Serena Williams withdrew from her opening match at the Hopman Cup yesterday because of inflammation in her left knee, an early setback in her preparations for an Australian Open title defense.
World No. 1 Williams practiced ahead of her scheduled season-opener against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the international mixed-team competition at the Perth Arena, but withdrew from the match and was replaced by Vicky Duval.
Duval lost 6-4, 6-1 to Svitolina and Alexandr Dolgopolov beat Jack Sock 6-4, 6-2 to clinch the Group A match for Ukraine, before the US pairing won the mixed doubles 6-2, 6-3.
Photo: AFP
Williams said she expected to be able to join Sock in the US team to play the Australia Gold team today.
Hopman Cup tournament director Paul Kilderry said Williams reported feeling pain in her knee on Sunday.
“She wanted to give herself every chance to play, she warmed up this morning, but common sense prevailed and she just thought today she can’t do it,” Kilderry said.
Photo: AFP
After winning the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon titles last year, Williams narrowly missed completing a season Grand Slam when she lost to Roberta Vinci in the semi-finals of the US Open.
For the 20-year-old Duval, who returned to tennis in August after overcoming Hodgkin’s lymphoma, filling in for Williams was a great opportunity.
“I was kind of nervous because I was filling in big shoes, but I had a really fun time today,” Duval said. “I have a whole new outlook on life. I’m just really grateful to be back and do what I love.”
In the night match, Andy Murray had a 6-2, 6-2 win over Kenny de Schepper to give Britain a 1-0 lead over France.
At the Brisbane International, Australian Sam Stosur narrowly avoided another disappointment on home turf as she battled through a wrist injury and three tough sets to claim a season-opening victory yesterday.
The former US Open champion recovered from 0-3 down in the final set to record a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Slovakian qualifier Jana Cepelova to begin her always intense Australian summer in positive style.
The 31-year-old has frequently failed to hit the heights on home turf, having never won a tournament or progressed past the fourth round at the Australian Open, and she bemoaned on Sunday the unfair emphasis she received for her domestic form.
The world No. 27 looked set to give the critics another stick to beat her with before a spirited effort did for the world No. 147 and set up a second-round clash with Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro today.
Stosur needed treatment for a wrist problem midway through the second set, but was not overly concerned about the injury.
“I’m not freaking out about it,” the right-handed winner of eight WTA Tour titles said. “I need to go see my physio and do whatever we need to do tonight.”
In the men’s singles, last year’s finalist Grigor Dimitrov needed six match points before beating fifth-seeded Gilles Simon 6-3, 7-6 (12/10) to move into the second round.
Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka returned from a layoff with foot and leg injuries with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina in her first competitive match since September, setting up a second-round match against world No. 2 Simona Halep.
Also advancing in Brisbane were seventh seed Belinda Bencic, who beat Sara Errani 6-1, 6-2, and Vinci, who overcame former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
At the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova progressed to the second round, leading 6-2, 1-1 when Mona Barthel of Germany retired from their first-round match because of a stomach ailment.
Fifth seed Sloane Stephens of the US beat Polona Hercog of Slovakia 6-3, 6-3 and Irina Falconi ousted sixth seed Coco Vandeweghe 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite