French Open champion Li Na retired with a sore back in the second set of her opening match at the Open GDF Suez against Tsvetana Pironkova on Tuesday.
The third-seeded Li took a medical timeout while trailing 7-6 (7/5), 3-2 to have her lower back massaged by a physiotherapist and she played a couple more points before retiring.
“I was feeling my back ... It was so painful,” Li said. “That’s why I called the physio to come to the court. I tried to tape and then tried to play the point, but it didn’t work. I’ll go to the hospital to take an MRI to see what happened.”
Photo: Reuters
Li rallied from a 5-0 deficit to force a tiebreaker, but she then double-faulted at 3-2 to give Pironkova a mini-break. The unseeded Bulgarian took the first set on a forehand error from Li, before jumping out to a 3-1 lead in the second.
“I played last week in the Fed Cup in Israel, I played some good matches which helped for my form and for my confidence,” Pironkova said. “So I felt pretty good coming here and I’m glad I could show it on the court today against such a world-class player.”
Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic, Petra Martic of Croatia and Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa also advanced to the second round, along with three German players — Julia Goerges, Angelique Kerber and Mona Barthel.
Photo: AFP
Goerges cruised past Shahar Peer of Israel 6-1, 6-3.
The sixth-seeded German won nine straight games to take the first set and go 4-0 up in the second.
Kerber beat Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 7-6 (7/3).
A two-time finalist at the tournament, Safarova served seven double faults and made numerous unforced errors.
Kerber broke Safarova twice in the first set. The US Open semi-finalist then won five straight points to lead 5-1 in the tiebreaker, clinching victory when Safarova’s backhand return sailed long.
Scheepers ousted Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-2, 6-2, Barthel eased past Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2, Cetkovska defeated Italian lucky loser Alberta Brianti 6-3, 6-3 and Martic beat Greta Arn of Hungary 6-4, 6-4.
Fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic withdrew on Tuesday because of a left-thigh strain she picked up in Serbia’s 3-2 win over Belgium in the Fed Cup last week.
? PATTAYA OPEN
AP, PATTAYA, Thailand
Russia’s Vera Zvonareva easily advanced to the quarter-finals of the Pattaya Open yesterday with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan.
Zvonareva is looking for her third Pattaya title and she led 5-1 in the second set, before being broken when she tried to serve out the match.
However, she broke right back to clinch the victory.
The eighth-ranked Zvonareva will play Sorana Cirstea of Romania, who beat Japan’s Misaki Doi 6-2, 6-2.
Thai veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn also advanced to the quarter-finals after saving three set points in the first-set tiebreaker to defeat Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan 7-6 (9/7), 6-3.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS