Defending champion Jarkko Nieminen of Finland lost in the first round of the US$416,000 Heineken Open yesterday, beaten 7-6 (3), 6-1 by Olivier Rochus of Belgium.
Nieminen and Rochus met in the semifinals of last year's Auckland tournament, playing out a three-hour, three-set cliffhanger in which Nieminen held 10 match points before finishing off his unseeded opponent.
Rochus had his revenge yesterday, beating the fourth-seeded Nieminen in an hour and 22 minutes to advance to the second round.
Nieminen said a stomach virus, which affected his preparation for the tournament and reduced his match fitness, played a part in his loss.
"You can always lose because there's many good guys around like Olivier Rochus, but the main thing is that I played really bad," he said.
"I had good memories from last year and I really like this place, this tournament, and I hoped to get in good form in a few days but I just couldn't and if I can't play well against Rochus this kind of result happens," Nieminen said.
Top-seeded Tommy Robredo advanced to the second round, taking only 64 minutes to beat Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-2, 6-1 in an all-Spanish encounter.
Robredo looked fit and sharp as he raced through his match, serving five aces while Ramirez Hidalgo had six double faults.
No. 3 seed David Ferrer of Spain beat form French Open champion Gaston Gaudio 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Gaudio saved six set points before winning the first set in one hour and 12 minutes but lost his way in the second, conceding the set in barely 41 minutes.
He appeared to give up in the third, making little effort to chase down Ferrer's hard-hit ground strokes, giving up the set in little more than half an hour.
Alberto Martin of Spain beat French wild card Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4, helped by Monfils' six double faults. Monfils won wild card entry to the Auckland tournament when Australian Mark Philippoussis withdrew due to injury.
Unseeded Kristof Vliegen of Belgium beat Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 7-6 (3), 6-0, taking the second set in only 17 minutes as Tipsarevic lost focus.
"The second was a good set for me," Vliegen said. "After winning the first set it gives you confidence while he lost a bit of confidence."
In other matches, Daniele Bracciali of Italy beat Gilles Simon of France 6-3, 6-2, Florent Serra of France beat Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 and Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany defeated Luis Horna of Peru 6-4, 7-5.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was