Serena sizzles but Sharapova falls to Kvitova
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, October 24, 2014
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Serena Williams kept alive her hopes of qualifying for the semifinals of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore thanks to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Eugenie Bouchard on Thursday. |
Serena Williams hit back from her embarrassing defeat at the WTA Finals by demolishing Eugenie Bouchard 6-1, 6-1 to keep her campaign alive in fearsome fashion last night.
After only winning two games against Simona Halep, a grimly focused Williams only lost two against Bouchard as she swept the glamorous Canadian off court and out of the tournament in 58 minutes.
The defending champion lost the first game but then grabbed 11 in a row, including a serve recorded at 205 kilometers an hour in the second set, not far off Sabine Lisicki's world record.
It was exactly the response needed from the world No. 1 after Wednesday's 0-6, 2-6 loss to Romania's Halep — her heaviest since 1998 — put the skids under her attempt at a third straight year-end title.
"Yesterday was tough for me but I had to put that behind me," Williams said. "My coach told me I was still in the tournament, even though I felt like I was out of the tournament."
Despite the big victory, Williams will still crash out if Halep fails to win a set against Ana Ivanovic in the final Red Group round-robin match today. Bouchard departs Singapore after her third defeat.
Earlier, Maria Sharapova slumped 3-6, 2-6 to Petra Kvitova as both her title hopes, and her chances of overtaking Williams and finishing the year as world No. 1, receded dramatically.
The Russian superstar, also beaten in her opener against Caroline Wozniacki, now needs to win the end-of-season championship and hope Williams doesn't reach the final to become year-end No. 1.
But her first loss to Kvitova since 2011 left her campaign hanging by a thread as she sits bottom of White Group with two defeats and one round-robin match left against Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska.
"Of course I had a long match, over three hours a day ago, but I don't feel tired," said Sharapova, who lost in three tough sets to Wozniacki.
And a repeat of Wozniacki's epic against Sharapova looked on the cards when the Dane fought with Radwanska in a tight opening set which featured five breaks of serve.
But the former world No. 1 raced through the second set to win 7-5, 6-3 and close on a spot in the semifinals.
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