Russia’s Igor Andreev cruised comfortably into the second round of the US$2.4 million ATP and WTA Kremlin Cup on Monday, beating Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun (盧彥勳).
The 25-year-old second seed won the opening set 6-2 in his first ever meeting with Lu, but his opponent retired at that point with a right ankle injury.
The 35-year-old veteran Fabrice Santoro of France, 65th in the ATP rankings, had to battle from a set down to beat Yury Schukin of Kazakhstan, who is 187th in the world, 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 to get his second-round berth.
PHOTO: AFP
Another Frenchman, Jeremy Chardy, battled into the second round past Italy’s Potito Starace also performing a comeback to gain a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win in the two men’s first ever meeting in one hour, 44 minutes.
Meanwhile, Nicolas Devilder of France crashed out of the tournament, suffering an opening-round 6-2, 6-4 defeat at the hands of Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in one hour, 24 minutes.
In the WTA section of the event, veteran Amelie Mauresmo of France, 25th in the world, battled back from a set down to see off her compatriot Alize Cornet 6-7 (3/7) 6-3, 6-4 for a third win in as many meetings.
The Frenchwomen decided the opening set in a tiebreak after both kept their serves through.
Cornet was more precise to win 7-3 for a one-set lead after 63 minutes.
In the second, Cornet, who is 19th in the WTA rankings, broke in the fifth game but Mauresmo moved up a gear and broke back twice to level at one set all after one hour, 39 minutes on court.
In the deciding set, the 25-year-old Geneva resident Mauresmo produced two more breaks to take the set and the match in two hours 39 minutes, while her 18-year-old opponent managed to reply with a break only once.
“It’s always difficult and not very comfortable to play another French woman,” Mauresmo said. “Yes, it was tight, but we showed some good things, sometimes a little bit ups and downs, but overall a pretty good match.”
In the second round Mauresmo will face second-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia.
“Dinara obviously has a strong seat,” Mauresmo said. “I will be definitely the underdog there for the next match.”
In Monday’s other matches, Russia’s Vera Dushevina defeated Nicole Vaidisova of Czech Republic 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, while Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova beat Marion Bartoli of France 6-1, 4-1 retired.
US Open champion Serena Williams, last year’s runner-up in Moscow, pulled out because of an ankle injury.
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AFP, VIENNA
Former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero upset fourth-seeded Croat Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) on Monday to advance to the second round of the Austrian Open.
Although Karlovic added a further 17 aces to the 848 he had already fired this season, the rest of his game could not match the standard shown by his Spanish opponent. Ferrero also served so well that Karlovic failed to make many of his returns, he struck some fine groundstrokes, and hit several winners off of the intimidating Karlovic serve.
A break for 2-1 when Ferrero hit an impressive forehand winner down the line while on the run was enough to decide the opening set, although the Spaniard had to fight off a break point to hold for 4-2 and another as he served for the set.
After Karlovic survived two break points to hold for 1-0 in the second set games went with serve until the tiebreak, won with a mini-break on the first point.
Fifth seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco overcame Romanian qualifier Victor Crivoi 6-4, 6-4, and he will next play Guillermo Canas of Argentina, who earned a welcome 7-6 (7/2) 6-3 victory over Italy’s Andreas Seppi.
Czech qualifier Jan Hernych edged past Roko Karanusic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) to set up a second round clash with top seed Stanislas Wawrinka, and there were also victories for Spaniards Carlos Moya and Feliciano Lopez.
Moya defeated Germany’s Michael Berrer 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (8/6), and Lopez overcame Agustin Calleri of Argentina 7-6 (7/2) 7-6 (7/4).
Top seed Wawrinka, second seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile and Argentine third seed Juan Martin Del Potro this week all have the chance to move into the eighth spot in the Race for the Tennis Masters Cup.
The top eight players will compete in the season-ending event in Shanghai, which takes place between Nov. 9 and Nov. 16.
Less than 100 points separate current Race No. 8 James Blake and 22nd-placed Radek Stepanek. Blake surrendered his opportunity to solidify his position by withdrawing from Vienna for personal reasons.
Del Potro, runner-up in Tokyo on Sunday to Tomas Berdych, can overtake Blake by reaching the quarter-finals in Vienna, and move past No. 7 David Ferrer if he wins the title.
If Wawrinka, currently No. 10 in the Race, wins the title he would move above Blake and Del Potro, if Del Potro fails to reach the final.
A title for Gonzalez would move him up from 11 to eight in the race.
“I need one or two more results and I”m working to earn this,” said Del Potro, who after being ranked 75 in April entered the world”s top 10 this week. “I hope to continue this good form and qualify for Shanghai.”
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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