22 Thursday, January 11, 2018 SPORTS Watson advances in Hobart Hobart dividends again as she ormer champion Heather triumphed 7-6(3) 6-4. FWatson had a smooth ride “It was a really good fight Djokovic back with to the quarter-finals with a between us,” Sabalenka told 6-2 6-2 win over wildcard reporters after firing 37 Jaimee Fourlis, while Belarus winners and committing 39 teen Aryna Sabalenka blasted unforced errors. top seed Zhang Shuai out “This was a match that I of the Hobart International really enjoyed. She fights for yesterday. every point, and it’s always so aMelbourne bang at Kooyong Six-time obvious discomfort as he broke the 12-times singles Briton Watson had little special when you feel this fight ovak Djokovic returned champion Djokovic pulled Thiem three times to win the champion will be one to avoid difficulty in beating Australian on court.” to competitive out of a tournament in Abu first set in just 21 minutes. in Thursday’s draw for the Fourlis, a victory which moves Broken early, Sabalenka Ntennis with a bang Dhabi last week because of “It was a great start, it feels Australian Open. the 2015 champion into a won four games in a row yesterday, bringing continuing problems with really good to be back on the “This has been a tough quarter-final against Donna en route to a 5-2 lead in the a six-month spell his right elbow and wore a court,” a beaming Djokovic period for me, obviously Vekic. first set when Zhang staged on the sidelines sleeve over the joint during said in an on-court interview injury is the greatest enemy a Big-hitting Sabalenka had a comeback to level it at 5-5 to an end with a his round robin match after his first competitive set professional athlete can have,” felled former world number before the Belarusian clinched thumping 6-1 6-4 against the Austrian. since Wimbledon last year. the Serbian added. five Eugenie the set. win over world number In a huge boost The 30-year-old, who won “You can’t do anything Bouchard Sabalenka was more five Dominic Thiem for the year’s first grand slam five about it except try to recover as in the first in control in the at the Kooyong Park times in six years until 2016, quickly as you can. round and the second set when Classic did not have it all his own way “The Australian Open is the Belarusian’s she claimed a exhibition in a tighter second set and it big one, it’s the one I wanted to aggressive decisive break tournament. went with serve to 5-4 when be ready for. It’s a great start.” strategy at 4-3 before Djokovic broke again Another former grand paid serving to wrap up the slam champion, Marin Cilic, out did not have such a good to set Djokovic organisers, day at the former venue of up a returns the ball who have already the Australian Open with quarter- (Picture cour- lost Andy Murray victory in 42 the Croatian world number final clash tesy: theguard- and Kei Nishikori minutes. six losing 6-7(3) 6-4 7-5 with fifth seed Lesia ian) to injury, Djokovic Now ranked 14th in the to Australian Matthew Tsurenko of Ukraine. showed no world after his long absence, Ebden. (Reuters) (eurosport) (file pic) De Minaur moves Muguruza edges past Bertens one step closer Sydney your opponent withdrawing but I but withdraws from Sydney urprise package Alex De Minaur hope he gets better and recovers for Sydney moved one step closer to the Australian Open. But I’m happy arbine Muguruza’s preparations for next Garbine Sreaching the Sydney International to be where I am at the moment. week’s Australian Open were thrown into Muguruza final when his last-16 opponent “I’m playing some great tennis Gdisarray when the world number three pulled out of (file pic) Damir Dzumhur retired hurt and I think a lot of it is the great the Sydney International due to a leg injury. yesterday. crowd support that I’m getting.” Hours after battling past Kiki Bertens 6-3 7-6(6) to Home hopeful De Minaur, 18, Daniil Medvedev had a tougher advance to the quarter-finals in her opening match, created waves by making the last time against Jared Donaldson, the 24-year-old Spanish top seed withdrew with a right four in Brisbane last week and, triumphing 6-3 4-6 7-5, while Fabio thigh complaint. after ousting veteran Spaniard Fognini also needed three sets to “I am disappointed but I have talked to the WTA Fernando Verdasco in Sydney, he edge out Alexandr Dolgopolov 3-6 doctors and my team after the match and following their got past the injured Dzumhur 6-2 6-3 6-4. recommendation, I have to withdraw from the tournament,” 3-0. Benoit Paire beat Leonardo Muguruza said in a statement. After the match the teenager, who Mayer, Adrian Mannarino saw off “I have felt pain in my right adductor since I is being coached by Australian great Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania and started practising here. Yesterday, I felt better Lleyton Hewitt, told @SydneyTennis: Paolo Lorenzi dumped out top seed and wanted to play. However, during the “It’s not ideal to win a match with Albert Ramos. (PA Sport) match today the pain has been there all the time but I wanted to compete.” The Wimbledon champion accepted a Alex De Minaur (file pic) wildcard into the tournament after retiring with leg cramps during her opening match at the Brisbane International last week and called for a medical timeout after just three games against Bertens. Muguruza, however, returned to the Ken Rosewall Arena and appeared to be moving freely, initially allaying fears of another injury setback by overcoming a woman who had beaten her in straight sets in their three previous meetings. “Since the start I felt a little bit my adductor,” Muguruza said after registering her first win of the season. “I already felt it in Brisbane, so I thought I was going to be much better, but it came back. “You always have to adapt... Sometimes you don’t need to have a pain. You just want to play a certain style of game or some tactic. “I figured out that being a little bit more aggressive, shorter points, that might help me and might help me also for my game. So it’s like a winning situation.” (Reuters)