Attempting to maintain her status as Italy’s second-best player, top-seeded Flavia Pennetta beat wild-card Anastassia Grymalska 6-4, 6-1 in the opening round of the Palermo Open on Monday.
Francesca Schiavone is the top-ranked Italian at No. 8, Pennetta is No. 21 and Roberta Vinci is up to a career-best No. 23 this week after winning the Budapest Grand Prix on Sunday for her third title of the year.
Pennetta won this clay-court tournament in 2009 and is a two-time runner-up.
In other matches, sixth-seeded Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria beat Anna Tatishvili of Georgia 6-2, 7-5 and Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan defeated Madalina Gojnea of Romania 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.
GASTEIN LADIES
AP, BAD GASTEIN, AUSTRIA
Third-seeded Lucie Hradecka lost to Sandra Zahlavova 7-5, 6-3 on Monday and No. 4 Iveta Benesova pulled out with a knee injury in the first round of the Gastein Ladies.
The 42nd-ranked Hradecka, who won the French Open doubles title last month, had eight double-faults, including one on set point in the first set.
In the only other first-round match of the day, Wimbledon mixed doubles champion Benesova trailed the 317th-ranked Nikola Hofmanova of Austria 7-5, 3-2 before withdrawing because of a right knee injury.
It was the first time the 20-year-old Hofmanova has reached the second round of a WTA event.
MERCEDES CUP
AP, STUTTGART, GERMANY
Eighth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain advanced to the second round of the Mercedes Cup by beating Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3 on Monday.
Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine also advanced, rallying to defeat Jaroslav Pospisil of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5).
SWEDISH OPEN
AP, BASTAD, SWEDEN
A left thigh injury forced fifth-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain to retire in his first-round match on Monday against Filippo Volandri in the Swedish Open.
The Italian won the first set 7-5 and the score was level at 5-5 in the second when the two-time Swedish Open champion called it quits.
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
The sacred flame for the Paris Olympics was lit yesterday in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games, in a ceremony inspired by antiquity and marked by messages of hope amid multiple global crises. “In ancient times, the Olympic Games brought together the Greek city states, even — and in particular — during times of war and conflict,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said. “Today, the Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition. Then as now, the Olympic athletes are sending this powerful message — yes, it is possible to compete fiercely