Rafael Nadal yesterday continued to scythe his way through the Shanghai Rolex Masters, reaching the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-1 thrashing of temperamental Italian Fabio Fognini.
The Spaniard needed 62 minutes to dispatch Fognini, taking his winning streak to 14 matches since the start of the US Open, where he claimed a 16th Grand Slam title.
The 31-year-old is closing in on finishing the year as world No. 1 for the first time since 2013.
Fognini was playing the day after being handed a suspended ban from two Grand Slams and US$96,000 fine for verbally abusing a female umpire at the US Open.
Former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina won the match of the day by stopping third seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, recovering from losing the opener to win 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
“I don’t understand how I can lose a match where I get broken one time in three sets and not manage to get any chances on his serve,” Zverev said.
“I’m a bit pissed off, because I feel like I played well and that’s the upsetting part of it — I could have done great in this tournament,” he added.
Bulgarian sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov, who saved match points on Wednesday against Ryan Harrison, had a more comfortable day as he beat American 10th seed Sam Querrey 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
Dimitrov, closing in on a first appearance at the ATP Finals, is to play Nadal next.
Wimbledon runner-up Marin Cilic of Croatia also eased into the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 victory over American Steve Johnson.
In the late match, Roger Federer avoided a potential banana peel in outclassing Ukrainian qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov to reach the quarter-finals.
The Swiss legend looked rusty in his opener on Wednesday, but was closer to his fluent best as he swatted away Dolgopolov 6-4, 6-2 in a swift 61 minutes on court.
Second-seeded 36-year-old Federer is next to play either Gilles Simon or Richard Gasquet.
Additional reporting by AFP
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but