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Caroline Wozniacki - Source: Reuters
Defending champion Venus Williams eased into the third round of
the Dubai Championships on Wednesday with a 6-2 6-3 victory over
Germany's Sabine Lisicki.
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki had to recover from 1-5 and save a set
point to defeat Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 7-6 while second seed
Svetlana Kuznetsova received a walkover when Spain's Anabel Medina
Garrigues withdrew with a back injury.
Israel's Shahar Peer lined up a meeting with Denmark's Wozniacki
with a decisive 6-2 6-2 win over 2009 runner-up Virginie Razzano of
France.
Williams needed to be patient against an opponent who struck
several spectacular winners but failed to find consistency in the
face of some strong serving and baseline play from the third-seeded
American.
Williams broke for 4-2 after Lisicki struck two double faults and
then netted a forehand. Another break at 5-2 sealed the set, but
Williams faced more of a challenge in the second as Lisicki held a
break point at 0-0 and three more at 2-2.
Williams once again broke to lead 4-2 with a forehand winner and
although Lisicki hit a winning return in the next game to recover
the break she then netted a backhand on break point to give
Williams a 5-3 lead.
Williams told reporters: "She was really going for it and playing
aggressively, but I definitely was able to get a feel after the
first set for what she was doing."
Russian Vera Zvonareva, playing her sixth match in six days after
winning the Pattaya title in Thailand on Monday, thrashed Belgian
qualifier Kirsten Flipkens 6-0 6-0.
In contrast, sixth-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic struggled before
overcoming Aravane Rezai of France 4-6 6-4 7-5 and Chinese eighth
seed Li Na was stretched before winning six of the last seven games
to overcome Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 7-6 2-6 6-4.
Fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva was forced to retire against
Daniela Hantuchova due to a shoulder injury with the Slovak leading
6-4 1-1.
