Former world No. 1s Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic endured a humbling start to the season after the top two seeds were dumped out of the Auckland Classic in the first round by unheralded opponents yesterday.
Russian teenager Daria Kasatkina, ranked 75th in the world, claimed arguably the biggest win of her career in taking out the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Williams 7-6 (4/7), 3-6, 6-3 in the Australian Open warmup event.
Williams, 35, made more than 70 unforced errors in the scratchy display where she won the title last year to start a standout season that saw her claim the WTA’s Comeback of the Year award after two other tournament wins in China.
Former French Open champion Ivanovic had little answer to the supreme serving of British qualifier Naomi Broady, who racked up 14 aces in a 7-5, 6-4 win.
The 25-year-old from Manchester maintained her first serve percentage at almost 70 as she took out the second seeded Serb to leave the US$250,000 tournament shorn of its headline acts.
Dane Caroline Wozniacki was not at her best on the blue New Zealand hard courts, but avoided making it a hat-trick of first-round exits by former world No. 1s as she beat Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-4 6-4.
SHENZHEN OPEN
AFP, BEIJING
Double Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova went out of the WTA Shenzhen Open in the first round yesterday, retiring hurt in a shock exit for the world No. 6.
The second seed was broken twice as she lost the first set 6-2 against China’s Zheng Saisai — ranked 72 in the world — in 41 minutes, and dropped out before a point was played in the second set.
It was Kvitova’s second consecutive first-round exit in China, after she went out at the first hurdle at the China Open in October — when she played on painkillers while suffering the ongoing effects of glandular fever.
Another unseeded home player also dumped out a higher-ranked player at the US$500,000 tournament, with Britain’s Johanna Konta losing to Wang Qiang.
The fifth seed took the first set against Wang, but eventually went out 6-3, 3-6, 3-6 in 1 hour, 50 minutes.
There were no such problems for the Polish top seed Agnieszka Radwanska, the world No. 5 who won the WTA Finals in Singapore in November last year. She brushed aside Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic 6-4, 6-3, in little more than an hour.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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