Maria Sharapova breezed past Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic at the Pan Pacific Open yesterday to stay on course for a potential final showdown against Jelena Jankovic.
The Russian former world No. 1 shrugged off a service break deficit in each set before scoring a 6-4, 7-5 victory to advance.
Sharapova, who lost the opening game after a double fault, hit an easy forehand winner at the net to make it 4-4 in the eighth before taking the following two games and the set.
PHOTO: AFP
The 22-year-old struggled with her serve in the second set, relying instead on a number of sizzling winners from Benesova’s second serve.
Seventh seed Serb Jankovic, another former world No. 1, powered her way through to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Marion Bartoli, putting an end to her match-losing streak against the French 14th seed.
Fifteenth seed Li Na earned a 7-6 (9/7), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus to earn a match against Jankovic while 11th seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland whipped Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-1 and plays Sharapova next.
■SIMON BEATS KEVIN KIM
AFP, BANGKOK
Gilles Simon of France tested his chronic sore knee with a 6-2, 6-2 defeat of American Kevin Kim while retiring Russian Marat Safin ticked up another tournament loss yesterday as he winds down his career at the Thailand Open.
Simon said that he remains concerned about his problem knee.
“I really need a lot of recovery after my matches. It’s a lot of icing and rest. Everything depends on my knee,” he said.
Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli ended Safin’s run with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) win.
“I’m a little disappointed. It should have gone the other way,” said the Russian, who will end his career at the Paris Masters next month.
“I may be retiring, but I still want to win. I don’t want to give away any matches. I really hate to lose,” Safin said.
In other matches German Andreas Beck defeated Donald Young of the US, 6-1, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 while eighth seed John Isner beat Germany’s Mischa Zverev 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
■MONFILS, BERDYCH WIN
AFP, KUALA LUMPUR
Frenchman Gael Monfils beat Martin Vassallo Arguello 6-4, 6-2 at the Malaysia Open yesterday, setting up a quarter-final with top seed Nikolay Davydenko.
Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych reached the last eight, but had to go the distance to overcome German Simon Greul 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 at the Putra stadium.
Berdych fired nine aces and saved the only two break points as he raced to post the win in just over two hours of battle.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
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Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
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