Two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was ousted in the first round of the Qatar Open by Shahar Peer of Israel 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
Kuznetsova, two days after losing the final in nearby Dubai to new No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, looked a shadow of herself and appeared to struggle with a foot problem for which she received courtside treatment in the second set.
The eighth-seeded Peer broke the Russian six times, sending Kuznetsova out of the Doha first round for the first time. She was runner-up in 2004 and 2007.
Photo: EPA
Victoria Azarenka’s poor start to the year was extended when she lost to Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Azarenka, ranked ninth, has only one quarter-final appearance in four tournaments this year.
The other seed in action, No. 5 Jelena Jankovic, handled Oman wild card Fatma al-Nabhani 6-1, 6-3.
Photo: AFP
Kaia Kanepi of Estonia withdrew because of a fever, leaving Chinese qualifier Peng Shuai to beat Swiss lucky loser Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 6-2. Other winners included Flavia Pennetta of Italy, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, qualifier Vera Dushevina of Russia, and another lucky loser, Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic.
DELRAY BEACH
AP, DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA
Second-seeded Mardy Fish of the US advanced to the second round of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships on Tuesday when German Bjorn Phau retired from their first-round match while trailing 0-5.
Fish, who won the Delray Beach title in 2009, took 20 of 26 points in the 20 minutes he spent on court. Fish was also a finalist at the tournament in 2003.
“I’ve been out here long enough to know not to take these kinds of matches for granted and move on,” said Fish, who has been battling thyroid illness since November. “Lord knows, I haven’t been feeling the best the past couple of months.”
Kei Nishikori of Japan, who won his only career title here in 2008, beat Brian Dabul of Argentina 6-2, 7-6 (5). Nishikori, returning from elbow surgery in August 2009, will play James Blake in the second round.
Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, working his way back onto the tour after right wrist surgery last year, had a 6-4, 6-1 first round win over Richard Berankis of Lithuania.
Six players from the scheduled main draw have come down with flu-like symptoms.
Top seed Andy Roddick pulled out of the event on Monday. Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic withdrew over the weekend. American Ryan Harrison was sick on court and lost his match on Monday.
On Tuesday, Phau and Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic abandoned matches feeling sick, and Michel Przysiezny of Poland never made it to the court.
MEXICAN OPEN
AP, ACAPULCO, MEXICO
Second-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain was knocked out in the first round of the Mexican Open, losing 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci on Tuesday.
Verdasco was bundled out in the first round of the RMK Championships in Memphis last week by Milos Raonic, who beat him in the SAP Open title the previous week.
Bellucci converted 75 percent of his break points and won 70 percent of his service points to beat Verdasco in just over two hours late on Tuesday.
Earlier, third-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain took a confident step toward his third straight title with an easy 6-3, 6-2 win over Victor Hanescu of Romania.
Almagro won the Copa Claro on Sunday in Buenos Aires and the Brazil Open the week before — both on clay, the surface in Mexico.
Fourth-seeded Stanislas Wa-wrinka of Switzerland also got off to a winning start, defeating Pablo Andujar of Spain 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) in the joint ATP and WTA event in Mexico’s Pacific coastal resort.
Defending champion and top-seeded David Ferrer reached the second round on Monday.
Fifth-seeded Albert Montanes of Spain defeated countryman Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2, 6-1, and seventh-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina moved on to the second round after defeating countryman Horacio Zeballos 7-5, 7-6 (3).
There was bad news for No. 8 Juan Ignacio Chela, who retired in the second set against fellow Argentine Eduardo Schwank with the scores at 3-6, 6-5.
On the women’s side, Loudres Dominguez Lino of Spain eliminated second-seeded Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. No. 5 Simona Halep of Romania also bowed out, with Laura Pous-Tio of Spain winning 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3.
No. 3 Greta Arn of Hungary defeated Edina Gallovits-Hall of Romania 6-4, 6-4, and No. 4 Gisela Dulko of Argentina advanced against Anna Tatishvili of Georgia 6-3, 6-1. No. 7-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain downed Sandra Zahlavova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-1.
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