Second-seeded Roberta Vinci reached the Italiacom Open quarter-finals following a 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) victory over 2011 runner-up Polona Hercog of Slovenia on Thursday.
Vinci was broken four times in the second set by Hercog.
The Italian next faces fifth-seeded Spaniard Lourdes Dominguez Lino, who beat Nastassja Burnett of Italy 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Third-seeded Kristina Mladenovic was eliminated after a second-round upset by Estrella Cabeza Candela of Spain. The 20-year-old Frenchwoman lost 3-6, 6-2, 6-7 (6/8). Candela faces Renata Voracova in the quarter-finals.
Fourth-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic was safely through after beating Karin Knapp of Italy 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in a match that lasted two hours, 40 minutes. Zakopalova will play Dinah Pfizenmaier of Germany.
HUNGARIAN GP
AP, BUDAPEST
Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa reached her third quarter-final of the year when she defeated Petra Martic of Croatia 7-5, 6-4 at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Thursday.
Scheepers’ next opponent will be Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, who beat Valeria Solovyeva of Russia 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
Shahar Peer of Israel knocked out eighth-seeded Anna Tatishvili of Georgia 6-1, 6-1, leaving just three seeded players in the last eight. Peer will face Romania’s Alexandra Cadantu.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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