Nadal breezes, Serena stutters into semifinal
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AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 29, 2009 00:00
MELBOURNE - World number one Rafael Nadal overcomes Frenchman Gilles Simon in straight sets in their quarterfinal encounter at the Australian Open whereas it takes an ’out-of-body’ experience for Serena Williams to move one step closer to winning a 10th Grand Slam championship and her fourth in Australia.
Rafael Nadal breezed past his opponent yesterday to reach the semifinal of the Australian Open while Serena Williams also made it to the semis in the women's draw.
Williams was having what she called an "out-of-body experience" Wednesday in brutal heat at the Australian Open.
Closing the Rod Laver Arena roof and cranking up the air conditioning helped the defending champion pull herself together and advance to the semifinals - but left her opponent steaming.
"I felt I was watching someone play in a blue dress, and it wasn't me, because it was so hot out there," said the second-ranked American, who beat Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova 5-7, 7-5, 6-1. "And I kept trying to tell myself that it's not hot. But it got hotter."
Williams, seeking her fourth Australian title and 10th Grand Slam championship overall, next faces Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva, who had to play her entire match with the roof open. The fourth-seeded Dementieva ousted Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-2 to run her winning streak to 15 matches after she won two tuneup tournaments.
Top-ranked Nadal won his fifth match without dropping a set by beating Gilles Simon 6-2, 7-5, 7-5, though he was strongly tested by the sixth-seeded Frenchman. Simon broke his serve three times - matching Nadal's total for the tournament - and had a set point with the Spaniard serving at 4-5 in the second set.
Nadal was up to the task, ripping several winners on the dead run that were never inside the court until they landed and skipped away untouched.
Simon, who won their last meeting in Madrid in October, is one of the quickest players around, but Nadal just ground him down by constantly sending him sprinting from corner to corner. Even with the roof still closed, the lanky Frenchman was pouring out sweat.
Nadal got his seventh service break on a forehand that caught the line for a 6-5 edge in the third set, then held at love with Simon sending a forehand long on match point.
His victory set up an all-Spanish semifinal, with 14th-seeded Fernando Verdasco - the lowest-ranked player to reach the quarterfinals - earlier beating No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, last year's runner-up, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The heat wave is forecast to continue Thursday. If Williams wins - Dementieva has won their last three meetings, including the Olympic quarterfinals - she would play a Russian for the third consecutive match in the final. Third-seeded Dinara Safina is facing fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva in the other semifinal.
"Me against the Russians, I guess," Williams said. With temperatures soaring to 43 C (109 F) on a cloudless day - moths were dying within seconds of touching down on the blistering surface and Williams had her rackets restrung during her match because they lost their tension - the retractable roof was closed after Kuznetsova won the first set.
Opponent left angry
The heat was beginning to take a toll on Williams, and the eighth-seeded Kuznetsova was angry at the decision. She felt that the break gave Williams time to recover and that playing indoors benefited the American's powerful serve.
"Why should I not be?" Kuznetsova said. "Game going my way. I was very comfortable playing outside. It's two different games. One you play inside; one you play outside. Serena was tough. She's playing great. I give her credit. But I don't get this rule."
Neither did other players.
Even though Dementieva won, she felt the roof should have been closed before her match started. Tournament officials called a news conference to explain the decision-making process, bringing in the official doctor and meteorologist to talk about the "Wet Bulb Globe measure" that determines when it's too hot. "We do this to protect the players and to protect their ability to perform optimally," said tournament director Craig Tiley.
The roof was closed for the first time during a match under the tournament's evolving heat policy, which was changed after a heat wave two years ago. At that time, matches which started under open skies had to finish that way.
Down a set and a break and with Kuznetsova serving for the match in the second set, Williams broke to get even at 5-5 when Kuznetsova missed an open-court volley that turned the match.
Once again, Williams won despite playing far from her best - she had 18 unforced errors to four winners in the first set.
"My balls started flying," she said. "They were pretty much hitting the people in the crowd. Definitely I was mortified at some of the shots I hit."
The break helped her pull herself together.
"With the roof closed ... it was definitely helpful," she said.
Williams was having what she called an "out-of-body experience" Wednesday in brutal heat at the Australian Open.
Closing the Rod Laver Arena roof and cranking up the air conditioning helped the defending champion pull herself together and advance to the semifinals - but left her opponent steaming.
"I felt I was watching someone play in a blue dress, and it wasn't me, because it was so hot out there," said the second-ranked American, who beat Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova 5-7, 7-5, 6-1. "And I kept trying to tell myself that it's not hot. But it got hotter."
Williams, seeking her fourth Australian title and 10th Grand Slam championship overall, next faces Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva, who had to play her entire match with the roof open. The fourth-seeded Dementieva ousted Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-2 to run her winning streak to 15 matches after she won two tuneup tournaments.
Top-ranked Nadal won his fifth match without dropping a set by beating Gilles Simon 6-2, 7-5, 7-5, though he was strongly tested by the sixth-seeded Frenchman. Simon broke his serve three times - matching Nadal's total for the tournament - and had a set point with the Spaniard serving at 4-5 in the second set.
Nadal was up to the task, ripping several winners on the dead run that were never inside the court until they landed and skipped away untouched.
Simon, who won their last meeting in Madrid in October, is one of the quickest players around, but Nadal just ground him down by constantly sending him sprinting from corner to corner. Even with the roof still closed, the lanky Frenchman was pouring out sweat.
Nadal got his seventh service break on a forehand that caught the line for a 6-5 edge in the third set, then held at love with Simon sending a forehand long on match point.
His victory set up an all-Spanish semifinal, with 14th-seeded Fernando Verdasco - the lowest-ranked player to reach the quarterfinals - earlier beating No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, last year's runner-up, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The heat wave is forecast to continue Thursday. If Williams wins - Dementieva has won their last three meetings, including the Olympic quarterfinals - she would play a Russian for the third consecutive match in the final. Third-seeded Dinara Safina is facing fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva in the other semifinal.
"Me against the Russians, I guess," Williams said. With temperatures soaring to 43 C (109 F) on a cloudless day - moths were dying within seconds of touching down on the blistering surface and Williams had her rackets restrung during her match because they lost their tension - the retractable roof was closed after Kuznetsova won the first set.
Opponent left angry
The heat was beginning to take a toll on Williams, and the eighth-seeded Kuznetsova was angry at the decision. She felt that the break gave Williams time to recover and that playing indoors benefited the American's powerful serve.
"Why should I not be?" Kuznetsova said. "Game going my way. I was very comfortable playing outside. It's two different games. One you play inside; one you play outside. Serena was tough. She's playing great. I give her credit. But I don't get this rule."
Neither did other players.
Even though Dementieva won, she felt the roof should have been closed before her match started. Tournament officials called a news conference to explain the decision-making process, bringing in the official doctor and meteorologist to talk about the "Wet Bulb Globe measure" that determines when it's too hot. "We do this to protect the players and to protect their ability to perform optimally," said tournament director Craig Tiley.
The roof was closed for the first time during a match under the tournament's evolving heat policy, which was changed after a heat wave two years ago. At that time, matches which started under open skies had to finish that way.
Down a set and a break and with Kuznetsova serving for the match in the second set, Williams broke to get even at 5-5 when Kuznetsova missed an open-court volley that turned the match.
Once again, Williams won despite playing far from her best - she had 18 unforced errors to four winners in the first set.
"My balls started flying," she said. "They were pretty much hitting the people in the crowd. Definitely I was mortified at some of the shots I hit."
The break helped her pull herself together.
"With the roof closed ... it was definitely helpful," she said.