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Sharapova sharp in rout while Roddick moves on
2007-08-31
Maria Sharapova needed only 51 minutes to overwhelm Australian Casey Dellacqua in the second round of the U.S. Open Thursday, serving notice that she is focused, in-form and determined to defend her title. The second-seeded Sharapova blasted 30 winners while yielding only two to her opponent during a 6-1 6-0 rout under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium. "I'm just trying to play solid from the first point until the end," said Sharapova, one of 10 Russian women in the third round. "I don't want to give my opponents any chances. "I just got to do my job and get off the court." Most of the favorites breezed through on a sunny day and a cool evening at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. On the men's side, fifth seed Andy Roddick celebrated his 25th birthday with a second-round victory over Argentine Jose Acasuso, who retired with a knee injury at the end of the third set. Roddick, the 2003 champion, said he was just glad to advance. "It's not the way you want to get through but at the beginning of the day all you want to do is get through to the third round," admitted the American, who was leading 4-6 6-1 6-2 when Acasuso left the court. HINGIS ADVANCES Other winners included fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, number six American James Blake, ninth seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and Britan's number 19 Andy Murray. Richard Gasquet was the first casualty of the day when the French 13th seed pulled out with a fever. The withdrawal handed American wildcard Donald Young a walkover into the third round. On the women's side, 16th seed Martina Hingis sliced, lobbed and chipped her way to a 6-2 7-5 win over Pauline Parmentier of France while fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova employed power tennis in a 6-3 4-6 6-0 victory over Camille Pin. "You try to mix it up, to give the opponent a different look every time," said Hingis, who won the tournament a decade ago. "I think the crowd enjoyed it, too." Sharapova's competition in the tournament will certainly get stronger but the Russian was particularly sharp against a bewildered Dellacqua. "I think she'll most definitely go all the way," the 90th-ranked Dellacqua told reporters, still shellshocked from Sharapova's driving groundstrokes. Sharapova landed 78 percent of her first serves and won 52 of the match's 75 points. She has now lost two games in two matches. "The night matches are always a little bit of a bigger motivation factor," said Sharapova, who wore the same elegant red dress from her opening match on Tuesday. "You're treated as entertainers and you go on court and you feel like you have to perform well."
Justin Henin completes Sister Slam final (2007-09-08)Henin beats Venus at U.S. Open (2007-09-07)Sharapova sharp in rout while Roddick moves on (2007-08-31)Sharapova firepower overwhelms Aussie at US Open (2007-08-31)Longest Open match since '79 (2007-08-31)
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