Second seed Jurgen Melzer and Australian Lleyton Hewitt continued their summer hard-court losing streaks as they exited the Winston-Salem Open on Monday.
Hewitt, now ranked 165th after being world No. 1 with two Grand Slam titles a decade ago, was defeated by Slovenian Blaz Kavcic 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).
The 30-year-old Hewitt has been plagued this season with slow a recovery from foot surgery. He last played a month ago, winning a round in Atlanta before exiting. Hewitt went out in 1 hour, 40 minutes, losing serve four times.
Photo: AFP
“It could have gone better,” Hewitt said of the loss. “I’m still struggling a little bit with the foot. I knew he was a good competitor coming into the match. Before the [US] Open I’ll have to hit a lot of balls, get a lot of treatment and see what happens.”
Melzer, a French Open semi-finalist and Wimbledon doubles champion last year, went down 7-5, 6-3 to Russia’s Igor Andreev and has now lost in all three of his starts on the North American hard courts.
“It was a tough match, a tough first set,” Melzer said. “At 5-5, I had lots of break points, but couldn’t convert them. At the moment I’m not winning the important points. If you can’t do that, then you can’t win matches. In the second set, I let him off from several 0-30 situations. You really do need some luck. Unless you are playing really well, you hardly ever get that.”
The 18th-ranked Austrian was put out in his openers in Washington at the start of the month and last week in Cincinnati after suffering with injury. The 81st-ranked Andreev started his week on Sunday at the last tune-up before the US Open, defeating Australian teenager Bernard Tomic.
The Russian needed just over 90 minutes to go past Melzer, notching eight aces to six and breaking three times for the victory.
Andreev was joined in the third round by former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, who defeated Ryan Sweeting of the US 7-5, 6-1. Sweeting’s serve was broken five times.
In first-round play at the event shifted from New Haven, where it formerly shared a week with the WTA, Austria lost their second player as Argentine Carlos Berlocq defeated Andreas Haider-Maurer.
The 72nd-ranked Austrian, who lost the Vienna final to Melzer last autumn, retired injured against Berlocq to concede a 7-5, 4-1 victory.
Frenchman Julien Benneteau defeated Brazil’s Ricardo Mello 6-1, 6-3, while qualifier Michael Russell of the US beat Adrian Mannarino of France 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2.
Andy Roddick heads the field in this former tobacco processing town, while Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov takes the third seeding behind Melzer, with John Isner of the US, who lives not far away in Greesboro, the fourth seed.
Young Ryan Harrison provided a good showing for the home nation as he beat Romanian Victor Hanescu 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
NEW HAVEN OPEN
AFP, NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT
France’s Marion Bartoli wanted to get some extra work in before the US Open and the New Haven Open seemed like the perfect opportunity.
The 26-year-old, from Le Puy-en-Valay, breezed past Russia’s Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 6-4 in her opening match at the final tournament.
“It was important for me to get more matches before the [US] Open started,” Bartoli said. “I think it’s just the perfect preparation. I have some matches here to play. I can practice as much as I want so it’s perfect.”
Bartoli advances to the second round where she will face Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, who beat Flavia Pennetta 7-5, 6-2 in her first-round match.
After cruising 6-1 in the first set, Bartoli struggled in the second, before breaking Rodionova to secure her win.
Bartoli had planned to skip New Haven, but after playing poorly in Toronto and winning just one match in Cincinnati she decided she needed the work.
In other matches, 19-year-old Christina McHale of the US upset sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 7-5, 6-3, 20-year-old Polona Hercog of Slovenia upset Nadia Petrova of Russia in straight sets 7-5, 7-5, and eighth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova needed three sets to advance past fellow Russian Vera Dushevina 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
McHale was down 4-2 in the first set, before reeling off three straight games, winning the set 7-5. She broke Kuznetsova again to begin the second set, one of 11 service breaks in the match.
“I’m excited to be in the next round, and it’s definitely really helpful and it’s great to have the crowd behind me,” McHale said.
Hercog, a 20-year-old clay-court specialist, was broken at 5-4 in the second set, but rallied to win the final two games of her match with last year’s runner-up Petrova.
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