Argentina’s Juan Monaco took advantage of defending champion Jack Sock’s aching shoulder and leg cramps to rally for a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory on Sunday, winning his second US Men’s Clay Court Championship nine months after major wrist surgery.
The 32-year-old Monaco held off a surging Sock in the third set after taking a 4-1 lead. Sock won the next four games, but suffered the decisive break in the 11th game when, with his left thigh apparently cramping under the cloudy, humid conditions, missed an underhanded serve. Early in the match, Monaco also received attention from the trainer for an apparent back issue.
Sock said after the match that he begun feeling poorly with flu-like symptoms on Saturday night.
GRAND PRIX HASSAN II
AP, MARRAKECH, Morocco
Fourth-seeded Federico Delbonis beat third-seeded Borna Coric 6-2, 6-4 on Sunday to clinch the clay-court Grand Prix Hassan II for his second career title.
The Argentine was more consistent on his serve in their first-ever meeting, winning 80 percent of first-serve points and saving the three break points he faced against Coric.
The 25-year-old Delbonis, who broke Coric’s serve three times, won his first title two years ago at Sao Paulo on indoor clay.
MONTE CARLO MASTERS
AP, MONACO
Gilles Simon saved six of seven break points to advance to the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday.
The 15th-seeded Frenchman beat Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-4, improving his career record against the Serb to 6-0.
Simon next plays Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria or Filip Krajinovic of Serbia.
Jeremy Chardy of France had eight aces against Russian Andrey Kuznetsov, winning 7-6 (7/3), 7-5.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was