Professional Tennis
Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka was forced to withdraw from the 2012 Pan Pacific Open quarterfinals on Thursday, a day after experiencing dizziness in her third-round win over Italy’s Roberta Vinci. Azarenka’s scheduled opponent on Thursday, fifth-ranked Angelique Kerber of Germany, advanced to the semifinals on a walkover. "I’m very sorry to be withdrawing. I would have loved…
French Open champion Maria Sharapova was upset by eighth-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-4, 7-6 in their quarterfinal match at the 2012 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. The second set tie-breaker was a battle where both players had multiple set points, before Stosur pulled it out 12-10. Stosur had won just one of her previous 11…
World number nine-ranked Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia advanced to the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open in Bangkok, defeating Japanese qualifier Hiroki Moriya 6-4, 6-4. Tipsarevic is looking to boost his chances of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with a strong showing in the ATP World Tour Asian Swing. The Belgrade native is currently…
Rafael Nadal still remains unclear about his return to the courts following a knee injury. The Spaniard, who hasn’t played since losing in the second round of Wimbledon in June to Lukas Rosol, skipped the 2012 London Olympics and this month’s 2012 U.S. Open. The 11-time Grand Slam champion is recovering from a partially torn patella tendon…
At the Toray Pan Pacific Open, world number 73-ranked Petra Martic upset world number five Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets for the biggest win of her career. This was the second time this year that Martic defeated a top-10-ranked player, after her win over then-eighth-ranked Marion Bartoli at the French Open. In round one, Martic defeated the…
Caroline Wozniacki defeated Kaia Kanepi Sunday afternoon 6-1, 6-0 to capture the 2012 KDB Korea Open title. Both players were pushed to 6-4 in the third set in the semifinals the day before, so a rebound was key—and it was the top-seeded Wozniacki who unlocked the door, needing just 62 minutes to defeat the third-seeded Kanepi, allowing her…
World number six Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France defeated Italy’s Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-2 in the finals of the 2012 Moselle Open in Metz to retain his title. One year ago, Tsonga beat Ivan Ljubicic in the finals of the Moselle Open. The win takes Tsonga to 2,905 points in the Race for London. Tsonga is currently just within the qualifying…
Fifteen years ago today, Switzerland’s Roger Federer appeared in the South African Airways ATP Rankings for the first time. Federer debuted at 803rd on Sept. 22, 1997 after a solid showing at a four-week satellite circuit, culminating in a semifinal appearance at the Switzerland 1 Masters in Bossonnens to earn 12 ATP points. In the first…
The United States drew a home tie against Brazil when the International Tennis Federation (ITF) conducted the draw for the 2013 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas in London. The U.S., the all-time leader with 32 Davis Cup titles, will host Brazil in the first round, Feb. 1-3, at a site to be determined by the USTA. The…
Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark defeated the seventh-seeded Klara Zakopalova 6-2, 6-3 on Friday at the 2012 KDB Korea Open to advance to the semifinals. Wozniacki’s first two appearances in Seoul didn’t go anywhere near as well as this year, falling first round in both 2006 and 2007. She was nowhere near the player she is now—she was…