Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray both eased into the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters with straight-set victories yesterday.
Djokovic, who is aiming to win back-to-back titles after capturing the China Open in Beijing last week, defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-1.
Gasquet looked drained after winning two matches due to the rain-delayed schedule earlier in the week. He dropped serve five times and had only six winners, compared with 25 for the second-ranked Serb.
“I don’t know how [Gasquet] felt and I didn’t care,” Djokovic said. “I did really well from the start. I put pressure on him and I was aggressive. I didn’t give him a chance to come back into the match.”
Djokovic next faces Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who upset Wimbledon finalist and seventh-seed Tomas Berdych 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Murray beat qualifier Jeremy Chardy of France 6-3, 6-4 to reach his ninth quarter-final this year.
The Scot has benefited from a relatively easy draw, receiving a first-round bye and beating a 465th-ranked Chinese wild-card in the second round. In the quarter-finals he will meet 12th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Germany’s Florian Mayer 7-5 6-3.
Murray started off slowly against the 59th-ranked Frenchman, facing three break-points on his opening serve. But he served two aces and flicked a volley past Chardy at the net to hold and then immediately broke his opponent at love in the next game.
“I served well under pressure,” Murray said. “That was really, really important to get a good start in the match because he’s very, very streaky. He can play some great tennis, so I needed to try to get ahead early and I managed to do that.”
In a late match Austria’s Jurgen Melzer defeated top-seed Rafael Nadal 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
JAPAN WOMEN’S OPEN
AP, OSAKA, JAPAN
Israel’s Shahar Peer overcame a slow start yesterday to defeat Japan’s Ryoko Fuda 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 and advance to the quarter-finals of the Japan Women’s Open.
The third-seeded Peer saved six of eight break-points to beat the Japanese wild-card.
In other matches, seventh-seeded Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic defeated Alberta Brianti of Italy 6-1, 7-5 and American Jill Craybas overpowered Olga Savchuk of Ukraine 6-1, 6-1.
Kimiko Date Krumm routed Japanese compatriot Aiko Nakamura 6-2, 6-0 to set up a quarterfinal against defending champion and top-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia.
Date Krumm converted six of seven break chances and needed just 52 minutes to oust Nakamura.
GENERALI LADIES
AFP, LINZ, AUSTRIA,
Former champions Daniela Hantuchova and Ana Ivanovic claimed easy victories on Wednesday to move into the second round of the WTA event in Linz.
Hantuchova, winner in 2007, eased past Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko 6-1, 6-2, while 2008 champion Ivanovic needed just 45 minutes to overwhelm Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-2, 6-0.
Cirstea was completely overwhelmed after Ivanovic broke to lead 3-1, and in the second set she managed to salvage just three points after the seventh-seeded Serb claimed the first four games at love.
In other matches, fifth-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova also reached the second round when Australia’s Anastasia Rodionova retired when trailing 6-2, 1-0.
Germany’s Andrea Petkovic beat Britain’s Anne Keothavong 6-0, 6-3, ninth seed Sara Errani of Italy defeated Czech qualifier Renata Voracova 6-2, 6-2, and Roberta Vinci of Italy beat Swede Sofia Arvidsson 6-4, 6-2.
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