A big puff of pizzazz seeped out of the Cincinnati Open yesterday as its top seed Caroline Wozniacki slipped out and star attraction Serena Williams quit the tournament, along with third seed Victoria Azarenka.
Fans and organizers were left deflated with 13-times grand-slam winner Williams and third-seed Azarenka both having been scheduled to play on center court as part of a busy schedule alongside the ATP men’s event.
Williams pulled out citing a right toe injury — but also noting her need to get some rest before the US Open.
Photo: AFP
“I don’t think this is a good time for me to take a big chance. I just don’t think that would be smart,” American Williams said.
Azarenka then withdrew due to a right hand injury which she didn’t want to risk just two weeks from the final grand-slam event of the year in New York.
“It’s impossible to play for me. I was waiting until the last moment to be 100 percent sure that I cannot compete,” said the Belarussian.
“It’s important also prior to the US Open. It just doesn’t make any sense to make it worse,” she said.
Those fans of the women’s game who did manage to see one of the favorites witnessed an upset with Wozniacki looking well below her best against 19-year-old American Christine McHale.
With golf sensation and friend Rory McIlroy in attendance, the Danish top seed never looked close to her best as she fell 6-4, 7-5 to the 76th-ranked McHale.
The defeat was the first time Wozniacki lost to an opponent outside the top 75 since 2009 and extends a worrying spell of form for the Dane.
Wozniacki, who suffered early-round exits in her last two tournaments, handed victory to McHale with an awfully-timed stroke which looped way over the baseline.
The 21-year-old heads to the US Open later this month in search of her first grand-slam title.
Serbian Ana Ivanovic’s disappointing season continued with a 6-3, 7-6 loss to Russia’s Nadia Petrova, but another Serbian former No. 1, Jelena Jankovic, enjoyed a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over China’s Zheng Jie.
Germany’s Andrea Petkovic advanced with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson.
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REUTERS, MASON, OHIO
France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga suffered a surprise defeat to qualifier Alex Bogomolov while Spain’s Rafael Nadal and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic passed their second-round tests at the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday.
France’s Tsonga, a semi-finalist at Wimbledon, fell to the 28-year-old Florida-based, Moscow-born Bogomolov 6-3, 6-4.
Bogomolov, who yet to win on the ATP Tour and ranked 50th, made a name for himself this year with a surprise win over Andy Murray in Miami and he now gets another shot at the Briton in the third round.
“I learned a lot about myself during that match just because it was a lot of pressure. It was my hometown. It was on the stadium where I grew up in Miami,” Bogomolov said.
“Now it’s a little bit different. It’s a third round of a Masters Series instead of a second round but we’re going to have the same game plan going in,” he said.
Djokovic moved his season record to 54-1 with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Ryan Harrison.
Both Murray and Nadal suffered early exits at the Montreal Masters last week but there was little hint either would fall to the same fate on Wednesday.
Murray, the fourth seed, overcame a sluggish start to record a 6-4, 6-1 win over Argentine David Nalbandian, setting up a third-round match against Bogomolov.
“I was definitely better today than last week,” Murray said. “I need to try and keep that up for the next match and hopefully play just five, ten percent better tomorrow than I was today.”
World No. 2 Nadal also put last week’s setback aside, beating French qualifier Julien Benneteau 6-4, 7-5 in just over 90 minutes.
The Spaniard won all three break points he gained in a comfortable display and will now face compatriot Fernando Verdasco, who beat France’s Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-4.
Nadal was forced to play with bandages on two fingers on his right hand, which he said were the result of handling a hot plate at a restaurant and suffering blisters.
Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber followed up his first-round win over Andy Roddick with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Spain’s Feliciano Lopez.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB