Frenchman Richard Gasquet became the first high-profile casualty at the Shanghai Masters yesterday, losing his first-round encounter to Vasek Pospisil as the organizers scrambled to keep the storm-hit tournament on track.
The tame 6-3, 6-4 defeat for the ninth seed deals a heavy blow to his hopes of reaching next month’s ATP World Tour Finals in London, which feature the season’s top eight players. Gasquet is currently ninth in the Race to London.
Canada’s Pospisil, ranked 43rd in the world, broke Gasquet in the fourth game of the first set and again at the start of the second in a match lasting 69 minutes, with the Frenchman unable to earn a single break point.
Photo: Reuters
Persistent rain — the lingering effects of Typhoon Fitow — forced the matches onto indoor courts at the Qizhong Tennis Center, with tournament chiefs attempting to make up for lost time the previous day. The wet weather meant a number of changes to the schedule throughout the day, with doubles matches postponed in an effort to complete all the first-round singles matches before the likes of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal make their entrance.
Veteran Lleyton Hewitt lost 6-4, 6-2 to Andreas Seppi, missing the chance of a second-round match against old rival Roger Federer.
Hewitt, 32, who has slipped out of the world’s top 50, started strongly, breaking at the first opportunity and taking a 3-0 lead, but Seppi withstood the charge, winning five games in a row to seize the initiative.
The Australian wild-card showed only occasional glimpses of his fighting ability as world No. 22 Seppi cut down on his error count and broke Hewitt twice at the start of the second set.
“He played a lot better,” Hewitt said. “He hardly missed a ball after the first three games. I had chances to go up four-love. From then on, he played really well. He served better than I’ve seen him serve before.”
“I served in patches. Probably when I was down break points and stuff, I didn’t get enough first serves in,” Hewitt added. “He’s such a tough player to play when the ball is on his terms.”
There were also wins yesterday for Spainish trio Feliciano Lopez, Tommy Robredo and Nicolas Almagro, Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber and Daniel Brands, South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, Italy’s Fabio Fognini and France’s Benoit Paire.
Additional reporting by staff writer
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
RSS