Denmark's Kristian Pless and Croatia's Ivo Karlovic put themselves in the paths of high-seeded stars with first-round wins here on Monday at the US$416,000 ATP SAP Open.
Pless defeated Ukranian Sergiy Stakhovsky 7-5, 6-1 to book a second-round date with either third seed Andy Murray of the UK or US player Kevin Kim.
Karlovic bounced Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) to set up a second-round match against either US second seed James Blake or Russian Igor Kunitsyn.
Top seed Andy Roddick, who led the US squad to a Davis Cup victory on Sunday in the Czech Republic, was scheduled to play Canada's Frank Dencevic in his opening match yesterday in the hardcourt event.
Roddick won here in 2004 and 2005 but lost to Murray in last year's semi-finals.
Murray went on to capture his first ATP title at this event, downing Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the final.
No seeded players were in action on Monday. In a match involving a pair of US players, Sam Querrey overpowered Paul Goldstein, 6-2, 6-1 to set up a potential second-round matchup with Roddick.
Marat Safin is seeded fourth followed by US player Mardy Fish, a finalist here in 2004.
Major League Baseball (MLB) star Shohei Ohtani wants his former interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards he says were fraudulently bought using his money. The Los Angeles Dodgers star is also requesting Ippei Mizuhara, who previously pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly US$17 million from the unsuspecting athlete, return signed collectible baseball cards depicting Ohtani that were in Mizuhara’s “unauthorized and wrongful possession,” court documents filed on Tuesday said. The legal filing alleges Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s bank account beginning in about November 2021, changing his security protocols so that he
US skier Mikaela Shiffrin said she sustained an abrasion on her left hip and that something “stabbed” her when she crashed during her second run of an Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom race on Saturday, doing a flip and sliding into the protective fencing. Shiffrin stayed down on the edge of the course for quite some time as the ski patrol attended to her. She was taken off the hill on a sled and waved to the cheering crowd before going to a clinic for evaluation. “Not really too much cause for concern at this point, I just
CLASH OF MANAGERS: Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler and Russell Martin of Southampton accused each other of disrespect, while both were booked Southampton on Friday were denied a priceless victory by a controversial decision as they drew with hosts Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 in the Premier League. Kaoru Mitoma spectacularly headed Brighton into a first-half lead and Flynn Downes hammered home an equalizer an hour in. Minutes later teammate Cameron Archer converted a cross from Saints substitute Ryan Fraser. A video assistant referee check of more than four minutes eventually decided that Archer was onside, but then penalized Adam Armstrong, who was offside, but did not touch the ball, for interfering with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. “I find it hard to accept,” Southampton manager Russell Martin
Mary McGee, a female racing pioneer and subject profiled in an Oscar-contending documentary, Motorcycle Mary, has died, her family said. She was 87. “McGee’s unparalleled achievements in off-road racing and motorcycle racing have inspired generations of athletes that followed in her footsteps,” her family said in a statement. The family said McGee died of complications from a stroke at her home in Gardnerville, Nevada, on Wednesday, the day before the release of the short documentary Motorcycle Mary, on ESPN’s YouTube channel. Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton was an executive producer on the film, which became available globally on Thursday. Its premiere
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