Andre Agassi defeated Alberto Martin of Spain 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the Rogers Cup on Monday.
The fourth-seeded Agassi finessed his way from the baseline with steady groundstrokes, capitalizing on mistakes by his 26-year-old opponent.
Agassi's next opponent will be fellow thirtysomething Jonas Bjorkman. The 33-year-old Swede easily beat Vincent Spadea in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
PHOTO: AP
The 35-year-old Agassi said Bjorkman won't be easy, but he joked "I'm the best over-30 player, so it doesn't matter."
Fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia defeated Frederic Niemeyer of Canada 6-2, 6-1, while Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia rallied to upset 10th-seeded Tim Henman 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.
In other matches, a trio of Argentines advanced. Sixth-seeded Gaston Gaudio defeated Davide Sanguinetti of Italy 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5, eighth-seeded Mariano Puerta outlasted Luis Horna of Peru 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3), and ninth-seeded David Nalbandian beat countryman Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4, 6-1.
PHOTO: AFP
Eleventh-seeded Tommy Robredo needed three sets to beat Kevin Kim 7-5, 3-6, 6-1, 15th-seeded Richard Gasquet beat Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 7-6 (3), and 16th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile lost to Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-7 (5), 4-6.
Henman used a combination of tough serves and net play to take the first set from Hrbaty, but a lapse in the second set continued into the third. Henman even shot a ball into the stands after being broken to trail 3-1.
"It's frustrating. I haven't played that much tennis and that many matches. I'd love to be winning and getting on a roll, but I'm not putting any extra pressure on myself," Henman said.
JP Morgan Chase Open
Jie Zheng of China upset 11th-seeded Shinobu Asagoe of Japan 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-0 Monday in the first round of the JP Morgan Chase Open.
Francesca Schiavone of Italy, the 13th seed, beat Dally Randriantefy of Madagascar 7-5, 6-3, 14th-seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina defeated Fabiola Zuluaga of Colombia 6-3, 6-3, and 16th-seeded Anna Chakvetadze of Russia eliminated Li Na of China 7-5, 6-4.
Also, Russia's Maria Kirilenko ousted American Marissa Irvin 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, while Amy Frazier beat Abigail Spears 7-6 (6), 6-0 in an all-American match.
Kirilenko will play top-seeded Maria Sharapova on Tuesday. The 18-year-old Sharapova will become the first Russian player to reach No. 1 in the WTA rankings if she wins three matches here, the third stop in the women's U.S. Open Series.
World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport withdrew for the second week in a row due to back problems. Serena Williams and Vera Zvonareva also backed out this week because of ankle problems.
Tenth-ranked Guillermo Canas of Argentina has been suspended from tennis for two years for testing positive for a banned diuretic, the ATP announced on Monday.
The 27-year-old Canas, winner of six ATP tour events in his career, tested positive in February at the Mexican Open in Acapulco.
Canas, who reached the quarterfinals of the French Open earlier this year, protested his innocence in an interview with the Argentine newspaper Clarin in June, saying he never knowingly ingested any banned substance.
An independent Tennis Anti-Doping Program tribunal heard Canas' appeal in the case in July.
The panel confirmed the test results, ordered him to repay US$276,070 in prize money and deducted singles and doubles rankings points.
He will be eligible to return to tennis on June 11, 2007, the ATP said.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
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