James Blake of the US was beaten 7-5, 6-3 by Romanian qualifier Victor Crivoi in the first round of the Rome Masters, where play was curtailed by rain and wind on Monday.
The 14th seed fought back to 5-5 after losing the first five games of the match, but he failed to force a tiebreak by dropping serve in the final game of the first set.
Blake briefly perked up again, but then appeared to lose heart after relinquishing a 2-0 lead in the second set and 26-year-old Crivoi sealed the match with a sweet drop volley at the net.
Last year’s runner-up Stanislas Wawrinka overcame a few concentration lapses to move into the second round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Igor Kunitsyn.
The 10th-seeded Swiss broke the Russian in the eighth game and then produced some big serves to hold the first set after conceding three break points with wild shots and a double fault.
Wawrinka eased to victory despite losing serve in the fourth game of the second set.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, who has a bye to the second round along with the other top seeds, will start his title defense against Albert Montanes. The Spaniard beat Italian wildcard Potito Starace 7-6, 6-4.
World No. 2 Roger Federer, yet to win a title this year, will begin his campaign against Croat Ivo Karlovic.
British fourth seed Andy Murray will face Juan Monaco after the Argentine qualifier swept aside German Nicolas Kiefer 6-2, 6-3.
Former world No. 1 Marat Safin’s match against Spanish 13th seed Tommy Robredo was one of the encounters pushed into yesterday’s schedule by the weather.
■STUTTGART GRAND PRIX
REUTERS, STUTTGART, GERMANY
World No. 8 Victoria Azarenka eased past Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-4 with a dazzling display of power and accuracy to move into the second round of the Stuttgart Grand Prix on Monday.
The 19-year-old Belarussian, who stormed into the top 10 with her first tier I tournament win in Miami earlier this month, broke her opponent in the first game.
With a massive backhand, Azarenka chased the 24th-ranked Spaniard across the indoor clay court, whipping winners at will and clinching the first set 6-1.
Suarez Navarro broke her opponent in the first game of the second set and came back to level 4-4 but Azarenka, accompanying each effort with a high-pitched shriek, sealed her win with her first match point when the Spaniard fired a forehand long.
World No. 1 Dinara Safina was to open her campaign yesterday against Italian Sara Errani.
Russian Olympic champion Elena Dementieva, the world No. 3, takes on wildcard entrant German Anna-Lena Groenefeld.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite