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| Posted: 03 Mar 2011 09:18 AM PST 2011/03/03 Australia's Jarmilla Groth beat Japan's Misaki Doi 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 to enter the last eight yesterday. — Picture by AIZUDDIN SAAD The unseeded Michaella lost the first set 6-4 but then came back to beat the World No 24 6-4, 6-3 to enter the quarter-finals against qualifier Anne Kremer of Luxembourg today. France second seed Marion Bartoli battled nausea to advance into the last eight as Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova defeated Russia's former World No 1 Dinara Safina.
The match resumed after 10 minutes and Marion broke her opponent's serve immediately en route to win the first set 6-2. The 27-year-old was slightly affected by her condition and the heat but she still managed to continue her momentum to break Ekaterina's serve three times in her 6-1 victory to seal the match.
In the battle of baseliners, Lucie, the World No 35, emerged victorious with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Dinara in the 156-minute match. After winning the first set comfortably, Lucie was expected to win in straight games but Safina battled back to force a third.
"I lost my concentration and made too many mistakes in the beginning of the second set, which allowed Safina to fight her way back into the match. "Although, I managed to reduce the deficit to 5-4, she managed to win it," said Lucie yesterday. "In the third, I tightened my style by using my wide serve to catch her off guard and it was an effective method. "Safina played well and I think she will back at her best soon. Anyway, I am happy that I beat her today (yesterday) after losing twice to her." On her match against Marion today, Lucie said she will need to hit early winners to have an advantage of beating the Frenchwoman. "She (Marion) is aggressive as she always tries to take everything early after the ball bounces. I have to do better than her in that sense," added Lucie. Australia's World No 31 Jarmila Groth overcome a determined Misaki Doi from Japan before prevailing 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 to book her place in the last eight where she will face another Japanese, Ayumi Morita. Jarmila, who won in Hobart in January, displayed great fighting spirit as she fought from 4-1 down to win the first set before sealing victory in the second. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Strauss demands England improvements Posted: 03 Mar 2011 07:53 AM PST BANGALORE: Shell-shocked England captain Andrew Strauss admitted his side needed to raise their game against in-form South Africa after slumping to a demoralising World Cup defeat by Ireland. Kevin O'Brien struck the fastest-ever World Cup century as Ireland won by three wickets after setting a new record score by a team batting second to win a World Cup match, of 329 for seven. Worryingly for England, their past four World Cup matches have seen them concede their four highest tournament totals -- 300 against the West Indies in their final match of the 2007 edition, 292 in their win against the Netherlands in this competition and 338 in Sunday's thrilling tie against co-hosts India.
Their attack was smashed for 62 runs in the five-over batting powerplay with fast bowler Stuart Broad conceding 73 runs in nine overs and seamer Tim Bresnan going for 64 in 10. Michael Yardy's spin was also expensive. "Our bowling could have been better," a stunned Strauss said.
"We could have taken our catches. I dropped one and we dropped three others as well. That cost us the game, there's no doubt about it." Ireland hero O'Brien summed up the failings of England's attack.
"I don't think England had any answers for us, to be honest. They didn't really know what they were up to with their bowling plans and we took advantage of that." England play the highly fancied South Africans in Chennai on Sunday with Strauss aware of the significance of the match. "The game coming up against South Africa is a huge one for us and generally we bounce back well. We need to be honest with each other." -- AFP |
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