Novak Djokovic repelled a determined challenge from Spanish left-hander Feliciano Lopez as he continued the defense of his Dubai championships title with a three-set win on Wednesday.
Top seed Roger Federer had no such difficulties against Spaniard Marcel Granollers, winning 6-3, 6-4 with a flurry of spectacular winners to reach the quarter-finals.
Second seed Djokovic won 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, but the outcome hung in the balance until the final few minutes as Lopez, who reached the final in 2004 and 2008, tormented Djokovic with a varied and aggressive game.
Serb Djokovic took the opening set with just one break of serve, leading 3-1 when Lopez double-faulted, but he was quickly in trouble in the second.
Lopez broke to love in the second game and Djokovic was unable to respond as his opponent made frequent approaches to the net and showed greater persistence and accuracy.
A further break for 6-2 closed out the set, but Djokovic began strongly in the third, showing more aggression as he forced a forehand error to break for 1-0.
Lopez levelled at 3-3, but Djokovic regained the advantage on his third break point in the next game and that proved decisive.
Eighth-seeded Latvian Ernests Gulbis lost 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 to Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine and third seed Czech Tomas Berdych -defeated Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 7-6.
Also through to the last eight are Richard Gasquet, a 6-2, 7-5 winner over Sergei Bubka, Florian Mayer, who dismissed Andrey Golubev 6-3, 6-4, Gilles Simon, who defeated Lukas Rosol 6-2, 6-3, and Philipp Petzschner, who beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-0, 4-6, 6-2.
QATAR OPEN
REUTERS, DOHA
Women’s world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki moved into the -quarter-finals of the Qatar Open with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Russian Nadia Petrova, but third seed Francesca Schiavone was upset by China’s Peng Shuai 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday.
Second seed Vera Zvonareva also secured a spot in the last eight with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova, while fifth seed and former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia thrashed India’s Sania Mirza 6-0 6-1.
Li Na, who beat Wozniacki to reach the final of the Australia Open last month, was upset 6-2, 6-1 by Czech Klara Zakopalova, while France’s Marion Bartoli cruised past Israel’s Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-0.
DELRAY BEACH
AFP, DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA
Qualifier Ryan Sweeting upset third seed Sam Querrey 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the US$442,500 ATP Delray Beach International Championships.
Sweeting won six of the last seven points, denying Querrey’s fightback bid in the final game. Sweeting fell behind 0-40, but saved three break points, then rescued another with a second-serve ace before winning on his only match point.
Sweeting, ranked 118th, advanced to a match today against Japan’s 66th-ranked Kei Nishikori who breezed past US wild card James Blake 6-3, 6-4.
Nishikori’s only ATP crown came at Delray Beach in 2008.
French eighth seed Adrian Mannarino advanced to the second round by rallying to defeat Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 1-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.
Mannarino will next face Colombian qualifier Alejandro Falla and could meet US second seed Mardy Fish in the quarter-finals. Fish is the highest-ranked player in the field after US top seed Andy Roddick withdrew due to illness.
In the night match, sixth seeded Janko Tipsarevic outlasted Blaz Kavcic 6-2, 6-7 (8/10), 6-3.
MEXICAN OPEN
AP, ACAPULCO, MEXICO
Third-seeded Nicolas Almagro beat Italian Filippo Volandri of Italy 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the Mexican Open on Wednesday.
The Spaniard downed Volandri in just over an hour as he stormed closer to adding the Mexico trophy to the titles he picked up at Argentina and Brazil in the last two weeks.
Top-seeded David Ferrer of Spain cruised past Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico 6-2, 6-2.
Other seeded men in the tournament had mixed results.
No. 4 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland needed three set to defeat Fabio Fognini of Italy 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. Sixth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine had an easier time, winning beating Argentine Carlos Berlocq 6-1, 6-4.
Seventh-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina advanced, defeating Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-3, 6-4.
However, No. 5 Albert Montanes of Spain went out against Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-3, 6-4.
In a late match, Thomaz Belluci of Brazil rallied to beat Spaniard Ivan Navarro 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.
On the women’s side in the combined ATP-WTA event, top-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany was eliminated by Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-4, 7-6 (8).
Three other seeded women fared better.
Third-seed Greta Arn of Hungary defeated Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Fourth-seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina defeated Silvia Soler Espinosa of Spain, 6-1, 6-1 and No. 6 seed Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain won her match when Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine retired in the second set while trailing 6-3, 1-0.
Seventh-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain downed Madalina Gojnea of Romania 6-4, 6-3.
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a
Lewis Hamilton on Thursday said there was a “racial element” to International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Mohammed ben Sulayem’s recent comments regarding drivers swearing during Formula 1 races. In an interview with motorsport.com, Ben Sulayem said: “We have to differentiate between our sport — motorsport — and rap music” when referring to drivers having a responsibility to stop swearing on the radio. “We’re not rappers, you know,” Ben Sulayem said. Responding to those remarks ahead of tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix, seven-time champion Hamilton said: “With what he said, I don’t like how he has expressed it. Saying ‘rappers’ is very stereotypical.” “If you