Top-seeded Rafael Nadal reached the semi-finals of the Rio Open, showing no problems with a sore back in defeating Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-1, 6-0 on Friday.
No. 1-ranked Nadal, in his first tournament since losing the Australian Open final, is to face fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar in the semi-finals. Andjuar ripped through Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-1, 6-1.
In the other semi-final, second-seeded David Ferrer was to meet unseeded Alexandr Dolgopolov. Ferrer defeated Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and Dolgopolov of Ukraine advanced against third-seeded Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-1.
Ferrer has won 21 ATP singles titles and will be the favorite to reach the final today against Nadal with 61 titles — 13 Grand Slams.
Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the final in Melbourne, eventually losing to Stanislas Wawrinka in a match he was favored to win. He took several weeks off and is using Rio to tune up for three months of clay-court play leading to the French Open.
In the other late quarter-final match, No. 4 Tommy Robredo of Spain faced Pablo Andujar.
In the combined ATP-WTA event, top-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic reached the semi-finals, defeating Katarzyna Piter of Poland 6-4, 6-0.
Zakopalova was to face Brazilian Teliana Pereira, who defeated Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-4, 6-4.
Pereira is a home favorite and the first Brazilian woman in 23 years to crack the WTA top 100.
Japan’s Kurumi Nara also advanced. She won the first set and was leading the second when Spain’s Lourdes Dominguez Lino withdrew with a left leg injury. Nara is to face Nastassja Burnett of Italy, who defeated Paula Ormaechea of Argentina 5-7, 6-2, 7-5.
OPEN 13
AP, MARSEILLE, France
Top-seeded Richard Gasquet of France and defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga both advanced to the Open 13 semi-finals on Friday.
After Gasquet beat fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-5, 6-3, Tsonga followed up with a 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-2 win against sixth-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin in an all-French match.
Gasquet, ranked ninth, broke Dodig twice in the first set and once more in the second set, where he saved three break points of his own.
He sealed the win on his own serve when Dodig’s forehand from the back of the court was wide.
Gasquet is to next face third-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, who won 6-3, 7-6 (7/1) against No. 8 Nicolas Mahut of France to reach his second consecutive semi-final.
Tsonga, who improved to 4-0 against Roger-Vasselin, is scheduled to face the winner of the last match between Frenchman Michael Llodra and Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.
DELRAY BEACH OPEN
AFP, DELRAY BEACH, Florida
US second seed John Isner rallied on Friday to reach the ATP Delray Beach Open semi-finals.
Big-serving Isner outlasted US qualifier Rhyne Williams 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, while Marin Cilic, a seventh seed from Croatia, dispatched Russia’s Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-2, 6-3.
The other semi-final is to send South African fourth seed Kevin Anderson against 142nd-ranked US qualifier Steve Johnson.
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