Sixth-seeded Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine defeated Karolina Sprem of Croatia 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the US$220,000 GDF Suez Grand Prix on Monday.
Bondarenko broke Sprem’s serve at 1-1 in the first set and later jumped out to a 4-2 lead but the Croatian came back to win four games in a row to take the set.
Sprem, a semi-finalist at this tournament last year, took a 3-1 lead in the second set but this time it was Bondarenko who won four consecutive games to even up the match.
Sprem began the decisive set by winning her own service game but that was as far as she got, as Bondarenko won six straight games to win the match, her first WTA win over Sprem after losses in 2001 and 2006.
Maria Elena Camerin of Italy also scored her first defeat over Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1.
■HALL OF FAME
AP, NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND
Prakash Amritraj and Taylor Dent won their opening matches at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships on Monday.
India’s Amritraj, the runner-up last year, beat Danai Udomchoke of Thailand, 6-1, 6-4 and Dent, the 2002 Newport champion, defeated Marcos Daniel of Brazil, 6-2, 6-1.
In other first-round action, Brendan Evans of the US ousted No. 4-seeded Benjamin Becker 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5, when the German double-faulted on the final point. Jesse Levine beat Australia’s Chris Guccione, 7-6 (2) 7-6 (2); Daniel Brands of Germany beat Vince Spadea 6-0, 6-4; and American Robby Ginepri ousted Santiago Ventura of Spain, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.
Top-seeded Mardy Fish withdrew after replacing Andy Roddick on the US Davis Cup team.
Fish was selected for the team a day after Roddick lost an epic Wimbledon final to Roger Federer. Roddick withdrew from the Davis Cup citing a right hip flexor injury.
■SWEDISH OPEN
AP, BASTAD, SWEDEN
Fifth-seeded Sorana Cirstea of Romania beat Swedish wild card Johanna Larsson 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the first round of the Swedish Open on Monday.
Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also advanced to the second round of the clay-court WTA tournament, coming from one set down to defeat US veteran Jill Craybas 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in a rain-delayed match.
Eighth-seeded Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic defeated Poland’s Urszula Radwanska 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia and Gisela Dulko of Argentina also progressed to the second round.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
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When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated worldwide. Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990. Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery. The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just
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