Miami (AFP)- Dinispatsa ni Serena Williams ang may talentong teenager na halos kalahati ang agwat ng kanyang edad upang tumuntong sa fourth round ng ATP at WTA Miami Open.
Tinalo niya ang matapang na American na si Catherine Bellis, 6-1, 6-1.
Sadyang ‘di umubra ang 15-anyos na US challenger para sa 33-anyos na American din, ang 19-time grand slam champion na target naman ang record eighth trophy sa kanyang sariling event.
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Nakita ni Bellis, ang junior world number one, ang sarili na nasa isang major test sa kanyang unang WTA appearance simula pa sa US Open, nang ma-upset niya si Dominika Cibulkova.
Lumaro ang world number one na si Williams sa Miami sa ika-15 pagkakataon simula nang unang sumabak ito bilang teenager noong 1998, isang taon bago ipinanganak si Bellis.
Sususnod na makakatagpo ng top-seed na si Williams si Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, nagwagi kay German 13th seed Angelique Kerber, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Pinalawig ni Williams, hangad ang ikatlong sunod na Miami title, ang kanyang winning streak sa 14 matches sa Crandon Park. Taglay ngayon ni Williams ang career Miami record sa 69-7.
Isinara ni Williams ang laro sa 41 minuto lamang na taglay ang 15 winners at 5 breaks mula sa kanyang prodigy’s serve. Natamo naman ni Bellis ang 21 unforced errors.
“If you break down her age and her ability and how well I think she handled the moment and how well she played, I think it was good,” pahayag ni Williams.
“She’s young and her being an American, you want to see people like her do well. When you’re up against them, you have to kind of put that aside, even though I’m always cheering for her. Otherwise I have to put it aside and play the match.”
Sinabi ni Williams na patuloy na umaayos ang kanyang knee injury na sadyang sumira sa kanyang diskarte sa pagkatalo sa Indian Wells quarterfinal.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good, much better than I did in my last tournament. I’ve surpassed my expectations,” lahad ni Williams. “When I’m out there I don’t feel it as much. It feels a little better every day.”
Binigo ni third seed Simona Halep si Italy’s Camila Giorgi, 6-4, 7-5, upang ipagpatuloy ang momentum na kanyang nakuha sa nakaraang linggong titulo sa Indian Wells. Inalpasan ng Romanian ang limang double-faults sa kanyang panalo na inabot lamang ng halos 90 minuto.
Target ni Halep ang kanyang ikaapat na WTA title sa season na ito matapos na manalo sa Shenzhen, Dubai at Indian Wells.
Pinataob ni Italian 15th seed Flavia Pennetta si two-time Miami champion Victoria Azarenka, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (8/6).
Sa men’s draw, napasakamay ni Britain’s Andy Murray kanyang 499th career match, pinadapa si Colombian Santiago Giraldo, 6-3, 6-4, upang umentra sa fourth round.
Posibleng ang 27-anyos na Scotsman, napanalunan ang Miami title noong 2009 at 2013, ang maging ikasiyam na aktibong manlalaro na nakaakyat sa 500 victories kung mananalo sa kanyang susunod na laro laban sa South African na si 15th seed Kevin Anderson, winalis si Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer, 6-4, 6-4.
“Hopefully I can win some more throughout my career,” pahayag ni Murray. “Maybe it doesn’t happen in a couple of days. I hope it does. But if not, then, you know, I’m sure at some stage I will get there.”
“I obviously want to try and win more, and hopefully still have quite a few years ahead of me left to add to that number. It’s a lot of wins. It’s not easy these days to win that many matches, so that’s a good sign.”
Humingi naman ng paumanhin si Murray hinggil sa kanyang ipinakitang laro.
“I played well, I thought it was a good performance. I hit the ball pretty clean,” ayon sa kanya. “He came out and started swinging a bit towards the end of the match and made it a little bit tricky, but I thought for the most part I played very well.”
Nagwagi si Murray sa loob ng 84 minuto. Laban kay Anderson, nagtagumpay si Murray ng tatlo mula sa apat na matches, ang huli ay sa Valencia noong nakaraang taon.
Napasakamay naman ni France’s 32nd-ranked Adrian Mannarino ang kanyang unang panalo sa match sa huling 13 pagtatangka kontra sa top 10 opponent nang kulapsuhin ang off-form na si Stan Wawrinka, ang seventh seed, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5), habang dinominahan ni Gael Monfils ang all-French match laban sa kanyang kaibigan na si 11th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
