Robin Soderling’s smooth buildup to this month’s Australian Open continued with a business-like 6-3, 6-2 victory over local qualifier Matt Ebden in their Brisbane International quarter-final yesterday.
The world No. 5 broke his 196th-ranked opponent once in the first set and twice in the second, before sealing the match with an ace.
“I’ve been serving really well all week. I haven’t been broken yet and today especially I managed to serve really well when it really matters,” the Swede said.
PHOTO: EPA
Soderling will meet last year’s finalist and 2009 champion Radek Stepanek in the semi-finals, after the Czech upset seventh-seeded German Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-3.
Defending champ Andy Roddick will contest the other semi with South African Kevin Anderson.
In the women’s semi-final, Germany’s Andrea Petkovic stunned former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli of France 6-4, 6-2.
Trailing 4-1 in the first set, Petkovic won five games on the trot and did not take her foot off the pedal in the second set either.
She meets Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final after the Russian beat Petra Kvitova 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the second semi-final.
HOPMAN CUP
AFP, PERTH, AUSTRALIA
A stomach injury to Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic has gifted Belgium a place in the mixed-teams Hopman Cup final today against the US.
The Serbian pairing of Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic were top seeds and led Group A after winning two of their three round-robin ties, with Belgian duo Justine Henin and Ruben Bemelmans second despite beating the Serbs on Thursday.
However, Ivanovic hurt her stomach in a singles loss to Henin and the injury recurred at practice yesterday. She underwent scans and was ruled out of the final.
The US pairing of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and John Isner only needed to win one rubber against Britain in their Group B tie yesterday to reach the final, which they duly claimed when Mattek-Sands beat Laura Robson in the women’s singles.
WORLD TEAM CHALLENGE
AFP, HONG KONG
Venus Williams crashed in Hong Kong yesterday as her preparations for the Australian Open were marred by a second straight-sets defeat in as many days.
China’s Li Na dominated the seven-time Grand Slam winner in a 6-3, 7-6 victory, helping Asia-Pacific to draw level with the Americas in the silver final of Hong Kong’s World Team Challenge yesterday.
The Hong Kong exhibition features four three-player teams representing Europe, Russia, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region.
The consolation silver group final, between the Americas and Asia-Pacific, consisted of three singles matches and one doubles match.
Earlier Melanie Oudin beat Hong Kong’s Zhang Ling in straight sets.
Mark Philippoussis of Australia was drawn against John McEnroe of the US in the “legends” rubber.
In the final clash of the evening, France’s Aravane Rezai was due to take on Russian Maria Kirilenko in a gold group singles clash.
AUCKLAND CLASSIC
REUTERS, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Champion Yanina Wickmayer survived a scare yesterday to advance to a final against giant-killing Greta Arn, who has beaten three seeds on her way to the final.
The Belgian had to dig deep against China’s Peng Shuai before winning 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 in the first semi-final, while Arn beat fourth seed Julia Goerges 7-6, 6-3.
Arn’s victory was her third of the week against seeded players, having beaten top-seed Maria Sharapova on Thursday and eighth seed Sofia Arvidsson earlier in the week.
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