Serena sees off Sharapova, Clijsters beats Henin in Wimbledon fourth round

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Maria Sharapova

Top seed Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova 7-6(9) 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. The 16th-seeded Russian came back from an early break of serve but wasted three set points in the first set tiebreak. One break of serve was enough for Williams to take the second set and hence the match. The defending champion’s serve is still in a rocking form and Sharapova confirms it: “She served extremely well, the best she’s ever served against me, and that was the difference.”

In another highly-anticipated fourth round encounter Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin were playing to uneven their 12-12 head-to-head record and Clijsters is now in the lead, having defeated Henin 2-6 6-2 6-3. The eighth-seeded Clijsters lost the first set in 29 minutes after 13 unforced errors and a first-serve percentage of just 53. Clijsters grew into the match as of the second set, but seed No.17 Henin, who fell and hurt her arm in the first set, couldn’t rise to the challenge and in the eighth game of the decider dropped a crucial serve to lose the match.

Third seed Caroline Wozniacki fell to unseeded Petra Kvitova 6-2 6-0 in just 46 minutes! Unfortunately, fourth seed Jelena Jankovic retired from her fourth round match while trailing Vera Zvonareva 6-1 3-0. The reason was a back injury. Five-time champion and second seed Venus Williams battled past Australian Jarmila Groth 6-4 7-6 (5).

Here are the quarterfinal pairs: Serena Williams vs. Li Na, Petra Kvitova vs. Kaia Kanepi, Kim Clijsters vs. Vera Zvonareva and Tsvetana Pironkova vs. Venus Williams. (photo by Richard)

7 COMMENTS

  1. Kinda expected both of that. Justine started the match great, but it seems as Kim was improving her game she was a bit loosing it. As for Masha, too bad she lost, she deffinitely had chances (especially in 1st set), but at least she fought till the end.

  2. Oh, yeah, I forgot… Caroline… what the hell?! 46 minutes, I’ve never seen her loose that much and so fast! I understand JJ was hurt, but although I’m a fan of hers, I’m getting a little bit tired of her injuries. Anyway, congrats t Vera, she played really well, and Kvitova.

  3. The Serena/Masha match was far closer than expected, I hadn’t expected Sharapova to threaten Serena at all, but when she had those set points and couldn’t convert, there was only going to be one winner. Serena is looking awesome and it’d be very surprising if she didn’t win the whole thing.

    Kim won!! 😀 I don’t know, ever since Justine came back, she just seems to be lacking something, on the big points she’s too passive or something, but well done to Kim, she’s looking really good at the moment.

    It didn’t surprise me that Wozniacki was beaten, Kvitova is playing so well and she just seems to be getting better and better. Wozniacki just isn’t ready to win a major yet, she still has to mature even though she’s the world number 4. She doesn’t bring her A game at the crucial stages in big matches yet, but give her 2 years and she and Azarenka will be at the top of the game and playing well consistently.

    Sorry for the long comment 😛

  4. What?! 46 minutes? what a shame by Caro… I was hoping to see her in the semis… I would be quiet if she lost like that to Serena or Vee, but Kvitová? no offense, but she is one of that girls, who try hard against favourites and then are able to loose with other players.
    ach, poor JJ 🙁
    Serena was serving like a machine lol 😛
    damn I wanted JuJu to pass :/

  5. Such a shame Juju got injured at the worst time possible. If she was OK physically that match would have gone similarly as the first set. She seems to be pretty unlucky with injuries at important moments. The same thing happened back at Miami, where she had an injury on her back. Wimbledon curse continues :-(.
    Not surprised by Sharapova though, I knew she would lose. It was a decent result though, I expected something like 6-3, 6-3.

  6. So depressed that Justine lost! She was in control the first set and then I guess nerves and that elbow injury made her nervous. Kim was playing okay, but it looked like Justine just took her foot off the gas pedal and made too many errors.

    Still can’t believe Caroline’s match score!

    Today was just a bad day overall for some of my favorite players (Andy, Justine, Jelena)

  7. I’m so happy Venus won, and Serena won, I’m looking forward to an all Williams final hope Venus can overcome Kim in the semi’s, I don’t see Venus next round tomorrow that much of problem, same for Serena the quarterfinal match against li na…I hope Serena wins!!!

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