Tobias Kamke of Germany defeated South Africa’s Izak van der Merwe 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the second round of the SAP Open on Monday, while John McEnroe made a brief return to play an exhibition doubles match, teaming with young American Jack Sock to beat Gael Monfils and Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4 in a lighthearted match.
McEnroe showed the deft skill at the net that made him one of the game’s best doubles players ever in a match that included three players young enough to be his children.
“If you know some of the tricks of the trade, I don’t care,” he said. “I’m covering half the court. This is beautiful for me. I’m not saying I could go out and win things, but I’d be comfortable going against anybody right now playing doubles.”
McEnroe hit crisp volleys all match long, bringing back memories of his touring days when he won seven Grand Slam singles titles and 10 major doubles titles from 1977 to 1992.
ABN AMRO WORLD
AP, ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Paul-Henri Mathieu fought back from a set down on Monday to upset fourth seed Feliciano Lopez 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in the opening round of the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament.
Sixth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine also went out in the first round, losing 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-2 to Lukasz Kubot of Poland.
Mathieu, ranked No. 733 in the world after missing the whole of last year with a knee injury, looked sharp in beating Lopez in a match that lasted nearly three hours.
“I worked hard during my injury and I think I am fit,” he said. “This is a good comeback.”
Another Frenchman, fifth seed Richard Gasquet, overcame an injured Flavio Cipolla to win his first-round match 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
After losing the first set, Cipolla easily took the second, but struggled in the decider with a left-thigh injury.
Jesse Huta Halung advanced to the second round at the expense of two-time Rotterdam finalist Ivan Ljubicic. The Dutchman won 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 against the 2005 and 2007 runner-up to secure his first ever win at the tournament.
He next meets the winner of Thiemo de Bakker’s match against seventh-seeded Viktor Troicki.
BRAZIL OPEN
AP, SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
Seventh-seeded Albert Montanes of Spain lost to Filippo Volandri of Italy in the first round of the Brazil Open on Monday.
Volandri needed 65 minutes to defeat the 51st-ranked Montanes in Sao Paulo, converting four of his seven break points to advance to the second round.
Earlier, wild-card Javier Marti of Spain defeated 2009 semi-finalist Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2, 6-4, while Brazil’s Ricardo Mello beat Pere Riba of Spain 6-4, 6-2 in the late match.
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
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,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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