OLYMPICS
Sprinter out after dope test
Relay sprinter Debbie Dunn has withdrawn from the US Olympic team after testing positive for excessive testosterone. Dunn, who finished fourth in the 400m at Olympic trials, was selected for the US relay pool. She is the 2010 world indoor champion at 400m. In a statement on Friday, she acknowledged a positive doping test and said she was withdrawing from the Olympics while the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) resolves the case. USADA CEO Travis Tygart said the agency is analyzing Dunn’s “B” sample, and that “USADA appreciates Ms Dunn voluntarily removing herself” from the team while the case is pending.
TENNIS
Robson reaches semi-finals
British teenager Laura Robson continued her winning run at the Italiacom Open in Palermo on Friday, beating fifth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to reach her first ever semi-finals. Robson won the Junior Wimbledon title four years ago when she was 14, but this is the furthest she has advanced in a WTA event. She is set to meet eighth-seeded Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who beat third-seed Julia Georges 7-6, 6-7, 6-1. Top-seeded Sara Errani eased through to the last four, requiring just over an hour to defeat Alexandra Cadantu 6-2, 6-2. Runner-up at the French Open last month, the Italian is scheduled to meet 75th-ranked Irina-Camelia Begu. Begu defeated Estrella Cabeza Candela 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
TENNIS
Tipsarevich goes through
Top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia had to save four match points before finally overcoming Bjorn Phau of Germany 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. Second-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina beat qualifier Pavol Cervenak of Slovakia, 6-1, 7-5 and would next meet Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, who defeated Dustin Brown of Germany 6-0, 6-3.
SOCCER
Conte faces prosecutors
Juventus manager Antonio Conte appeared before Italian football federation prosecutors on Friday to answer questions about match-fixing that took place while he was in charge of Siena. Conte spent three hours, 40 minutes answering questions about allegations of sporting fraud during his time at the then-Serie B club Siena last year, brought by former player Filippo Carobbio. Carobbio claimed that he knew that at least one game between Siena and Novara in April last year was rigged.
TENNIS
Verdasco in Croatia semis
Fernando Verdasco would take on fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers, while home favorite Marin Cilic was set to face defending champion Aleksandr Dolgopolov in the semi-finals of the Croatia Open yesterday. For the first time since the tournament was first held in 1990, the top four seeded players would compete for a place in the final. Top-seeded Verdasco defeated Russian wild-card Andrey Kuznetsov 6-2, 6-2 on Friday, while Granollers rallied to beat Germany’s Matthias Bachinger 1-6, 6-3, 7-5. Verdasco, the 2008 champion, saved all six break points he faced and converted three of seven break chances. Fourth-seeded Granollers lost the first set in just 31 minutes. He had a 5-3 lead in the third set, but then lost serve before breaking again for his victory. Second-seeded Cilic beat American Wayne Odesnik 6-4, 6-0 and third-seeded Dolgopolov defeated Carlos Berlocq of Argentina 6-4, 6-4.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set