Tenth seed Fernando Gonzalez reached the second round of the inaugural Shanghai Masters yesterday when Germany’s Mischa Zverev retired injured in the third set of a tight match.
The match was all square at 7-5, 6-7, 2-2 when the world No. 67 called an end to the contest because of what appeared to be a right wrist injury.
Gonzalez, the world No. 12, secured the first set with a superb backhand but mixed sublime shots with a string of feckless errors as the German’s aggressive tactics paid off.
PHOTO: EPA
The 22-year-old Zverev first got treatment on his hand at deuce in the opening game of the third set and decided he could not continue three games later.
Chilean Gonzalez, one of a handful of players competing for the last three spots at the season-ending World Tour Finals, will play Brazilian qualifier Thomaz Bellucci in the second round.
James Blake of the US earlier set up a second meeting in a week with top seed Rafa Nadal by standing his ground against an onslaught of 27 aces from Croatian Ivo Karlovic to win their first-round match 3-6, 7-6, 6-3.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Blake lost an entertaining match against the world No. 2 in Beijing last week and was under no misapprehensions about what he faces in the second round in China’s financial capital.
“I know how difficult it is to play him,” the New Yorker told reporters. “I know how much he makes you run, how hard he makes you work, how great defense he plays.”
“I know what I’m in for, and I’ll just prepare same way I did last week, just ... make sure my legs are fresh and ... be ready to face one of the best in the world,” Blake said.
Qualifier Lukasz Kubot spurned a chance to reacquaint himself with Andy Roddick, who he beat at the China Open last week.
Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka came from behind to beat the Pole 2-6, 7-6, 7-6 in a three-hour match and will play the American fourth seed in the second round.
In other matches Tommy Robredo of Spain beat Michael Llodra of France 6-1, 6-4, Brazil’s Tomaz Bellucci defeated Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 and David Ferrer of Spain downed Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-3.
■ JAPAN OPEN
AFP, OSAKA, JAPAN
India’s Sania Mirza sent out a strong signal of intent when she eliminated fifth seed Shahar Peer of Israel in the first round of the Japan Open women’s tennis tournament yesterday.
The 22-year-old Mirza, who captured her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open mixed doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi this season, needed one hour 52 minutes to complete a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over her frequent doubles partner.
In the second round, Mirza will take on Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine, the winner over Russian Maria Kirilenko who retired after losing the first set 6-2.
Eighth seed Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan fell to France’s Mathilde Johansson 7-5, 2-6, 7-5, but fourth seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy and seventh seed Melinda Czink of Hungary safely went through.
Schiavone outclassed Anne Kremer of Luxembourg 7-5, 6-2, while Czink dispatched Japanese wild card entrant Ryoko Fuda 6-4, 6-4.
In other first-round action, Britain’s Katie O’Brien breezed past Alexa Glatch of the US 6-3, 6-4.
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
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
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier