Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Stosur, Vika and Clijsters Reach Eastbourne Quarters; Simon Back to Winning Ways

Kim Clijster's return to the tour after a 6-week layoff due to an ankle injury has been a triumphant one. The Belgian looks primed for a good run at Wimbledon, as she has lost 2 games in 2 matches to reach the Eastbourne quarterfinals. After crushing Yanina Wickmayer, Clijsters handed a similar beat down to Lucie Safarova, earning a 6-1, 6-0 win in a whopping 38 minutes. Sam Stosur's win took on a different storyline, as the Aussie ousted Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 after having 3 match points.

Aravane Rezai retired down 6-2, 3-0 to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and Victoria Azarenka punished junior Heather Watson 1 and 1. Marion Bartoli worked hard for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 comeback win against Agnes Szavay while Nadia Petrova was crushed by Ekaterina Makarova, 6-2, 6-0. Svetlana Kuznetsova is unseeded at the Wimbledon warm-up, as her ranking has tumbled to 20th, but she pulled off an impressive 3-set victory against Sorana Cirstea, 4-6, 7-6 (6, 7-6, (4).

In the men's tournament, Gilles Simon, who had yet to play a match before his first round win over Evgeny Korolev, and the Frenchman continued his triumphant return with a a 3-set victory against Alex Kuznetsov, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2). Top seeded Nicolas Almagro was taken off the court on a stretcher after slipping at the baseline and suffering a hip injury against Denis Istomin. The Spaniard was down 6-4, 1-0. Julien Benneteau won in straights to reach the quarters, along with 8th seeded Michael Llodra, a 3 set winner.

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