Taiwanese No. 1 Lu Yen-hsun continued to punch above his weight at the China Open yesterday, ousting world No. 24 Viktor Troicki in the second round of the men’s singles.
Lu, the world No. 100 playing with a wild card in Beijing, defeated the Serbian 6-4, 7-5 in 1 hour, 28 minutes, converting three of nine break points.
Lu, who was also victorious in his only previous meeting with Troicki at Wimbledon in 2011, next faces fourth seed David Ferrer of Spain, who defeated Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
Photo: AP
In other matches, world No. 5 Tomas Berdych was stunned in straight sets by Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas as he became the latest seed to exit the roller-coaster China Open yesterday.
The second-seeded Czech, who won the rain-delayed Shenzhen Open final on Monday, was sent packing 6-4, 6-4 a little over 24 hours after arriving in Beijing and after only 107 minutes on court.
Milos Raonic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the fifth and eighth seeds, had also failed to negotiate the first round in what has been an eventful tournament so far.
“I made one tournament title. The other one didn’t go my way,” Berdych said after his first-round defeat to the 37th-ranked Cuevas.
“It’s always a difficult part of the year,” he added. “We have to travel a lot. The conditions are always very different, very difficult, week by week here in China. It’s not easy to adjust.”
It was a different story for Garbine Muguruza, who retired from last week’s Wuhan Open final against Venus Williams with an ankle problem, but bounced back to beat Irina Falconi 6-2, 6-1.
The Spaniard, nicknamed “Mushroom” by Beijing fans because her name sounds like “mushroom” in Chinese, would qualify for the WTA Finals if she wins her next match against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
“I think I want to finish in a good way the year. I want to go on holidays and say: ‘Look, I had a great year, I did everything I could, to go off the court feeling that I did all my effort,’” Muguruza said.
However, 13th seed Andrea Petkovic’s China Open is over after she was bundled out in three sets by Italy’s Sara Errani, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
With Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova both missing Beijing, the women’s draw has been prised wider open by the retirements of Simona Halep and Eugenie Bouchard, and Petra Kvitova’s early defeat.
Additional reporting by staff writer
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
OBJECTIVE REACHED: ’Now for us, it’s about getting healthy, making sure everybody is ready to go, and we can ramp up,’ the Atlanta Hawks’ C.J. McCollum said after the game The Atlanta Hawks on Friday secured an NBA playoff berth with a 124-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers as the Boston Celtics locked up the Eastern Conference second seed with a lopsided win of their own. C.J. McCollum scored a game-high 29 points for the Hawks, who came into the contest at sixth in the East and still in danger of falling into the play-in tournament that would see the seventh-through 10th-placed teams battle for the last two playoff berths in each conference. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson scored 18 points apiece, and Dyson Daniels added a triple-double of 13
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Shahzad Khan was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
RSS