Top seed Mikhail Youzhny retired with a back injury midway through his second-round match against Denis Istomin at the St Petersburg Open on Thursday.
Youzhny, fresh from winning his first Kremlin Cup title on Sunday, took a medical timeout after losing the first set, but was forced to quit three games later, trailing 6-2, 2-1.
Fifth-seeded compatriot Igor Andreev followed Youzhny out of the indoor tournament when he retired with a knee injury in the second set of his second-round encounter against Marat Safin, trailing 6-3, 0-1.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Safin said he was unaware his opponent was injured.
“I was just concentrating on my game and didn’t know he was feeling pain in his knee,” said the former world No. 1, playing in his penultimate tournament before retiring.
“In any case, I’m just happy I got through to the next round,” added the Russian, who will now take on 101st-ranked Istomin of Uzbekistan in the last eight.
■VIENNA OPEN
AP, VIENNA
Marin Cilic and Gael Monfils retained their slim chances of reaching next month’s ATP World Tour Finals by toughing out wins at the BA Trophy Vienna Open on Thursday.
Top-seeded Cilic beat Daniel Brands of Germany 7-6 (9/7), 6-4, while third-seeded Monfils overcame Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
The pair, along with second-seeded Radek Stepanek, are vying for the last two berths in the elite, eight-man tour finals in London next month. Cilic was 12th in line, Stepanek 14th and Monfils a distant 16th.
Fellow seeds, No. 6 Feliciano Lopez, the 2004 Vienna champion, and No. 7 Jurgen Melzer, also reached the quarter-finals.
Top-seeded Cilic, looking for his third title of the season, was broken when serving for the first set at 5-4 and then saved a set point in the tie-breaker.
Cilic sealed the win on his third match point and next plays Lopez, who defeated Daniel Koellerer of Austria 6-3, 6-3 to reach his sixth quarter-final in Vienna in as many years.
The 45th-ranked Lopez dominated most of the match, apart from struggling early in the second set when he lost serve once.
In earning his eighth quarter-final appearance of the season, Monfils conceded just seven points in a 17-minute opening set, but lost control afterward.
“I’ve got a headache, nothing serious really,” the Frenchman said.
Monfils will next play Janko Tipsarevic, who beat Michael Berrer of Germany 7-6 (7/3), 6-1.
Berrer, who replaced injured defending champion Philipp Petzschner in the main draw, was broken twice while serving for the opening set at 5-4 and 6-5.
Tipsarevic, coming off his first career final in Moscow last week, used three breaks in the second to wrap up the victory.
Melzer defeated Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 6-4, 7-5 and advanced to his seventh quarter-final of the year. Melzer meets Stepanek in the quarter-finals.
■LYON GRAND PRIX
AP, LYON, FRANCE
Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga led five Frenchmen into the Lyon Grand Prix quarter-finals on Thursday by beating Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-3, 6-2.
Tsonga was joined by second-seeded Gilles Simon, former Lyon finalist Marc Gicquel, Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra.
Tsonga, who also beat Rochus at Lyon two years ago, hit 13 aces and lost only 12 points on serve to down last week’s Stockholm Open finalist in 64 minutes.
He will face Clement, who beat seventh-seeded Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-4, 6-3.
Simon thrashed qualifier David Guez 6-1, 6-2 in 52 minutes in an all-French match.
Gicquel upset fellow Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-0.
Llodra, a doubles specialist, easily beat Monaco after converting two of five break opportunities.
Third-seeded Ivan Ljubicic was the only non-French winner on the day, as the 2007 Lyon champion from Croatia beat Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
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