Rafael Nadal was set for an early New Year opportunity to avenge the worst defeat of his career yesterday when he was to tackle bitter rival Robin Soderling, the man who dumped him out of the French Open.
World No. 2 Nadal was defeated for the first time at Roland Garros last year, where he was four-time champion, by the towering Swede, a setback that sent his season into a downward, injury-hit spiral.
Nadal, who also lost to Soderling at the ATP World Tour finals in London, was to get his chance for revenge when the two were to meet in the final of the Capitala World Tennis Championship, an exhibition tournament, in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Nadal, who beat compatriot David Ferrer 7-6, 6-3 in an all-Spanish semi-final, is without an ATP final since May, with his second half of the season badly affected by knee tendinitis and a stomach strain.
Soderling made the final by beating world No. 1 Roger Federer 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (7/1), 6-2 in his semi-final on Friday.
It was Soderling’s first career win over Federer, having lost the previous 12 times they had met, including in last year’s Roland Garros final.
“I’ve known Robin for a while and it was great to see his incredible run at the French Open. I think he’s really picked it up and it’s great to see,” Federer said. “It was obviously hard starting the year against him in a rematch of Roland Garros. I had fun though.”
■BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL
AP, BRISBANE
Former world No. 1 Justine Henin faces a tough first-round match in her official comeback tournament after drawing second-seeded Nadia Petrova at the Brisbane International.
Henin, a wild card, was the last player in the 32-women field to come out of the draw, coincidentally conducted by Petrova. The Russian gave a rueful smile as she turned Henin’s name card over at the public draw in downtown Brisbane yesterday.
US Open champion Kim Clijsters will play Italian Tathiana Garbin today at Pat Rafter Arena. Henin plays Petrova tomorrow.
Men’s top seed Andy Roddick drew Australian Davis Cup player Peter Luczak, while fellow American James Blake will play fifth-seeded compatriot Sam Querrey.
Henin spent 117 weeks at No. 1 and has seven Grand Slam titles.
She announced her comeback in September, soon after her Belgian compatriot Clijsters won the US Open.
Clijsters and Henin are on opposite sides of the draw and could meet in the Brisbane final.
Henin said earlier this week she has matured during her 20-month break.
“I believe I can be a better player, I believe I can use my experience more than in the past,” Henin said. “When you are into [playing tennis at] 200 percent you have no time to realize it.”
Petrova felt Henin was already close to displaying the form she was in before her retirement.
“She was playing good tennis and she only needs a couple of matches to get her confidence,” Petrova said.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set