Gilles Simon of France needed nearly three hours to edge out Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 6-4 in his opening match at the Thailand Open on Wednesday.
“I was down a set and a break and he had points for 5-2,” said third-seed Simon, who is now through to the quarter-finals. “It was an amazing match. His level was really high and I had the sensation that I was also playing well.”
The match was only decided in the closing moments as Simon, the world No. 12, earned a break to go 5-4 up, before serving out the victory against a player ranked 56 places below him.
“I was almost on the plane back home at one point. I’m very happy to win this match,” the Frenchman said.
Simon will meet Matthias Bachinger in the quarter-finals today. The unseeded German beat Danai Udomchoke of Thailand, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
Defending champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez crashed out yesterday as second seed Gael Monfils survived a scare to win in three sets.
Spain’s Garcia-Lopez, the fourth seed, was stunned by US outsider Donald Young, ranked 55, who won 6-1, 6-7 (0/7), 7-5 after a match -lasting more than two-and-a-half hours.
Young will play in only his third career quarter-final at the ATP level when he meets Japan’s Go Soeda, who put out German Tobias Kamke 6-2, 7-6 (9/7).
Murray was due to begin his campaign at the event, where he finished runner-up six years ago to Roger Federer, against German Michael Berrer.
? MALAYSIAN OPEN
AFP, KUALA LUMPUR
Serbia’s Viktor Troicki swept into the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Open in straight sets yesterday, joined by former champion Nikolay Davydenko in the last eight.
Second seed Troicki beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-1, 6-4, while 2009 champion Davydenko put out Poland’s Lukasz Kubot 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) indoors at the Putra Stadium.
Troicki, a member of the Serbian team that lost to Argentina in the Davis Cup semi-finals, earned revenge for a defeat at the hands of Istomin in last year’s New Haven semi-finals.
“I lost to him in a strange match last year. I knew I had to play more offensive and take my chances when they came,” said the 15th-ranked Serb, who is next scheduled to face Russian Dmitry Tursunov.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS