Date:06/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/06/stories/2008030660072300.htm

Sport

Serena overcomes Obziler’s challenge

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

Amanmuradova’s giant-killing run continues; Bammer loses to Rodionova

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

SLOW START: Serena Williams took time to settle down in her match against Tzipora Obziler.

Bangalore: The applause from the stands was spontaneous and though chants of “come on Serena” more for the television cameras, there was indeed strong support for the former World No. 1 and current No. 10. Serena Williams. The third seed did not disappoint her fans as she defeated Israel’s unseeded Tzipora Obziler 7-5, 6-0 in the second round of the Bangalore Open here on Wednesday night.

Serena struggled with her serve and she was often off-balance as she went for some ambitious strokes. However, she packed enough power to defeat Obziler.

Coming into the tournament after a lay-off following a gum surgery after the Australian Open, Serena was tentative in her opening service game, delivering two double faults in losing it. But she broke back immediately — and the pattern continued till 2-2.

Soon their serves and their nerves settled, and after 4-4, Serena stepped it up. Forehand winners screamed past Obziler — the Israeli did manage a few beguiling passing shots — and Serena pocketed the first set. She switched gears in the second, reeling off six games in a row.

“I am still not 100 per cent and I did make some errors in the first set as she (Obziler) never let me settle into a rhythm but I am happy being here considering what I went through about two and a half weeks back,” Serena said.

Meanwhile fourth-seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland defeated Aiko Nakamura of Japan 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-2 in a match that lasted 117 minutes.

Serena’s and Schnyder’s wins offered some respite to seeded players after fifth-seed Agnes Szavay of Hungary and sixth-seed Sybille Bammer of Austria crashed out of the tournament earlier in the day. Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan continued her giant-killing act — she ousted defending champion Yaroslava Shvedova in Monday’s first round — as she upset Szavay 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.

Despite losing the first set, Amanmuradova, ranked 83, came back in the second set and had all the answers in the tie-breaker. She then cantered through the decider. The 18th ranked Szavay struggled with eight double faults while Amanmuradova fired in 16 aces. Szavay showed her finesse in patches but that was not enough as she failed to cash in on Amanmuradova’s weak backhand. “It was tough to return her big serves,” said Szavay.

Sybille Bammer, meanwhile, looked a pale shadow of herself against Russia’s unseeded Anastasia Rodionova. The Russian won 7-6(5), 6-2. After a close first set, Bammer slumped with a volley error and a wide forehand to trail 2-4 in the second set and she never recovered.

Later in the night, the wild-card duo of Serena and Venus Williams lost 5-7, 6-2, 11-9 to the third-seeded pair of Shuai Peng and Tiantian Sun of China in the doubles quarterfinals.

The results: Singles: Second round: Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) bt 5-Agnes Szavay (Hun) 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4; Anastasia Rodionova (Rus) bt 6-Sybille Bammer (Aut) 7-6(5), 6-2; 3-Serena Williams (USA) bt Tzipora Obziler (Isr) 7-5, 6-0; 4-Patty Schnyder (Sui) bt Aiko Nakamura (Jpn) 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-2.

Doubles: Quarterfinals: 3-Shuai Peng & Tiantian Sun (Chn) bt Serena Williams & Venus Williams (USA) 5-7, 6-2, 11-9; 1-Yung Jan Chan & Chia Jung Chuang (Tpe) bt Ayumi Morita & Junri Morita (Jpn) 7-6(0), 6-3. First round: Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) & Olga Savchuk (Ukr) bt 2-Zi Yan & Jie Zheng (Chn) 6-3, 3-6, 10-8; Ekaterina Dzehalevich (Blr) & Monica Niculescu (Rou) bt Agnes Szatmari (Rou) & Aurelie Vedy (Fra) 4-6, 6-4, 10-7.