Belgian sixth seed Olivier Rochus reached his third consecutive ATP Hall of Fame Championships semi-final on Friday with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 victory over Australian Matthew Ebden.
Rochus, who lost to American Mardy Fish in last year’s final, needed only 87 minutes to advance to a matchup yesterday against 361st-ranked Michael Yani, who outlasted 394th-ranked American compatriot Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5.
The winner will face either US top seed John Isner or German eighth seed Tobias Kamke in today’s championship match at the US$500,000 grasscourt event.
Rochus, whose only ATP career titles came on clay in 2006 at Munich and 2000 in Palermo, improved to 6-2 on grass this year with his third victory of the week and 10-2 lifetime at Newport.
Rochus, 30 and ranked 74th, denied 157th-ranked Ebden, 23, on the Aussie’s two break-point chances, while converting on his lone opportunity to seize the victory.
It was Ebden’s second ATP quarter-final of the year, his first coming in week one at Brisbane.
SWEDISH OPEN
AP, BASTAD, SWEDEN
Slovenia’s Polona Hercog beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 on -Friday to set up a Swedish Open final against Johanna Larsson.
The eighth-seeded Hercog needed four match points to finish the contest, which was delayed because of rain at the WTA clay-court tournament in Bastad.
Larsson easily beat fellow Swede Sofia Arvidsson 6-3, 6-1 earlier on Friday.
Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki retired in the second round because of a shoulder injury
BUDAPEST GRAND PRIX
AP, BUDAPEST
Top-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy rallied from a set down to beat Slovakia’s Zuzana Kucova 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 and place in the semi-finals of the Budapest Grand Prix on Friday.
Vinci, who overcame two Kucova match points at 2-5 in the second set, will face third-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, a 6-0, 6-4 winner over Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko.
Sara Errani of Italy, the tournament’s second seed, was forced to retire due to leg cramps in the third set of her match against Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues, who was ahead 4-6, 7-5, 3-0.
Medina Garrigues’ rival in the other semi-final will be No. 7 seed Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania, who faced little resistance in her 6-0, 6-3 win over qualifier Estrella Cabeza Candela of Spain.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and