Serena and Venus Williams and men's World No 2 Roger Federer cruised into the fourth round of the WTA and ATP hardcourt tournament but second seed Dinara Safina crashed out.
Serena and Venus Williams and men's World No 2 Roger Federer cruised into the fourth round of the WTA and ATP hardcourt tournament but second seed Dinara Safina crashed out.
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Reigning Australian Open champion Serena Williams defeated China's Peng Shuai 7-5, 6-2 yesterday while US fifth seed Venus Williams, the reigning Wimbledon champion, beat Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 7-5, 6-3.
The sisters could meet in a semi-final at this nine million-dollar event, which saw its greatest upset when Australia's 42nd-ranked Samantha Stosur stunned Russian second seed Safina 6-1, 6-4.
"I'm really happy," Stosur said, "I played really well. I executed exactly what I wanted to do."
Safina could have become the women's World No 1 by winning the title. "It's very disappointing. That's what I'm playing for," Safina said.
"I want to be there. Suddenly I go to the court and I don't even fight for it. It's just bad behavior from my side. Champions, they don't do this. "It's a good punishment for me. I have to get smarter."
Swiss star Federer, a Miami champion in 2005 and 2006, advanced by beating German 28th seed Nicolas Kiefer 6-4, 6-1 to book a fourth-round match against American Taylor Dent, who beat Spanish 15th seed Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-3.
It doesn't matter who's in front of me," Federer said. "I just like the thrill of winning and playing well."
Dent, the son of retired Australian tennis star Phil Dent, made a comeback in 2008 after missing more than two years with back problems, defeated Federer when both were juniors at a Wimbledon tuneup event.
"It's great to see him back," Federer said. "He was always a dangerous player because he was aggressive. It's going to be interesting to see how he plays."
Serbia's seventh seed Ana Ivanovic, a finalist one week ago at Indian Wells, also was ousted, falling to Hungary's Agnes Szavay 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
"I'm really disappointed," Ivanovic said. "I hardly did anything well. I couldn't really hold my serve. I had so many chances early on. I always was missing by a little bit, and got really down on myself."
Szavay, seeded 25th, will next meet 11th seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who ousted Russia's Anna Chakvetadze 6-1, 6-4.
But the stunner of the day belonged to Stosur, who took her first victory over a top-10 opponent since she missed much of the 2007 and 2008 season with Lyme disease.
"It's a great feeling to beat a top-10 player again," Stosur said. "I came close a few times. Today I got over the line and I'm just really pleased. I knew I could do it. It was just a matter of when it was going to happen."
On the eve of her 25th birthday, the Brisbane native won what she called the biggest victory of her career to book a spot in the fourth round against France's Amelie Mauresmo, who beat Italy's Flavia Pennetta 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 6-2.
"I've been trying to get a win like this for a long time. I was happy I was able to do it and hopefully there will be more to come," Stosur said. "When I started playing well again I thought it was possible. Now I'm going to really enjoy it."
Safina plans on a break to try and recapture her hunger for the sport after what she dubbed a disaster. "It was just a disaster match," Safina said. "She played very good, but from my side, I just can say it was sad the way I played. No excuse from my side. Just basically I wasn't playing."
Russian seeds Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova advanced. Dementieva, the fourth seed, defeated Spain's Carla Suarez 6-1, 6-2 while eighth seed Kuznetsova beat Czech Nicole Vaidisova 6-1, 6-4.
US fifth seed Andy Roddick advanced by defeating Russia's Dmitry Tursunov 7-6 (11/9), 6-2. He next faces ninth seed Gael Monfils after the Frenchman beat Russia's Marat Safin 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3).
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