My Tennis Heroes Online video Rating: 5 / five
WILLIAMS LOSES OUT
Venus Williams has been defeated by Maria Sharapova in the third round of the Australian Open 2013 yesterday. Sharapova won the match in the straight sets by 6-1, 6-3. With this victory, Sharapova made her way into the final 32. She took just 80 minutes to win the match.
A tight contest was expected between these two high quality players, but, that didn’t happen. The match turned out to be a one sided one.
It was a clinical effort by the Russian superstar. She hit a total of 17 winners in the match.
Sharapova got 13 breakpoints in the match and she converted five of them. Her forehand shots were brilliant. It was a treat to watch her play yesterday.
On the other hand, Venus was far from her best. She made mistakes throughout the match. The American superstar committed a total of 26 unforced errors in the match.
Sharapova started the match in a blistering manner. In the first set, she won the first four games consecutively to take a lead of 4-0. Both the players held their service in the next two games and at the end of the sixth game; the scorecard was showing 5-1 in Sharapova’s favour. Sharapova again got a break chance in the 7th game and she didn’t waste that. She broke Venus’ service for the third time in the set and sealed the first set by 6-1.
Sharapova was equally aggressive in the second set as well. She broke Venus’ service in the second game and won the first three games in a row. The next two games went with the serve.
Venus’ service was broken in the sixth game again and at the end of the sixth game, Sharapova was ahead by 5-1. Venus made a bit of a comeback by breaking Sharapova’s service in the 7th game and then, serving out the eighth game. But, that was too little, too late. Sharapova wrapped up the match with a serve hold in the ninth game.
In the next round, Sharapova will take on Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.
Roger Federer Gets His Accreditation – Australian Open 2013
My Tennis Heroes Online video Ranking: 4 / five
WILLIAMS PERFORMS BRILLIANTLY
Venus Williams performed brilliantly for USA in the Hopman Cup encounter against South Africa. Because of Venus’ effort, USA defeated South Africa by 2-1.
The USA team didn’t have a very good start. In the first singles match, Kevin Anderson defeated John Isner in a close game by 7-6(0), 7-6(5). But, Venus brought her team back into the match by winning the next singles match. She defeated Chanelle Scheepers by 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Then, in the final mixed doubles match, Williams and Isner defeated the South African pair easily in the straight sets by 6-3, 6-2 and won the encounter.
In the singles match against Scheepers, Venus was looking rusty in the first set. The first eight games of the first set went with the serve and the scores were levelled at 4-4 at that stage. Scheepers got a breakthrough in the ninth game and then, served out the next game to seal the first set.
Venus lifted the standard of her game in the second set. She broke Scheepers’ service twice and won the second set easily by 6-2. In the third and final set, Venus played even more aggressively. She won the first four games on the trot to take a lead of 4-0. After that, it was not easy for Scheepers to make a comeback. She got a breakthrough towards the end of the set, but, that was not enough. Venus eventually won the set by 6-3 and finished off the match.
In the post match interview, Venus said, “I was playing after a while, so, initially, I was not able to hit the ball fluently. But, slowly, I got back into rhythm.”
“I was under a bit of pressure as we had lost the first match and after losing the first set, I got even more nervous. But, fortunately, I managed to hold my nerves in the next two sets.”
SERENA BEATS VENUS
Serena Williams has defeated her sister Venus Williams in an exhibition match at Ellis Park Indoor Arena in South Africa. Serena won the match in the straight sets by 6-3, 6-4. In the previous exhibition match played at Nigeria, Serena had failed in getting better of her sister, but, she was bang on target in the second match. She looked confident and played a lot of her trademark powerful shots to win the match easily. On whole, this was the 13th exhibition match played between the two sisters out of which, Serena has won four. Almost 4000 people were present to watch the match and they enjoyed themselves a lot.
In the first set, both the players held their service in the first 5 games and the score was 3-2 in the favour of Serena at the end of the fifth game. Serena got a breakthrough in the sixth game and she served out the next game to extend her lead to 5-2. Venus held her service in the eighth game, but, that was it for her in the set. Serena wrapped up the set with a serve hold in the next game.
In the second set, the competition was tougher than the first one. There were no breakthroughs in the first eight games. But, again it was Serena who managed to sneak a breakthrough in the ninth game. She easily served out the tenth game and finished off the match.
After the match, Serena said, “I enjoyed a lot playing here in South Africa. The last few days have been fantastic. The reception that I received here was just superb. I would again like to come here and spend a few days.”
“People love tennis in this country. These were just exhibition matches, but, the kind of response that the people have given to these matches is amazing.”