Taiwanese No. 1 Lu Yen-hsun claimed a quarter-final berth at the Chennai Open in India yesterday in his first tournament of the new season.
Sixth-seeded world No. 38 Lu put Pablo Carreno Busta’s serve under pressure from the off in their second-round match yesterday, breaking his Spanish opponent for a decisive second time when leading 5-4 to win the first set 6-4.
It was a similar story in the second set, with Lu keeping the world No. 49’s serve under pressure until he finally cracked, again serving at 4-5, as the Taiwanese completed a 6-4, 6-4 victory in 1 hour, 13 minutes on Court 2.
The pair traded seven aces and two double faults apiece, while Lu saved four of five break-point chances and converted three of seven to set up a quarter-final against another Spaniard, third seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who cruised past Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk 6-3, 6-2 in their second-round match yesterday.
The world No. 15, who saved six of eight break-point chances and converted five of six, will be a much tougher proposition for Lu, as both men warm up for the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, which begins on Jan. 19.
On Wednesday, top seed Stanislas Wawrinka opened his campaign in the new season with a 6-1, 6-4 demolition of teenager Borna Coric of Croatia to cruise into the quarter-finals.
The Swiss world No. 4 gave the 18-year-old Coric a tennis lesson as he began defending his title in the US$450,000 event on center court.
Wawrinka, who was among the top four seeds given a bye into the second round, showed no signs of rustiness against the 95th-ranked Croatian, the youngest player in the top 100. Wawrinka ran up a 5-0 lead in the first set and broke Coric in the seventh game of the second set to win, but not before he had wasted four match points with lazy returns from the baseline.
“I am really happy to start this way,” said Wawrinka, who is to defend his Australian Open title later in the month. “I played a solid, aggressive match. I made him run around and my backhand worked well. This is a good sign and very satisfying. For sure, Coric is a good player. He is young and has already made his mark. It was not easy out there. That is why I am happy with the way I played today.”
Wawrinka will next play eighth seed Gilles Muller of Luxembourg for a place in the semi-finals.
Muller, 31, still looking for his first title after 14 years on the circuit, brushed aside Swedish teenager Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour, 19 minutes.
Muller wrapped up the first set with a break in the 10th game and then broke the 18-year-old Ymer again in the sixth game of the second set to clinch victory.
Fourth seed David Goffin of Belgium overcame a mid-match loss of form to struggle past Richardas Berankis of Lithuania in three sets 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (7/1). Having romped through the first set in 16 minutes, Goffin suddenly began making unforced errors from the baseline and served erratically to allow Berankis to draw level. The 22nd-ranked Goffin failed to hold his serve while serving for the match at 5-3 in the decider, but played the tiebreaker well to move ahead.
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