Third-seeded Dominika Cibulkova battled past an aggressive Stefanie Voegele on Thursday to set up a quarter-final clash with Urszula Radwanska at the WTA Bank of the West Classic.
Slovakia’s Cibulkova let 5-2 leads slip in each set, but emerged with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) victory
“I expected a really tough match, because she’s playing really well right now,” Cibulkova said of Voegele, who fired 10 aces in the match.
Photo: EPA
“I played her a long time ago. I remember she plays close to the lines. I knew it would be a tough match,” Cibulkova said.
“It could have been an easier match for me though — I was 5-2 up first set and 5-2 up second set — but in the end I always made it, and even though it could have been easier, I’m still happy with the win,” she said.
Seventh-seeded Radwanska of Poland edged Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/3). Hantuchova led 4-1 in the first set and was twice up a break in the second, but failed to hold on.
Photo: AFP
The Pole trailed 0-3 in the second-set tiebreaker, but won the last seven points to seal the win.
Fourth-seeded American Jamie Hampton reached the last eight with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 victory over US wild card Nicole Gibbs.
Hampton next faces Russia’s Vera Dushevina, who beat American Madison Keys 7-6 (7/0), 6-2.
The two remaining quarters will see top-seed Agnieszka Radwanska, Urszula’s sister, face American Varvara Lepchenko, and Olga Govortsova of Belarus take on Sorana Cirstea of Romania.
BAKU CUP
AP, BAKU
Israel’s Shahar Peer defeated third-seeded South African Chanelle Scheepers 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday to advance to the quarter-finals of the Baku Cup.
Peer was due to face Slovenia’s Tadeja Majeric in the last eight yesterday.
Majeric prevailed 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 over Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic, securing victory with three second-set breaks.
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina beat Nastassja Burnett of Italy 6-0, 7-6 (3) to line up a quarter-final against second-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia.
In other games on Thursday, Magda Linette of Poland rallied to beat Czech player Kristyna Pliskova 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 and Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan defeated Ukraine’s Kateryna Kozlova 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
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