Thursday, September 3, 2009

Safina scrapes through at US Open

US OPEN
Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York Date: 31 August - 13 September
BBC coverage: Live text commentaries on the website from 1600 BST each day, regular updates on 5 live, full commentary on 5 live sports extra in week two, both finals on 5 live, tennis special on 5 live (3 September, 2000-2100 BST)


Russia's Elena Dementieva lost her second-round match
Dementieva is still searching for her first Gland Slam victory

Russia's Elena Dementieva became the first big name casualty of the US Open as the fourth seed lost her second-round match to Melanie Oudin.

Dementieva lost 5-7 6-4 6-2 as American Oudin, ranked number 70 in the world, survived a thigh injury in the third set to close out a famous victory.

Top seed Dinara Safina continued to struggle as she defeated Germany's Kristina Barrois 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3.

Former champion Maria Sharapova plays her second-round match on Thursday.

The 2006 champion, seeded 29, takes on Christina McHale under the floodlights, with the winner meeting Oudin in the third round.

Safina survived a huge scare to beat Australian world number 167 Olivia Rogowska 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4 in her first-round match.

And she again looked out of sorts against Barrois, particularly with her brittle serve.

Safina, who has never won a Grand Slam, made 15 double faults during a match that lasted more than two hours.

606: DEBATE
We're-Gooner-Get-Ya

Barrois looked set to pull off a real upset when she took a 2-0 lead in the third set but Safina showed great determination to win four of the next five games.

The German then had four break points to level at 4-4 but Safina held her nerve to move two games clear and broke Barrois to take the match.

Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, the runner-up in 2008, takes on Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova later on Thursday.

Sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia is also in action as she takes on Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova in her second-round match.

Thirteenth seed Nadia Petrova of Russia eased into the third round with a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victory over France's Julie Coin.

No comments: