Second seed Robin Soderling beat fellow Swede Andreas Vinciguerra 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) on Saturday to set up a meeting with Juan Monaco in the Swedish Open final.
Monaco, an unseeded Argentine, routed two-time defending champion Tommy Robredo 6-0, 6-2 in the other semi-final on the slow clay.
Soderling, this year’s surprise French Open finalist, saved a set point in the second-set tiebreaker when trailing 6-5. He won it 8-6 when Vinciguerra netted a forehand return.
PHOTO: EPA
Vinciguerra, a wild card entry ranked No. 460, broke Soderling’s serve only once to level at 3-3 in the second set.
Soderling is trying to become the first Swedish winner of the tournament since 2000, when his coach Magnus Norman won the title.
Monaco broke the third-seeded Robredo three times in the opening set and raced to a quick 5-1 lead in the second after securing two more breaks of the Spaniard’s serve.
With the win, the 61st-ranked Monaco avenged his final loss to Robredo at the Copa Telmex, an ATP tournament in Buenos Aires last February.
Monaco is the first Argentine to reach the Swedish Open final since Mariano Zabaleta, who won back-to back titles in 2003 and 2004.
Robredo, playing in Bastad for the ninth straight year, has a 23-7 record in the tournament.
■PALERMO OPEN
AP, PALERMO, ITALY
Defending champion Sara Errani will meet top-seeded Flavia Pennetta in an all-Italian final of the Palermo Open.
Fifth-seeded Errani beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in the semi-finals on Saturday and Pennetta defeated another Italian, Tathiana Garbin, 6-1, 6-1 on the red clay courts.
■MERCEDES CUP
REUTERS, STUTTGART, GERMANY
Frenchman Jeremy Chardy beat Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 7-5 on Saturday to reach the Mercedes Cup final, where he will face fourth seed Victor Hanescu.
World No. 43 Chardy reached his second tournament final of the year with a convincing performance on a windy and drizzly day.
“It was a great week for me and I played well, despite playing two matches today,” Chardy said, having also played his quarter-final against German Mischa Zverev earlier on Saturday after rain washed out play on Friday.
The 22-year-old, whose top-spin forehand was his biggest weapon, grabbed two breaks either side of a Kiefer break to take the first set.
Kiefer, who also won his quarter-final against Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot earlier on Saturday, played more aggressively in the second set, rushing to the net and holding serve until 6-5. The Frenchman, runner-up in Johannesburg in February, then turned up the heat and wrapped up the match with two fierce forehand winners.
Earlier, Hanescu had ended Fabio Fognini’s dream run, beating the Italian 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2 to reach his first final in a year.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
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