Roger Federer took 55 minutes to dispel all injury doubts with a 6-2, 6-1 routing of unheralded German Tobias Kamke in the second round of the Brisbane International yesterday.
Media speculations swirled around the fitness of the world No. 3 less than two weeks before he launches his bid for a fifth Australian Open title, but the Swiss maestro dismissed them by dropping only three games in a lop-sided contest.
“I am going to do my best to stay injury free and give myself a chance to win another Grand Slam,” Federer said after setting up a quarter-final against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.
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Dimitrov came from behind to beat Viktor Troicki 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 6-2, while big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic battled through to the last eight with a 6-7 (2/7), 6-1, 6-4 win over Croatian Ivan Dodig.
In the women’s draw, American qualifier Samantha Crawford continued her breakout run by storming into her first WTA semi-final after pummeling Andrea Petkovic of Germany.
The 20-year-old Atlanta native, ranked 142nd in the world, blasted 22 winners against the befuddled Petkovic in a 6-3, 6-0 rout to further enhance her reputation.
“It happened fast. I was trying to not think about it too much, not psych myself out,” the former US Open junior champion said. “Right after I won, on the on-court interview, I was like shaking, and then in the locker room, I was like sitting for just like a little bit, but yeah, this is awesome.”
Crawford is playing in just her sixth WTA Tour event and her strong showing at an event that has seen the top seeds succumb to injuries should bring her inside the top 100 for the first time.
The American, who spent time growing up in China and speaks fluent Mandarin, has yet to drop a set in Brisbane after dispatching another rising talent in Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the second round.
She faces two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who trounced US Open finalist Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-2.
Germany’s Angelique Kerber also booked a semi-final spot, with a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
At No. 4, Kerber is the highest seed remaining after injury robbed the tournament of Maria Sharapova of Russia, Simona Halep of Romania and Garbine Muguruza of Spain.
In the last four, she takes on Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro, who rallied past American Varvara Lepchenko 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
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