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.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
RSS