James Blake of the US was beaten 7-5, 6-3 by Romanian qualifier Victor Crivoi in the first round of the Rome Masters, where play was curtailed by rain and wind on Monday.
The 14th seed fought back to 5-5 after losing the first five games of the match, but he failed to force a tiebreak by dropping serve in the final game of the first set.
Blake briefly perked up again, but then appeared to lose heart after relinquishing a 2-0 lead in the second set and 26-year-old Crivoi sealed the match with a sweet drop volley at the net.
Last year’s runner-up Stanislas Wawrinka overcame a few concentration lapses to move into the second round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Igor Kunitsyn.
The 10th-seeded Swiss broke the Russian in the eighth game and then produced some big serves to hold the first set after conceding three break points with wild shots and a double fault.
Wawrinka eased to victory despite losing serve in the fourth game of the second set.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, who has a bye to the second round along with the other top seeds, will start his title defense against Albert Montanes. The Spaniard beat Italian wildcard Potito Starace 7-6, 6-4.
World No. 2 Roger Federer, yet to win a title this year, will begin his campaign against Croat Ivo Karlovic.
British fourth seed Andy Murray will face Juan Monaco after the Argentine qualifier swept aside German Nicolas Kiefer 6-2, 6-3.
Former world No. 1 Marat Safin’s match against Spanish 13th seed Tommy Robredo was one of the encounters pushed into yesterday’s schedule by the weather.
■STUTTGART GRAND PRIX
REUTERS, STUTTGART, GERMANY
World No. 8 Victoria Azarenka eased past Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-4 with a dazzling display of power and accuracy to move into the second round of the Stuttgart Grand Prix on Monday.
The 19-year-old Belarussian, who stormed into the top 10 with her first tier I tournament win in Miami earlier this month, broke her opponent in the first game.
With a massive backhand, Azarenka chased the 24th-ranked Spaniard across the indoor clay court, whipping winners at will and clinching the first set 6-1.
Suarez Navarro broke her opponent in the first game of the second set and came back to level 4-4 but Azarenka, accompanying each effort with a high-pitched shriek, sealed her win with her first match point when the Spaniard fired a forehand long.
World No. 1 Dinara Safina was to open her campaign yesterday against Italian Sara Errani.
Russian Olympic champion Elena Dementieva, the world No. 3, takes on wildcard entrant German Anna-Lena Groenefeld.
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing. Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct. “It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4,
RIVALRY: Carlos Alcaraz lost his previous two matches against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, in the Australian Open quarter-finals this year and Paris Olympics final last year Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday dazzled at the US Open to make the semi-finals before Novak Djokovic of Serbia danced his way through to book a New York showdown with the Spaniard that would mark the latest chapter in their generational rivalry. Former champion Alcaraz produced yet another entertaining display at Flushing Meadows to dismantle 20th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 at a sunbathed Arthur Ashe Stadium, securing his place in the last four without dropping a set this year. “Sometimes I play a shot that I should not play in that moment, but it’s the way I love
Spain are in danger of not getting out of EuroBasket Group C after losing 67-63 to Italy on Tuesday, but the defending champions still control their destiny. Marco Spissu put Italy in front for good at 64-63 with two free throws with 31 seconds left and made two more with 14 seconds remaining. Giampaolo Ricci converted one of two free throws with eight seconds on the clock. Spain, which in 2022 won their fourth title, are tied with Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 2-2 each. Greece and Italy have clinched two of the group’s four spots in the round-of-16,
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