvonareva retired while trailing Monica Niculescu of Romania 7-5, 3-2 because of pain in her left hip. No. 4-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 5 Marion Bartoli also won in straight sets, but No. 7 Francesca Schiavone lost to Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 7-6 (6), 6-4.

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Kim Clijsters kept her Australian Open title defence on track by moving into the semi-finals with victory over Caroline Wozniacki – and stripping the Dane of her number one ranking in the process. Showing no signs of the ankle injury sustained in her thrilling fourth-round win over Li Na – a match in which she had to save four match points – the Belgian had too much know-how for Wozniacki, whose search for a maiden grand slam title goes on. It looked plain sailing for a rampant Clijsters as she raced into a set and 5-2 lead only for Wozniacki to launch an impressive fightback. But it proved in vain, Clijsters’ greater experience shining through as she clinched a 6-3 7-6 (7/4) win and a last-four spot against Victoria Azarenka. ”It definitely didn’t feel like I was up a set and 5-2, Caroline is a very consistent player and a fighter and she became more aggressive,” said Clijsters. ”I am happy to get through and not have to go to a three-setter as it’s so hot.” The result will add weight to the argument of those who believe Wozniacki was not worthy of top spot, with the legendary Martina Navratilova this week demanding the WTA overhaul the current rankings system. The 22-year-old has been at the summit for 67 of the past 68 weeks but the door now opens for Petra Kvitova, Azarenka and Maria Sharapova with the identity of the new number one determined by how the next few days in Melbourne pan out. And while Clijsters, seeded 11, is some way adrift due to her injury-enforced absences, she showed enough today to prove she belongs among the elite. She set the tone early on by breaking in the first game and, although Wozniacki hit back, further breaks in the third and seventh games handed her the opener on her fifth set point. And when she broke twice more for a 5-2 lead it looked all over. But Wozniacki fought back as Clijsters’ hitherto flawless game started to crumble amid a flurry of unforced errors. Having taken it to a breaker, however, Wozniacki ran out of steam and Clijsters regrouped to come through.

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