Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters advanced to the third round of the $2 million WTA hardcourt tournament on Wednesday.
Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters advanced to the third round of the $2 million WTA hardcourt tournament on Wednesday.
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Serena Williams ousted Kazakh qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-2, scoring eight points in a row at one stage as she booked a third-round matchup against Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko, the sister of the player who ousted her sister Venus Williams.
Serena swatted a lunging forehand winner to win the penultimate game of the match, doing a split at the finish and pumping her fist with joy.
"I'm really flexible," Serena said. "I love doing the splits off the court... I never really expect to do it on the court. On the hardcourt sometimes you can slide, and before you know it you just do the splits."
Even if Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Serena wins this week, World No 1 Dinara Safina, who was eliminated, will top next week's rankings.
Belgium's Kim Clijsters, in her second event back since a two-year break to start a family, eliminated ninth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.
Clijsters will next face fifth seed Jankovic, who defeated Swiss Patty Schnyder 7-5, 6-4.
Sharapova, making a shoulder injury comeback, struggled but advanced by ousting Germany's Sybille Bammer, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5). Next for her is Russian seventh seed Vera Zvonareva, who beat Italian qualifier Roberta Vinci 6-3, 6-3.
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| Maria Sharapova |
"I'm actually having a competition with myself to see how many errors and double-faults I can make and still win the match in two sets," Sharapova joked.
"The fact that I served that way and still won the match in two sets is certainly going to give me a lot of confidence when my arm is where it needs to be and when my serve gets to where it has to be."
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