Top-seeded Russians Nikolay Davydenko and Svetlana Kuznetsova booked their quarter-final berths at the Pilot Pen hard court tournament on Wednesday, the last tune-up for the US Open.
Davydenko, who heads the men’s field, defeated France’s Fabrice Santoro 7-5, 6-3 to advance.
In the quarters, he’ll face sixth seed Sam Querrey of the US, who downed Germany’s Bjorn Phau 7-5, 6-3.
PHOTO: AP
Querrey also claimed the US Open series crown rewarding his performance in a series of tournaments throughout the year.
With his win on Wednesday, Querrey matched the 145 points of world No. 2 Andy Murray, but he earned the title over the Scot because he won a total of 14 matches to Murray’s eight.
The title gives Querrey a chance to earn a bonus of between US$15,000 and US$1 million, depending on his finish at the US Open.
PHOTO: AP
French Open champion Kuznetsova clawed her way past Belgian teenager Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7/2).
Defending women’s champion and second seed Caroline Wozniacki also advanced to the quarter-finals, defeating rising Russian star Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-4.
Kuznetsova, who won Pilot Pen two years ago, will play eighth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France in the quarter-finals.
Kuznetsova admitted she lost focus at times and said she knows she’ll need to do better if she wants a shot at another Grand Slam title in New York.
“I still have it, so I appreciate that I have it, but I have to work on closing out things when I have the chance to,” she said.
Wickmayer earned a break in the third set to give herself a chance to serve for the match, but Kuznetsova broke her back and went on to force the tie-breaker.
Denmark’s Wozniacki will play unseeded Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano, who advanced when fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland retired. Radwanska won the first set 6-3, but had dropped the second 6-4 when she retired with a hand injury.
French sixth seed Marion Bartoli retired while trailing in the third set against Slovakian qualifier Magdalena Rybarikova, who had dropped the first set, but held on and was leading 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 2-0 when Bartoli retired with a strained left thigh.
WTA Tour officials said Bartoli was expected to be able to play in the US Open, which starts on Monday at Flushing Meadows.
Rybarikova will face third-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta, who fired eight aces in a 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 victory over Czec Iveta Benesova.
“My serve helped me a lot on the important points. I didn’t make a lot of mistakes and I was very aggressive,” Pennetta said.
Unseeded Russian Elena Vesnina advanced, rallying for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Aussie Samantha Stosur that set up a quarter-final clash with Russian Anna Chakvetadze.
In other men’s action, second-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco also advanced, shrugging off two second-set rain delays to post a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 victory over Andreas Seppi.
“I was just giving my 100 percent to try to finish the match as soon as possible. I really played good those last three games,” said Verdasco, who will play Austrian Jurgen Melzer, a 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-1 winner over eighth-seeded Romanian Victor Hanescu.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB