Three-time champion Andy Roddick defeated bullet-serving Ivo Karlovic 7-6, 7-6 on Friday to book a spot in the semi-finals of the Washington Classic.
Roddick won the tiebreakers 7-4 and 7-5 to set up an all-American affair with John Isner, who beat Czech Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 at the US$1.4 million hardcourt event.
Fernando Gonzalez knocked out Tommy Haas of Germany 7-5, 6-4 and will face holder Juan Martin Del Potro, who progressed to the last four when Robin Soderling withdrew with an elbow injury.
PHOTO: AFP
Roddick weathered 13 Karlovic aces on the way to his fifth win against the Croatian in a match featuring unusually long rallies for two of the hardest-hitters in the game.
The 26-year-old American said the unseasonably cool weather in Washington on Friday evening may have made the court slower.
“The ball felt a little dead,” said top-seeded Roddick, playing his first tournament since losing to Roger Federer in an epic five-set final at Wimbledon last month. “It seems to be playing quicker in the day than at night. We haven’t gotten the typical Washington heat yet. I think that’s on tap for the weekend.”
Having never previously broken Roddick’s serve, 30-year-old Karlovic went up a service break in each set, but Roddick battled back both times to force a tie-breaker.
“If you would have told me I’d break him twice, I would have thought it would have been a lot more comfortable than the end score,” said Roddick, who managed only seven aces against Karlovic.
Gonzalez needed an hour and 23 minutes to subdue the 10th-seeded Haas, who was bidding to reach his fourth successive semi-final.
“He was hitting the ball pretty hard from the forehand side,” said Haas. “He is a very tough player to face. It is really hard to do anything when he starts hitting forehands.”
Gonzalez, 29, scored the only service break of the opening set in the 11th game before serving it out.
The Chilean then broke the 31-year-old German twice to take a 5-2 second-set lead before securing the win, his third in four hit-outs with Haas.
“I lost focus during a couple of games in the match and dropped serve a few times which probably made the difference,” Haas said.
■LA CHAMPIONSHIPS
AFP, LOS ANGELES
Aussie Samantha Stosur continued her impressive play at the Los Angeles Women’s Tennis Championships on Friday, rallying to beat China’s Zheng Jie 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter-finals.
Stosur has enjoyed a good run of success the past few months, improving her world ranking to 18. Stosur moves on to the semis where she will face Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, who beat eighth seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 7-5.
Russia’s Maria Sharapova also advanced to the semis, beating Poland’s Urszula Radwanska 6-4, 7-5.
Sharapova will next face Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, who beat second seeded Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-2.
The 13th seeded Stosur is known more for her talent in doubles but was knocked out of the hardcourt doubles draw on Thursday.
Zheng’s loss came less than 24 hours after she stunned top seed Dinara Safina in three sets on Thursday night.
This is the second time Zheng and Stosur have met in singles this season, with Zheng winning their last meeting at Dubai in February.
Stosur saved five of eight break points and was good on 77 percent of her first serves in the two-hour match against Zheng at the Home Depot Center tennis facility in south central Los Angeles.
Sharapova clinched her win on a challenge after her forehand to the corner was initially called long. She challenged and won to move on to play Pennetta.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was