Czech top seed Tomas Berdych was ousted from the ATP and WTA Citi Open on Thursday, falling 6-2, 6-4 to Canada’s Vasek Pospisil in a third-round match.
Pospisil, who at 36th in the rankings was 31 spots beneath Berdych, collected his third career victory over a top-10 foe, his first coming over Berdych nearly a year ago in the round of 16 at Canada.
In the quarter-finals for the second week in a row at a US Open hard-court warm-up event, Pospisil is to face Santiago Giraldo, who beat Victor Estrella Burgos 6-2, 6-0.
Photo: AFP
“It was a huge win for me,” Pospisil said. “Beating [Berdych] last year gave me a little more confidence.”
Pospisil, who won this year’s Wimbledon doubles crown with the US’ Jack Sock, seeks his second semi-final of the season after a back injury contributed to his going winless in eight matches from February to May.
Wimbledon semi-finalist Milos Raonic fired 27 aces in a 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/3) victory over Australian Lleyton Hewitt that put the second-seeded Canadian in the quarter-finals.
Raonic, who also won his opener over Sock in two tie-breakers, is to face US giant-killer Steve Johnson for a spot in the last four.
Johnson dumped ATP aces leader Ivo Karlovic 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (9/7) despite 27 aces by the Croatian ninth seed. A day earlier he beat US fifth seed John Isner, who ranks second in aces and fired 29 past Johnson.
In each win, Johnson benefited from a double fault by his rival on the penultimate point to win a third-set tie-breaker.
Japanese fourth seed Kei Nishikori and French sixth seed Richard Gasquet, the top seeds remaining in the men’s competition after Raonic, are to meet in another quarter-final.
Nishikori dispatched Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, after being pushed to three sets for a second straight day.
Gasquet, coming off a right arm injury that saw him withdraw last week at Atlanta, beat the US’ Tim Smyczek 6-3, 6-2.
South African seventh seed Kevin Anderson downed Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 6-3, 6-4. He is next to play US left-hander Donald Young, who outlasted Uzbek Denis Istomin 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the top remaining women’s seeds, are to meet in a quarter-final.
Second-seeded Makarova beat the US’ Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-4, while the fifth-seeded Pavlyuchenkova defeated Japanese qualifier Hiroko Kuwata 6-3, 6-3.
Russian sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, twice a Grand Slam champion, ousted Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens 6-4, 7-5 to book a last-eight date with the US’ Vania King.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two