Wozniacki cruises into round 4 over Niculescu

Caroline Wozniacki cruised into the 4th round of the 2012 Australian Open with a straight sets win over Monica Niculescu.

World No. 1 Wozniacki had little trouble against No. 32 ranked Niculescu, closing out the match 6-2, 6-2.

Niculescu broke serve when Wozniacki was serving for the match at 5-1, but it was too little too late. Wozniacki closed out the match on the next game, and completed the match in one hour 16 minutes.

Wozniacki had 23 winners and three aces in her third round victory.

Azarenka and Sharapova reach final

No. 8 seed, Victoria Azarenka and No. 16 seed, Maria Sharapova, will face off on Saturday in the Final of the 2011 WTA Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

They are tied at 2-2 in career matches, with Azarenka winning their last match in last year’s Stanford final, 6-4, 6-1.

Azarenka defeated No. 3 seed, Vera Zvonareva 6-0, 6-3 in her Semifinal match, while Sharapova took down Andrea Petkovic 3-6, 6-0, 6-2.

Clijsters withdraws from match against Bartoli at Indian Wells

No. 2 seed, Kim Clijsters of Belgium, was forced to withdraw from her fourth round match against No. 15 seed, Marion Bartoli of France, at the 2011 WTA BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells today. Clijsters won the first set 6-3, as was trailing 1-2 in the second when she called on her trainer for treatment on her shoulder. She withdrew one game later.

Clijsters said her shoulder pain mainly affected serving and trying to hit high forehands. She claims she withdrew largely as a precaution with Fed Cup duties and the clay court season fast approaching.

Jankovic ousted by Peng at Australian Open

No. 7 seed Jelena Jankovic is the highest seed to fall so far at the 2011 Australian Open. The 7th seeded #8 Serb was defeated by unseeded #54 Shuai Peng of China.

The first set was close, going to a tie-break which Peng won 7-3. Peng then took over the 2nd set winning quite easily 6-3. Peng had two match points on Jankovic’s serve in the eighth game but the Serbian player held. Peng served it out in the next game, clinching it on yet another unforced error from Jankovic.

Wozniacki takes over World No. 1 ranking from Serena Williams

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark officially will take over the World No. 1 ranking when the new rankings are released on Monday. In doing so, she has dethroned Serena Williams of the USA.

The 20-year-old will become the first player from Denmark, male or female, to hold the top ranking after a 6-3, 6-2 win over Petra Kvitova at the China Open in Beijing on Thursday.

“This is a real big step for me. To be the world No. 1 has always been a dream for me,” Wozniacki said at the Beijing Tennis Center. “It doesn’t feel like it’s real.”

Sharapova loses in first round of Pan Pacific Open

No. 15 ranked Maria Sharapova of Russia was sent packing today by No. 67 ranked wildcard Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan in the first round of the 2010 Pan Pacific Open being played in Tokyo, Japan.

The 23-year-old Maria was the defending champion of this tournament, but was shown the exit door by a local resident and all-time Japanese # 1 Kimiko who turns 40 tomorrow.

Long-time Japanese crowd favorite Kimiko stunned the former world No. 1 Maria 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Kimiko advanced in 2 hours, 9 minutes, as Maria, still struggling with her serve, piled up 11 double faults and had her big serve broken five times.

Serena Williams pulls out of Pan Pacific Open. Surprised?

Tournament organizers say top-ranked Serena Williams has pulled out of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo scheduled for Sept. 26-Oct. 2.

Most of us are probably not surprised this time, since this is the fifth tournament Serena has missed since cutting her foot on some glass in an accident at a restaurant back in July. It doesn’t seem to really be news anymore when she pulls out of a tournament. Many don’t expect her to play. It will be news if she ever returns to action.

Wickmayer over Schnyder for berth in 4th round

No. 15 seed Yanina Wickmayer and unseeded No. 53 ranked Patty Schnyder dueled it out right to the end, with Wickmayer coming out on top 7-6(7-5), 3-6, 7-6(8-6) at the 2010 U.S. Open today.

Belgian slugger Wickmayer inched closer to a second semifinal appearance at Flushing Meadows with this narrow win over Swiss veteran Schnyder. Schnyder, at 31 the oldest in the women’s draw, gained match point at 6-5 in the 3rd set tie-break. But Wickmayer saved that match point, and won the next point to go up 7-6. Schnyder then committed an untimely double fault to end the match. Schnyder had six double-faults, while Wickmayer had seven. Schnyder’s last one just came at a really bad time.

Jankovic ousted by Kanepi

No. 4 seed, Jelena Jankovic once again lost her bid to win her first Grand Slam when she was defeated by No. 31 seed, Kaia Kanepi in round 3 at the 2010 U.S. Open.

Although Hurricane Earl didn’t bring much rain to the New York area, the remnants of the storm brought wind gusts of up to 33 mph that were playing havoc with the players — starting with Jankovic, who lost 6-2, 7-6 (1) to Kanepi.

Sharapova and Jankovic survive scares in1st round at U.S. Open

No. 14 seed, Maria Sharapova, survived a 3-set scare in her match against No. 60 ranked, Jarmila Groth, while 4th seed, Jelena Jankovic was given a huge scare by 18-year-old Romanian Simona Halep.

Sharapova overcame a deficit and a big-hitting opponent to avoid a significant upset in the first round of the U.S. Open.

Sharapova, the 2006 champion at Flushing Meadows, played solidly and often safely while putting together a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over 60th-ranked Jarmila Groth of Australia on Tuesday.