Roger Federer welcomed the return to tennis of Rafael Nadal, but will not spend much time worrying about his long-time rival’s progress as he concentrates on his own game at the World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
While Federer was making his preparations, there was disappointment on court for third seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as the French player went down to Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-4.
Even 14 aces could not help Tsonga in the two-hour match, with the seed converting only one of eight break-point chances.
Tsonga, a finalist in Rotterdam in 2011, saved a match point in the final game, but lost his serve a few moments later to make a surprise first-round exit.
“This is not my worst moment, but I’m disappointed,” Tsonga said. “I missed four or five of the same volleys on key points. That was the difference. He was serving very well and I was always chasing the score. I didn’t play a bad match, just missed my chances. I was missing on shots that I usually make, but I will keep working hard and try to improve things.”
Tsonga’s compatriot, fifth seed Gilles Simon, moved into the second round with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 victory over German qualifier Daniel Brands.
Romanian Victor Hanescu accounted for the week’s first seed with his defeat of No. 7 Jerzy Janowicz 7-6 (7/4) 6-3.
The Pole made a breakthrough last autumn at Paris Bercy by reaching the final after coming through qualifying.
Grigor Dimitrov ended a four-match losing streak with a win over Australian Bernard Tomic 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Top seed Federer, defending the trophy, said he had arrived relaxed and eager as he plays for the first time since losing a tight Australian Open semi-final to Andy Murray, then taking time off with his family in his homes in Dubai and Switzerland.
“I saw a few pictures of Rafa last week,” said Federer, who joked: “I see he’s still a left-hander — and his shirts looked good.”
However, beyond the obvious natural curiosity, the 31-year-old with 17 Grand Slam titles has plenty on his own plate as he begins a run of events that include the Dubai Open and the Indian Wells Masters next month in California.
“I’m happy to see him back and playing on the [ATP] Tour,” the two-time Rotterdam champion said. “He seems to have good energy. I was surprised he lost a final against a player ranked outside the top 50. I’m sure he got a lot of information about his game last week [in Chile]. He knows now how much strain he is putting on his body and how he is dealing with it.”
After seven months away recovering from tendon damage in his left knee, Nadal lost both the singles and doubles finals at the Chilean Open.
Federer also called for the introduction of biological passports in tennis similar to those used in cycling to detect possible doping.
“A blood passport will be necessary as some substances can’t be discovered right now, but might in the future, and that risk of discovery can chase cheaters away,” the 31-year-old said. “But there also should be more blood tests and out of competition controls in tennis.”
According to figures on the International Tennis Federation Web site, the governing body carried out only 21 out-of-competition blood tests in the professional game in 2011.
Cycling’s governing body the UCI carried out more than 3,314 out-of-competition blood tests in the same year.
The UCI introduced biological passports in 2008 to track any blood changes in riders against an original profile, which could mean they had taken illegal substances.
“I didn’t get tested on blood after the Australian Open and I told the responsible people over there that it was a big surprise for me, but there also will be more funding needed to make all the tests possible and the Grand Slam tournaments should help to finance that, as it is in their best interest to keep the sport clean and credible,” Federer said.
Federer said he had the impression that his sport was clean.
“The past years we had something like one case a year and often it had to do with unintentional mistakes made by players, but even then they should not make those mistakes, and know the rules and live by them,” he said.
SAP OPEN
AP, SAN JOSE, California
Xavier Malisse smashed 18 aces in a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory against Go Soeda in the first round of the SAP Open on Monday.
Malisse, the eighth seed from Belgium, said he was a little rusty in his first tournament since the Australian Open. His serve was working, though, with nine aces in the first set. He even recorded a handful with his second serve.
Malisse is looking for his first title in six years.
Japan’s Soeda won the Hawaii Challenger last month and was playing in his sixth tournament of the year.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but