Vinci and Errani's winning streak ends
One of the greatest women’s doubles winning streaks came to an end today with defeat of Italian second seeds Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani.
Vinci had Errani had won 25 straight matches – the best run since Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva won 28 on the trot in 1994 - coming into their match against No.6 seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic. It was a streak that had reaped titles at Madrid, Rome, Roland Garros and ‘s-Hertogenbosch and sent them into the quarter-finals at the All England Club.
But on No.2 Court they struggled against a pair whose games were far better suited to grass. The powerful serving, flat hitting and superior aggression of the Czech duo proved too much for the crafty Italians, helping them coast to a 6-3, 6-4 win in almost exactly one hour.
It was Hlavackova and Hradecka’s forceful returning that reaped the rewards in the first set, helping them to a service break that saw them go on to take a one-set lead.
It was more of the same in the second, with the Czech’s immediately breaking serve on their way to a 2-0 lead. Vinci and Errani started to look more damaging around the net and broke back to eventually level at 2-2, but the power of sixth seeds again overwhelmed them and saw Hlavackova and Hradecka gain a further two breaks to lead 5-2.
Although they stumbled once and allowed the Italians to close in at 4-5, Hradecka made no mistake serving out the match in the tenth game, an ace out wide on match point celebrated with a high-pitched squeal of delight.
The No.6 seeds will next face another Italian pairing in the semi-finals, this time in the form of Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone.
The unseeded duo upset ninth seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez on No.1 Court, in a match suspended at 2-2 in the third set on Wednesday due to darkness.
When play resumed beneath brighter skies this afternoon, Pennetta and Schiavone scored a break of serve and forged ahead 5-3 thanks to a pair of winners in the eighth game, yet were unable to convert a match point in the next game, with Llagostera Vives and Martinez Sanchez escaping to hold and bring scores to 4-5.
Yet Pennetta made no mistake bringing up another match point for the Italians in the 10th game, sending a powerful overhead into the open court. On the next point, Pennetta and Schiavone secured a 6-2, 6-7(0), 6-4 victory after an error from their Spanish opponents.
Later in the day, following her singles semi-final win over Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams returned to Centre Court with sister Venus for their doubles quarter-final against fellow Americans Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears. And it continued to be a successful day for Serena – she and Venus secured an early break of serve with four powerful returns to lead 3-1 in the opening set. The unseeded sisters broke again for a 5-1 lead – having recovered from a 40-15 deficit – and served out the set with a minimum of fuss.
The power and presence of the Williams sisters cannot be underestimated. Despite being the No.10 seeds, Kops-Jones and Spears were clearly intimidated by their illustrious opponents and overawed by the occasion and setting, missing a smash and forehand volley and then double-faulting to drop serve in the opening game of the second.
Serena gave the sisters a 4-0 lead by knocking off a winning forehand volley before Kops-Jones and Spears finally got on the board at with a hold for 1-4.
It was the last game they would win. Serena banged down several powerful first serves to hold to love, before the sisters broke serve in the following game to complete the 54-minute, 6-1, 6-1 rout. They will take on top seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond in the semi-finals.
