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.
Ademola Lookman on Thursday scored on his Atletico Madrid debut in a 5-0 rout of Real Betis Balompie that sent Diego Simeone’s team to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. David Hancko, Giuliano Simeone, Antoine Griezmann and Thiago Almada also scored for Atletico as they advanced to the last four for the third straight season. Atletico are trying to reach their first Copa final since winning the competition in 2012-2013. Hancko opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute and Giuliano Simeone added to the lead in the 30th, before Lookman got his first goal for Atletico on a fast
GUNNING FOR A WIN: The victory sending Arsenal to the final for the first time in six years was cathartic for a team who had lost their previous four semi-finals Arsenal on Tuesday reached the League Cup final for the first time in eight years as Kai Havertz sealed a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the semi-final second leg. Mikel Arteta’s side had put themselves in pole position in the first leg and Havertz came off the bench to finish the 4-2 aggregate victory in the closing moments at the Emirates Stadium. It was a cathartic triumph for the Gunners, who had lost their previous four semi-finals in last year’s UEFA Champions League and League Cup, the 2022 League Cup and the 2021 UEFA Europa League. In their first final for six years,
SUPERSTAR DELIVERS: Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to propel the Spurs to a 135-123 victory over the Dallas Mavericks The Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday shook off the early exit of injured star Luka Doncic, rallying without him in the second half for a 119-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Austin Reaves, again coming off the bench in his second game back from a 19-game injury absence, scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, drilling a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lakers their first lead of the game early in the final frame. “Losing Luka, you know nothing’s going to be easy after that because he does so much for us, but we bonded together,” said
France head coach Fabien Galthie on Thursday lauded his team’s attacking performance after their dazzling 36-14 victory over Ireland in their Six Nations opener. A brace of tries from Louis Bielley-Biarrey and one from mercurial flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert helped France storm into a 29-0 lead before taking their foot off the gas and allowing Ireland back into the match, before winger Theo Attissogbe put some gloss on the victory late on. “In an attacking sense, with the ball, the team played with great accuracy,” Galthie said. “It was one of the most accurate attacking performances in a long time, despite the weather
RSS