■TENNIS
Stepanek survives scare
Fourth seed Radek Stepanek rallied from a set down to overcome German qualifier Dominik Meffert 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the San Jose Open on Monday. The 30-year-old Czech, who won his third ATP title in Brisbane last month, lost the first set and was pressed in the second before finally assuming control of the match with a dominating third set to avoid an upset. In other opening round action, Christophe Rochus of Belgium upset seventh seed Igor Kunitsyn 6-2, 7-6, making the Russian the only seeded player to lose on the tournament’s opening day. American Taylor Dent defeated compatriot Bobby Reynolds 6-3, 6-4 as he continued his comeback from last season’s back surgery.
■FORMULA ONE
Red Bull unveils new car
Red Bull officially unveiled its car for this year’s Formula One season on Monday at the Spanish Jerez circuit. The new RB5 car, which was presented by Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, is powered by a Renault engine designed by Adrian Newey and encompasses the far-reaching regulation changes that have been brought in to cut costs. Red Bull hopes to improve on their seventh-place finish in last season’ constructors’ championship. Vettel was due to give the car its maiden run later on Monday.
■SAILING
Luna Rossa beat China
Italy’s Luna Rossa beat China Team by 1 second yesterday to stay in contention in knockout racing among challengers at the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series sailing regatta. Luna Rossa carried a penalty throughout the race after being trapped into an infringement 30 seconds before the start by China’s British helmsman and world match racing champion Ian Williams. Several minutes passed before the winner of the race could be determined. The win means Luna Rossa will race BMW Oracle Racing of the US in the challenger quarterfinals. Britain’s TeamOrigin, which beat France’s Pataugas K-Challenge by 1 minute, 52 seconds in the other sailoff, will race Italy’s Damiani Italia Challenge in the second quarter-final.
■BASKETBALL
NBA suspends David West
New Orleans Hornets forward David West was suspended for one game without pay by the National Basketball Association for striking an opponent in the head, the league announced on Monday. West was assessed a flagrant foul for striking Minnesota’s Mike Miller with 1:53 remaining in the second period of a 101-97 New Orleans’ home victory on Sunday over the Timberwolves. The ban knocked West to the bench for Monday’s game at Memphis but allows West to return today for a home matchup against the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics, the Hornets’ last game before the All-Star Game break.
■ALPINE SKIING
Svindal takes gold
Norway’s Aksel Svindal held his nerve to master a treacherous slalom course and win the super-combined gold medal at the alpine skiing world championships in Val D’Isere, France, on Monday. Svindal posted the fastest time in the downhill section and managed to reach the bottom of a slalom run in which many stumbled to clock a combined winning time of 2 minutes, 23 seconds. France’s Julien Lizeroux, in 22nd position after the downhill, thrilled the home fans with a remarkable comeback, clocking the best slalom time to win silver 0.90 seconds back. Croatia’s Natko Zrncic-Dim took the bronze, 1.58 seconds behind the winner.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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