Novak Djokovic clinched the most comprehensive victory of his career on Thursday when he humiliated Czech journeyman Jan Hernych 6-0, 6-0 to reach the Swiss Indoors quarter-finals.
The 52-minute “double-bagel” was the first for the Serb at the elite ATP level, bettering his 6-1, 6-0 win over Argentina’s David Nalbandian in the Queen’s Club semi-finals last year, a rout that took four minutes less.
Second seed Djokovic saved three break-points in the first set, before stepping on the gas against a 59th-ranked opponent who had claimed his first victory since the US Open in the first round.
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FONG, TAIPEI TIMES
Hernych’s cause was not helped by committing 40 errors in the loss.
Djokovic next faces Swiss sixth seed Stanislas Wawrinka, who defeated Finn Jarkko Nieminen in three sets.
Evgeny Korolev will line up against Roger Federer in the last eight after defeating Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 7-6 (7/1), a day after the Frenchman fired 24 aces to humble James Blake.
PHOTO: AFP
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Marco Chiudinelli kept national hopes high as he beat qualifying compatriot Michael Lammer 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, firing eight aces and breaking three times. The result marks the second quarter-final in six weeks for Chiudinelli after a similar performance in Bangkok. He will next face France’s Richard Gasquet.
Croatia fourth seed Marin Cilic maintained his chase for one of two places open in the season-ending ATP finals, taking out Serb Victor Troicki 7-6 (9/7), 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (8/6) in three hours.
■VALENCIA OPEN
REUTERS, VALENCIA, SPAIN
Top seed Andy Murray beat little-known Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the second round of the Valencia Open on Thursday as the Briton continued his comeback from a wrist injury.
The world No. 4, who before this week had not played on the ATP Tour since September’s US Open, will play Spaniard Albert Montanes for a place in the last four.
Second seed Nikolay Davydenko made smooth progress in his bid for a place at the season-ending World Tour Finals in London later this month with a 6-3, 7-5 second-round win over Juan Monaco of Argentina.
The Russian conceded two breaks of serve, but broke Monaco four times to set up a quarter-final against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.
Spaniard Fernando Verdasco advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia and will play compatriot Tommy Robredo in the last eight.
Seventh seed Robredo, who has an outside chance of a Tour Finals spot, came from a set down to beat Feliciano Lopez, another Spaniard, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Russian Mikhail Youzhny went through to the quarters thanks to a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 victory over Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas and next plays London hopeful and fifth seed Gilles Simon of France.
David Ferrer’s slim hopes of a spot in London ended when a hamstring injury forced him to withdraw from his second-round match against fellow Spaniard Montanes before a ball was struck.
■BALI
AFP, DENPASAR, INDONESIA
Top seed Marion Bartoli joined French compatriot Aravane Rezai in the semi-finals of the Bali Tournament of Champions with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Shahar Peer of Israel yesterday.
Bartoli completed the weekend lineup at the tournament comprising the 10 highest-ranking players who have won a WTA International title this year, but who did not compete in the season-ending WTA Championships in Qatar, which finished on Sunday. Two wild-cards were also included.
Rezai, with a perfect 2-0 group record like Bartoli’s, on Thursday was the first to reach the final four.
Japan’s Kimiko Date Krumm earned a place earlier yesterday when Belgian Yanina Wickmayer quit on news of her one-year ban for missing doping tests.
Wickmayer, the world No. 18, was suspended on Thursday by the Flemish Doping Tribunal for failing three times to fulfill the controversial “whereabouts rule.”
Date Krumm was joined by Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, a winner over Australian second seed Samantha Stosur 7-6 (7/4), 7-5.
Bartoli advanced on the first of three match points after four breaks of her opponent’s serve.
Australian Stosur, a doubles standout who is trying to fashion a top-level singles career after reaching the Roland Garros semis this season, was unable to capitalize against Martinez Sanchez in their group showdown.
Stosur fired seven aces, but was weighed down by six double-faults in a patchy serving effort. The 25-year-old broke her Spanish opponent twice in the second set, but dropped her own serve three times to eventually go down after just over two hours.
In the late match, Germany’s Sabine Lisicki defeated Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-2, 6-7 (1/7), 6-4.
■TAIPEI LADIES OPEN
STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
The Taipei Ladies Open continued yesterday at the Taipei Arena with Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen meeting Regina Kulikova of Russia.
Chang broke Kulikova’s service in the fourth game, to win the first set 6-3. In the second set, Chang took further advantage and broke Kulikova’s service in the third game, while holding serve perfectly, going on to win the match 6-3, 6-4.
The victory sent Chang’s ranking from 102 into the top 100 and that means that she gains direct access to next year’s Australian Open and will not have to qualify.
Chang said that she was happy with her performance, that she was in control of her game and that she was able to employ the strategies that she wanted to. She did not let her previous losses to Kulikova get her down and she was totally focused on the match at hand, she said. Chang said this makes her stronger, which applies pressure on the opponent and makes her make mistakes.
Chang uses a 340g racket, probably the heaviest used by a Taiwanese woman player. She said she has been working on muscular endurance with the racket for two years and no longer finds it heavy.
Yesterday’s other singles results:
• Ayumi Morita (Japan) defeated Rika Fujiwara (Japan) 6-1, 6-4
• Chan Yung-jan (Taiwan) defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7)
• Kristina Mladenovic (France) defeated Sophie Ferguson (Australia) 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-3
Yesterday’s doubles results:
• Y Basuki (Indonesia) and R Zalameda (US) defeated E Sema and Y Sema (Japan) 6-3, 6-3
• Chan Chin-wei (Taiwan) and Yan Zi (China) defeated Chang Kai-chen (Taiwan) and A Morita (Japan) 6-3, 7-6 (7/3)
ADDITONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital. There were no such celebrations this year when the defending champions on board LawConnect won the race in the early hours of yesterday morning, as it came about 24 hours after two sailors died on separate boats in sail boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the race. LawConnect, a 100-foot super maxi skippered by Australian tech millionaire Christian Beck, sailed up the River Derwent at just after 2:30am.
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Chess great Magnus Carlsen on Friday quit the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York after governing body FIDE barred the Norwegian from participating in a round at the tournament for wearing jeans. FIDE said in a statement that its dress code regulations were designed to “ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants.” It issued Carlsen a US$200 fine and gave him an opportunity to change into the correct attire, which the world No. 1 rejected, it said. Carlsen said he had a lunch meeting before the round and had to change quickly. “I put on a shirt, jacket and honestly like
RSS