Carlos Moya won his second straight Chennai Open title by rallying from a 5-2 deficit in the third set to beat Paradorn Srichaphan 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) on Sunday in a rematch of last year's final.
Moya donated his winner's check of US$52,000 to relief efforts for the Dec. 26 tsunami-earthquake catastrophe that killed more than 150,000 in Asia.
The fifth-ranked Moya is the first player to win the hard-court tuneup for the Australian Open in consecutive years. Paradorn reached his fourth straight final at the tournament, but his lone championship came in 2003.
"I was extremely lucky to win today," Moya said. "It's a great way to start the year."
Moya, the 1998 French Open champion, twice broke Paradorn when the Thai player served for the match in the last set.
Fourth-seeded Vince Spadea of the US took only 45 minutes yesterday to blank David Sanchez of Spain 6-0, 6-0 in the first round of the US$426,000 tournament.
Spadea, an Auckland regular since 1995, overwhelmed his Spanish opponent, allowing Sanchez only 17 points in 12 games.
The pair had met only once previously and Sanchez had prevailed in straight sets on clay in Austria.
Spadea, Chicago-born but a Florida resident, was more at home Monday on Auckland's hard courts and in warm and humid conditions.
"I like the Auckland surface, it suits my game," Spadea said.
Fifth-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, backed by a raucous crowd of Chilean compatriots, beat James Blake of the US 7-6 (4), 6-1. Blake played for the US in last week's Hopman Cup.
Jose Acasuso of Argentina beat Julien Benneteau of France 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in a center court match between unseeded players which lasted almost three hours. Potito Starace of Italy beat New Zealand wildcard Mark Nielsen 6-4, 6-4, and Mario Zabaleta of Argentina defeated New Zealander G.D. Jones 6-0, 6-2.
Australian Wayne Arthurs opened center-court play at the Medibank Sydney International yesterday with a 7-6 (1), 6-7 (4), 6-3 victory over Filippo Volandri of Italy.
Arthurs, who has played behind Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis in Australia's Davis Cup team, said he's happy to take over the No. 2 singles role for the Aussies with Philippoussis injured and a March first-round encounter scheduled against Austria.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
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Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
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