Serena Williams matched one of
Margaret Court’s records at the Australian Open on Wednesday as she advanced to
the third round with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Vesna Dolonc.Williams improved her
record to 60-8 at Melbourne Park, equaling Court’s 60 match wins in the Open
era at the Australian championship.
Court, who won seven of her 11
Australian titles before the Open era began in 1968, has a show court named in
her honour adjacent to Rod Laver Arena.Two fans held up a sign on Wednesday
saying centre court was “Serena’s Arena.”She walked into the stadium wearing a
fitted pink blazer, despite the heat which topped 40 Celsius (104F) during the
63-minute match.
Williams fended off the only
break point she faced against the No. 104-ranked Dolonc with an ace in the
sixth game of the second set.Despite having trouble at times on her ball toss
when she was looking into the sun, the 17-time major winner fired 10 aces, won
85 percent of points when she got her first serve in and hit 24 winners,
sticking to the strategy for a hot day as she extended her winning streak to 24
matches.“I just try to hit a bunch of aces and a bunch of winners that’s all
you can do because it’s too hot to get into long rallies,” she said.
Li Na completed back-to-back
wins over the two youngest players in the draw to reach the third round.The
2011 French Open champion, a two-time finalist at Melbourne Park, raced through
the first set against 16-year-old Belinda Bencic in 22 minutes, conceding just
10 points. She had to work harder in the second before winning 6-0, 7-6 (5).Li,
from Wuhan, one of the three “Stove Cities” in central China renowned for hot
temperatures, turns 32 next month. In the first round, she dropped just two
games as she accounted for 16-year-old Ana Konjuh, the youngest player in the
tournament. Bencic and Konjuh each won two of the four junior majors in 2013.
“It’s warm, but it’s OK,” Li
said.
She’ll next meet No. 26 Lucie
Safarova, who beat Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-0.
Temperatures topped 42 Celsius
(108F) on Tuesday, and there were a total of nine retirements in the first
round, equaling a Grand Slam record. The forecast is for the heat wave to
continue until Friday, with daily maximums above 40 C (104F).
The players are finding ways to
cope, using ice vests and wet towels in the changeovers. In Wednesday’s first
match on Margaret Court Arena, the heat rule went into effect allowing No.
15-seeded Sabine Lisicki and Monica Niculescu a 10-minute break after the
second set.
Niculescu returned to win 2-6,
6-2, 6-2 and will next play No. 22 Ekaterina Makarova, who followed up her
first—round win over Venus Williams with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over American Irina
Falconi.
Mona Barthel had a 4-6, 6-3,
6-4 win over Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum, who upset 2011 Wimbledon champion
Petra Kvitova in the first round.
On the men’s side, No. 7 Tomas
Berdych advanced with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 win over Kenny de Schepper of France and
No. 9 Richard Gasquet beat Russian veteran Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-4.
Bosnian qualifier Damir Dzumhur
advanced when No. 32-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia retired while leading in the
fourth set.
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