Unfancied Frenchman Julien Benneteau sent top seed and defending champion David Ferrer crashing out of the Heineken Open quarter finals in Auckland yesterday.
World No. 5 Ferrer looked uncomfortable as he was overwhelmed 6-4, 6-0 in a surprising reversal after the Spaniard's easy passage through the earlier rounds.
bad day
"Now is a bad day but tomorrow is another day and I have to work and get ready for the Australian Open," Ferrer said afterwards, praising the pressure applied by Benneteau.
The Frenchman, ranked 74 in the world, will meet former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in today's semi-final after the Spaniard beat Chilean qualifier Nicolas Massu 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Argentina's Juan Monaco beat Frenchman Michael Llodra in a two-and-a-half-hour nailbiter, coming back from a set down to win 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5).
His next match will be against German seventh seed Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Kohlschreiber defeated his compatriot Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-4 in their quarter-final.
Benneteau has beaten Ferrer previously but few were picking the 26-year-old to do the same in Auckland.
He has been a big improver in the Auckland tournament, disposing of Spanish sixth seed Nicolas Almagro in three sets in the second round on Wednesday.
"It was a very, very good match for me," he said after beating Ferrer. "I tried a lot of things and it worked nice. It was a special feeling."
credit
Ferrer admitted he had had an off day but gave credit to the Frenchman.
"He's difficult to play because he plays very fast and returns a lot of balls," Ferrer said.
Third seed Monaco is the highest seed to make it through to the semis after coming close to being upset by Llodra, who won the ATP event in Adelaide last week.
The Frenchman, who won in Adelaide last weekend, appeared to be upset by a couple of close line calls later in the match, losing some of his focus.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS