Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman eliminated defending champion Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) on Tuesday at the US$1.76 million Citi Open.
World No. 129 Devvarman, a two-time US college champion ranked 104 spots below Ukrainian ninth seed Dolgopolov, advanced to the round-of-16, where he could face US eighth seed John Isner today.
“I’m very happy. That guy is a tough player, no question,” Devvarman said. “I played really well. In the beginning, he gave me a couple errors to break him. He fought back in the second set. I was serving well. It kept me in the match. I gave myself looks on his serve. It was just confidence.”
Phtoto: AFP
Devvarman, who went to India after Wimbledon to work with a Chennai-based charity called “Life is a Ball,” feels on top of his game.
“I’m pretty sharp,” he said. “Physically, for sure.”
Ryan Harrison of the US ousted Australian former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 7-5 to book a second-round match against Argentine top seed Juan Martin del Potro, a two-time Washington winner and the 2009 US Open champion.
Photo: AFP
If Del Potro wins, he would face 20-year-old Australian Bernard Tomic in the round-of-16. Tomic advanced with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Belgium’s David Goffin, avenging a first-round loss last year at Wimbledon.
“I played not so bad,” Tomic said. “Very tough conditions. Very difficult to play 100 percent on these courts, because it’s so hot and so humid.”
Two other Aussies won as well, with wild-card James Duckworth downing Japanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita 6-2, 6-2 and Marinko Matosevic ousting 15th seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-4, 7-5.
Another Australian qualifier, Samuel Groth, blasted 10 aces, but lost as Canadian fourth seed Milos Raonic hit nine of his own in a 7-5, 6-4 triumph.
Japanese second seed Kei Nishikori, a career-best 11th in the rankings, was to open with a second-round match yesterday against US wild-card Jack Sock, who beat Dutchman Igor Sijsling 6-4, 6-2.
“I’m going to just go out and play my game,” Sock said.
Nishikori, who has never played or practiced with Sock, is rated a title threat by Del Potro.
“He is another big favorite to win the tournament,” Del Potro said of Nishikori after a practice session with him. “He is playing really well.”
US sixth seed Sam Querrey saved four match points to outlast Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (11/9). He gets Bulgarian 11th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the third round.
“It was stressful, but I’m glad to get through,” Querrey said.
In the women’s singles, top seed Angelique Kerber of Germany connected on only 39 percent of her first serves, but still dominated US qualifier Irina Falconi 6-2, 6-3 to book a second-round date with Melanie Oudin of the US.
“It was difficult after such a long time without matches,” said Kerber, who included a five-day Mallorca trip in her post-Wimbledon break.
Britain’s Heather Watson rallied past US qualifier Alexandra Mueller 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-3 and will play for a quarter-final berth against French fourth seed Alize Cornet.
“It was a tough match,” Watson said. “I’m just glad I’m alive for another day.”
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
RSS