Top seed Gael Monfils stayed on course for a third ATP title with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over friend and fellow Frenchman Josselin Ouanna in their SA Tennis Open second-round tie on Thursday.
Paris-born Monfils, who has won tournaments in Poland and his homeland, is ranked 13th in the world, 108 places above Ouanna from the town of Tours, 200km southwest of the French capital. That huge gap was never evident at the Montecasino Entertainment Centre, however, as Monfils took 79 minutes to subdue his former French tennis academy roommate.
Monfils, who is hoping to emulate compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and collect the US$80,000 first prize tomorrow, triumphed because he served better and produced several timely top-drawer strokes, but it was not a vintage performance from the 23-year-old Frenchman, who committed 37 unforced errors in perfect conditions after rain and thunder forced an afternoon delay.
While the potent Monfils service delivered 12 aces, he would have been concerned by six double-faults ahead of a last-eight duel against Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun.
“It was tough playing against someone I once shared a room with and I am happy to have succeeded,” Monfils said.
The other three second round ties were also settled in straight sets, with seeds David Ferrer (No. 2) of Spain, Lu (No. 7) and India Davis Cup star Somdev Devverman progressing.
■ZAGREB INDOORS
AP, ZAGREB
Defending champion Marin Cilic cruised into the quarter-finals of the Zagreb Indoors on Thursday by defeating Daniel Koellerer of Austria 6-2, 6-1.
The top-seeded Croat dropped only seven points on serve and after two matches at the tournament, Cilic has spent only 1 hour, 57 minutes on court.
It has been a good season for the 22-year-old Cilic so far. He won the ATP tournament in Chennai, India, last month and reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open last week.
Cilic will next face another local player in Ivo Karlovic, who defeated French qualifier Alexandre Sidorenko 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (10/8).
Lukas Lacko of Slovakia also reached the quarter-finals, ousting 2006 champion Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 7-6 (7/5).
Lacko will play Philipp Petzschner of Germany, who defeated compatriot Benjamin Becker 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (8/6) after saving match point in the third-set tie-breaker.
Germany’s Michael Berrer also advanced after beating Croatia’s Petar Jelenic 6-4, 6-3.
■MOVISTAR OPEN
AP, SANTIAGO
Third-seeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil won a three-hour match against Chile’s Paul Capdeville 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals of the Movistar Open in Santiago.
In Thursday’s other matches, second-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina beat compatriot Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 7-5, while Peter Luczak of Australia also advanced to the quarter-finals, beating David Marrero of Spain 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).
Former champion Jose Acasuso of Argentina retired injured during his second-round match. Acasuso won the first set from Eduardo Schwank 7-6 (7/3), but was injured in the second and retired hurt.
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