Maria Kirilenko eliminated US Open champion Samantha Stosur from the Pan Pacific Open yesterday, beating the Australian 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the second round.
The sixth-seeded Stosur, playing for the first time since winning her first career Grand Slam title in New York, trailed in the second set, but rallied to break her Russian opponent and take the final two games to even the match.
The two traded breaks in the third set, but Kirilenko broke again to make it 5-4 before serving out the match.
Photo: AFP
“You never want to go out in the first round after the week I had at the US Open,” Stosur said.
Stosur beat Kirilenko in the fourth round of the US Open.
“I just played her a couple of weeks ago, so I knew what to do,” Kirilenko said. “Every time you win a Grand Slam, it’s tough to win the next tournament.”
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark advanced despite being pushed by unseeded Jarmila Gajdosova, eventually winning 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 in the second round.
Third seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus also advanced, beating Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-1, 6-3. Azarenka saved nine break points and won 72 percent of her first serves.
Also yesterday, ninth seed Agnieskza Radwanska defeated qualifier Angelique Kerber of Germany 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 12th seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia beat Laura Robson of Britain 7-5, 6-4 and 13th seed Julia Goerges of Germany eliminated Greta Arn of Hungary 6-2, 6-1.
In the first round, 10th seed Peng Shuai beat qualifier Jill Craybas of the US 6-2, 6-0, Christina McHale of the US defeated Tamira Paszek of Austria 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 and Coco Vandeweghe of the US won her rain-delayed match that started on Monday over Zheng Jie of China 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-2.
In the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and Goerges defeated Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova and Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 1-6, 10-8. Vania King of the US and Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova dumped out Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Zheng in another tight battle, 2-6, 7-6 (7/4), 11-9.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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