SWEDISH OPEN
Benoit Paire advances
Benoit Paire of France advanced to the second round of the Swedish Open with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 victory over Markus Eriksson on Monday. Paire’s next faces top-seeded David Goffin of Belgium. In Monday’s other first-round match, wildcard entrant Christian Lindell of Sweden beat Joao Souza of Brazil 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. The 23-year-old Lindell was next to meet either fellow Swede Elias Ymer or sixth-seeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil.
CROATIA OPEN
Fognini eliminates Vesely
Fifth-seeded Fabio Fognini beat Jiry Vesely 6-4, 6-4 on Monday to reach the second round of the Croatia Open. Fognini, a finalist in 2013, broke at the start of both sets and played aggressively on his Czech opponent’s second serve, winning 67 percent, or 18 out of 27 points. The Italian improved his record at the event to 14-7, despite heavy conditions on a hot and humid day. Aljaz Bedne of Britain also advanced after defeating Mate Delic of Croatia 6-4, 6-3. Delic delivered only 39 percent of his first serves in the opening set and his problems with serve continued in the second as Bedene broke for a 3-1 lead before sealing victory.
CLARO OPEN
Sugita stages comeback
Yuichi Sugita of Japan came back to defeat Colombia’s Nicolas Barrientos 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Claro Open on Monday. Sugita next faces fourth-seeded Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic in the round of 16 of the ATP 250 hard-court tournament. In another first-round match, Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin was leading wild-card Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-3, 2-3 when officials suspended play because of rain. Top-seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia is to debut later in the week. Bernard Tomic of Australia is the second seed in Colombia.
GASTEIN LADIES
Friedsam injures ankle
German Anna-Lena Friedsam was carried off the court on a stretcher after spraining her ankle while leading Klara Koukalova of Czech Republic 6-1, 4-0 in the first round of the Gastein Ladies on Monday. Tournament organizers had no immediate update on Friedsam’s injury. The 21-year-old German reached a career-high 73rd on this week’s WTA rankings. Koukalova, who double-faulted nine times and failed to hold serve during the match, next faces second-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia or Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia. In the only other first-round match completed, Danka Kovinic of Montenegro defeated eighth-seeded Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4. No. 4 Carina Witthoeft of Germany was leading Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 5-5 when play was suspended because of rain. Organizers rescheduled the remaining matches for yesterday.
ISTANBUL CUP
Seeded players beaten
Second-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine was beaten 6-1, 6-3 by Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia in the first round of the Istanbul Cup on Monday. Rybarikova took advantage of a far more effective service game, winning 70 percent of her first serves, compared with 41 percent for Svitolina. Svitolina was not the only seeded player to make an early exit. Sixth-seeded Daria Gavrilova was also beaten, as was No. 7 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine beat Gavrilova 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 6-3, while Roberta Vinci of Italy defeated Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-1. Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia also advanced to the second round, rallying to beat Yaroslava Shvedova 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
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