Home>News Center>Sports
             
     

    Hewitt, Clijsters, Sharapova advance at US Open
    (AP)
    Updated: 2005-09-01 09:04

    NEW YORK (AP) - Gusting winds picked up anything that wasn't nailed down at the U.S. Open on Wednesday, and the only thing that held steady was the draw.

    Top-seeded Maria Sharapova needed only 49 minutes for her victory, while fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters notched another straight-sets win - 7-5, 6-0 - over Colombia's Fabiola Zuluaga. Wimbledon winner Venus Williams beat Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-3.

    "I don't think I've even practiced in these conditions," Clijsters said. "It was so tough out there today."

    Lleyton Hewitt broke Albert Costa three times in the final set to close out a 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 first-round victory. Gilles Muller couldn't follow up on his stunning upset of Andy Roddick on Tuesday, losing in doubles with American partner Robby Ginepri.

    "It was so windy," Sharapova said after her 6-1, 6-0 second-round win over Dally Randriantefy. "I'm really glad I had a piece of chocolate cake last night, otherwise I would have been blown away. It made me heavier."

    Two-time champ Serena Williams and French Open winner Rafael Nadal took the court for the evening matches.

    The first two days of the Open were hot and humid, with several players struggling. The swirling wind up to 36 mph (57 kph) made temperatures more pleasant on Wednesday, but brought a new challenge.

    "The wind was definitely a test today," Venus Williams said. "It's easy to fumble and easy to self-destruct in those kinds of conditions."

    Added Hewitt, "It was one match you just wanted to get under your belt, get into the tournament and get back into the locker room as quickly as possible."

    Hewitt had won five of his previous six meetings with Costa, but the two haven't played each other since 2002. No matter. Hewitt raced out to an early lead, dropping only two points as he took the first three games of the first set, and Costa never recovered.

    The 2002 French Open winner had only two break points the entire match, and couldn't convert either. Hewitt, on the other hand, converted seven of 11 breaks, including three in the last set. He had 23 winners to Costa's nine, and only 17 unforced errors. Costa made 35 errors, double-faulted five times and had no aces.

    "Today was really, really difficult," Costa said. "I just confined my rhythm and he was much more confident with the wind, for sure."

    Costa has now lost in the first round at his last five Grand Slam events. He missed Wimbledon with a knee injury that required surgery, and the 30-year-old said after the match that retirement is an option.

    "I want to finish this season and then decide," he said. "If I finish, I finish altogether. I can't play only on clay."

    It doesn't seem to matter where Clijsters plays these days. Victories in her last two tournaments gave her six titles already this year, best on the WTA Tour. She improved to 51-6 with her win over Zuluaga.

    If she keeps playing this way, Clijsters might finally break through for her first Grand Slam title.

    "Even when I was injured last year, when I started playing again, you get motivated," said the Belgian, who missed the Open last year after wrist surgery. "It motivates you to work hard because you know that those girls, they're working every day hard to get back, to be strong.

    "I knew I had to put in twice the effort if I wanted to come back. It's not just one player. It's the whole group that keeps you motivated and hungry to play tennis."

    Also advancing were seeds Nicole Vaidisova (26) of the Czech Republic, and No. 30 Ai Sugiyama of Japan.

    On the men's side, winners included No. 15-seeded Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia, No. 17 David Ferrer of Spain in a five-setter over Agustin Calleri of Argentina for his first win at the U.S. Open, and No. 25 Taylor Dent of the United States. However, No. 23 Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic withdrew with an ankle injury, allowing Olympic champion Nicolas Massu of Chile to reach the third round.



    David Beckham at training session with England
    Owen displays his jersey of New Castle
    Gianluigi Buffon and Alena Seredova
     
      Today's Top News     Top Sports News
     

    New Orleans mayor: Katrina may have killed thousands

     

       
     

    Baghdad bridge stampede kills 965

     

       
     

    Sino-US textile talks fail to yield any result

     

       
     

    Corruption behind coal mine woes targetted

     

       
     

    China Southern Airlines to buy 10 Boeing 787s

     

       
     

    Typhoon nears: batten down the hatches

     

       
      Yao Ming signs $75m contract with Rockets
       
      Hewitt, Clijsters, Sharapova advance at US Open
       
      Real snap up Ramos, Tottenham sign Jenas and Lee
       
      USA Cycling defends champion Armstrong
       
      China gets on high horse with fun-loving gymnasts
       
      Du Wei set for Celtic in race against time
       
     
      Go to Another Section  
     
     
      Story Tools  
       
      Related Stories  
       
    Li Na rattles Davenport in narrow loss
       
    Defending Champion eliminated at US Open
       
    Venus, Serena on collision course at US Open
       
    Seedings for the US Open
       
    U.S. announces 'open skies' with India
       
    Women's duo make US Open doubles history
       
    Federer title win beyond his wildest dreams
    Advertisement
             
    亚洲爆乳无码一区二区三区| 中文字幕AV中文字无码亚| 亚洲日韩乱码中文无码蜜桃臀网站| 中文字幕在线视频第一页| 久久久久亚洲AV无码专区桃色| 亚洲日产无码中文字幕| 亚洲欧美日韩中文字幕在线不卡| 久久久久亚洲AV无码去区首| 无码人妻一区二区三区免费看| 最近的中文字幕大全免费8| 亚洲中文字幕无码专区| 久久ZYZ资源站无码中文动漫| 大桥久未无码吹潮在线观看| 亚洲人成中文字幕在线观看| 精品久久久无码中文字幕天天| 无码专区永久免费AV网站| 韩日美无码精品无码| 亚洲熟妇中文字幕五十中出| 日韩免费a级毛片无码a∨| 日韩欧国产精品一区综合无码| 亚洲av日韩av高潮潮喷无码| 亚洲中文字幕无码一区二区三区| 国产欧美日韩中文字幕| 天堂中文在线资源| 人妻无码中文久久久久专区| 亚洲欧美综合中文| 中文字幕亚洲精品无码| 亚洲AV无码成H人在线观看| 国产精品成人无码久久久久久 | 无码av不卡一区二区三区| 波多野结AV衣东京热无码专区| 亚洲2022国产成人精品无码区| 亚洲午夜国产精品无码| 亚洲AV无码久久精品色欲| 亚洲国产精品无码久久久秋霞2| 亚洲伊人久久综合中文成人网 | 91精品国产综合久久四虎久久无码一级| 无码永久免费AV网站| 亚洲VA成无码人在线观看天堂| 亚洲AV永久无码区成人网站| 日韩精品无码中文字幕一区二区|