Tommy Haas of Germany rallied to beat defending champion Marcel Granollers of Spain 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday in the second round of the US Men’s Clay Court Championships.
Granollers’ loss left the tournament without a seeded player in the quarter-finals, which hadn’t happened in the clay court tournament since pro tennis went to the open era in 1968.
Earlier, Evgeny Korolev of Russia fought through rough wind and a comeback try by Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain for a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory in the second round.
PHOTO: AP
Bjorn Phau of Germany, who eliminated second-seeded Mardy Fish in the first round, also needed a tiebreaker to beat Scoville Jenkins of the US 6-4, 7-6 (2) in another second-round match.
Guillermo Canas of Argentina defeated American Taylor Dent 6-2, 6-2 to grab the final quarter-final spot in the last match of the evening.
■ANDALUCIA CHAMPIONSHIPS
REUTERS, MADRID
World No. 4 Jelena Jankovic eased into the quarter-finals of the Andalucia Tennis Championships with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Tunisia’s Selima Sfar on Thursday.
The Serbian second seed, by far the highest-ranked player left in the tournament after Wednesday’s shock exit of world No. 1 Serena Williams, converted five of her 11 break points on the clay in Marbella and was broken just once.
■MPS GROUP CHAMPIONSHIPS
AP, PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA
Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki moved into the quarter-finals of The MPS Group Championships by beating France’s Virginie Razzano 6-3, 7-5 on Thursday.
Wozniacki’s sixth quarter-final in seven tournaments this year will be against Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova, who beat No. 8 Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US 6-3, 7-5 in the late match.
Fifth-seeded Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada fought off Germany’s Sabine Lisicki to win 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 and claim consecutive matches for the first time this year. Next up will be Austria’s Tamira Paszek, who reached her first tour quarter-finals since September with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Varvara Lepchenko of the US, who replaced a fatigued Jelena Dokic in the draw.
The top-seeded doubles team of American Lisa Raymond and Kveta Peschke will meet Wozniacki and Strycova in the semis after beating American Carly Gullickson and Taiwan’s Chan Chin-wei 6-0, 7-5.
The second-seeds, China’s Peng Shuai and Yan Zi lost to American Angela Haynes and Liga Dekmeijere 7-6 (3), 6-4.
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
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
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