Fourth-seeded Murray saw off Jamaica’s Dustin Brown 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 on the same court earlier in the day.

Nadal next plays France’s Gilles Simon who defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3, while Murray takes on Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland who ousted Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.

There were mixed fortunes for US hopes with teenager Ryan Harrison squandering three match points against Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky in a fifth set tie-breaker before losing 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.

But Sam Querrey and John Isner both won through in the same quarter as Murray.

At the start of the day there were nine Spaniards and seven Frenchmen involved in the 16 ties that made up the top half of the draw.

By the end of play, seven of the Spanish had survived (the two losers going down to compatriots) and only two Frenchmen remained.

Nadal — seeking in New York to become just the seventh man to complete the career Grand Slam of Australian, French, Wimbledon and US crowns — was made to dig deep from 1-5 down in the second set tie-break against the 39th-ranked Istomin, taking six points in a row.

He then grabbed the only additional break he needed in the 12th game of the third set to clinch the win.

Murray had been expected to sweep past the unconventional Brown with little or no effort, and in the end he did so.

But he was left scratching his head at times in the first set by the towering Brown’s unorthodox play focused around a huge, whipping serve and some outrageous drop shots.

On top of that, early play was suspended for around 20 minutes as, courtesy of Hurricane Earl churning up the US eastern seaboard, a rain shower dampened the Flushing Meadows courts.

In the end, the dreadlock Brown, ranked 123rd in the world, had little left to offer and Murray even went for some extra practice afterwards to complete his day.

The emotional high of the day for home fans came out on the atmospheric Grandstand Court where 18-year-old Harrison, the youngest player left in the tournament, had three match points against Ukraine’s Stakhovsky in the fifth set tie-break.

But a double fault and some brave net play from a tiring Stakhovsky saved the day for the east European.

There was better news for US hopes, however, shortly afterwards on the adjacent Louis Armstrong Court when Wimbledon marathon man Isner won through to the third round with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 win over Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland, setting up a third round clash against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.

Querrey then cruised past Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

Tommy Robredo got the Spanish challenge off to strong start when his French opponent, Julian Benneteau, retired in a second set tie-break after injuring his left wrist stretching for a shot. Robredo had won the first set 6-4.

David Ferrer, the 10th seed, then bulldozed his way past Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and Feliciano Lopez saw off the challenge of France’s Benoit Paire 6-4, 6-7, 5-7, 7-6, 6-2.

French hopes suffered another blow when Jeremy Chardy fell to Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 and then Fernando Verdasco ousted Chardy’s compatriot Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

But serve and volley expert Michael Llodra brought some consolation for the French when he defied a painful left foot injury to defeat Victor Hanescu of Romania 7-6, 6-4, 6-2.

And late in day, Simon came through against Kohlschreiber to set up a third round clash with Nadal.

“It’s the perfect start,” Federer said. “I played Monday, had two days off, I had another easy one physically and here I am in the third round feeling like I’m completely in the tournament.”

Federer, a five-time US Open champion, will face 109th-ranked Paul-Henri Mathieu to decide a berth in the last 16 on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts.

“Body is well. Mentally obviously I’m fresh, too. I haven’t played too much, so I’m really eager,” Federer said. “I’m ready for tough matches coming around. It’s good I’m saving myself, really, and my game is fine.”

Serbian third seed Djokovic advanced 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) over German Philipp Petzschner, saying, “I was shaky the whole match but I was able to hold on.” Djokovic will face American James Blake for a berth in the round of 16.

Djokovic reached the 2007 US Open final and the Flushing Meadows semifinals the past two years, each time losing to Federer, whom he could again face in the semifinals.

Asked if he could duplicate Federer’s now-infamous between-the-legs shot from a Monday victory and last year’s semifinal triumph over Djokovic, the Serbian drew a laugh from the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.

“No, I have something else between my legs. But don’t worry, I will not show it to you tonight,” Djokovic said.

“Definitely it’s not one of my better shots. I think Roger is better at that.”

Russian Davydenko, a 2006 and 2007 US Open semifinal loser to Federer, fell 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to 38th-ranked Richard Gasquet. He next faces South African Kevin Anderson, a 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) winner over Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci.

Gasquet, among a record 12 Frenchmen to reach the second round, lost only seven of 52 points on his first serve as Davydenko made his quickest US Open exit since 2005.

Davydenko joined a US Open seeded scrap heap that includes No. 7 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, US ninth seed Andy Roddick and Croatia’s Cilic, who dropped the longest match of the week just 60 seconds shy of five hours.

“It was very humid. It wasn’t easy to get oxygen,” Cilic said. “I started to feel cramps in the end of the fourth set. But with that, I was all right toward the end of the match. It was just the general tiredness and exhaustion.”

Nishikori, ranked 147th, fought off cramping in the hottest day of a scorching week to defeat Australian Open semifinalist Cilic 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 in an exhausting five-hour duel.

“I was cramping from the second set but I kept fighting and fighting and got the fourth set tie-breaker. That was key for me,” Nishikori said.

“It was hot but I feel good now.”

Nishikori, whose run to the US Open fourth round in 2008 was his best Slam showing and the best here by a Japanese man since 1937, next faces Spanish 21st seed Albert Montanes, who beat Australian Carsten Ball 6-4, 6-3, 6-1.

Swedish fifth seed Robin Soderling reached the third round in straight sets as well, dumping American Taylor Dent 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.

“I’m pretty confident. I know I can do well when I play well,” Soderling said. “But you need to play well. No one can play well every match. So anything can happen. I can lose first round. I can go on really deep as well.”

US 19th seed Mardy Fish, who won two titles in July and was runner-up at Cincinnati last month, eliminated Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 7-5, 6-0, 6-2.

Next in Fish’s path is France’s Arnaud Clement, who led 6-3, 5-5 when Argentina’s Eduardo Schwank retired with an ankle injury.

Fish said he feels like he can crack the world top-10 next year and is confident he could win a possible fourth-round match against Djokovic.

“I’ve never put myself in position to be a guy who is talked about at a Grand Slam,” Fish said.

“I never think about that — I just try to win every match,” she said. “We’ll have to see what happens. Right now, I want to enjoy winning this tournament. It gives me a lot of confidence to win a tournament like this — it’s a huge tournament.”

The Rogers Cup final was held a day late after a weekend of relentless rain.

Zvonareva, a Wimbledon finalist, was clearly off her game. The eighth-seeded Russian at times let out shrieks after misfiring on routine shots. Wozniacki’s groundstrokes, meanwhile, were hitting the lines with their usual sharpness.

She picked up her third title of the year, after wins at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and at her home tournament in Copenhagen.

“I did what I had to do,” said Wozniacki, a first-time Rogers Cup champion.

Leading 5-3 in the first set, Wozniacki fell behind 0-40. But she responded with five straight points to close the set.

After breaking serve for a 5-2 lead in the second, Wozniacki wrapped it up with four straight points on her serve, gave a little fist pump and walked up to shake hands with her opponent.

Wozniacki took the 350,000-dollar winner’s prize while Zvonareva got 175,000 dollars.

The semifinals were played in the morning. Wozniacki beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-3, and Zvonareva advanced when her opponent, 10th-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, retired with a blister on her left foot. Zvonareva led 7-6, 1-0.

Trainers worked on Azarenka’s foot for several minutes. She got up and tried to walk, but immediately sat back down.

She said the injury was not severe enough to keep her out of the US Open.

“I don’t see how I got a blister after sitting on my [rear end] for two days,” said Azarenka, who was in tears as she spoke to reporters after the match. “I tried to deal with it, but I couldn’t continue.”

Wozniacki and the 11th-seeded Kuznetsova completed a semifinal that began Saturday and was stopped due to rain with Wozniacki leading 2-0, 0-15.

Zvonareva played her semifinal on the National Bank Court, a smaller venue adjacent to Centre Court, contributing to her problems in the final.

“It was a different court, different conditions,” she said. “It was difficult to keep my concentration. I was preparing to play Victoria for two days and they have absolutely different styles. In the final, I was still playing shots I would use in the semifinals. My head was not in the final.”

Sharapova needed two and a half hours to defeat Russian teen Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in the other semifinal. Sharapova made 40 unforced errors to 35 for her rival.

Clijsters led 2-1 after breaking Ivanovic in the third game, but the showdown of former world number ones would end after only 25 points being played and with the Serbian’s US Open hopes in great jeopardy.

Ivanovic hurt her left foot making a forehand return from the baseline and after one more shot dropped her racket and doubled over in pain.

“I was very scared,” Ivanovic said. “All of a sudden on that one shot, I felt something crack a little bit.

“Just on that one forehand when I went to step around it, I just felt like pain all of a sudden, so much pain in my foot and I couldn’t step on it anymore.”

Ivanovic limped to her chair and called for the trainer who taped the injured foot.

But after the next point, a serve Ivanovic never challenged, she halted the match and hobbled to the net where Clijsters embraced her and advancing to her third final of the year.

“I tried bit of tape, but I could not put any weight on it and there was no point in me continuing,” Ivanovic said.

Ivanovic, ranked 62nd, struggled with a right shoulder injury earlier this year and was in only her third semifinal of the year, having yet to reach a final.

“I played some really great tennis and I was very excited about this match,” Ivanovic said.

Clijsters made her return to tennis last year at Cincinnati after a two-year layoff to have a family and went on to lift the US Open trophy.

This year she missed nearly two months after a left foot injury that kept her out of the French Open.

“It sounds very similar to what I had with my left foot,” Clijsters said of Ivanovic’s injury. “I hope it’s not that bad.”

Clijsters, ranked seventh, ran for half an hour after the abbreviated match and practiced to keep her form.

This title was the first she has won this year, and it is very dear and special to her in all aspects. Azarenka beat Sharapova in straight sets by 6-4, 6-1 to win the hard-court event.A day after her 21st birthday, Azarenka broke the Russian three times in the first set then took advantage of Sharapova’s 16 unforced errors in the second set while committing only one to win the 700,000-dollar hardcourt event.

“I haven’t lost a match yet since I turned 21,” Azarenka said. “It’s great. I can have cake now.”
Azarenka, who will jump to 12th in the world rankings, improved to 19-5 this season on hardcourts, the surface where she has won her four career WTA titles and where she will play at the US Open later this month.

“It just brings me so much confidence and passion to go, especially before the US Open,” Azarenka said. “I’m glad I’m picking up my form and gaining so much confidence.”

Sharapova, who had won 17 of 20 prior matches, missed a chance to claim her third title of the year. She will improve to 13th in the rankings as she shos her best form since returning from a shoulder injury in May of 2009.

“I started making unforced errors off her returns and she stepped it up, took advantage and started to get on a roll,” Sharapova said. “I don’t think I served that smart. I need a higher percentage of first serves, in general and particularly against her.”

Azarenka took the 107,000-dollar top prize and improved to 2-2 lifetime against Sharapova, her first victory over the Russian since 2007.Azarenka needed four set points but finally took the first set when Sharapova sent a backhand wide. Azarenka twice rallied from 0-30 to hold serve, denying the Russian a third break to level.

“Maria is a great player. I had to dig my way in,” Azarenka said. “I was running a lot. It was tough to hold my serve. I had to play really well. I’m glad I kept fighting. Point by point it worked for me.”

Azarenka broke Sharapova to open the second set and again to seize a 4-1 lead and in the final game, which she claimed at love when Sharapova netted a forehand.

“I tried to start aggressive right away and not let her come in,” Azarenka said. “When she gets on a roll it’s hard to keep up. I had to be on top of her every moment and not give her the chance to come back.”

Sharapova shook off a first-set loss to beat Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday in the Bank of the West Classic to set up a championship match against Victoria Azarenka.

Azarenka, from Belarus, celebrated her 21st birthday with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over top-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-3.
Sharapova said she had to deal with doubts following her return to the tour in May 2009 after a 10-month absence due to shoulder surgery.

Her shoulder has held up and the doubts have evaporated.

“It’s been a long road,” she said. “I’m just so happy to come out and not worry about too many things. I’m happy to just play tennis.”

Fifth-seeded and 15th-ranked, Sharapova is undefeated in four semifinal matches this season and will be looking for her third title.
The Russian star and the third-seeded Radwanska are both expected to move up in the rankings when they are released Monday. Radwanska, 0-3 in semifinals, is projected to nudge into the top 10.

“She wins a lot of her matches by wearing down her opponents,” Sharapova said. “You always have to be ready for your shot to come back.”

Sharapova committed eight double faults, but none in the third set. She recorded four aces with a serve that reached 114 mph.
Sharapova has won 17 of her last 20 matches and hopes to crash Azarenka’s celebration.
Azarenka has won 10 of her last 12 matches and is unbeaten in four career meetings against Stosur, who was playing her first tournament since reaching her career-high ranking at No. 5.

“I was pretty good on the return,” Azarenka said. “I think I just have long arms and that’s the key. If I can react fast enough I can usually get there.”

The 26-year-old Stosur lost to eventual champion Marion Bartoli in last year’s semifinal at Stanford.
“She played well today and it wasn’t my best day,” Stosur said. “She punished me when I was being too conservative.”
Azarenka took advantage of Stosur’s difficulty on first serves and played a solid return game. She kept the Australian on her heels with strong forehands.

“I’m finally injury free and enjoying my time on the court,” Azarenka said. “I’m starting to move a little bit better and my defense has improved. That’s helped my offense. I’ve also been working hard on my serve and it’s getting consistent.”
Stosur is projected to remain No. 5 next week while Azarenka can move up to No. 12 if she wins the title.

Source : thedailystar.net

Williams is the reigning champion in both singles and women’s doubles at the Australian Open, the reigning singles champion at Wimbledon, and in women’s doubles at the French Open and the US Open. Her 27 Grand Slam titles places her ninth on the all-time list: 13 in singles, 12 in women’s doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles. She is the most recent player, male or female, to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously and only the fifth woman in history to do so. Her 13 Grand Slam singles titles is sixth on the all-time list.Williams ranks fourth in Grand Slam women’s singles titles won during the Open Era, behind Steffi Graf (22 titles) and Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova (18 titles each).She has won more Grand Slam titles in singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles than any other active female player.

2010:

Williams’s first scheduled tournament was the Medibank International Sydney. She defeated Frenchwoman Aravane Rezaï in the semifinals 3–6, 7–5, 6–4 after trailing 5–2 in the second set and being two points from defeat. She then lost the final to World No. 5 and defending champion Elena Dementieva 6–3, 6–2.

At the Australian Open, Williams was the defending champion in both singles and doubles (with sister Venus). She reached the singles quarterfinals without losing a service game or a set, where she eliminated Victoria Azarenka for the third straight Australian Open, 4–6, 7–6(4), 6–2 after trailing 4–0 in the second set. In the semifinals, Williams defeated 16th seeded Li Na 7–6(4), 7–6(1) on her fifth match point to reach her fifth final in Melbourne and her fifteenth Grand Slam singles final. She then defeated 2004 champion Justine Henin 6–4, 3–6, 6–2 for her twelfth Grand Slam singles title. This was the first time that Henin and Williams had played each other in a Grand Slam tournament final.Williams is the first female player to win back-to-back Australian Open titles since Jennifer Capriati in 2001–02.In doubles, Serena and Venus successfully defended their title by defeating the top ranked team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the final 6–4, 6–3.

A leg injury then caused Williams to withdraw from five consecutive tournaments, including the Premier 5 Dubai Tennis Championships and the Premier Mandatory Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne.

She returned to the WTA tour at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome where she lost to Jelena Jankovi? in the semifinals 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(5) after failing to convert a match point while serving at 5–4 in the third set, and then surrendering a 5–2 lead in the deciding tiebreaker.

At the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, she received a first round bye. In her first match, she made 73 unforced errors in defeating Vera Dushevina in the longest match of her career, 3 hours, 26 minutes, 6–7(2), 7–6(5), 7–6(5). Williams saved a match point at 6–5 in the second set, then injured her upper leg early in the third set. She then fell to 16th seeded Nadia Petrova 4–6, 6–2, 6–3. Williams won only two of her eighteen opportunities to break Petrova’s serve. She teamed with Venus to win the doubles title.

At the French Open, she moved through the first three rounds with ease, and then defeated Shahar Pe’er in the fourth round before losing to Samantha Stosur in the quarterfinals 6–3, 6–7(2), 8–6. Williams made 46 unforced errors and squandered a match point at 5–4 in the final set. Williams has not advanced past the quarterfinals at this event since 2003. She also played doubles with Venus as the top seeds. Their defeat of Huber and Anabel Medina Garrigues in the semifinals improved their doubles ranking to World No. 1. They then defeated 12th seeds Kv?ta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik in the final 6–2, 6–3 to win their fourth consecutive Grand Slam women’s doubles title

“It feels great. This is what I’ve been putting in the work for. I feel as good as I’ve ever felt in my career,” said Fish, winner of his last 10 matches and a winner of two tournaments in a year for the first time in his career.
“Playing in the heat, you have to convince yourself you feel better than the other guy, even if you’re feeling it. I struggled at the end of the match. I wasn’t used to the weather as I had played at night.

“I felt great until about 5-all in the third set, but I didn’t want to leave anything out there. I was maybe a little lucky to pull through. It was an extremely physical match with all of the heat. He’s no fun to play. He gives a lot of people trouble.
“My confidence is really high right now.”

Second seed Isner, winner of the longest match ever played in the sport when he won in the first round at Wimbledon, may still not have totally overcome the mental physical drain from that 11-hour contest a month ago.
Isner remains on one title this season, obtained at the start of the season in Auckland.
“Conditions were brutal again,” said Isner. “The first hour was the hottest. It took a lot out of both of us. I’ve never played in conditions this hot and humid.

“We were both just scrapping it out. This is the third final this year that I could have won. It’s disappointing — four finals this year and I’ve lost my last three.
“I know that sooner or later it will happen — I’ll make sure of that. It stinks to lose this tournament.”
The second seed was unable to put the match away after winning the first set with the break of serve which counted at the end after missing on his first five.

But Fish, playing in the faster daytime conditions which speed up the court and ball, managed to find his rhythm in the second as the heat began to war down big man Isner.
Floridian Fish profited as Isner struck a double-fault to set up a set point, which Fish grabbed to square the sets at one each.
The sixth seed went up a 3-1 break in the third set only to lose it a game later. As the last set wound into a tiebreaker Fish’s form again began to lift.

The winner over top seed Andy Roddick in the semi-finals earned a 4-1 margin, held off Isner and earned three match points as Isner hit a tired return long.
Fish advanced to victory on his second chance on a concluding unforced error from his weary opponent.
Fish lost around 15 kilograms last autumn as he recovered from knee surgery and the results has been a vast improvement in his game and fitness.

He now stands 16-2 on the ATP since the start of June after earning a finals spot on grass at Queen’s club but losing to American Sam Querrey.

Source : thedailystar.net

The American was hurt while she was in Munich this month — shortly after winning her fourth Wimbledon singles title on July 3, and before playing in an exhibition match against Kim Clijsters that drew a tennis-record crowd of 35,681 in Brussels on July 8.

“She will start training again as soon as she’s healed,” Smoller said.

Williams already has pulled out of three hard-court tournaments she was scheduled to enter in preparation for the U.S. Open. The season’s last major championship begins Aug. 30 in New York.

She withdrew from the July 26-Aug. 1 event in Istanbul, the Aug. 9-15 event in Mason, Ohio, and the Aug. 16-22 event in Montreal.

The foot injury also led the 28-year-old Williams to miss the full World TeamTennis season for the Washington Kastles.

Generally, neither Williams nor her older sister Venus, a seven-time major singles champion, publicly discusses injuries.

Serena Williams already missed all of February, March and April this year because of a left knee problem. She is 25-4 with two singles titles in 2010 — at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

She won her first Grand Slam championship at age 17 at the 1999 U.S. Open, and she also won the title there in 2002 and 2008. Last year, as the defendingchampion , she lost in the semifinals to Clijsters when a tirade at a line judge over a foot-fault call at the end of the match resulted in a point penalty.

“Serena Williams is one of our sport’s greatest champions, and we are very hopeful she will be back at the U.S. Open. We communicate with her team frequently, and will continue to do so,” Open tournament director Jim Curley said. “We wish her a speedy recovery.”

Williams is missing the entire World Team Tennis season with the Washington Kastles. Her team said she cut the bottom of her foot and needed stitches.
“Hey guys I’m doing better,” Williams tweeted Monday. “Thanks for all the love.”
On Sunday night she tweeted: “can’t wait to get out of bed & back on the courts & do what i do best!”
Ranked No. 1, Williams won her fourth Wimbledon crown and 13th major title July 3. The injury occurred shortly thereafter in Europe and at first was not believed to be serious.
After hurting her foot, Williams played in an exhibition in Brussels on July 8 against Clijsters before a world-record tennis crowd of 35,681.
Williams attended a WTT match the next night in Glen Falls, N.Y., and did not play but briefly discussed her injury with reporters. When asked how she was able to play against Clijsters, Williams said, “Those Belgian doctors and waffles.”
Clijsters said she knew before the exhibition that Williams was hurt pretty seriously.
“I saw her before we started but she didn’t go into how it happened,” Clijsters said. “I told her how much I admired her for coming out there. A lot of players in her situation wouldn’t have done it.”
Williams subsequently withdrew from upcoming tournaments in Istanbul, Cincinnati and Montreal. The last of those, at Montreal, begins Aug. 16, and the U.S. Open starts Aug. 30.
“You want the best players to be out there, especially at the U.S. Open,” Clijsters said. “It would be sad not to have Serena there.”
After winning the Australian Open at the end of January, Williams was sidelined through April because of an injured left knee.

* Not in top 100 for this category

Source: tennis.fanhouse