Maria Sharapova puts the wind up Venus

General / Editor / 26 March 2007 / Leave a Comment

Maria Sharapova blamed the blustery conditions for the number of unforced errors in her three-set victory over Venus Williams at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

The top seed moved into the fourth round with a 2-6 6-2 7-5 victory over the 2005 Wimbledon champion but committed 35 unforced errors, while her opponent fared even worse, with 50 to her name.

The Russian star could now play Venus' sister Serena in her next match if the American comes through her clash with Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, and admitted that the wind had played a part in the error count on Sunday.

"You know you're not going to play your best tennis," she said. "You're always going to have to adjust.

"You definitely can't get frustrated. But I'm a fighter and a big competitor. That's why I play the sport. I enjoy the battle of it, and a lot of my matches, it depends on who fights more in the end."

Elsewhere Agnieszka Radwanska shocked Martina Hingis with a 4-6 6-3 6-2 success over the former world number one, while Justin Henin came from 5-1 down in the third set to beat Virginie Razzano 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-5).

Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova eased past Croat Jelena Kostanic Tosic 6-4 6-2, and fourth seed Kim Clijsters beat Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-4 6-2.

Sixth seed Nadia Petrova thrashed fellow Russian Ekaterina Bychkova 6-1 6-1 while seventh seed Jelena Jankovic was beaten by Italian Mara Santangelo 2-6 7-6 6-4.

Belgian star Henin is Betfair's 4.3 favourite to win in Miami, with Sharapova on offer at 5.2 and Clijsters available at 8.2.

Serena Williams is trading at 9.2 and Anna Chakvetadze can be backed at 10.5