US player Vania King produced a first-round upset in the Family Circle Cup on Monday by knocking out 14th seed Olga Govortsova 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-3 at Charleston.
The 20-year-old King, ranked No. 121 in the world, mounted a spirited fight-back after trailing Belarusian Govortsova 5-3 in the second set, and then took charge in the third.
China’s Peng Shuai (彭帥) advanced to the second round with a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 win over Russia’s Anastasia Pivovarova.
PHOTO: AFP
Peng, the 10th seed, will face the winner of the tie between Uzbekistan’s Akgul Amanmuradova and American Alexandra Stevenson.
France’s Virginie Razzano, the 13th seed, also cruised to a straight sets 6-1, 6-2 victory over American Mallory Cecil, while 11th seed Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine disposed of Luxembourg’s Anne Kremer 6-4, 6-0.
Top seed and world No. 3 Elena Dementieva of Russia enjoyed a first-round bye and will take on Julie Ditty in round two, after the American beat Japan’s Ayumi Morita 6-1, 6-1.
Second seed Venus Williams is drawn to play either India’s Sania Mirza or Sesil Karatantcheva of Kazakhstan after their first-round clash.
■BARCELONA OPEN
AP, BARCELONA, SPAIN
Top-seeded Alize Cornet of France was upset 6-0, 6-3 by compatriot Stephanie Cohen-Aloro in the first round of the Barcelona Open on Monday.
Cohen-Aloro saved six break chances against her in the first set and took advantage of Cornet’s ineffective service game — which netted just seven points in the opening set — to break her 14th-ranked opponent three times.
The 97th-ranked Cohen-Aloro then broke Cornet at the first opportunity in the second game of the second set for a 2-0 lead and then hung on for the victory after both players traded break points.
Second-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy broke Petra Kvitova seven times to overcome four breaks of her own serve in a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Czech. Pennetta will play Roberta Vinci, who beat Pauline Parmentier of France 6-4, 7-6 (7) in the second round.
Nearly a week after upsetting top-ranked Serena Williams in Andalucia, Klara Zakopalova lost 6-1, 7-6 (7) to Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova to bow out of the tournament.
■MONTE CARLO MASTERS
REUTERS, MONTE CARLO
Czech No. 15 seed Radek Stepanek was knocked out in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters when he lost 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti on Monday.
Lapentti, who reached sixth place in the ATP rankings in 1999 but had to labor through the qualifiers in Monte Carlo, broke decisively in the second game of the decider and wrapped up the win on his first match point.
The world No. 98 next faces the winner of yesterday’s battle between former No. 1s Marat Safin of Russia and Australian Lleyton Hewitt.
Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela beat Russian Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 to set up a second-round meeting with world No. 1 Rafael Nadal.
Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia beat Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
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