Third seed and home favorite Mikhail Youzhny beat Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 (5/7), 6-0, 6-4 in a see-saw Kremlin Cup final on Sunday to win his fifth ATP title.
Earlier, eighth-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone eased to her second career crown with a 6-3, 6-0 thrashing of Belarusian Olga Govortsova in the women’s final.
Youzhny’s triumph extended the Russian men’s winning streak at the annual indoor tournament, which was celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, to six consecutive years.
PHOTO: AFP
After losing a tight first set in the tie-break 7-5, Youzhny reeled off eight consecutive games to even the match and take a 2-0 lead in the decider.
Tipsarevic, playing in his first ATP Tour final, saved four match points in the ninth game, but the world No. 30 sealed his first Moscow crown and his first title since January last year at his next opportunity in the following game.
“Playing at home, in front of my family and friends, definitely put extra pressure on me, but it made my victory taste even sweeter,” the 27-year-old Muscovite told a news conference. “Finally, after 11 attempts, I was able to win in Moscow. I got a lucky draw this time, but I had to work hard to earn it.”
PHOTO: REUTERS
The women’s final was a lop-sided affair as Govortsova was hampered by a painful rib injury.
“I had trouble with my serve because of the injury, but in all honesty, it wasn’t the main reason I lost today,” the 67th-ranked Belarusian told a news conference. “She forced me to run a lot in the first set and I was very tired in the second.”
Schiavone, who had lost 10 of her 11 previous finals, including the Moscow showpiece against France’s Mary Pierce in 2005, said she was tense on Sunday.
“Usually I feel nervous before matches, but today was the final so I felt it even more,” said the 29-year-old, whose only other title came in Austria in 2007. “The key for me was to stay ahead in the first set, at 3-2 then 4-3. That helped me settle down, so the second was easy.”
■STOCKHOLM OPEN
AFP, STOCKHOLM
Marcos Baghdatis broke through for his third career ATP title on Sunday with a 6-1, 7-5 defeat of Olivier Rochus to lift the Stockholm Open crown, success that the Cypriot hopes will kick-start his next season.
There will be little time to rest, however, for the world No. 66, who claimed his first trophy since Zagreb in February 2007.
After a few days at home on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus next week, the 2006 Australian Open finalist will wrap up his season with a Challenger in South Korea.
Baghdatis solidified his rebuilding campaign after injury in fine style on Sunday as he ended the final with his 15th ace against Belgium’s Rochus, who said he never expected to get this far this week.
“Marcos played just great, but I surprised myself also,” said the finalist, “coached” this week by his Swedish girlfriend.
Baghdatis broke Rochus five times, the last in the penultimate game, before finishing on his first match point with a concluding untouchable serve.
“I’m physically fine, but not at 100 percent,” Baghdatis said. “I want to spend two or three days at home with my brothers and family, and then go to South Korea and end this season.”
■LUXEMBOURG OPEN
AFP, LUXEMBOURG
Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky lifted her first WTA title on Sunday as she beat Germany’s Sabine Lisicki 6-2, 7-5 in the Luxembourg Open final.
The 20-year-old — ranked 70th in the world — took full advantage of the early exits of Belgian US Open champion Kim Clijsters and the other highly-favored Danish player Caroline Wozniacki.
Bacsinsky, whose previous best performance was reaching the last 32 of last year’s US Open, was very humble after the win.
“I will never be Martina Hingis or Roger Federer, I know that,” the winner said. “What really is important to me is to have fun out on the court and not to have regrets at the end of my career.”
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite