Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki made it through to the third round at Wimbledon with a topsy-turvy 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) win over Denisa Allertova yesterday.
The Danish fifth seed took just 23 minutes to secure the first set, but the second was a totally different affair as the Czech world No. 83 showed the form that led her to break the top 100 for the first time earlier this year.
Allertova, 22, was making her Wimbledon debut and initially looked out of her depth facing the world No. 5 on the 1,000-capacity Court 12 in only her second tour-level match on grass. However, Allertova looked a different player in the 63-minute second set, throwing in drop shots and hitting winners, but Wozniacki, a two-time US Open finalist, came out best in the tie-break.
On Wednesday, with everyone “feeling hot, hot, hot” at the All England Club, it was little wonder that Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams were eager to escape the Wimbledon furnace as quickly as possible.
Spectators sitting under the searing sun on Wimbledon’s Henman Hill were heard breaking out into the Buster Poindexter anthem that aptly summed up the hottest day of the year in Britain — with the mercury hitting 34oC.
Champion Djokovic was spared the worst of the heat on the partly covered Centre Court as he kept things simple in a 90-minute 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 second-round demolition job that ended the Wimbledon career of seasoned Finn Jarkko Nieminen.
His opponent in the next round, Australian Bernard Tomic, will be hoping the weather eases for their showdown today after complaining it was “too hot.”
“I was starting to get dizzy out there with the heat hitting me... I was very dizzy out there,” Tomic said after beating Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6(7/3), 6-4, 7-6(7/5).
However, the blazing sun was the least of Sharapova’s concerns.
“It’s much much warmer in my hometown in Longboat Key, Florida,” the Russian fourth seed said after subduing Dutchwoman Richel Hogenkamp 6-3, 6-1.
What would have concerned her though is her misfiring serves.
The 2004 champion was left red-faced as she fired down three successive double faults to surrender her serve at 4-2 up in the first set, but survived that blip to win eight of the next nine games.
Williams might want to drop Marin Cilic and Ricardas Berankis a thank you note after the duo’s five-set thriller meant she did not have to step on to Centre Court till almost 7pm.
However, the slightly cooler conditions did not mean the world No. 1 wanted to hang around longer than necessary as she took another step closer to winning her fourth successive major. She whooped in delight after completing a 6-4, 6-1 pummelling of Hungarian Timea Babos.
French Open champion Stan Wawrinka was in cruise control during a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 win over Victor Estrella, but Milos Raonic was kept on Court One longer than he would have liked by the oldest man in the singles draw. The Canadian seventh seed hurled down 29 aces, including one clocked at 233kph, to secure a 6-0 6-2, 6-7(5/7), 7-6(7/4) victory over 37-year-old Tommy Haas.
Women’s seventh seed Ana Ivanovic became the second top-eight woman to fall as the Serb followed third seed Simona Halep out of the tournament, beaten 6-3, 6-4 by 158th ranked US qualifier Bethanie Mattek Sands.
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