Former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki on Monday worked overtime at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open to avoid a first-up loss for the third time in her past four tournaments.
Wozniacki, whose ranking has dropped to No. 22, overcame Croatian qualifier Ana Konjuh 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
After dropping the first set, Wozniacki seemed in control when she won the second and raced to 5-2 in the third.
Photo: EPA
However, Konjuh went for risky shots and was rewarded with success, as she clawed back to 5-5. She went on to save eight match points before finally succumbing.
“A win is a win. I am going to take it,” Wozniacki said.
In the second round, she is to meet Australia’s Daria Gavrilova, who beat Japan’s Misaki Doi 6-1, 6-1.
US Open champion Roberta Vinci celebrated her rise into the top 10 by putting away Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine 6-2, 6-1, and Italian compatriot Sara Errani, fresh off winning the Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday last week, defeated Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Another former US Open champ, Svetlana Kuznetsova, beat Julia Goerges of Germany 6-3, 6-3, while the only upset on the day was 15th-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine falling to Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-4.
The top eight seeds, led by Australian Open champ Angelique Kerber of Germany, have a bye to the second round.
In the first round of the doubles, Chan Chin-wei advanced to a second-round clash with the Chan sisters, while fellow Taiwanese Chuang Chia-jung, fresh from winning her first title of the year in Dubai on Saturday last week, came crashing back to earth as she fell at the first hurdle.
Chan Chin-wei and Katalin Marosi of Hungary defeated Ukrainian sisters Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok 6-2, 6-4 in 66 minutes to set up a second-round clash against another pair of sisters, fourth-seeded Taiwanese duo Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan.
Chuang, who won the Dubai Tennis Championships title with Darija Jurak of Croatia on Saturday, was reunited with her regular partner, Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia, but it was a short reunion, as they fell to a 6-4, 6-2 defeat to the Chinese pairing of Xu Yi-fan and Zheng Saisai in 67 minutes.
Additional reporting by staff writer
MEXICAN OPEN
AP, ACAPULCO, Mexico
Kei Nishikori on Monday cruised to victory in his opening match in Acapulco, defeating Thiemo de Bakker 6-0, 6-3 in less than an hour.
Second-seeded Nishikori was sharp in his first match since capturing his fourth Memphis Open title a week ago, breaking his Dutch opponent six times and fending off the only break point he faced.
Also on Monday, 35-year-old Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic continued his strong form of late, beating Mexican wild card Lucas Gomez 6-4, 6-2. Estrella Burgos is coming off a defense of his title in Quito two weeks ago.
On the women’s side, Britain’s Johanna Konta, an Australian Open semi-finalist, rallied to beat Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, and third-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova advanced when Urszula Radwanska retired while trailing 0-6, 3-2.
The top seeds in the men’s and women’s draws, David Ferrer and Victoria Azarenka, were scheduled to play their opening matches yesterday.
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
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
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