Svetlana Kuznetsova extended her run of poor results with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 loss to fellow Russian player Maria Kirilenko in the second round of the Italian Open on Monday.
The fifth-ranked Kuznetsova, who is a two-time runner-up at the Foro Italico, has not put together three consecutive wins since reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.
In first-round action, Yanina Wickmayer overcame a mid-match lapse to beat Karolina Sprem of Croatia 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, Flavia Pennetta of Italy advanced past Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan 6-2, 6-3, Francesca Schiavone of Italy rallied to eliminate Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 and Shahar Peer of Israel defeated wild card Corinna Dentoni of Italy, 6-2, 6-1.
PHOTO: EPA
Former French Open winner, Ana Ivanovic, rolled to a 6-1, 6-3 win over Elena Vesnina.
Ivanovic’s ranking has slipped from No. 1 to No. 58 and she recently hired Steffi Graf’s old coach, Heinz Gunthardt.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands beat compatriot Melanie Oudin 6-1, 6-3.
The 31st-ranked Oudin struggled with her serve, holding only three times and winning just 46 percent of the points with her first serve to Mattek-Sands’ 81 percent.
Mattek-Sands improved to 3-0 in her career against Oudin.
■ESTORIL OPEN
AP, OEIRAS, PORTUGAL
Alejandro Falla of Colombia beat seventh-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela at the Estoril Open on Monday, claiming their first-round match 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Marcel Granollers beat fellow Spaniard Oscar Hernandez 6-2, 6-1, and Arnaud Clement of France overcame Igor Kunitsyn of Russia, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
Local player Leonardo Tavares won 6-3, 6-3 against Brazilian Ricardo Mello.
There were several upsets in the women’s event, as Anastasija Sevastova recovered from a set down to eliminate top-seeded Agnes Szavay 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 and Julia Goerges of Germany routed third-seeded Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1, 6-1. Seventh-seed Peng Shuai did advance by beating Julie Coin 6-2, 6-2, and Japan’s Kimiko Date Krumm ousted Petra Martic of Croatia 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (2).
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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