Taiwan’s Jimmy Wang overcame a second-set wobble to advance to the second round of the Claro Open Colombia in Bogota on Wednesday.
World No. 133 Wang served 12 aces, saved three of eight break-point chances against him and converted five of 11 to complete a 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-3 victory over Polish world No. 144 Michal Przysiezny in 2 hours, 10 minutes.
Wang was due to play James Ward on Campo Central in the second round yesterday, after the world No. 152 advanced when seventh seed Matthew Ebden retired with a hand injury with the British qualifier leading 6-4, 3-0.
Photo: EPA
In the second round, Czech fourth seed Radek Stepanek, the 35-year-old winner of five hard-court titles, defeated Argentina’s Guido Pella 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 in 1 hour, 42 minutes to set up a quarter-final against Colombia’s Alejandro Gonzalez, the sixth seed, who swept past Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour, 5 minutes.
Third seed Vasek Pospisil of Canada beat Alex Kuznetsov of the US 7-5, 7-5 to book his place in the quarter-finals. Pospisil next faces Australia’s Bernard Tomic, who knocked out fifth-seeded home hope Alejandro Falla 6-1, 7-6 (7/2). Falla reached the final last year.
In other first-round matches, Canada’s Peter Polansky defeated Colombian qualifier Nicolas Barrientos 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to set up a second-round match against eighth seed Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic.
Burgos advanced after a 7-5, 6-3 win over Argentine qualifier Juan Ignacio Londero.
HAMBURG OPEN
AP, HAMBURG, Germany
Serbian qualifier Filip Krajinovic defeated defending champion Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-0 on Wednesday as a host of seeded players crashed out in the second round of the Hamburg Open.
The 149th-ranked Krajinovic converted five of his 10 break-point chances against the second-seeded Italian and dropped just eight points in the second set to win in only 54 minutes.
Krajinovic next plays Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic, who defeated 15th-seeded Carlos Berlocq of Argentina 6-3, 6-4.
Fifth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia lost 7-5, 7-5 to 17-year-old Alexander Zverev, while another German wild card Tobias Kamke defeated 13th-seeded Argentine Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-4. Delbonis lost to Fognini in last year’s final.
Dustin Brown saved two match points in the third set before beating ninth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (10/8). The popular German faces Pablo Andujar of Spain in the third round.
Andujar earlier defeated Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Leonardo Mayer of Argentina upset 10th-seeded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/3) and is next to play the 55th-ranked Dominic Thiem of Austria.
Lukas Rosol beat 14th-seeded Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-2, 6-4. The Czech is next to face third-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain.
Fourth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine bucked the trend by beating Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 6-1.
Also, 16th-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy beat 2012 champion Juan Monaco of Argentina 1-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7/3).
Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Portugal’s Gastao Elias 7-5, 6-1 in the late match. The German is next to face 2011 champion Gilles Simon. The 12th-seeded Frenchman advanced following Martin Klizan’s retirement before their match due to a left-wrist injury.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
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