Fourth-seeded Radek Stepanek won his second ATP title this year, rallying to beat fifth-seeded American Mardy Fish 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the SAP Open on Sunday.
Afterward as he celebrated, Stepanek donned a San Jose Sharks jersey and paraded around the court. He dropped to the ground briefly for a mini-version of the worm dance he has become known for, then jumped to his feet and held his arms in the air as the crowd applauded.
A day after rallying from a set down to beat last year’s champion, Andy Roddick, in the semi-finals, Stepanek was forced to do the same against Fish while becoming the first Czech player to win the San Jose event since Ivan Lendl in 1983.
Stepanek got some help from his 27-year-old opponent. Fish lost 10 straight points during one stretch in the third set, nine by unforced error.
The turning point of the match came in the second set when Stepanek held serve to go up 5-4 then broke Fish to even the match and force a third set. Prior to that Fish had been broken just once in 45 service games.
■OPEN GDF SUEZ
AFP, PARIS
France’s Amelie Mauresmo capped her stunning resurgence in form this week with a 7-6 (9/7), 2-6, 6-4 victory over Russian third seed Elena Dementieva in the final of the WTA Paris Open on Sunday.
It was the former No. 1’s first tournament win since Antwerp, Belgium, in February 2007 and her third victory over a top 10 player in a week after she defeated Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarter-finals and Jelena Jankovic in the last four.
Dementieva slumped to just her second defeat this year, having won tournaments in Auckland and Sydney before losing to eventual champion Serena Williams in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
Mauresmo has slipped to No. 24 in the world after a succession of injury problems but looked back to her best as she captured her third Paris Open title.
■DUBAI CHAMPIONSHIPS
AP, DUBAI
Alisa Kleybanova rallied to beat Anna Lapushchenkova 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in an all-Russian match on Sunday in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Kleybanova, who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, will next face former top-ranked player Ana Ivanovic, who had a bye in the first round.
Ivanovic has slipped to No. 8 in the WTA rankings, but she recently started training with a new coach — Craig Kardon.
Seeded players Zheng Jie and Kaia Kanepi also advanced to the second round. The 13th-seeded Zheng defeated Anastasia Rodionova of Russia 6-1, 6-1, and the 16th-seeded Kanepi beat Tamira Paszek of Austria 2-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia beat Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-2, 6-4 and Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria defeated Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine 6-2, 6-3.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
FINAL WEEK LOOMS: PSG rose to 22nd place to set up another tense challenge against 24th-placed Stuttgart, while Man City require victory against Club Brugge Manchester City are on the brink of a humiliating UEFA Champions League exit after a stunning loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, while Real Madrid is no longer at risk after routing Salzburg. Man City blew a two-goal lead in a high-stakes clash of super-wealthy underachievers that PSG won 4-2 in Paris, who could still be eliminated alongside the English champions after the final round of games next week. Only the top 24 in the 36-team standings are to advance. Man City, the 2023 champions, are in 25th place, but could squeeze into the knockout playoffs round by beating Club Brugge. “We will
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one
RSS