Tomas Berdych helped the Czech Republic rally for a 2-1 victory over Japan at the Team World Cup on Monday.
Japan had a taken a 1-0 lead on Sunday, but Berdych beat Go Soeda 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 and Frantisek Cermak and Radek Stepanek then prevailed in the decisive doubles in the Red Group tie, beating Tatsuma Ito and Soeda 6-2, 7-6 (7/4).
In the Blue Group, defending champions Germany completed a 3-0 victory over Russia.
Photo: EPA
Florian Mayer defeated Igor Andreev 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) and joined up with Christopher Kas to overcome Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 3-6 (10/8).
Serbia also won, with Janko Tipsarevic dismissing Lovro Zovko 6-0, 6-0 for a 2-0 lead over Croatia.
STRASBOURG
AP, STRASBOURG, FRANCE
Tamira Paszek overcame a second-set blip to beat Alberta Brianti of Italy 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 in the first round of the Strasbourg International on Monday.
The eighth-seeded Austrian constantly pressured Brianti’s serve, but could only convert four of her 15 breakpoint chances and dropped her own serve five times.
French pair Pauline Parmentier and Stephanie Foretz Gacon advanced in straight sets and next play each other.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei rallied to beat Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-1.
Parmentier beat Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-4, 6-4, while Foretz Gacon downed Britain’s Elena Baltacha 6-4, 6-0.
OPEN DE NICE
AP, NICE, FRANCE
Heavy rain washed out all play at the Open de Nice clay-court tournament on Monday.
On Sunday, only one match was started and it was later stopped in the second set with Belgium’s Xavier Malisse leading 7-5, 1-0 against Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun.
FRENCH OPEN
AP, PARIS
Tenth-ranked Mardy Fish and women’s No. 16 Andrea Petkovic pulled out of the French Open on Monday.
Fish has not played a match for more than a month and organizers said the big-serving American has fatigue, while Petkovic of Germany has a right-ankle injury.
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
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
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