Page 20 - atoday

A20 SPORTS
Tuesday 24 January 2017
Australian Open

The rules of engagement: Williams reaches QFs, then speaks

JOHN PYE for the first time since.
AP Sports Writer Lucic-Baroni beat Ameri-
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) can qualifier Jennifer Brady
— For three rounds and 6-4, 6-2 and will next play
more than a week, Serena U.S. Open finalist Karolina
Williams wanted to keep Pliskova, who had a 6-3, 6-3
all the focus on her primary win over Daria Gavrilova.
objective in Australia. Whatever comes of it, the
She hasn’t worn an en- 34-year-old Lucic-Baroni
gagement ring at the Aus- said she’d make the most
tralian Open, and hasn’t of the moment.
really wanted to elaborate “I felt kind of a little bit of un-
much on the marriage pro- finished business,” she said.
posal from Alexis Ohanian “I still wanted to play on a
— which she made public stage like this ... Come out,
late last month by posting play, have these wins, be
a poem on news website in a quarterfinal of a Slam.”
Reddit. Rafael Nadal is coming
The six-time Australian back from two months off
Open champion is in Mel- to rest his injured left wrist,
bourne aiming for an and was delighted to
Open-era record 23rd reach the quarterfinals of
Grand Slam title. Ohanian, a Grand Slam for the 30th
co-founder of Reddit, has time with his 6-3, 6-3, 4-6,
been at her matches. 6-4 win over Gael Monfils.
After her toughest match It was Nadal’s first win over
at the tournament this a top-10 player at a Grand
year, a 7-5, 6-4 win over United States’ Serena Williams makes a backhand return to Barbora Strycova of the Czech Re- Slam since his French Open
No. 16-seeded Barbora public during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, victory in 2014 — the last of
Australia, Monday, Jan. 23, 2017.
Strycova on Monday, she Associated Press his 14 major titles.
was relaxed enough to “Being in the quarterfinals
reflect on her engage- journalist who wanted to right? semifinalist Johanna Konta, of a Grand Slam after cou-
ment. She’d just reached clarify the reference to “I live in a movie and in a who beat Ekaterina Ma- ple of years not being there
the Australian Open quar- Rome in her poem. fairytale in my mind, so karova 6-1, 6-4 to make it is very special for me,” said
terfinals for the 11th time, “What did I say? I said I was I guess eventually it was fourth-round victories over Nadal, who last progressed
and said she had nothing whisked away to Rome?” bound to happen.” the Russian in back-to- this far at the 2015 French
to lose after struggling with she said, explaining how Still, she’s not planning the back years. Open.
her misfiring serve — she Ohanian took her back to wedding just yet. As she Mirjana Lucic-Baroni was Nadal went up a break
was broken four times, in- where they first met to pro- said to all previous ques- an emerging talent when early in the first two sets,
cluding her first two service pose. tions about the engage- Serena and Venus Williams had his chances in the
games — and making 46 Were they introduced, or ment, she’s here to win were first making an im- third before Monfils rallied,
unforced errors. was it happenstance? another title. With top- pact, reaching the semifi- and then traded breaks in
The 35-year-old Williams “Literally by chance. It was seeded Angelique Kerber nals at Wimbledon in 1999 the fourth before breaking
was asked, again, about just -- I was sitting down, already out, she also has when she was 17. After a the acrobatic Frenchman
her engagement in a post- and he sat next to me,” the chance to regain the long, difficult time off the in the last game to win.
match news conference Williams said. “Yeah, that No. 1 ranking. tour, she has returned to Overall, he converted six of
— this time by an Italian doesn’t happen anymore, Next up, she’ll face 2016 the quarterfinals of a major 17 break-point chances.q

Kim Clijsters, Andy Roddick joining

International Tennis Hall of Fame

NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Kim the Australian Open in 2011 van den Bosch, tennis his-
Clijsters and Andy Roddick — along with two major torian and journalist Steve
have been elected to the doubles titles. Flink, and the late instructor
International Tennis Hall of Roddick’s 2003 U.S. Open Vic Braden.
Fame. championship makes him Roddick, Kalkman-van
Both were briefly ranked the most recent American den Bosch and Flink were
No. 1 and won the U.S. man to win a Grand Slam scheduled to participate in
Open. singles trophy. a ceremony at the Austra-
Clijsters, a Belgian, won a Also in the Class of 2017 lian Open on Tuesday.
total of four Grand Slam sin- announced by the hall on The full class will be induct-
gles titles — the U.S. Open Monday: wheelchair tennis ed at the hall on July 22.q
in 2005, 2009 and 2010, and player Monique Kalkman-

In this Jan. 30, 2011, file photo, Belgium’s Kim Clijsters poses for photographers with her Australian
Open trophy at Melbourne’s Brighton Beach, Australia.
Associated Press