‘Crazy’ Date, Serena march to next round

MELBOURNE, Australia—Kimiko Date-Krumm is still winning in the Grand Slam arena at age 42, much to the dismay of her former peers.

Asked what her 1990s-era rivals such as Steffi Graf and Gabriela Sabatini say when they see her, Date-Krumm said: “Everybody say to me, ‘You are crazy.’ First word is always, ‘You are crazy.’”

Date-Krumm advanced to the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Shahar Peer.

Serena Williams bucked an ankle injury in the previous round and hammered out  a 6-2, 6-0 victory over No. 112-ranked Garbine Muguruza.

“I’m on the up and up, I feel.  It can only get better from here,” she said.

With temperatures touching 41 Celsius late Thursday, defending champion Victoria Azarenka made sure she wasn’t on court long in the opening match of the day.

The top-ranked Azarenka practically danced into Rod Laver Arena for the match before Williams’ victory, and tripped Eleni Daniilidou, 6-1, 6-0, in 55 minutes.

Second-ranked Roger Federer who has four Australian titles among his 17 Grand Slams, advanced to the third round with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Russian Nikolay Davydenko.

Other women advancing included former No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, No. 14 Maria Kirilenko, No. 16 Roberta Vinci, No. 20 Yanina Wickmayer and Elena Vesnina.

US Open champion Andy Murray had a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 win over Joao Sousa of Portugal. AP