Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki yesterday powered her way into the round of 16 at the China Open, leaving her just one victory shy of wresting the WTA’s top ranking from Serena Williams next week.
The 20-year-old Dane — taking the court for the first time in Beijing as the top seed — struggled in the first set, but then rallied to notch a relatively easy second-round victory over Italy’s Sara Errani, 6-4, 6-2.
In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and Liezel Huber of the US were defeated 6-4, 7-5 by Agnes Szavay of Hungary and Barbara Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic. However, Taiwan’s Chuang Chia-jung and her partner Olga Govortsova of Belarus defeated Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland and Tathiana Garbin of Italy in three sets.
Wozniacki, the current world No. 2, needs to reach the quarterfinals or better at the China Open to unseat Williams, who has been out of action since cutting her foot shortly after winning her fourth Wimbledon crown in July.
The Dane will face Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic today for her chance to reign supreme in the world of women’s tennis.
Russian second seed Vera Zvonareva came from behind to defeat compatriot Maria Kirilenko in three sets, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, and claim a spot in the quarterfinals.
Israel’s Shahar Peer and Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky both easily advanced to the quarters.
In the men’s draw, top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia advanced to the quarter-finals in a walkover when American Mardy Fish was forced to pull out due to a left ankle injury.
Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko survived a tough challenge from Croatia’s Marin Cilic, the runner-up here last year, prevailing 7-5, 7-5 in just under two hours.
American wild card John Isner — who won the longest match in tennis history at Wimbledon this year — and France’s Gilles Simon also advanced.
JAPAN OPEN
AFP, TOKYO
Dmitry Tursunov held his nerve in the final set to beat Richard Gasquet of France in the second round of the Japan Open tennis tournament yesterday.
The 27-year-old Russian, who eliminated seventh seed Ernests Gulbis of Latvia on Monday, scored his only break in the seventh game of the decider to win 7-6 (7/2), 1-6, 6-4.
In the quarter-finals, Tursunov will play either world No. 1 Rafael Nadal of Spain or Milos Raonic of Canada.
Earlier in the day, Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic became the first player to reach the quarter-finals when his opponent, Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland, retired from the match with a back problem at 5-7, 7-6 (9/7), 4-1.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, who stunned Nadal in the Thailand Open semi-finals last weekend, outclassed his compatriot Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
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