Dinara Safina paid back defending champion Michaella Krajicek in the Ordina Open on Wednesday, winning their second-round rematch of last year's final 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Unseeded Krajicek won last year in straight sets, but Wednesday's match was much tighter.
Fourth-seeded Safin had more aces (14 to 10), double faults (9-7) and grabbed two of her nine break chances, while Krajicek went only 1-for-7.
PHOTO: AP
Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic advanced to the quarter-finals when Meilen Tu of the US withdrew with a groin strain, and another US player, Meghann Shaughnessy, retired with a sprained ankle while trailing fifth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova 3-6, 6-3, 5-3.
In the men's draw, No. 1-seeded Tommy Robredo and No. 2 Ivan Ljubicic won their second-round matches -- and remained the only seeds left after No. 3 Guillermo Canas was upset by German qualifier Michael Berrer 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Robredo defeated Belgium's Kristof Vliegen 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3 to make it to the Ordina last eight for a fifth time. The Spaniard next meets local qualifier Peter Wessels, who beat Argentina's Carlos Berlocq 6-2, 7-6 (3).
Justine Henin started the defense of her Eastbourne title by defeating Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday in the second round.
The top-ranked Belgian advanced to the quarter-finals of the grass-court warmup for Wimbledon with the win. It was her first match since winning her fourth French Open title on June 9.
Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo also won, beating Mara Santangelo of Italy 6-2, 6-3.
Also, third-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia defeated Nathalie Dechy of France 7-5, 7-5.
Two-time defending champion Richard Gasquet beat Jan Vacek 6-4, 6-0 in the second round of the Nottingham Open on Wednesday to keep alive his unbeaten record at the key Wimbledon warmup.
Tim Henman was ousted by second-seeded Dmitry Tursunov, losing 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3.
The top-seeded Gasquet easily beat Czech qualifier Vacek to record his 12th straight win on the grass courts of Nottingham and reach the quarter-finals, where he will meet Arnaud Clement.
"I know him [Clement] and he's a friend, and it's never easy to play against a friend," Gasquet said. "I played great today. I won last year, so I have to be confident. It wasn't easy with the wind."
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB