Safina and Ivanovic crash out

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:23

Second seed Safina was beaten 6-1 6-4 by Australia’s Samantha Stosur while Ivanovic, seeded seventh, fell 6-4 4-6 6-1 to Agnes Szavay.

Fourth seed Elena Dementieva again got the better of promising Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro. Dementieva had beaten the 20-year-old 6-2 6-2 in the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, ending Suarez Navarro’s surprise run, and it was exactly the same story on Sunday as the Russian cruised through.

Eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova recovered from 4-1 down in the second set to defeat Nicole Vaidisova 6-1 6-4.

Vaidisova, 19, was ranked seventh in the world two years ago but has endured a miserable 18 months and is now down at 71st.

Kuznetsova will play 24th seed Alisa Kleybanova in the fourth round after she battled past Anastasiya Yakimova 6-3 3-6 6-4 in a match lasting more than three hours.

Victoria Azarenka, seeded 11th, was a 6-1 6-4 winner over former top-10 player Anna Chakvetadze and will now play Szavay.

In the men’s event, second seed Roger Federer cruised into the fourth round as he continued his bid for a third Miami title. The Swiss star, who looked in good touch, breezed past Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer 6-4 6-1.

Federer will next face qualifier Taylor Dent after the big-serving American upset 15th seed Tommy Robredo 7-5 6-3.

Sixth seed Andy Roddick, a potential quarter-final opponent for Federer, continued his smooth progress through the draw with a 7-6 (11/9) 6-2 victory over Dmitry Tursunov.

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