US tennis superstar Serena Williams regained the world No. 1 ranking with an easy win at the China Open yesterday, while Rafael Nadal survived a scare in his opening match.
Defending champions Andy Roddick and Jelena Jankovic were both upset at the US$6.6 million tournament, a combined ATP/WTA event aimed at bolstering China’s position as a key tennis marketplace.
Russians Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva advanced to the round of 16 in the women’s draw, as did their countryman Marat Safin, on a day of blinding A-list star power at the Olympic tennis center.
PHOTO: AFP
Williams, the second seed in Beijing and current world No. 2, breezed past Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova, 6-3, 6-2, into the round of 16, ensuring that her name will be atop the WTA rankings when the new list is issued on Monday.
The path to the top spot was cleared for the 28-year-old Williams, who last held the top ranking in April, when current No. 1 Dinara Safina crashed out of the tournament on Monday, losing to Chinese wild card Zhang Shuai.
“It feels pretty good. I’m really excited. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. I’m obviously happy to be there because I feel like I’ve been working so hard all year,” Williams said.
Nadal, the top seed and world No. 2, held off a fierce challenge from former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, winning in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
The hard-hitting baseliners remained even throughout much of the match, delighting the crowd with long rallies and hitting amazing angles with their ground strokes.
Roddick, the third seed in Beijing, stumbled out in straight sets to Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot, 6-2, 6-4, while China’s Peng Shuai defeated the eighth seed Jankovic, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Sharapova, a three-time Grand Slam winner, fired 13 aces in her gutsy three-set come-from-behind win over ninth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5.
In other women’s matches, fourth seed Dementieva, fellow Russian seventh seed Vera Zvonareva, 10th seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy and 14th seed Marion Bartoli of France, all moved into the round of 16.
In the men’s draw, fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko, fifth seed Fernando Verdasco, seventh seed Fernando Gonzalez and Safin, the 2004 China Open champion, all won their opening matches.
■JAPAN OPEN
AFP, TOKYO
US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro crashed out of the Japan Open in the first round on Tuesday, beaten by unseeded French qualifier Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
The 21-year-old Argentine top seed, playing his first match since his victory at Flushing Meadows last month, struggled throughout the clash, losing 4-6, 4-6 in 88 minutes.
Gilles Simon of France, defending champion Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, and 2001 Tokyo champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia safely went through, all beating Japanese wild card entrants.
Fresh from his victory in Bangkok last weekend, third seed Simon breezed past Takao Suzuki 6-3, 6-4. Fifth seed Berdych whipped Go Soeda 6-2, 6-4, while eighth seed Hewitt outclassed Tatsuma Ito 6-1, 7-5.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but