Tue, Aug 25, 2015 page18

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  TENNIS

  Cibulkova beats Pironkova

  Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova overcame the heat and a three-hour match with Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova on Sunday in the first round of the Connecticut Open. The 26-year-old Cibulkova won 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (7/5), 6-3 as she continues her comeback from left Achilles surgery that sidelined her for more than four months this year. “The sun wasn’t so strong, but it was really, really humid,” Cibulkova said. “I was sweating a lot, and in the end I was cramping a lot. I could feel it in my body I was getting really tired, but I knew I had to stay strong. I said to myself: ‘OK, I’m here for three hours now, I’m not going to give it up.’” The tournament lost its top seed when Simona Halep withdrew because of a left thigh injury after losing to Serena Williams in the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati earlier in the day. Halep was replaced in the draw by lucky loser Lesia Tsurenko. In women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Chuang Chia-jung and China’s Liang Chen defeated Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena and Slovakia’s Andreja Klepac 6-3, 6-2 in their first-round match. In other matches at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center, Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu beat Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 and the Czech Republic’s Barbora Strycova topped Italy’s Camila Giorgi 6-2, 7-5.

  TENNIS

  Groth defeats Donaldson

  Australia’s Sam Groth beat the US’ Jared Donaldson on Sunday night in the first round of the Winston-Salem Open. Groth won 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/5) to advance to face 13th-seeded Steve Johnson of the US in the second round. South Korea’s Chung Hyeon also advanced, beating Britain’s James Ward 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-3. Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun beat Robin Haase of the Netherlands 7-6 (7/4), 6-2; Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman topped Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-4, 7-6 (10/8); and Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo advanced when Belgium’s Steve Darcis retired.

  CYCLING

  Greipel wins Cyclassics

  German sprinter Andre Greipel, who won four stages on this year’s Tour de France, survived a fall after just 10km to win the Vattenfall Cyclassics race in Hamburg, Germany, on Sunday. The 33-year-old Lotto Soudal rider, who was born in Rostock, northern Germany, relished his first victory in Hamburg to win in 4 hours, 57.05 minutes, ahead of Norway’s Alexander Kristoff and Italy’s Giacomo Nizzolo in a blanket finish. A crash ended the hopes of Britain’s Mark Cavendish, who had been amongst the prerace favorites.

  FORMULA ONE

  Pirelli shifts blowout blame

  Sebastian Vettel’s explosive Belgian Grand Prix blowout would not have happened if tire manufacturer Pirelli had been listened to two years ago, the Italian company said in a statement on Sunday. Pirelli said they had asked in 2013, after a spate of blowouts at the British Grand Prix forced a change in construction, for a maximum to be set for the number of laps that could be run with the same tires. “This request was not accepted. The proposal put forward a maximum distance equivalent to 50 percent of the grand prix distance for the prime tire and 30 percent for the option. These conditions, if applied today at Spa, would have limited the maximum number of laps on the medium compound to 22,” Pirelli said. Ferrari’s Vettel, who was running in third place, had completed 27 laps on the medium tire and was on a one-stop strategy when his car’s right rear blew on the penultimate lap of the race.
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