James Blake's attempt to win his third Sydney International in a row ended yesterday after just one match.
France's Fabrice Santoro beat the American No. 3 seed 7-6 (4), 6-2, taking a 5-0 lead in the second set before Blake came back to win a pair of games. Blake broke Santoro with the Frenchman serving for the match, but then lost it on his own service two games later.
Blake won the Sydney International in 2006 and last year. He was trying to become the first man since Australian John Bromwich in 1940 to win the title three times in a row.
PHOTO: AFP
Blake, who helped the US win the Davis Cup in November over Russia, said he had some problems adjusting to the new plexicushion surface -- the same surface that will be used in Melbourne at the Australian Open.
"Maybe it was him, maybe it was the court, but it seemed so slow it was tough for me to put balls away," Blake said. "I think I got a bit ahead of myself."
Top seed Richard Gasquet of France beat Igor Andreev of Russia 6-3, 7-6 (6), saving two sets points in the tiebreaker and winning the last four points of the match.
In women's play, Daniela Hantuchova's career revival continued and Russian Ana Chakvetadze, the No. 5 seed, was the first upset loser on the women's side.
Chakvetadze lost 7-5, 6-1 to Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia while the No. 6 seed Hantuchova recovered from a set and service break down to beat compatriot Dinara Safina 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
In other first round results, Tatiana Golovin of France advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Tzipora Obziler of Israel, 2006 runner-up Francesca Schiavone of Italy beat American Jill Craybas 6-4, 6-4 and Shahar Peer of Israel beat Ukrainian qualifier Yuliana Fedak 6-3, 6-2.
HOBART INTERNATIONAL
AP,HOBART, AUSTRALIA
Australian Jelena Dokic, coming off a two-year injury layoff, beat Germany's Martina Mueller 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 at the Hobart International yesterday.
Formerly ranked No. 4, Dokic, 24, had to win three rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw. And she now has a potential problem -- whether to continue playing in the Hobart event or contest qualifying for next week's Australian Open in Melbourne.
Tennis Australia officials declined to offer Dokic a wild card into the main draw at Melbourne and women's qualifying will start at Melbourne Park on Thursday.
Pennetta advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 win over No. 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
Top-seeded Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine won her first-round match, beating Australian Jessica Moore 7-5, 6-2 and No. 2 seed Vera Zvonareva defeated fellow Russian Olga Poutchkova 6-3, 6-0.
AUCKLAND OPEN
AFP, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Second seed Juan Ignacio Chela staged a deciding set fightback against the low ranking New Zealander Dan King-Turner yesterday to narrowly avoid an ignominious first round exit at the Auckland Open.
The world No. 20 battled to a 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 victory after King-Turner -- who has a world ranking of 345 -- squandered a chance for an upset while serving at 3-1 up in the third set.
Eighth seed Spaniard Albert Montanes beat the other New Zealand wildcard Rubin Statham 6-4, 6-4 to ensure his passage to the second round, while sixth seed Nicolas Almagro beat Argentine Jose Acasuso 6-3, 6-4.
Most of the seeded players play their opening first round matches today.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but