Big-serving Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France crashed out of the Shanghai Masters yesterday, beaten 7-6 (7/1), 4-6, 4-6 by Japan’s Kei Nishikori, but top seed Rafael Nadal eased through to the third round.
Tsonga, the fourth seed, appeared to be on his way to a straightforward victory when he stepped up the intensity of his game to seal the first set tie-break with the loss of just one point.
However, world No. 47 Nishikori, who needed courtside treatment on his back, broke twice in the second set, leveling the match when the Frenchman netted with a forehand.
Photo: AFP
Nishikori, who has a poor record against top 10 players, produced two more breaks in the deciding set, taking advantage of an error-strewn performance by Tsonga and sealing the win on his third match point.
The defeat puts a serious dent in the Frenchman’s bid to reach next month’s ATP World Tour Finals. He came into the Shanghai Masters in eighth place in the race to reach the showpiece, featuring the top eight players of the year.
In his first match of the tournament after a first-round bye given to the top eight seeds, world No. 2 Nadal, bidding for his 20th Masters title, beat fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-2.
Photo: Reuters
Second seed Andy Murray had a walkover into the third round after Dmitry Tursunov of Russia withdrew from their second-round match with a wrist injury.
Spain’s third seed David Ferrer came out on top 7-5, 7-6 (9/7) in his second-round clash with Canada’s Milos Raonic and Czech player Tomas Berdych beat compatriot Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3.
Earlier, Juan Carlos Ferrero came from a set down in an all-Spanish tie to oust 16th seed Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, breaking six times during a match lasting a little over two hours.
Japan Open
AP, OSAKA, Japan
Third-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany advanced to the quarter-finals of the Japan Open yesterday with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
In other second-round action at the Utsubo Tennis Center, fourth-seeded Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic beat Erika Sema of Japan 6-0, 6-3, Zheng Jie of China upset fifth-seeded Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia 7-5, 6-3, while defending champion Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand defeated Mathilde Johansson of France 6-2, 6-4.
In a first-round match, Vania King of the US edged out compatriot Jill Craybas 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
US Open champion Sam Stosur of Australia will meet Misaki Doi of Japan in a second-round match today.
Generali Ladies
AP, LINZ, Austria
Top-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic eased past Rebecca Marino of Canada 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday to advance to the second round of the Generali Ladies.
The Wimbledon champion, ranked a career-high fourth, had four aces and broke Marino twice in each set.
Third-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia led 4-1 in the first set when Kateryna Bondarenko pulled out with a neck injury. The Ukrainian player broke Jankovic once, but did not score a point in her three service games.
In the second round, Jankovic will play Britain’s Anne Keothavong, who defeated Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-4, 6-1.
Earlier, Julia Goerges saved two match points in a third-set tiebreaker before beating Anastasija Sevastova 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7).
The sixth-seeded German player held serve on the first match point before her Latvian opponent double-faulted on the second chance. Goerges then converted her first match point to set up a second-round match against Evgeniya Rodina of Russia.
The fourth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Pavlyuchenkova went 5-0 up in the decider and missed three match points before eventually closing out the win against Medina Garrigues.
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