China's Peng Shuai (
Peng was joined in the last 16 by Slovenian seventh seed Katarina Srebotnik, the only ranked player in action on the opening day, who recorded a routine 6-3, 6-4 victory over Russia's Olga Poutchkova.
The 21-year-old Peng played corner-to-corner against the taller Bovina, frequently wrong-footing her opponent into errors with an intelligent and aggressive game honed by her new coach, former world No. 2 Michael Chang (張德培).
PHOTO: AFP
"It's just a good way to start," Peng told reporters. "She hits hard, so I tried to hit hard first. She is a big girl, so I tried to move the ball around."
At world No. 62, Peng is China's second-ranked player and is making a comeback after suffering a serious ankle injury in early May.
"I'm feeling much better," she said. "I'm trying to learn what my real game is and Michael is helping me with that. He was a real fighter and I would like to be like that, too."
PHOTO: AFP
Srebotnik was upset in the first round of two previous tournaments in which she was seeded eighth or higher. The 25th-ranked Srebotnik reached the third round of all three Grand Slam events this year. Poutchkova lost her fifth straight.
Eleni Daniilidou of Greece outlasted Amber Liu of the US 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, in a later match that lasted more than two hours.
"Amber was getting a little tired and I was way more aggressive than her beginning in the second set," the 41st-ranked Daniilidou said. "I really couldn't see in the first set; there were shadows on the court."
Daniilidou plays top-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze in the second round tomorrow.
In other matches, Meilen Tu of the US beat Meghann Shaughnessy, 7-6 (3), 6-1 to reach the second round for the 11th time in 13 tournaments, and Lilia Osterloh beat fellow US player Jill Craybas 6-2, 7-5.
Osterloh advances to meet second-seeded Marion Bartoli, while Peng meets third-seeded Daniela Hantuchova.
Davydenko makes early exit
Gilles Simon of France held on to upset world No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in their Croatia Open first-round match on Monday.
Simon led 5-0 in the final set, but Davydenko saved four match points to rally to 5-3. The Russian had eight break points in the next game, but Simon held serve for the best win of his career.
It was Davydenko's third defeat in a row in the first round in as many weeks.
Top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia scored his 100th victory by beating qualifier Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-1, 6-3 in his first match on clay since the French Open semi-finals.
In the second round, Djokovic -- who retired with a finger blister in the semi-finals at Wimbledon -- will meet either Viktor Troicki of Serbia or Predrag Rusevski of Macedonia.
Also moving to the second round were Carlos Berlocq of Argentina, defeating countryman Maximo Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4; Marin Cilic of Croatia, who beat Mathieu Montcourt of France 3-6, 6-4, 6-1; Pere Riba of Spain, defeating Luka Belic of Croatia 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, and Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain, who defeated Gaston Gaudio of Argentina 6-0, 6-4.
Querrey snaps losing streak
Struggling US player Sam Querrey snapped a seven-match losing streak here on Monday on the opening day of the US$525,000 ATP Indianapolis Championships.
The 91st-ranked Californian thrashed 60th-ranked Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 in just under 90 minutes for his first victory on clay since April 29.
Querrey was desperate to turn his luck after losing to top-10 stars Tommy Haas and James Blake during his sad spring but crashed out against qualifiers in the first round of the French Open and Wimbledon.
Russian teen Evgueni Korolev put out the US' Justin Gimelstob 6-2, 6-4.
The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, on Thursday beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in an NBA overtime thriller. Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak. Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left. Durant missed a
Luka Doncic on Monday produced a 46-point masterpiece as the Los Angeles Lakers snapped the Chicago Bulls’ four-game winning streak with a 129-118 victory on the road. Doncic rattled in eight three-pointers on 15-of-25 shooting from the field, finishing with seven rebounds and 11 assists to lead an impressive Lakers effort at the United Center. LeBron James chipped in with 24 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Rui Hachimura delivered an eye-catching cameo off the bench with 23 points from nine-of-11 shooting. The win was another encouraging result for the Lakers after a 116-110 defeat of the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. “We did
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Taiwanese FORTUNES: Wu Fang-hsien and Hsieh Su-wei both advanced to the last 16 of the women’s doubles, but Ray Ho was ousted in the men’s doubles Carlos Alcaraz yesterday stepped up his quest to win a maiden Australian Open as he overwhelmed showman Corentin Moutet to reach the last 16, while Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Hsieh Su-wei both advanced to the last 16 of the women’s doubles. Three-time finalist Daniil Medvedev battled through on day six at a warm and sunny Melbourne Park, as did Coco Gauff. Top seed Alcaraz was never in danger against French 32nd seed Moutet, easing through 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena in 2 hours, 5 minutes. It was the Spaniard’s 100th Grand Slam match and he boasts a remarkable 87-13 win-loss record,
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