Sharapova, Halep and Venus Williams all advance at US open
NEW YORK: Second round action at the U.S. Open began with a shock and ended with some late-night drama as men’s third seed Stan Wawrinka barked at fans before shouting for joy at his 6-3 6-4 3-6 7-6 (1) win over Thomaz Bellucci.
The day got off to an explosive start with Chinese doubles specialist Peng Shuai upsetting fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-3 6-4 and finished under the floodlights in the early morning hours with Wawrinka losing his cool and snapping at the rowdy crowd before escaping with a testy win.
By contrast, Peng, half of this year’s French Open women’s doubles winning pair, quietly went about her business, taking 96-minutes on a sun-baked Louis Armstrong Stadium court to claim the biggest scalp of the tournament so far.
Two former champions, fifth seed Maria Sharapova and 19th-seeded Venus Williams delighted their centre court audiences by flashing a little of their fashion style along with some on-court flair.
Williams, who claimed back-to-back US Open titles from 2000, kept pace with younger sister Serena by taming Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 6-1 6-4 to reach the third round for the first time in four years.
French Open champion Sharapova lost the first set to 95th-ranked Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania, but the five-times grand slam winner recovered to register a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory and leave her fans smiling on a breezy Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
World number two Simona Halep of Romania hurried past Jana Cepelova of Slovakia 6-2 6-1.
Others advancing included sixth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany, ninth-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic and 10th-seeded former world number one Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
Meanwhile, defending champions Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek had to work hard to cross the first round hurdle in men’s doubles even as Sania Mirza moved to second rounds of her two events at the US Open, here. (PTI)