Local “wildcards” Rik de Voest and Raven Klaasen upset Spanish opponents on Monday as the SA Tennis Open returned to the ATP scene after a 14-year absence.
De Voest always had the edge over sixth seed Ivan Navarro en route to a 6-3, 6-4 win, while Klaasen overcame early nerves to oust Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-3, 7-5 at the Tuscan-style Montecasino entertainment center.
The tournament began with Leonardo Mayer outplaying Sergio Roitman 6-2, 6-4 in an all-Argentina duel, and German Simon Gruel was another straight-set winner, eliminating Romanian Victor Crivoi 6-2, 6-4 on the second court.
Warm, overcast weather greeted competitors at a venue transformed from a car park to four courts within a few months, and South Africans did not have to wait long for something to celebrate.
Milan-born De Voest is ranked 162 in the world — 89 places below Navarro — but the few hundred spectators at the first of two sessions never would have believed that fact as the aggressive South African dominated.
Success was especially sweet for De Voest, watched by his Canadian wife and parents, as he lost to his Spanish rival after a close two-setter in Rhode Island last year.
De Voest broke serve in the second game to set up his first-set win and recovered from losing three consecutive games when 5-1 up in the second to secure victory with an ace.
A place in the draw marked the biggest break in the career of 350-ranked Klaasen and after holding his serve in a lengthy opening match, he triumphed by breaking Hidalgo in the eighth game of the first set and 11th of the second.
Next up for Klaasen will be popular Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who overcame South African qualifier Andrew Anderson 6-4, 6-2 without ever showing the form that propelled him to the 2006 Australian Open final.
There was some consolation for Spain in the night session when fourth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez cruised to a 6-4, 6-3 win over German Bjorn Phau and the opening day finished with the six ties settled in straight sets.
The Argentinian clash was a lackluster affair with Mayer, at 21 the young challenger for the US$79,000 first prize, always sharper than error-prone Roitman.
Lack of funds forced South Africa to surrender its place on the ATP circuit after German Martin Sinner defeated Frenchman Guillaume Raoux in the 1995 South African Open.
■ ZAGREB INDOORS
AP, ZAGREB
Second-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia advanced to the second round of the ATP PBZ Zagreb Indoors tournament on Monday, ousting Arnaud Clement of France 6-4, 6-3.
Cilic held serve throughout the match and saved three break points at 1-2 in the second set before coasting to victory.
Ivan Ljubicic, also of Croatia, crushed Christophe Rochus of Belgium 6-4, 6-1 in just 57 minutes.
The victory extended Ljubicic’s strong form in Zagreb where he won the inaugural tournament in 2006 and was the finalist in 2007 and 2008.
Ljubicic broke Rochus early and the Belgian briefly recovered to come back to 4-5 in the first set, but managed to win only one more game in the match.
Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia beat countryman Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-4 to advance. Youzhny failed to convert any of his seven break points before bowing out.
Another of the nine Croatians in the tournament Antonio Veic, the 20-year-old who is ranked No. 255 in the world, upset veteran Guillermo Canas of Argentina 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Canas received medical attention for arm injury during the match.
■ MOVISTAR OPEN
AP, VINA DEL MAR, CHILE
Daniel Gimeno-Traver advanced to second round of the Movistar Open on Monday when Spanish opponent Alberto Martin retired with cramps while heading into a third-set tiebreaker with the score tied at 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-6.
Potito Starace also advanced, beating Marcos Daniel of Brazil 6-4, 6-4, and Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina defeated Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-0, 3-6, 6-1.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
RSS