Former champion Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia barely got past qualifier Sebastien de Chaunac of France 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1) in the first round of the Open de Moselle on Tuesday.
The eighth-seeded Ljubicic, who won the title in 2005, hit 21 aces to set up a match with Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia.
Tipsarevic beat 2003 winner Arnaud Clement of France 6-4, 6-4.
The Serbian broke Clement once in each set and relied on a solid serve, winning 80 percent of his service points without allowing any break opportunities.
Richard Gasquet of France saved two break points at 5-5 in the third set to outlast Michael Berrer of Germany 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (5).
The Frenchman is trying to rediscover his form after the International Tennis Federation banned him for two-and-a-half months for testing positive for cocaine at a tournament in Miami in March.
Gasquet said he inadvertently ingested the drug by kissing a woman in a nightclub.
Gasquet will next face Christophe Rochus of Belgium, who edged fifth-seeded Fabrice Santoro of France 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Sixth-seeded Benjamin Becker of Germany was also ousted, as Evgeny Korolev of Russia converted all of his four break chances to win 6-2, 6-3.
Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan defeated Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-4, Marc Gicquel of France cruised past Roman Valent of Switzerland 6-3, 6-1, and qualifier Thierry Ascione upset Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (5), 6-4 in an all-French matchup.
■ROMANIA OPEN
AP, BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
Oscar Hernandez knocked out top-seeded Victor Hanescu of Romania 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the first round of the BCR Open Romania.
The unseeded Spaniard broke three times and dropped serve twice at BNR Arenas as Hanescu lost in the opening round for the second straight year.
He was beaten by Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina last year.
Another unseeded Spaniard, Santiago Ventura, beat fourth-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia 6-4, 6-1.
“I played well and I feel excellent on the court,” Ventura said. “Andreev is a good player and it’s hard to beat him.”
Second-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain also advanced, defeating Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-4, 6-3.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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