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.
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
RSS