Gilles Simon of France saved four match points in overcoming Igor Andreev of Russia 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7) in the first round of the Madrid Masters on Monday.
Simon saved all four while serving at 4-5 in the third set. Then the three-time title winner on tour this year came back from a 3-5 deficit in the tiebreaker to advance to a matchup with 11th-seeded James Blake.
Former top-5 player Tommy Robredo held off Andreas Seppi of Italy 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 in two hours, 19 minutes.
Robredo managed a decisive break point in the sixth game of the final set when Seppi slapped a forehand into the net. The Spaniard next plays eighth-seeded Andy Roddick.
Big Czech Tomas Berdych eased past Germany’s Rainer Schuettler 6-1, 6-2, while Marian Cilic of Croatia beat Belgian qualifier Olivier Rochus 6-3, 7-5.
American qualifier Mardy Fish hit 13 aces to beat Belgian Steve Darcis in his first match since he got married two weeks ago. Fish converted all four of his break points against Darcis to play Richard Gasquet of France next.
Lucky loser Simone Bolelli also advanced, beating Nicolas Almagro of Spain 7-6 (4), 6-1. The Italian, who was entered only after former champion Marat Safin withdrew with a shoulder injury, will next face US Open finalist Andy Murray.
HOMETOWN ZERO: Fans relished the fall of former Brewer-turned-Cubs manager Craig Counsell, as Milwaukee braces to face the Dodgers, who in 2018 denied them a pennant Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy has referred to his team as the “Average Joes,” a nod to their small-market status and lack of big names, but after they beat rivals the Chicago Cubs 3-1 in the decisive fifth game of their National League Division Series (NLDS) on Saturday night, Murphy decided it was time for an upgrade. “You can call them the average Joes, but I say they’re the above-average Joes,” he said. The Brewers relied on contributions from just about every player to get past the Cubs. Andrew Vaughn hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth inning, and William Contreras and Brice
TITLE CAMPAIGN: The victory sent the Monkeys to the Taiwan Series for the third time in the past four seasons as they seek their first championship since 2019 The stage is set for the Taiwan Series after the Rakuten Monkeys on Monday beat the Uni-President Lions 4-3 in Game 5 of the CPBL Challenger Series in Kaohsiung. The Monkeys, who entered the top of the ninth scoreless, tied the game with a three-run blast by Lin Chih-ping and scored the winning run in the 10th on an RBI single by Lin Li, a three-time batting champion in the CPBL. Both players entered the game as pinch hitters. “The coach told me to stay prepared as a pinch hitter in the later part of the game. My teammates had
The Ministry of Sports on Wednesday night called for the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) to address issues in Taiwanese soccer after national manager Huang Che-ming on Tuesday resigned following Taiwan’s elimination in AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Taiwan on Tuesday were thrashed 6-1 by Thailand in their Group D tie at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Taiwan finished with no points, after losing all four of their matches, eliminating them from qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. Huang made his surprise resignation at a post-match news conference, following three losses since he took over the team from English coach Gary White in August. Huang
Taiwanese badminton ace Chou Tien-chen was crowned the men’s singles champion at the Arctic Open on Sunday, after defeating Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand 21-11, 13-21, 21-19. The 35-year-old Chou, who is ranked world No. 5, and the 24-year-old Vitidsarn, ranked world No. 3, battled it out for one hour and 17 minutes in a grueling three-game match at Energia Areena in Vantaa, Finland. In the first game, Chou took an early 9-7 lead and maintained his momentum, widening the gap, before defeating Vitidsarn 21-11. At the start of the second game, the two players were neck-and-neck. When Vitidsarn pulled ahead