Jeremy Chardy beat Bjorn Phau of Germany 6-2, 7-5 in the first round of the Grand Prix Hassan II on Monday.
The sixth-seeded Frenchman broke Phau twice in the opening set and again decisively in the 11th game of the second set.
It was Chardy’s first victory at an ATP tournament this year, with his only other two singles wins this year were for France against Austria in the Davis Cup last month. His sole career title was on clay two years ago at Stuttgart, Germany.
Chardy next faces Pablo Andujar of Spain, who defeated Florent Serra 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 after breaking the Frenchman five times.
Also, eighth-seeded Victor Hanescu of Romania rallied to beat Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Hanescu, a French Open quarter-finalist in 2005, conceded six double faults in dropping serve four times but saved 13 break points.
Pere Riba downed Jesse Huta Galung of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-3. The Spaniard, whose only other Tour win this year was in the Australian Open first round, will play fourth-seeded Andrey Golubev of Kazhakstan.
FAMILY CIRCLE CUP
AFP, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
South African Chanelle Scheepers surprised 13th seeded Patty -Schnyder of Switzerland 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round of the WTA Charleston tournament on Monday.
The US’ Vania King beat No. 16 seed Verna Dushevina 6-4, 7-6 (9/7) and Jill Craybas defeated fellow American Shelby Rogers 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 to reach the second round.
In other matches, Chinese 11th seed Peng Shuai trounced American qualifier Sloan Stephens 6-2, 6-1, No. 12 seed Julia Goerges 7-6, 6-4 victory over Olga Govortsova and 14th-seeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands beat qualifier Alexandra Stevenson 6-2, 6-1.
ANDALUCIA EXPERIENCE
AP, MARBELLA, SPAIN
Fourth-seeded Alexandra -Dulgheru of Romania and eighth-seeded Sara Errani of Italy won in three sets Monday to advance to the second round of the Andalucia Tennis Experience.
Dulgheru beat Anastasia Pivovarova of Russia 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 7-5, and Errani defeated Sorana Cirstea of Romania 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Roberta Vinci was the only seeded player to lose, the No. 7 Italian going down 7-5, 6-3 to Sandra Zahlavova of the Czech Republic.
Laura Pous-Tio of Spain downed Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-1, 6-2, and Czech player Klara Zakopalova came from behind to beat Belarus’ Anastasiya Yakimova 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set