In-form Australian Nick Kyrgios moved closer to a second consecutive final at the Estoril Open after dominating Borna Coric 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals on Friday. World No. 20 Kyrgios, a losing finalist a year ago to Richard Gasquet, was yesterday to face Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, who beat Argentine seventh seed Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).
Kyrgios, who turned 21 years old this week, and 19-year-old Croatian Coric are two of the most promising stars on the ATP, but had never previously played each other.
The Australian broke early in both sets to establish himself and keep the momentum firmly on his side of the clay court. He sent over an ace for two match points, with both saved by Coric, before Kyrgios finished the win on his third chance in 1 hour, 9 minutes. Coric was stopped at the Estoril quarter-final stage for a second straight edition. Kyrgios fired 10 aces to Coric’s seven and never faced a break point.
Photo: AFP
At the top of the draw, Pablo Carreno Busta prevented an all-French semi-final as he put out top seed Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-4. The upset sent eighth seed Carreno Busta into a matchup with French third seed Benoit Paire, a winner over Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2.
Carreno Busta is one victory away from a second career ATP final after losing in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Pablo Cuevas in February. Simon’s return to the seaside venue outside of Lisbon for the first time since 2011 ended in disappointment, as the world No. 18 was ambushed by his 50th-ranked opponent, managing only two aces and losing serve twice.
“It is the first time I have played him and he had a really good match,” Simon said. “He was very consistent. The match was close, but always on his side. He played the right shot at the right moment, he was the better player today.”
Paire, whose patchy game can come and go, found it tough to adjust to the faster conditions in the heat of the day after playing night matches previously, but was pleased to get past Garcia-Lopez without too much trouble.
“It was a little tough in the beginning, not great for the confidence, but I began feeling better and better as the match went on. He was a tough opponent, I am glad I won in straight sets. When I was down, I told myself just to keep going. I am happy to win today,” said Paire, whose physical niggles include losing a tooth this week.
MUNICH OPEN
AFP, MUNICH, Germany
Fast-rising German teenager Alexander Zverev enhanced his reputation on Friday when he knocked top seed David Goffin out of the Munich Open with an impressive 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win.
Zverev, 19, currently ranked a career-best 49th in the world, secured victory in the quarter-finals in 2 hours, 22 minutes to move into his fourth career semi-final.
Zverev next faces Austrian third seed Dominic Thiem, who made the semi-finals of the clay-court event with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win against Ivan Dodig of Croatia.
The 22-year-old Thiem, ranked 15th in the world, is now tied with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic for most tour-level wins this season (28-7).
“I am really looking forward to facing Thiem,” Zverev said. “We spend a lot of time off the court together. It will be the first of many matches for us.”
German Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Argentina’s former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro for the first time in seven attempts with a 6-4, 6-1 win.
The fourth seed next faces Italian fifth seed Fabio Fognini, who ended the run of Slovakian lucky loser Jozef Kovalik 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.
ISTANBUL OPEN
AP, ISTANBUL, Turkey
Second-seeded Grigor Dimitrov rebounded from a slow start on Friday to defeat sixth-seeded Jiri Vesely 7-6 (7/1), 6-1 and advance to the semi-finals of the Istanbul Open.
Dimitrov trailed 5-2 in the first set before recovering, saving a set point at 4-5 on the way. He faces third-seeded Ivo Karlovic, who fired 20 aces to overcome fifth seed Marcel Granollers 7-6 (7/2), 6-7 (5/7), 6-4.
“With each match, I am building up a good foundation to play better,” Dimitrov said.
Fourth-seeded Federico Delbonis is also is the final four after beating eighth-seeded Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (7/6), 6-4 to set up a match against fellow Argentine Diego Schwartzman.
After knocking out top-seeded Bernard Tomic, the unseeded Schwartzman beat Damir Dzumhur 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 to reach the semi-finals for a second successive year.
Two people died on Thursday after fans and police clashed outside the Estadio Monumental in Santiago ahead of a game in South America’s Copa Libertadores, Chilean authorities said. The fatalities happened shortly before the match between Chile’s Colo-Colo and Brazilian club Fortaleza, when police blocked about 100 fans when they attempted to enter the stadium. There were conflicting accounts of how the fatalities occurred, with local media reporting that one of the dead was a 13-year-old boy. The other victim was an 18-year-old woman, according to a relative at the hospital where she was treated. The fans died after being caught underneath a
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Japan yesterday secured a second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup finals appearance with a 2-1 win over 2023 champions Canada, thanks to Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama’s 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Kayla Cross and Rebecca Marino in the qualifying doubles decider. Shibahara and Aoyama powered through the opening set 6-3, breaking twice for a quick 3-0 lead. Cross and Marino hit back in the second, edging it 7-5 to level the match, before the Japanese pair regained control in the third. Canada’s 18-year-old Victoria Mboko edged Shibahara 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5 in a marathon opening clash. Mboko fired eight aces to
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