Lleyton Hewitt sent third-seeded James Blake tumbling out of the first-round of the ATP and WTA hardcourt tennis tournament in Memphis on Wednesday.
Hewitt notched the upset of the day with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 triumph over Blake.
Hewitt bounced back from a sloppy first set to improve to 8-1 in head-to-head matchups with Blake.
PHOTO: EPA
Despite the weary history, Blake entered as a heavy favorite to pull off his second victory over Hewitt, who had battled a myriad of injuries throughout last year and has dropped to 103rd in the world rankings.
Instead Hewitt booked a second-round clash with compatriot Chris Guccione, who was called up along with Hewitt on Wednesday for Australia’s Davis Cup tie against Thailand next month.
Top-seeded American Roddick launched his quest for a first title of the year by dispatching defending champion Steve Darcis of Belgium 7-6, (7/1), 6-2.
Roddick has reached three finals over his previous eight appearances at this hardcourt event, but has only the 2002 crown to show for it.
Darcis remains in search of his first match win of the year after first-round departures at Brisbane, Auckland, the Australian Open and San Jose.
Roddick, ranked sixth in the world, was one of six US men in action on Wednesday.
He advanced to a meeting with compatriot Robby Ginepri, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Simon Greul.
Fifth-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek also reached the second round, beating US qualifier Kevin Kim 6-4, 6-2.
Seventh seed Mardy Fish also benefited from the partisan crowd as he topped Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun 6-1, 7-5.
Eighth-seeded Sam Querrey downed German veteran Tommy Haas 7-6, (7/4), 6-4.
On the women’s side, Danish top seed Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the quarter-finals by defeating France’s Severine Bremond 6-1, 7-6 (7/1).
Also claiming quarter-final spots were Czech third seed Lucie Safarova, British fourth seed Anne Keothavong, German sixth seed Sabine Lisicki and eighth seed Pauline Parmentier of France.
Britain’s Keothavong defeated Portugal’s Michelle Larcherde Brito 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 to book a date against New Zealand’s fifth-seeded Marina Erakovic.
Parmentier eliminated South African Chanelle Scheepers 6-4, 6-1 while Safarova ousted Vania King 7-6 (7/1), 6-3, to book a final-eight date with Lisicki, who defeated France’s Stephanie Foretz 6-2, 6-4.
■DUBAI CHAMPIONSHIPS
AP, DUBAI
Serena and Venus Williams remained on track to meet in the semi-finals but Jelena Jankovic was ousted in the third round of the Dubai Championships on Wednesday.
Top-seeded Serena beat Zheng Jie of China 6-4, 6-2, while sixth-seeded Venus put away Alize Cornet of France 6-3, 6-2.
Third-seeded Jankovic lost to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-2, 7-5. It was Kanepi’s first win over a top-five player.
In the quarter-finals, Serena was due to meet French Open champion Ana Ivanovic, while Venus was to play defending champion Elena Dementieva.
Eighth-seeded Ivanovic beat lucky loser Camille Pin of France 6-2, 7-6 (5), while fourth-seeded Dementieva dispatched Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-1, 6-3.
Jankovic, down 6-2, 4-0, pulled level in the second set at 5-5 but Kanepi broke in the 12th game for her best win.
“I am really delighted. It was my tactic to mix it up and it worked,” Kanepi said.
Jankovic, ranked No. 1 until last month, was embarrassed.
“This was the worst match of my career. It was a horrible day. I kept framing the ball, kept making unforced errors and could not put two balls together on the court. I didn’t move properly, and I didn’t see the ball properly,” she said.
“She didn’t have to do too much. Basically, I beat myself. I don’t know what happened out there. I am ashamed of this performance.”
■OPEN 13
AP, MARSEILLE, FRANCE
Top-seeded Novak Djokovic beat Jeremy Chardy again 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the second round of the Open 13 on Wednesday.
It was the Serb’s first match since the Australian Open, where he also defeated Chardy before retiring in the quarter-finals.
George Bastl of Switzerland and Frenchmen Michael Llodra, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Paul-Henri Mathieu also reached the second round while Feliciano Lopez of Spain, Mikhail Youzhny of Russia and Mischa Zverev of Germany moved into the quarter-finals.
Djokovic jumped to a 4-1 lead in the first-set tiebreaker and held on, then made the decisive break in the third game of the second set against Chardy.
Bastl, a lucky loser who replaced Richard Gasquet after the Frenchman withdrew on Monday with a right shoulder injury, upset Marc Gicquel of France 6-4, 6-3.
Llodra relied on a solid serve to oust South African qualifier Rik De Voest 7-6 (2), 6-1.
Tsonga beat Andrey Golubev 7-6 (5), 6-2 as the 117th-ranked Kazakh failed to serve out the first set at 6-5 and was broken twice in the second.
Mathieu rallied past third-seeded compatriot Gael Monfils 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
In the second round, Lopez edged Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1) to even the score in their head-to-head matches at 2-2.
Youzhny beat Andreas Seppi of Italy 7-6 (2), 6-3 while Zverev outlasted Arnaud Clement of France 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Jobe Bellingham on Tuesday admitted to having “anxieties” on following in brother Jude’s footsteps after joining Borussia Dortmund in the summer. Jobe Bellingham, 19, is two years younger than Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in 2023 after three years at Dortmund. A centerpiece of the England national team, Jude Bellingham has emerged as one of the best players in the world in recent seasons. The younger Jobe Bellingham joined Dortmund in June from Sunderland after their promotion to the English Premier League. He admitted he understood what the perception would be ahead of the move to Germany. “It’s something you do think about.
Before Tuesday’s 7-2 win at the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy suggested “most people couldn’t tell you five players on our team.” A look at the standings would indicate more Brewers players soon will be recognized by more fans. After all, it is difficult to overlook a team that not only continues to extend their lead in the National League Central, but also boasts the best record in the majors. “What we’re doing in here right now is special,” right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta said after allowing only four hits and one run in five innings, while setting a career high with
RSS