Kim Clijsters reached the semi-finals of the ’s-Hertogenbosch grass-court tournament on Thursday, defeating Italy’s Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 7-6 (9/7).
Former world No. 1 Clijsters, who before this week had not played since March because of a right hip injury, was the champion in this pre-Wimbledon event in 2003.
And she showed on Thursday that she could be a genuine threat at this year’s Wimbledon which starts on Monday.
“It was a very intense match. Schiavone is a player who keeps fighting and has all sorts of different strokes. It is very important to stay focused,” said Clijsters, who will face Poland’s Urszula Radwanska for a place in the final.
“I am very happy that I can play an additional match before I go to Wimbledon,” added the 28-year-old Belgian who will retire after the US Open.
In the men’s tournament, world No. 6 David Ferrer dropped just three points on serve in a 6-0, 6-1 rout of Dutch wild card Igor Sijsling.
“Sometimes you find good feelings and sometimes it works,” Ferrer said. “Today I was very good throughout the match, attacking well with my first serve, and maybe he was a little bit nervous.”
The top-seeded Ferrer is bidding to win this grass-court tournament for the second time after victory on his debut in 2008.
Ferrer goes onto face France’s Benoit Paire, who fired 15 aces as he defeated Japan’s Tatsuma Ito 6-3, 7-5 in 72 minutes. German qualifier Philipp Petzschner struck 14 aces and broke serve twice as he overcame Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) in one hour and 35 minutes. He will face Belgium’s Xavier Malisse, who battled past Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in 86 minutes.
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