Two-time defending champ Fabrice Santoro of France won his rain-delayed opening-round match by beating Flavio Cipolla of Italy 6-3, 7-5 at the Hall of Fame Championships on Thursday.
Santoro, 36, the oldest singles player on the ATP Tour, had his match postponed by heavy rain on Tuesday and halted in the first set on Wednesday.
In other opening-round matches, seventh-seeded American Kevin Kim advanced when France’s Sebastien Grosjean retired after the second set with a shoulder injury; lucky loser Rajeev Ram of the US ousted Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-4, 7-5; eighth-seeded Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine beat Frank Dancevic of Canada 7-6 (9), 2-6, 7-5; Austria’s Samuel Groth edged Brazil’s Ricardo Mello 7-5, 3-6, 6-3; and Belgium’s Olivier Rochus defeated Austria’s Alexander Peya 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
After two days of heavy late-afternoon rain, the singles matches didn’t get under way until late in the afternoon to allow the soggy courts to improve.
■BUDAPEST GRAND PRIX
AP, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Top-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland eased into the Budapest Grand Prix quarter-finals by defeating Maria Elena Camerin 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday.
Schnyder, a wild-card entry, broke Camerin at 4-3 in the first set, and rolled through the second in a bid for a 12th career title.
Her opponent in the quarter-finals will be fifth-seeded Alisa Kleybanova of Russia, who overcame Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Fourth-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary defeated Tathiana Garbin of Italy 7-6 (2), 5-7, 7-5. Garbin took a 4-0 lead in the first set but Szavay cut down on her mistakes and fought back to a 6-5 lead, winning the set in a tiebreak.
■SWEDISH OPEN
AP, BASTAD, SWEDEN
Unseeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina saved match points for the second straight day in eliminating second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (6) in the Swedish Open quarter-finals on Thursday.
Dulko saved two match points at 6-4 down in the tiebreaker, rallying to win it 8-6 after 3 hours, 19 minutes.
Seeking her fourth career title, Dulko will face Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the semi-finals after the Spaniard beat countrywoman and seventh-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki edged Maria Kirilenko of Russia 7-5, 7-6 (4). Wozniacki advanced to play third-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy yesterday for a berth in the final.
Pennetta beat Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 6-4, 6-2.
Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen yesterday exited at the BWF World Tour Finals in China, losing in the semi-finals to China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi. Shi, who was named the BWF Men’s Singles Player of the Year, had a 9-4 record against Chou going into the match. He extended that record to 9-5 with a 21-14, 21-18 victory. Chou advanced to the men’s singles semi-finals on Friday by upsetting top-seeded Anders Antonsen of Denmark in a must-win match at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. The 16-21, 21-18, 21-15 victory saw Chou secure his second semi-finals appearance at the tournament, despite his relatively older
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India’s chess star Gukesh Dommaraju returned to a hero’s welcome in his home city yesterday after becoming the youngest world champion aged only 18. Hundreds of fans crowded the arrivals area of Chennai International Airport, cheering alongside banks of television cameras as Gukesh made his way out of the airport after victory in taking the World Chess Championship title. “It means a lot to bring back the trophy to India,” Gukesh told reporters, with garlands of flowers draped around his neck, brandishing the glittering trophy in his hand. “I can see the support and what it means to India, I
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
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