SWEDISH OPEN
Cuevas advances to semis
Defending champion Pablo Cuevas beat Steve Darcis of Belgium 6-3, 6-4 in the Swedish Open quarter-finals in Bastad on Friday. In the semi-finals, the third-seeded Uruguayan faces France’s Benoit Paire, who easily defeated Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-2 in less than an hour. Two-time Bastad champion and second-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain beat France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 6-3. It took three sets for Germany’s Alexander Zverev to beat sixth-seeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
CLARO OPEN
Karlovic wins in quarters
Top-seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia overcame a slow start to defeat veteran wild-card Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 3-6, 7-6(9/7), 6-4 in Bogota on Friday to reach the Claro Open semi-finals. The 23rd-ranked Karlovic next faces third-seeded Adrian Mannarino of France, who beat seventh-seeded Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 1-6, 6-1, 6-3. The other semi-final in the ATP 250 clay-court tournament will be between Michael Berrer and Bernard Tomic. German Berrer defeated Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 while Australia’s Tomic cruised past Tatsuma Ito of Japan 6-1, 6-4.
GASTEIN LADIES
Knapp sets up Errani tie
Karin Knapp of Italy won two matches on Friday to set up a semi-final against top-seeded Sara Errani at the Gastein Ladies in Bad Gastein. Second-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia takes on No. 7 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia in the other semi-final of the clay-court event. In the quarter-finals, Knapp rallied from three games behind in both sets to defeat Polona Hercog of Slovenia 7-6(7/5), 7-5. Hours before, Knapp beat Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-3, 6-3 in a second-round match moved from Thursday because of bad weather. Earlier, Errani overcame neck problems to beat Russian qualifier Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Stosur advanced to her second semi-final of the season by beating Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-3, 6-2. A week after winning in Bucharest, Schmiedlova kept her winning run going by defeating Annika Beck of Germany 6-2, 6-3.
ISTANBUL CUP
Radwanska beats Pironkova
Urszula Radwanska of Poland beat the last surviving seed in the Istanbul Cup quarter-finals when she outlasted No. 8 Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7/5) on Friday. Radwanska next faces Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, who beat Roberta Vinci 0-6, 7-5, 6-2. In reaching the semis, Radwanska earned her best result on tour in three years. She was bothered by right shoulder and right leg injuries over the last two years. She took more than two hours to beat Pironkova in a match with 17 service breaks. Lesia Tsurenko endured a similar struggle to overcome fellow Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko 7-6(15/13), 7-5 for the first time in three meetings. There were 13 service breaks in the two-and-half-hour match. In the semi-finals, Tsurenko plays Kirsten Flipkens, who defeated Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-2, 6-4. The Belgian proved far more decisive in winning her break points — 67 to 20 percent for Schiavone. It is only the second tournament this year in which Tsurenko has excelled. She came out of qualifying to reach the quarter-finals at Indian Wells in March, beating two top-10 players.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and