Commonwealth Games and Asian Games tennis champion Somdev Devvarman of India broke serve three times to overcome local Raven Klaasen 6-4, 6-3 on Monday in a South African Open first-round clash.
German Simon Greul and South African Rik de Voest were other winners as the ATP event began with three predictable results at the sprawling Montecasino entertainment center in a plush northern Johannesburg suburb.
Devvarman, who struck Commonwealth gold in New Delhi in October and Asian gold in Guangzhou the following month, always had the measure of qualifier Klaasen.
The first service break gave the 25-year-old Indian the opening set before a modest crowd that watched the action in perfect conditions on a center court created in a car park.
Another break in the second set set up Devvarman for success and a Klaasen ace when 30-15 behind in the ninth game did not prevent his opponent breaking service again and clinching an 83-minute victory.
Stuttgart-based Greul, who turns 30 this year, is ranked 48 places higher than Brazilian Thiago Alves and it showed as he was seldom extended en route to a 6-2, 7-5 victory.
Closest duel of the opening day was the first with wildcard de Voest being taken to three sets by Italian Stefano Galvani before emerging a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (8/6) victor of a game that began in sunshine and ended under floodlights.
MOVIESTAR OPEN
AP, SANTIAGO
Defending champion Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil defeated Filippo Volandri of Italy 6-2, 6-2 in the first round on Monday at the Movistar Open, the first clay-court tournament of the ATP season.
Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain beat Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-4, Russian Igor Andreev downed Eduardo Schwank of Argentina 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), and Pablo Andujar of Spain defeated Australian Peter Luczak 6-4, 6-4.
In other first-round matches, Brazil’s Ricardo Mello won against Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (8/6), and Spain’s Tommy Robredo defeated Frederico Gil of Portugal 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
ZAGREB INDOORS
AP, ZAGREB
Fifth-seeded Florian Mayer struggled through to the second round of the Zagreb Indoors on Monday, overcoming Croatian wildcard Franco Skugor 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8/6).
Elsewhere, Ivan Dodig upset Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-2, Michael Berrer beat Nikola Mektic 7-5, 6-1 and Lukas Lacko defeated Marsel Ilhan 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
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Transgender athletes are to have an ally in the White House next week, as they seek to participate as their identified gender in high school and college sports — although state legislatures, the US Congress and the courts are all expected to have their say this year, too. Attorneys on both sides say they expect US president-elect Joe Biden’s Department of Education to switch sides in two key legal battles — one in Connecticut, the other in Idaho — that could go a long way in determining whether transgender athletes are treated by the sex on their birth certificates or by
DOUBLES VICTORY: The men’s doubles pairing of Taiwanese Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin downed Malaysians Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi, and face South Koreans today Men’s badminton world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen yesterday marched into the semi-finals of the Thailand Open, defeating younger opponent Lee Zii-jia 21-17, 21-15 after a rally, while Tai Tzu-ying had no trouble getting past her Canadian opponent in the women’s singles. The top male Taiwanese credited calm and focus in securing his win after briefly falling behind against his 22-year-old Malaysian opponent. “I think I had more patience against him and I won most of the long rallies,” the 31-year-old Chou said of Lee. “He wanted to attack [too much] and maybe he lost some focus,” Chou said. In today’s semi-finals, second-seeded Chou faces
DOUBLE VISION: The men’s duo of Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin downed the South Korean pairing of Choi Sol-gyu and Seo Seung-jae to secure their place in the final Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday easily defeated Mia Blichfeldt in her women’s singles match to advance to the finals of the Yonex Thailand Open in Bangkok, while Chou Tien-chen crashed out of the tournament. Tai quickly ousted world No. 18 Blicheldt, of Denmark, in 34 minutes, winning 21-8, 23-21. The world No. 1 today must overcome Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain, who took down An Se-young of South Korea yesterday 21-18, 21-16. In men’s singles, Taiwan’s Chou fell to Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long after a tough 66 minutes of play. While Chou, the world No. 2, bested Ng in the first set,
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