Vasek Pospisil overcame sweltering heat and cramps to outlast Taiwanese No. 1 Lu Yen-hsun at the Atlanta Open on Wednesday.
Pospisil, the Canadian second seed, beat Lu 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4. The match ended on Lu’s second double fault.
The temperature was 35oC, with a heat index of 38.
Photo: AFP
Pospisil looked unsteady on his feet after losing the second-set tiebreaker. He left the court following the set, prompting speculation he might not be able to finish the match.
“It was in my mind, but it’s not like me,” Pospisil said about the possibility of not returning for the final set. “I mean, I wasn’t feeling good at all... There aren’t conditions like these on the tour very much.”
Cramping in his legs caused him to fall to the court in the third set, but he continued without a delay.
Pospisil asked for a towel after almost every point and seemed to need the full breaks between games to catch his breath.
“I don’t know how I would have gotten through if I had not broken that last game,” he said.
In the doubles, Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick won their opener against Lu and Jonathan Marray of Britain on Wednesday as the Taiwanese lost for the second time in a day to bow out of the tournament.
Fish, who plans to retire after the US Open, lost 6-4, 6-4 in singles to Dudi Sela on Tuesday.
Roddick has taken a break from his retirement to play this week with Fish, his longtime friend.
“I had a blast out there,” Roddick said. “I was a little too excited. Mardy told me: ‘Andy, calm down.’”
Pospisil, playing in his first tournament since reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, served 24 aces.
He was left with only singles on his schedule this week after a surprising early exit in doubles. Pospisil and Jack Sock, the defending champions and second seeds, lost to Colin Fleming and Gilles Muller on Tuesday night, leaving little recovery time for Pospisil before Wednesday’s early match.
Pospisil said the double match had no effect on his singles play.
Pospisil next plays fifth seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the quarter-finals. Baghdatis beat Australia’s Sam Groth 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
Top seed and two-time defending champion John Isner, who had a first-round bye, was due to play Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic yesterday. Stepanek beat Christopher Eubanks of Georgia Tech 6-2, 6-2.
Also on Wednesday, seventh seed Gilles Muller beat Jared Donaldson 6-3, 6-2. Muller next faces Japan’s Go Soeda, who upset fourth seed Adrian Mannarino of France 6-2, 6-4.
Bob and Mike Bryan, the top seed in the doubles, beat Groth and Chris Guccione 6-2, 6-1 in a match that lasted only 45 minutes.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Backup quarterback Luke Weaver on Wednesday night threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Nick Cenacle with 10 seconds left, as the University of Hawaii rallied for a 35-31 comeback victory over the University of California, Berkeley in a thrilling Hawaii Bowl. Weaver entered the game after Micah Alejado took a hard hit on the previous play. With the Rainbow Warriors (9-4) in range for a tying field goal, coach Timmy Chang took a shot at the end zone, and Cenacle got between two defensive backs and made the contested catch. “How amazing is that?” Chang said. “It’s a program that is built
STILL IN THE HUNT: Rasmus Hojlund took his goal tally for SSC Napoli to nine as the champions cruised to a win at US Cremonese and stayed two points behind the leaders Inter on Sunday stayed at the Serie A summit after beating Atalanta BC 1-0 to maintain their slender lead over local rivals AC Milan. Lautaro Martinez netted the only goal of the game in Bergamo for Inter, who lead Milan, 3-0 winners against Hellas Verona thanks to Christoper Nkunku’s first Serie A goals, by a single point at the top of the division. The Argentina striker has scored in four consecutive league matches to end what has been a tricky year in positive style. “I ended last season in a lot of pain... I kept going during the Club World Cup and international
Hosts Morocco on Friday were held to a 1-1 draw by Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations, ending their world record run of wins and leaving them still to make sure of progress to the next stage. Midfielder Brahim Diaz tucked away a penalty in stoppage-time at the end of the first half, but Mali equalized from the spot midway through the second half through Lassine Sinayoko. Both penalties were awarded after video reviews in a tempestuous clash at the end of a busy day of action at the tournament. Morocco were atop the Group A standings with four points, while Zambia,
An astounding 20 wickets fell on a frantic first day of the fourth Ashes Test yesterday, with Australia all out for 152 before storming back to dismiss England for 110 and leave the clash on a knife-edge. England skipper Ben Stokes won a key toss on a green track and his quicks feasted after sending in the hosts under overcast skies in front of 94,199 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the biggest cricket crowd ever at the cavernous arena, exceeding the 93,013 who watched the 2015 World Cup final, and they witnessed the home side collapse with Josh Tongue
RSS