Egypt's NUCA, SHMFF sign New Cairo land allocation for integrated urban project    CIB named Egypt's Bank of the Year 2025 as factoring portfolio hits EGP 4bn    Egypt declares Red Sea's Great Coral Reef a new marine protected area    Oil prices edge higher on Thursday    Gold prices fall on Thursday    Egypt, Volkswagen discuss multi-stage plan to localise car manufacturing    Egypt denies coordination with Israel over Rafah crossing    Egypt to swap capital gains for stamp duty to boost stock market investment    Egypt tackles waste sector funding gaps, local governance reforms    Egypt, Switzerland explore expanded health cooperation, joint pharmaceutical ventures    Egypt recovers two ancient artefacts from Belgium    Private Egyptian firm Tornex target drones and logistics UAVs at EDEX 2025    Egypt opens COP24 Mediterranean, urges faster transition to sustainable blue economy    Egypt's Abdelatty urges deployment of international stabilisation force in Gaza during Berlin talks    Egypt, Saudi nuclear authorities sign MoU to boost cooperation on nuclear safety    Giza master plan targets major hotel expansion to match Grand Egyptian Museum launch    Australia returns 17 rare ancient Egyptian artefacts    China invites Egypt to join African duty-free export scheme    Egypt calls for stronger Africa-Europe partnership at Luanda summit    Egypt begins 2nd round of parliamentary elections with 34.6m eligible voters    Egypt warns of erratic Ethiopian dam operations after sharp swings in Blue Nile flows    Egypt scraps parliamentary election results in 19 districts over violations    Egypt extends Ramses II Tokyo Exhibition as it draws 350k visitors to date    Egypt signs host agreement for Barcelona Convention COP24 in December    Al-Sisi urges probe into election events, says vote could be cancelled if necessary    Filmmakers, experts to discuss teen mental health at Cairo festival panel    Cairo International Film Festival to premiere 'Malaga Alley,' honour Khaled El Nabawy    Egypt golf team reclaims Arab standing with silver; Omar Hisham Talaat congratulates team    Egypt launches National Strategy for Rare Diseases at PHDC'25    Egypt launches Red Sea Open to boost tourism, international profile    Omar Hisham Talaat: Media partnership with 'On Sports' key to promoting Egyptian golf tourism    Sisi expands national support fund to include diplomats who died on duty    Egypt's PM reviews efforts to remove Nile River encroachments    Egypt resolves dispute between top African sports bodies ahead of 2027 African Games    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Tennis: Del Potro out, Azarenka scare but Serena, Murray progress
Williams and Murray reach the last 16 of the Australian Open on Saturday but del Potro Azarenka have a big scare
Reuters Published in Ahram Online on 19 - 01 - 2013

Juan Martin del Potro suffered the first real upset and Victoria Azarenka had a big scare, but Serena Williams and Andy Murray eased through challenging ties to reach the last 16 of the Australian Open on Saturday.
After five days at the year's first grand slam without any major shocks, two came along within minutes as Jeremy Chardy downed Argentine sixth seed Del Potro and Andreas Seppi showed 12th seed Marin Cilic the door at Melbourne Park.
Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, had battled back from two sets down to level the contest but the mercurial Chardy grabbed a break in the decider and held his nerve to serve out for a 6-3 6-3 6-7 3-6 6-3 win.
"I had nothing to lose today so it was easy to play," said the world number 36. "I knew that if I wanted to win the match, I had to go for it from the start.
"It's a big win for me, maybe the best of my career."
As Chardy was packing away his rackets on Hisense Arena, Italian Seppi was securing his place as the Frenchman's opponent by wrapping up a 6-7 6-3 2-6 6-4 6-2 win over Croatian Cilic, a semi-finalist in 2010.
While Williams and Murray were troubled by their opponents but never looked like losing, defending champion and world number one Azarenka was forced to dig deep for her spot in the fourth round.
The Belarusian had to come back from a break down in the deciding set to overcome injury-hampered American Jamie Hampton 6-4 4-6 6-2 and her frustration and relief were palpable.
"She took a medical timeout but she rips winners all over the place," said Azarenka. "I was like 'can I have a back problem? I'm feeling great but I'm missing every shot'.
"Winning ugly always means that you overcome something," she added.
Nonsense tennis
Williams, seeking a sixth crown at Melbourne Park and a third successive grand slam title, was 3-0 down in the second set against world number 72 Ayumi Morita after suffering a service break for the first time in the tournament.
Showing no discomfort from the ankle strain she sustained in the opening round, the third seed stormed back to win the next six games and dismiss the Japanese 6-1 6-3.
"I feel good," the 31-year-old American said. "I feel today was actually a really good match for me. I was involved in a lot of longer points, something I definitely wanted. I hope I can keep this level up and go higher."
U.S. Open champion Murray berated himself for playing "nonsense" tennis at times but eventually broke down his Lithuanian practice partner Ricardas Berankis 6-3 6-4 7-5 after 132 minutes in the Melbourne sun.
"Sometimes when you are struggling, you get very frustrated," said the British third seed. "I need to strike the ball better. My timing was off and I was leaving a lot of balls very short and allowing him to dictate some of the points."
Murray will next face either Gilles Simon or Gael Monfils, who meet later on Hisense Arena in a match that guarantees four Frenchman will be in the fourth round for the first time since 1998.
Ninth seed Richard Gasquet's progress was by no means smooth and he was in a hole of his own at a set and a break down before charging back to beat Croatian Ivan Dodig 4-6 6-3 7-6 6-0.
His seventh seeded compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had an easier day, hammering Blaz Kavcic 6-2 6-1 6-4 as the Slovenian paid the price for the four hours and 50 minutes he spent in the 40 degree Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) heat on Thursday in his second round tie.
"We have a lot of good players," said Chardy of the French charge. "I think everybody start to play well this year. So I don't know. I don't know what is the thing. We just play good."
Australia will be hoping that Bernard Tomic can maintain the upset trend in the evening match on Rod Laver Arena when he comes face to face with Roger Federer.
(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports)
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/62800.aspx

Clic here to read the story from its source.