NASDAQ-100 Results

By Etienne Stekelenburg
March 30 2005

For the first time in three years Venus beats her little sister Serena Williams, 6-1, 7-6 (8). Maria Sharapova defeats Justine Henin-Hardenne and ends her comeback on the tour for a semifinal, 6-1 6-7 (8) 6-2.

Serena Williams was not pleased with the way her sister outplays her and makes that clear by smashing her racket onto the hard court, breaking it once.

"Her racket is actually fragile -- powerful but fragile," Venus said. "She's definitely a little more fiery than I am, I keep it a little more even-keel."

Venus consoles her younger sister at the net after she had won, she also made gestures to Serena to thank the audience for their support. Serena was not to keen but applauds by patting her racket.

"We've played some huge matches," said Venus. "This one definitely is a highlight. In the last matches Serena just always played better. She won them. I was happy at least that a Williams won. Obviously I would have loved to have won, but for me it's like the past now."

"The first set was fantastic. The second set I definitely missed some opportunities (but) credit to Serena. It's not like she gave me that many points. I definitely had my hands full." Venus said about the match. She is confident in reaching the no. 1 spot again. "For me its a given," she said. "I feel like I have the talent and the experience. I feel like it's a matter of time."

"There was nothing I could do in the first set but I had plenty of chances in the second, I made some errors at the wrong time." Serena Williams said about losing to Venus. "A loss is a loss, so for me it's no different to losing to any top player.
Maria Sharapova ends Justine Henin-Hardenne’s way back to the top for now.

After winning the first set 6-1 the young Russian seems to end the match in the second set. Holding three match points on serve at 5-4, Sharapova's backhand crumbled under the attacking game of Henin-Hardenne whose confidence subsequently grew after coming back from 4-1.

At 6-5 the Belgian fails to take the second set but took the tiebreak 8-6. Before the third set Sharapova asked for treatment on her lower back. Afterwards the Russian explained: "I've had a back problem for a little while already."
"I did so much running today that it started to get stiff. I got some treatment and I just tried to forget about it. Hopefully I'll be back fresh."

Sharapova broke Henin-Hardenne’s serve to take a 2-0 lead in the final set. The Belgian was starting to look tired and showed she needed more matches to come back to her previous fitness. Sharapova never lost the 3-0 lead and won the match in 2 hours and 13 minutes.

"What I did after seven months off is good for my confidence," Justine Henin-Hardenne said. "I showed that I'm back. I'm so happy to be back on the courts. I know I need matches, I need more competition, but I couldn't imagine before coming here in Miami that I would play at this level."

Maria Sharapova will meet Venus Williams in the semifinal.

Results

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Singles - Quarterfinals
(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. (19) Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL) 61 67(6) 62
(8) Venus Williams (USA) d. (3) Serena Williams (USA) 61 76(8)

Doubles - Second Round
(5) Raymond/Stubbs (USA/AUS) d. (Q) Cohen-Aloro/Sfar (FRA/TUN) 63 62
(3) Kuznetsova/Molik (RUS/AUS) d. Dulko/Vento-Kabchi (ARG/VEN) 63 62
Bovina/Dementieva (RUS/RUS) d. Medina Garrigues/Safina (ESP/RUS) 63 63
(WC) Kirilenko/Salerni (RUS/ARG) d. (WC) Ivanovic/Vaidisova (SCG/CZE) 64 64

Order of play

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Stadium (from 13.00hrs)
1. Mauresmo vs. Ivanovic
2. ATP: Ferrer vs. Hrbaty (NB 15.00hrs)
3. Dementieva vs. Clijsters (NB 19.00hrs)
4. ATP: T.Johansson vs. Novak (NB 21.00hrs)

Grandstand (from 11.00hrs)
1. Ruano Pascual/Suarez vs. Kirilenko/Salerni
2. Kuznetsova/Molik vs. Myskina/Zvonareva
3. ATP: Bjorkman/Mirnyi or Fisher/Verdasco vs. Bhupathi/Woodbridge

Court 1 (from 13.00hrs)
1. ATP: Erlich/Ram vs. Black/Ullyett
2. ATP: Davydenko/Hrbaty vs. Clement/Llodra (NB 17.00hrs)