Irritated Italian Flavia Pennetta overcame the annoyance of an ice-pack treatment timeout by Anastasia Rodionova on the way to a bad-tempered 6-3, 7-5 win yesterday at the Bali Open.
“I was angry,” said the third seed, a US Open quarter-finalist. “If you are unable to play you should not stay on the court.”
Pennetta spoke out after her 77th-ranked opponent finally lost a second-round contest filled with fitness drama.
PHOTO: EPA
Rodionova was stretched out on the side of the court as she lost a 4-0 lead in the second set, her legs raised on a chair while ice packs were rubbed on her limbs and torso by the trainer at 5-4.
Pennetta, who revealed she herself “could not breathe” as she lost a dozen straight points to start the set, fumed at the service line during the treatment.
The Italian quickly took her anger out on her weakened opponent, coming through for the win that put her into the quarter-finals as she concluded with her seventh ace.
PHOTO: AP
“Those last three or four games were not nice for us or the public,” said the world No. 16. “The match was also tough for me but I didn’t call for the trainer.”
The Italian hopes to continue a solid run on hardcourt over the last few months, having played a California final and then making the last eight of at Flushing Meadows, where she lost to Dinara Safina.
“It is very humid and hot. I’m still getting over the jet-lag, waking up early and wanting to go back to the bed in the afternoon,” she said. “I’m here alone without a coach and I’m just working match-by-match. I’m tired but I want to go farther at this event.”
In another second-round match, Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan defeated China’s world No. 40 Peng Shuai 6-1, 7-5 to earn a quarter-final clash against top seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.
The two have played each other only once, the World No. 11 beating Chan 6-4, 6-1 in Kolkata, India, last year.
In the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles Peng teamed up with Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei to defeat Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Patti Schnyder of Switzerland 6-3, 6-2.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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