German wild card Daniel Brands stunned top seed Gilles Simon of France, beating the world No. 7 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the third round of the German Open in Hamburg on Tuesday.
World No. 16 Tommy Robredo, seeded fourth, also suffered an early exit at the hands of Spanish compatriot Ivan Navarro, ranked No. 103, losing 7-5, 7-6.
Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas came from a break down in the first set to sweep past ninth-seed Juergen Melzer from Austria 7-6, 6-3 while Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, seeded fifth, lost 6-2, 6-4 to Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
PHOTO: AFP
French 13th-seed Paul-Henri Mathieu was lucky to escape against No. 145 Pere Riba of Spain, battling his way through three sets to win 6-1, 2-6, 7-6.
Serb Viktor Troicki, seeded 10th, also had to battle hard — for two hours and 40 minutes — until breaking the resistance of Russian Teimuraz Gabashvilli 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
■INDIANAPOLIS
AFP, INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
Fragile Russian top seed Dmitry Tursunov received an unexpected confidence boost on Tuesday as Michael Berrer made 16 double faults in a 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 loss at the ATP Indianapolis Championships.
Surprising second seed Dudi Sela continued his recent red-hot pace as the Israeli sent home American veteran Vince Spadea 7-5, 6-1.
Russian Igor Kunitsyn, a member of the defeated Russian Davis Cup side, was another unlikely seed who shined, defeating of Argentine Brian Dabul 6-4, 6-1.
German fifth seed Benjamin Becker stopped Go Soeda, a Japanese qualifier, 6-2, 6-3.
Two American journeyman booked spots in the second round. Qualifier Jesse Levine beat Thai Danai Udomchoke 6-1, 7-6 (12/10) while Alex Bogomolov stopped Italy’s Flavio Cipolla 6-2, 6-3 to next face Sela.
Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun came out fighting but lost in the end to Eduardo Schwank of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
■SLOVENIA OPEN
AP, PORTOROZ, SLOVENIA
Second-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain was ousted by Vesna Manasieva 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 in the first round of the Slovenia Open on Tuesday.
The No. 141 came through qualifying for only the second time this year — after Wimbledon — for her first win on the main tour since last September. Medina Garrigues was ranked 20th. Also advancing was Russian Ksenia Pervak, who overcame Julia Georges of Germany 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 and fourth-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy easily beat Nastja Kolar of Slovenia 6-2, 6-0.
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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