Top-seeded Elena Dementieva was defeated 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 (4) by Virginie Razzano at the Eastbourne International on Wednesday, joining the long list of ousted seeds.
The Russian claimed just 29 percent of the points in the first set, and although she recovered to win a ragged second set in windy conditions, her French opponent clinched the upset in a tiebreaker.
After two rounds, only two seeds remain in the women’s draw and three in the men’s draw.
Former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo was beaten 7-6 (8), 7-6 (13) by Ekaterina Makarova of Russia after she built commanding leads in each set. After the match she was at a loss to understand why.
“It’s a cruel match to lose,” Mauresmo said. “This one was not for me, I guess. I had opportunities and was not able to take them, not able to do the right shot at the right time.”
Nadia Petrova smashed her racket in frustration as she was forced to retire against fellow Russian Vera Dushevina with a back injury.
The seventh seed had won the first set 7-5, but lost the opening game of the second set before quitting.
Li Na of China also quit with an abdominal strain while trailing 3-1 against defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
On the men’s side, second-seeded Dmitry Tursunov came within two points of defeat against British qualifier Alex Bogdanovic, before edging the 2 hour, 33-minute match 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (5). Sixth-seeded American Sam Querrey failed to advance when he was beaten 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 by Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
■ORDINA OPEN
AP, DEN BOSCH, NETHERLANDS
Defending champion David Ferrer reached the quarter-finals at the Ordina Open Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-3 win over compatriot Oscar Hernandez.
Ferrer’s next opponent at the grass court tournament is fellow Spaniard Ivan Navarro, who upset last year’s losing finalist Marc Gicquel.
German qualifier Benjamin Becker, who ousted top-seeded Fernando Verdasco on Tuesday, will play 2004 champion Michael Llodra in the last eight.
Fourth-seeded Rainer Schuettler of Germany advanced to the quarter-finals by beating Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 6-3, 7-6 (3). Schuettler next plays seventh-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France.
In the women’s draw, sixth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia advanced to the quarter-final after beating Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
In an unfortunate day for the Bondarenko sisters, Alona Bondarenko crashed out after losing 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to fifth-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy. Schiavone next meets Olga Govortsova of Belarus, who defeated Nathalie Dechy of France 6-1, 6-3.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later