Defending women’s champion Petra Kvitova has withdrawn from the Apia International Sydney, marking the second consecutive week that the two-time Wimbledon winner has pulled out of tournaments due to a lingering stomach virus.
Kvitova retired during the first round of the Shenzhen Gemdale Open in China last week. She was scheduled to play her first match in Sydney against of Sabine Lisicki of Germany today.
“I’m really disappointed to have to withdraw ... but unfortunately I am still not feeling well,” Kvitova said in a statement yesterday.
Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska are the top-seeded women at Sydney.
In first-round WTA matches yesterday, former French and US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Australian Tammi Patterson 6-2, 6-0 and Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria defeated Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine 7-6 (8/6), 6-2.
Ana Ivanovic, who received a wild card, was defeated 6-4, 6-2 in her first-round match against fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova.
In women’s doubles action, Taiwanese sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan outlasted Raquel Atawo of the US and Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany to secure a 7-5, 4-6, 10-7 victory.
At the Hobart International, another of the Australian Open warm-up tournaments, seventh-seeded Alize Cornet of France beat Denisa Allertova of Czech Republic 6-4, 7-5 and Russia’s Margarita Gasparyan defeated 17-year-old Maddison Inglis of Australia 6-4, 6-3.
Sloane Stephens, who won the ASB Classic in Auckland on Saturday, was a late withdrawal from Hobart due to a virus.
Former No. 5 Eugenie Bouchard, who is entered at Hobart, said she has “zero expectations” to perform at the Australian Open as she makes her comeback from a concussion she sustained at the US Open when she slipped and fell in the dressing room.
The Canadian made the quarter-finals at last week’s Shenzhen Open after a four-month layoff.
“A month or two ago I wasn’t even sure I could play the Australian Open, so I’m just so happy to be in Australia, looking forward to playing these two tournaments [with] zero expectations,” 21-year-old Bouchard said yesterday.
She was pleased with her play in China, despite losing in the final eight to Hungarian Timea Babos.
“To step on the court and play a full match with no pain, play three matches three days in a row, was a success for me, even though I lost the last match,” she said.
Bouchard is to play US veteran Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first round in Hobart, likely today.
Last week, the world’s four top-ranked women retired or withdrew from tournaments due to injuries on the left side of their bodies — No. 1 Serena Williams (knee), second-ranked Halep (Achilles), No. 3 Garbine Muguruza (foot) and fourth-ranked Maria Sharapova (forearm).
Radwanska is ranked fifth and Kvitova sixth.
The Australian Open begins on Monday next week in Melbourne.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
RSS