Defending champion Gael Monfils finished off Michael Russell of the US with his 17th ace in winning 6-3, 6-3 to reach the Open Sud de France quarter-finals on Thursday.
Russell double-faulted to drop serve at 3-3 and lost the opening set. Monfils capitalized on a backhand error from Russell to break for a 3-1 lead in the second set.
Monfils next plays eighth-seeded Jarkko Nieminen, who dismissed French wild-card Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.
Photo: EPA
The top-seeded Tomas Berdych cruised past French qualifier Florent Serra 6-0, 6-2 in another second-round match.
Berdych, recovered from his grueling quarter-final loss to Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, broke Serra five times to set up a match against Nicolas Mahut of France, who beat sixth-seeded Florian Mayer 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
Mahut jumped out to 4-1 in the tiebreaker and took the first set when Mayer double-faulted. He broke the German twice in the final set to clinch victory.
ZAGREB INDOORS
AP, ZAGREB, CROATIA
Lukas Lacko of Slovakia ousted second seed Alex Bogomolov Jr of Russia 6-0, 6-7 (7/1), 6-1 to advance to the Zagreb Indoors quarter-finals on Thursday.
Bogomolov, a quarter-finalist last year, rallied after dropping the first set, but lost five games in only 14 minutes in the decider to bow out.
Third-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia defeated Grega Zemlja of Slovenia 6-1, 6-3 to reach his third quarter-final in Zagreb.
Defending champion Ivan Dodig beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. The fourth-seeded Dodig will face No. 6 Marcos Baghdatis, the 2007 champion, who downed Lukasz Kubot of Poland 6-4, 6-2.
Another Croat, eighth-seeded Ivo Karlovic, won his second-rounder by hitting a dozen aces past Dudi Sela in beating the Israeli 6-3, 6-2.
VINA DEL MAR VTR OPEN
AP, VINA DEL MAR, CHILE
Argentine qualifier Federico Delbonis reached his second career ATP quarter-finals when he upset third-seeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-2, 7-5 in the VTR Open on Thursday.
Delbonis’ opponent is scheduled to be Carlos Berlocq, who overwhelmed fellow Argentine Diego Junqueira 6-1, 6-0.
Second-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina defeated countryman Horacio Zeballos 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), setting up a quarter-final against Brazilian Joao Souza, who upset Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 7-6 (8/6).
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
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and