Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Sharapova blanks Mattek at Family Circle


Maria Sharapova shut out American Bethanie Mattek 6-0, 6-0 in less than an hour Wednesday to advance to the third round of the Family Circle Cup.

The second-seeded Russian star, coming off her first clay-court title last week at Amelie Island, is looking for her fourth tournament victory of the year.

Earlier, defending champion Jelena Jankovic overcame a slow start to beat American Alexandra Stevenson 7-5, 6-0.

The Serb was broken at love in the first game and managed only two points in the second. Trailing 5-4 in the first set, she rattled off nine straight games to win the match.

"I'm just trying to get my timing," said Jankovic, who got her first Tier 1 victory here last year. "It's a different game. The points are longer. You really have to know how to move well.

"It's my first match on clay and I didn't know what to expect from myself," said Jankovic, who is ranked No. 5 in the world. "First matches are always tough, but I was able to play a little better in the second set. Hopefully, throughout the tournament I will play better."

In other matches at the US$1.3 million tournament, fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva defeated Jill Craybas 6-0, 6-2; No. 7 Patty Schnyder defeated Olga Govortsova 7-6 (2), 6-0, and No. 9 Vera Zvonareva eliminated Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-1, 6-0.

Conditions in Charleston were better following Tuesday's blustery matches. The temperatures climbed to around 20 degrees C, although still breezy at about 25 km/h, the wind was down from Tuesday's gusts of up to 48 km/h.

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