Svetlana Kuznetsova extended her run of poor results with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 loss to fellow Russian player Maria Kirilenko in the second round of the Italian Open on Monday.
The fifth-ranked Kuznetsova, who is a two-time runner-up at the Foro Italico, has not put together three consecutive wins since reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.
In first-round action, Yanina Wickmayer overcame a mid-match lapse to beat Karolina Sprem of Croatia 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, Flavia Pennetta of Italy advanced past Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan 6-2, 6-3, Francesca Schiavone of Italy rallied to eliminate Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 and Shahar Peer of Israel defeated wild card Corinna Dentoni of Italy, 6-2, 6-1.
PHOTO: EPA
Former French Open winner, Ana Ivanovic, rolled to a 6-1, 6-3 win over Elena Vesnina.
Ivanovic’s ranking has slipped from No. 1 to No. 58 and she recently hired Steffi Graf’s old coach, Heinz Gunthardt.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands beat compatriot Melanie Oudin 6-1, 6-3.
The 31st-ranked Oudin struggled with her serve, holding only three times and winning just 46 percent of the points with her first serve to Mattek-Sands’ 81 percent.
Mattek-Sands improved to 3-0 in her career against Oudin.
■ESTORIL OPEN
AP, OEIRAS, PORTUGAL
Alejandro Falla of Colombia beat seventh-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela at the Estoril Open on Monday, claiming their first-round match 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Marcel Granollers beat fellow Spaniard Oscar Hernandez 6-2, 6-1, and Arnaud Clement of France overcame Igor Kunitsyn of Russia, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
Local player Leonardo Tavares won 6-3, 6-3 against Brazilian Ricardo Mello.
There were several upsets in the women’s event, as Anastasija Sevastova recovered from a set down to eliminate top-seeded Agnes Szavay 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 and Julia Goerges of Germany routed third-seeded Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1, 6-1. Seventh-seed Peng Shuai did advance by beating Julie Coin 6-2, 6-2, and Japan’s Kimiko Date Krumm ousted Petra Martic of Croatia 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (2).
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
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