Defending champion Novak Djokovic powered into the China Open semi-finals with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Gilles Simon yesterday.
The Serbian fended off all seven break points he faced while breaking Simon three times.
Djokovic will meet John Isner, who upset fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (4), 6-4.
PHOTO: EPA
Third seed Robin Soderling was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by Spain’s David Ferrer and Ivan Ljubicic beat second seed Andy Murray 6-3, 6-2.
In the women’s quarters, second seed Vera Zvonareva made short work of Francesca Schiavone, winning 6-0, 6-2.
Li Na gave the Chinese crowd something to celebrate with a hard-fought 7-6 (8), 6-3 victory against Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova.
The Chinese world No. 15 struggled in the first set, winning on a tiebreaker.
In the second, Li looked set to win at 5-2, but Sevastova broke her serve to stay in the game.
Undeterred, Li promptly broke back for the win, eliciting a huge cheer from the home crowd at the Beijing Tennis Center.
Ecstasy turned to agony for Caroline Wozniacki less than 24 hours after she was crowned world No. 1 when she crumpled to the ground clutching her knee while leading Ana Ivanovic 7-6, 3-1.
She overstretched as she smashed a backhanded return but after taking an injury time out to get her knee strapped, showed her champion’s instinct to down Ivanovic 7-6, 6-4.
JAPAN OPEN
REUTERS, TOKYO
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal sped past Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals of the Japan Open and keep a special appointment yesterday.
The Spaniard revealed he wanted to go to watch Japan play Argentina in a soccer friendly in Saitama in the evening.
Frenchman Gael Monfils ousted second seed Andy Roddick 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 in a pulsating quarter-final in Tokyo earlier in the day.
Nadal came out all guns blazing and after safely pocketing the first set, the Spaniard blitzed through the second.
“I want to see Japan and Argentina after I have some dinner and rest,” he told reporters.
Monfils will play Czech Radek Stepanek in the semi-final after Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen pulled out with a fever.
In the other quarter-final Viktor Troicki of Serbia beat Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 3-6, 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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB