Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova cruised past Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-1, 6-2 in the opening round of the Porsche Grand Prix on Tuesday.
The third-seeded Kuznetsova won the French Open last year for her second Grand Slam title and is using the Stuttgart event to warm up for the defense of that crown.
The Russian brought her career record against Srebotnik to 3-2.
PHOTO: EPA
Srebotnik was once No. 20 in the world before dropping to No. 385.
She was coming back after missing eight months of last season with various injuries and has been eliminated in the first round of all five of her tournaments this year.
In another first-round match, fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland defeated former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 7-6 (4), 6-4.
PHOTO: EPA
Other winners included Agnes Szavay of Hungary, who beat Andrea Petkovic of Germany, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
Li Na of China, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria Shahar Peer of Israel and Anna Lapushchenkova of Russia also reached round two.
■GRAND PRIX SAR
AP, FEZ, MOROCCO
Defending champion Anabel Medina Garrigues and top-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro advanced to the second round of the Grand Prix SAR on Tuesday.
The third-seeded Medina Garrigues, who won her ninth last career title here a year ago, needed only 45 minutes to thrash 18-year-old wild card Lina Bennani of Morocco 6-0, 6-0, while Suarez Navarro labored to a 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 win against Anna Floris of Italy.
The second-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland rallied to beat Greta Arn of Hungary 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, and No. 5 Angelique Kerber of Germany routed wild card Fatima Zahrae El Allami of Morocco 6-0, 6-1.
No. 6 Petra Martic of Croatia, and No. 8 Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic both lost.
The tournament at Royal Tennis Club de Fes is the only WTA Tour stop in Africa.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
RSS