SM
Man United vs. Bodo/Glimt: 23 hrs 53 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Live Commentary: French Open - Serena Williams vs. Sorana Cirstea - as it happened

:Headline: Live Commentary: French Open - Serena Williams vs. Sorana Cirstea - as it happened: ID:86886: from db_amp
Live coverage of Serena Williams's third-round match against Sorana Cirstea at the French Open.

Serena Williams took just over an hour to progress to the fourth round of the French Open at Roland Garros.

The world number one beat Romania's Sorana Cirstea in straight sets 6-0 6-2.

Next up, she will face the winner of the clash between Petra Cetkovska and Robert Vinci.

Read how all the action unfolded below.

Good afternoon. The world number one should be heading out to Suzanne Lenglen court in the next few minutes ready for her third-round match against Sorana Cirstea of Romania.
While Serena has dominated at the other three Grand Slams over the last decade, she has just one previous tournament win at Roland Garros, beating her sister Venus in the 2002 final
Cirstea's only quarter-finals appearance at a Grand Slam was at the French Open, as she reached the last eight back in 2009, where she lost to Sam Stosur.
The players are out warming up ready for their match. We should be getting underway in the next couple of minutes.
It's a comfortable start to the match for the world number one as she opens the first set with some big serves. The 26th seed has little answer to Williams's sheer power.
BREAK! Cirstea is struggling early in this match. Williams claims the opening two points with some big forehands. The Romanian gets her first point of the match when the American hits the ball long, but Williams's strength pays off again, and she forces the break.
Williams plays superbly from the back of the court, but a sloppy forehand allows Cirstea back into the game, bringing up deuce. She tries to seal the game by coming into the net to volley, but she doesn't get a clean contact with the ball on it gets stuck on her side of the court. However, an ace restores advantage, before another good serve seals the game.
Serena Williams made a lightning-fast start to the match, but Cirstea seemed to be causing her a few problems towards the end of the last game. The 26th seed will need to hold serve if she's to get back into this opening set.
BREAK! Cirstea is yet to find the rhythm on her serve, making another double fault. However, she digs deep to fight back from 30-0 down to bring up deuce. A long ball from Williams gives the Romanian advantage, but a forehand to the net returns the game to deuce, before two double faults hand the game to Williams.
Cirstea looks strong when she gets into a rally, forcing a rare mistake from Williams in the opening points of the game. The Romanian comes into the net to volley but the American smashes the ball towards the baseline, leaving her opponent out of position. Cirstea goes for an ambitious backhand, but she gets it caught in the net, and Williams closes the game out with a big serve, leaving her just one game short of taking the opening set after just 19 minutes.
SET! Williams 6-0 Cirstea
Well, the world number one looks to be in a bit of a hurry this afternoon, wrapping up the opening set in just 23 minutes. Williams makes some sensational returns off the Cirstea serve to set herself up with a set point, and she claims it with a powerful forehand from the back of the court.
Cirstea did little wrong in opening set, aside from a few difficulties with her serve, but the American just seems to be untouchable.
Williams misses a couple of first serves, but her second serve is still a pretty impressive weapon, and Cirstea seems to have no answers at the minute. The 26th seed does manage to fight back to 40-30 thanks to a couple of long shots from the top seed, but a long return allows the American to hold serve.
Cirstea forces her way into a couple of rallies and manages to smash a couple of winner past the world number one with some impressively quick footwork around the court. Eventually, a long ball from Williams gives her her first game of the match.
Williams races to a 30-0 lead, but a failed drop shot allows Cirstea back into the game. A brilliant return by the Romanian gives her her first break points of the match, but her forehand finds the net, sending the game to deuce. Williams sends Cirstea running along the length of the baseline with a series of well-times ground strokes, and she wraps the game up with another powerful serve. The mistake on the drop shot seemed to unsettle the world number one for a minute or so, but she recovered well to save the break point.
Williams makes a couple more unforced errors at the start of the game, but gets a lucky hit off the net chord. Cirstea has a chance to clinch the game, leaving the top seed stretching following a big serve, but she smashes the ball into the net to bring up deuce. A brilliant cross-court backhand give Williams a break point, but her return gets stuck at the net. Two more superb serves from Cirstea allows her to take the game through, and the Romanian really seems to finding her way into this match.
A deep return from Cirstea catches Williams out, before a double fault gives the 26th seed two break points. The American saves the first but is visibly furious with herself, but she channels her anger to pull it back to deuce. Cirstea comes into the net to try to smash a volley past her opponent, but she takes it too soon, and plays the ball into the net, before a long forehand gifts the game to Williams. Cirstea will be disappointed with the outcome, having had two chances to break the top seed.
Williams appears to have lost some of her energy from the first set. It may be that after such a comfortable set, she through she could coast a bit, but Cirstea has upped her game, and it causing a few problems for the American.
BREAK! The disappointment of missing out on the break points appears to be playing on Cirstea's mind at the start of the game as she serves a double fault, before dragging her forehand wide. The Romanian goes for a volley, but it's slightly too high, and she gets a poor contact with the ball, giving Williams three break points, and another ball to the net gifts the American the break.
Williams finds herself out of position, but manages to scoop the ball up with a Radwanska-style squat to win the point. Cirstea slides out wide but can't take enough pace of Williams' forehand to get the return in, and it's a comfortable service game for the world number one.
Two match points for Serena Williams
GAME, SET & MATCH! Williams 6-0 6-2 Cirstea
Serena Williams takes just 61 minutes to progress to the fourth round of the French Open. Cirstea started the last game well, but the mistakes crept back in and handed the game and match to the world number one.
Williams looked frustrated at herself at times throughout the second set as her unforced error count crept up, but her Romanian opponent couldn't captalised. Next up for Williams will be the winner of the match between Czech player Petra Cetkovska and Italy's Roberta Vinca, neither of whom are seeded at these championships.
That's all from this match, but you can follow live coverage of Roger Federer's third-round match against Julien Benneteau with Sports Mole, and stick around for reports and reaction to today's matches. Thanks for joining me this afternoon, good bye.

amp_article__86886 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2013-05-31 13:58:29:
html db last update - 2013-05-31 13:58:29 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html
Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Fulham125341717018
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle125341313018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham124351519-415
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .