Andreas Vinciguerra set up an all-Swedish second round match with top-seeded Robin Soderling after defeating Daniel Brands in three sets at the Swedish Open on Monday.
Wild card Vinciguerra came through 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-4 at the clay court tournament and will next face two-time French Open finalist Soderling, who was given a bye in the first round.
He will face a tough match against No. 5-ranked Soderling, who beat Juan Monaco in last year’s final to win the championship in front of his home crowd for the first time. He has five career titles to date.
Italy’s Potito Starace also advanced on Monday after brushing aside eighth-seeded Florent Serra of France 6-2, 6-2 on a hot day in southern Sweden.
In other matches, Spain’s Pere Riba beat Peter Luczak of Australia 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6) and Italy’s Fabio Fognini defeated Sweden’s Filip Prpic 6-7 (7), 6-3, 6-4.
■PALERMO OPEN
AP, PALERMO, Italy
Fourth-seeded Tsvetana Pironkova and fifth-seeded Kaia Kanepi have secured straight sets wins to advance into the second round of the Palermo Open.
Bulgaria’s Pironkova beat Anna Floris of Italy 6-4, 7-6 at the clay court tournament at the Country Time Club Viale dell’Olimpo stadium, while Estonia’s Kanepi saw off Rossana De Los Rios of Paraguay 7-5, 6-4.
In the two other first round matches on Monday, Jill Craybas of the US was pushed all the way by Uzbekistan’s Akgul Amanmuradova before winning 7-6, 7-5, and Mariana Duque Marino of Colombia defeated Slovakia’s Zuzana Kucova 6-4, 6-0.
■MERCEDES CUP
AP, STUTTGART, Germany
Eighth-seeded Victor Hanescu of Romania has been beaten in straight sets by Switzerland’s Marco Chiudinelli in the first round of the Mercedes Cup.
Hanescu, who reached the final here last year, lost 7-6 (4), 6-3 to the 66th-ranked Chiudinelli in a match that saw a lineswoman collapse with circulatory problems caused by the very hot temperatures. She had to be carried off the court, but Red Cross officials said later that she was feeling better.
Germany’s Mischa Zverev beat Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine 6-4, 6-3 in the other first round match on Monday at the TC Weissenhof grounds, and next will take on second-seeded Juergen Melzer of Austria.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a