Top-ranked Roger Federer had his 23-match winning streak stopped in a first-round upset Tuesday, while No. 2 Andy Roddick rallied to avoid one of his own.
Federer of Switzerland lost a second-set tiebreaker to former doubles partner Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia and couldn't recover, falling 1-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4 in the Tennis Masters Cincinnati. The world's top player hadn't lost in the first round since the 2003 French Open.
PHOTO: AFP
"I had a great run," said Federer, whose last loss was to Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten in the third round at Roland Garros. "The streak's ended now. I'm going to take a few days off."
He almost had some familiar company.
Roddick, who lost to Federer in the championship at Toronto on Sunday, struggled against Max Mirnyi of Belarus, but held on to win 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-3.
Fifth-seeded Briton Tim Henman and seventh-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain also advanced in first-round matches Tuesday.
Federer's winning streak was the longest on the men's tour since Pete Sampras ran off 24 in a row in 1999. He had won his last four tournaments, including Wimbledon, and eight overall this season.
Rogers Cup
AP, MONTREAL
Fifth-seeded Jennifer Capriati battled past Alina Jidkova of Russia 7-6 (3), 7-5 and into a third-round match against Mary Pierce in the Rogers Cup on Tuesday.
Capriati was cruising in her first match since Wimbledon at 7-6, 3-0 until a lengthy rain delay, after which Jidkova resumed with better focus. But Capriati broke in the final game to seal the second-round win.
Since losing in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, Capriati had withdrawn from recent tournaments in Los Angeles and San Diego with a hamstring injury.
The former champion _ she won in 1991 as a 15-year-old _ next plays unseeded Pierce, who beat Nicole Pratt of Australia 6-1, 6-1 and became the first player to reach the third round.
Pierce became the 17th seed after top-seeded Serena Williams withdrew.
No. 15 Chanda Rubin downed German qualifier Antonia Matic 6-4, 6-3 and will play another American, qualifier Mashona Washington, who beat Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Ai Sugiyama, seeded seventh, won a long battle with former top-5 player Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 and missed an all-Japanese third-round match when Shinobu Asagoe was beaten by 12th-seeded Karolina Sprem of Croatia 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
Nordic Light
AP, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Italian veteran Silvia Farina edged Russian qualifier Anna Chakvetadze 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3 and ended a three-match losing streak on tour in the first round of the Nordic Light Open on Tuesday.
Second-seeded Farina Elia avoided the fate of three other seeds eliminated so far when Chakvetadze double-faulted on match point on Olympic Stadium's fast hard-court.
No. 4 Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic became the latest seeded player ousted when she lost 7-5, 6-3 to Ukraine's Tatiana Perbiyinis. However, Benesova's compatriot Densia Chladkova advanced by outlasting Roberta Vinci of Italy 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Silvija Talaja defeated Elena Tatarkova, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS