Top seed Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday crashed out of the Rotterdam Open, losing to 104th-ranked Vasek Pospisil, who marched into the last 16 with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
World No. 5 Medvedev saw his Rotterdam challenge ended in just 68 minutes by Pospisil.
The 29-year-old Canadian, who continues a fine run of form having reached the final at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier last week, managed to save five of six break points, while converting three of his own en route to a huge upset.
Photo: EPA-EFE
France’s Gael Monfils started his Rotterdam title defense with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory over Portugal’s Joao Sousa.
Monfils, who beat Pospisil in the final to win in Montpellier last week, needed only 70 minutes to dispatch his Portuguese opponent, firing five aces and converting four break points.
The 33-year-old Monfils, who is looking to become the first player to win back-to-back Rotterdam titles since Sweden’s Robin Soderling in 2011, next faces compatriot Gilles Simon, who beat Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3.
“It’s never easy to come back after a win, but I have great memories from last year,” Monfils said.
In an all-Spanish showdown, Pablo Carreno Busta beat sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/4) to qualify for the quarter-finals after a nearly two-and-a-half-hour battle.
Carreno Busta fired 11 aces and saved seven break points to advance at his higher-ranked compatriot’s expense.
Belgian fourth seed David Goffin battled back from a set down and saved two break points in the decider to beat local hope Robin Haase 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
Goffin next faces Italy’s Jannik Sinner, who was awarded a walkover after his opponent, Moldovia’s Radu Albot, withdrew.
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
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