Top-seeded Gael Monfils of France bounced back from a first-round loss last week in Stuttgart to beat Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday and advance to the third round of the German Open.
Monfils, who is ranked No. 7 and who reached the quarter-finals of the French Open, saved all five break points he faced to ease past Ramos, who is in his first full season on the tour.
Second-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria, who was runner-up in Hamburg last year, advanced by beating Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.
Third-seeded Nicolas Almagro also went through, beating Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4. All 16 seeded players had first-round byes.
Not all made it through to the third round. German wild card Cedrik-Marcel Stebe beat Nikolay Davydenko for the second time in two weeks, winning 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) against the 11th-seeded Russian. Davydenko took the Hamburg title two years ago.
Stebe, a 20-year-old left-hander, won his first two tour-level matches last week in Stuttgart to reach the quarter-finals.
Juan Monaco of Argentina beat ninth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-2, 6-4 and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic ousted No. 13 Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-1, 7-5.
Sixth-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany beat Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) and No. 8 Fernando Verdasco defeated fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-2, 6-3.
No. 12 Marin Cilic of Croatia fired 16 aces in beating German qualifier Bastian Knittel 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite