Second-seeded Roberta Vinci reached the Italiacom Open quarter-finals following a 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) victory over 2011 runner-up Polona Hercog of Slovenia on Thursday.
Vinci was broken four times in the second set by Hercog.
The Italian next faces fifth-seeded Spaniard Lourdes Dominguez Lino, who beat Nastassja Burnett of Italy 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Third-seeded Kristina Mladenovic was eliminated after a second-round upset by Estrella Cabeza Candela of Spain. The 20-year-old Frenchwoman lost 3-6, 6-2, 6-7 (6/8). Candela faces Renata Voracova in the quarter-finals.
Fourth-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic was safely through after beating Karin Knapp of Italy 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in a match that lasted two hours, 40 minutes. Zakopalova will play Dinah Pfizenmaier of Germany.
HUNGARIAN GP
AP, BUDAPEST
Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa reached her third quarter-final of the year when she defeated Petra Martic of Croatia 7-5, 6-4 at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Thursday.
Scheepers’ next opponent will be Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, who beat Valeria Solovyeva of Russia 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
Shahar Peer of Israel knocked out eighth-seeded Anna Tatishvili of Georgia 6-1, 6-1, leaving just three seeded players in the last eight. Peer will face Romania’s Alexandra Cadantu.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Chris Wood has fired Nottingham Forest into surprise UEFA Champions League contention and now the striker wants to score the goals to help New Zealand make history at the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand are strong favorites to qualify out of the Oceania region over the next week and reach the World Cup for only the third time. At the country’s two previous appearances at the finals, in 1982 and 2010, they have failed to win a match in six attempts. With Wood captaining the side and leading from the front, he told local media yesterday that the current squad can finally deliver
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and