TENNIS
Sock socks it to Bogomolov
US wild card Jack Sock defeated seventh seed Alex Bogomolov 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the opening round on Monday of the ATP Tour’s Atlanta Open in Atlanta, Georgia. The 19-year-old Sock converted two of his three break points, while saving six of the seven chances he faced on serve in the 2 hour, 15 minute match. Russia’s Bogomolov has now lost five consecutive matches and falls to 9-21 on the season. Sock is no stranger to winning lower-level matches as he captured the US Open junior doubles title in 2010 and the mixed doubles crown last year. He is now trying to raise his game to the highest level, and to help him do that, he recently hired former world top 10 player Joakim Nystrom as his coach.
BASEBALL
Reds’ Votto out for weeks
National League Central leaders Cincinnati were hit with the news on Monday that All-Star slugger Joey Votto needs left knee surgery and will miss three or four four weeks. Votto, the 2010 NL MVP, had been playing with the injury since last month, but an evaluation on Monday determined he will need to have his torn meniscus repaired. “It is in my best interest, and in the best interest of the team, to do it now so that I can be healthy during the last two months of the pennant race,” Votto told the Reds’ Web site. The Reds had a six-game winning streak snapped by Arizona on Monday and Pittsburgh are breathing down their neck in the division. Votto, who is batting .342 with 14 home runs and 49 RBIs, has been replaced by rookie Todd Frazier.
BASKETBALL
Miami Heat going to China
The NBA champions Miami Heat will play two pre-season games against the Los Angeles Clippers in China this fall. The teams will meet Oct. 11 at MasterCard Center in Beijing and Oct. 14 at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. It is the first time the reigning NBA champions will play in the NBA China Games, which will mark their sixth edition. Eight NBA teams will play in eight international games in October as part of the league’s international pre-season schedule. The Dallas Mavericks will play games in Barcelona and Berlin and the Boston Celtics will play games in Istanbul, Turkey, and Milan, Italy, against top Euroleague teams. Toronto and the New York Knicks will play in Montreal and Minnesota, while Detroit will play in Winnipeg. In 2004, the NBA became the first US professional sports league to play games in China, with two games between the Houston Rockets and Sacramento.
GOLF
Woods to play with Garcia
Former world No. 1 Tiger Woods will play alongside Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose in the opening two rounds of The Open in Lytham, England, later this week. Woods, Spaniard Garcia and Briton Rose will tee off at 9:42 in tomorrow’s first round. The 36-year-old American is looking to end a four-year drought in major championships, having won the last of his 14 “big four” titles at the 2008 US Open. Garcia, 32, and Rose, 31, are among the best modern-day players never to have won a major. Among the other highlights of Monday’s draw was the grouping of world No. 1 Luke Donald with US left-hander Phil Mickelson and Australian Geoff Ogilvy at 1443. World No. 2 Rory McIlroy will partner 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and last year’s USPGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley at 1421.
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