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 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
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