Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun retired after a first-set win at the ATP Delray Beach Open on Tuesday, while top seed Tommy Haas and eighth seed Lleyton Hewitt breezed into the second round.
Taiwan’s Lu, who was coming off a retirement due to a neck injury in a Memphis semi-final against Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic, won his first set 6-4, but then retired against Ryan Harrison after the American held serve to open the second set.
Harrison next faces Russia’s Teymuraz Gabashvili, who rallied to beat Australia’s Matthew Ebden 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
World No. 12 Haas, who won the event in 2006, needed only 55 minutes to eliminate US qualifier Wayne Odesnik 6-2, 6-1, while 32-year-old Australian Hewitt, cheered on by countryman and golf legend Greg Norman, took 65 minutes to oust Bradley Klahn of the US 6-3, 6-1.
Haas’ win secured a second-round match against US qualifier Steve Johnson, who defeated Kazakstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4, 6-3.
Hewitt, who now has 598 ATP match wins, next faces fellow Australian Marinko Matosevic, who downed Belgium’s David Goffin 6-2, 6-4.
Haas may be at an age when most professionals are winding down their careers, but the 35-year-old German proved he still has plenty to offer with his dominant first-round victory.
“With injuries, I lost probably three or four years of my career,” Haas, ranked 12th in the world, told reporters. “I always felt I wanted to end this on my terms, like when the mind is not there anymore or physically I can’t do it anymore. I just want to continue and enjoy.”
Haas, who once rose as high as No. 2 in the world, never faced a break point during his lopsided win and is looking to win the tournament for the first time since 2006.
On a day when veterans were keen to impose themselves, former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt was equally as impressive in his demolition of Klahn.
The Australian, who captured the Delray Beach title back in 1999, would have been delighted with his display, particularly as the eighth seed’s compatriot, golf legend Greg Norman, was one of the spectators.
The younger seeded players in the draw had a much tougher time advancing, though, including John Isner, who rallied from a set down to edge fellow American Michael Russell 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.
Isner, the second seed, needed every one of his 20 aces to prevail and was unable to crack Russell’s serve in the first two sets, before breaking his opponent twice in the decisive third.
Kei Nishikori and Kevin Anderson, the third and fourth seeds respectively, also needed three sets to eke out wins.
Japan’s Nishikori outlasted Portugal’s Gastao Elias 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, while South Africa’s Anderson rallied past Tim Smyczek of the US 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
MARSEILLE OPEN
AP, MARSEILLE, France
Sixth seed Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France ground out a 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 victory over big-serving Ante Pavic of Croatia in the first round of the Open 13 on Tuesday.
Pavic had 23 aces, compared with 13 for Roger-Vasselin, who saved seven of the nine break-point chances he faced. He next plays Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky after he rallied past qualifier Daniel Evans 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
Meanwhile, Nikolay Davydenko of Russia had 12 aces as he comfortably beat Dutchman Igor Sijsling 6-4, 6-4.
Davydenko, who reached a career highest ranking of world No. 3, next faces second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the defending champion. Tsonga leads 3-2 in their career head-to-heads.
Also on Tuesday, fifth seed Ivan Dodig of Croatia defeated Albano Olivetti of France 7-5, 6-2, while Germany’s Tobias Kamke downed Britain’s Kyle Edmund 7-5, 6-1.
In the first round of the doubles, Paul Hanley of Australia and Britain’s Jonathan Marray defeated wild-card Taiwanese duo Lee Hsin-han and Wang Chieh-fu 6-4, 6-3.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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
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
Manchester United on Thursday settled for a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie. United led on Joshua Zirkzee’s goal in the 58th minute, but the hosts equalized 12 minutes later after Bruno Fernandes’ hand ball and Mikel Oyarzabal sent Andre Onana the wrong way from the penalty spot. The Europa League could be a way for United to finish the season with a trophy after crashing out of the FA Cup on Sunday. A spot in the quarter-finals is to be on the line at Old Trafford in the second leg on Thursday next
RSS