The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Tennis: Ferrer fights back to book Miami semi-final
- Athletics: Bolt, Blake and Felix to run in Kingston
- El Weleily overcomes minor hiccup as Nicol cruises
| Tennis: Ferrer fights back to book Miami semi-final Posted: 27 Mar 2013 05:28 PM PDT MIAMI: Third-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer quieted his early nerves and battled back for a three-set victory over Austrian veteran Jurgen Melzer Wednesday to reach the semi-finals of the Miami ATP Masters. Ferrer defeated the unseeded Melzer 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 and will face either French 11th seed Gilles Simon or giant-killer Tommy Haas of Germany for a place in the title match. Haas, 34 years old and seeded 15th, toppled world No. 1 and two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets on Tuesday to book his quarter-final berth. Djokovic's ouster left Ferrer as the highest seed remaining in the top half of the men's draw. Perhaps the Spaniard felt the pressure of that status in the first set against Melzer. He grabbed a quick break for a 2-0 lead, but the Austrian left-hander reeled off the next five games to serve for the set at 5-2. Ferrer gained another break, and held to extend the set, but Melzer fended off two break points in the 10th game to pocket the set. "Well, I started good with 2-0 up, but he played very good and he played with great power with his shots," Ferrer said. "And when he broke me, I played not so good. "I was a little bit nervous in the first set and part of the second, but I tried to fight every point, to be focused, and I had a good feeling in the end of the second set and of course in the third one." Ferrer broke Melzer for a 3-1 lead in the second, and although the Austrian immediately broke back Ferrer was able to regain the advantage with a break for 4-2. By the third set, he was rolling, his cause aided by the 23 forehand errors Melzer scattered through his match. Ferrer hadn't made it to the final four at Miami since 2006, when he lost to Roger Federer in the semi-finals. He was toppled in the second round of the Indian Wells Masters immediately prior to Miami, although until then he'd been enjoying a fine season that included titles at Auckland and Buenos Aires and a runner-up finish Acapulco. Ferrer has won more matches this season - 24 - than any other player. He's also due to jump back over compatriot Rafael Nadal for the world No. 4 ranking next week, but Ferrer said he didn't mind working in relative anonymity. "I'm very happy with me, with my career of tennis," he said. "I don't mind a lot (whether) I am a more important player or not. I like playing tennis and it's my job." -AFP |
| Athletics: Bolt, Blake and Felix to run in Kingston Posted: 27 Mar 2013 05:26 PM PDT KINGSTON, Jamaica: Usain Bolt, the two-time reigning Olympic champion at 100 and 200 meters, will run at the Jamaica International Invitational athletics meet on May 4, organizers announced on Wednesday. Yohan Blake and US sprint star Allyson Felix will also compete in the meeting, but meet director Donald Quarrie, a former Olympic 200 champion, said there will be no showdown between Bolt and Blake in the same event at Kingston. "Bolt has been confirmed, but his coach, Glen Mills, will decide on the event he will run at a later date," Quarrie said. Blake, second to Bolt in both sprints at the London Olympics, is also undecided about his event. "Bolt and Blake will run, but not in the same event," Quarrie said. "Hopefully next week we should know the event." Felix, the Olympic 200m champion, will compete in the meet for the first time and she will have a showdown with Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown in the women's 100, Quarrie said. Felix, a three-time world champion in the 200, first ran in Kingston at the 2002 world junior championships. Two-time Olympic 100m women's champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will run the 200, the event in which she finished second at the London Olympics. Hansle Parchment, a London Olympic bronze medallist, will run the 110m hurdles. |
| El Weleily overcomes minor hiccup as Nicol cruises Posted: 27 Mar 2013 05:07 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 2 Raneem El Weleily made a solid start to her campaign in the CIMB KL Open and warned that the "best is yet to come". The 24-year-old El Weleily dropped a set against national No. 3 Delia Arnold in the first round at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil here but still proved too strong in the end, winning 11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 11-1 in 28 minutes. And El Weleily, who has already beaten world No. 1 Nicol David twice in the last six months, believes that she can still up her level even more. "It's been a long time since I faced Delia and I didn't know what to expect," said El Weleily. "I had a bad start in the third set and that gave her a bit of confidence. But I managed to regroup and refocus. "Still, it's good to win ... I like being back in Malaysia. Hopefully, I'll enjoy another good tournament." The Malaysian Open champion, however, believes that although she has beaten Nicol twice, "the gap between us is still miles apart". "Beating Nicol twice doesn't count. She's still a level above and I've yet to find the secret to beating her (consistently). But we'll see how ... hopefully, we'll have a chance to face each other in the final," said Weleily, who will take on Natalie Grinham of Holland next. Nicol also got off to the perfect start, cruising past South Africa's Siyoli Waters 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 in 31 minutes. "Siyoli brought a different style of play, a little more attacking but I managed to take control and get into the right rhythm to play my own game," said Nicol. Waters, who is the All-African champion, was simply relieved to have lasted longer than 15 minutes on court against Nicol. In other matches, national No. 2 Low Wee Wern finally got her act right in her eighth KL Open to get past the opening round for the first time. The 23-year-old Penangite overcame a slow start to beat England's Lauren Briggs 16-14, 11-4, 11-3 in 39 minutes. "Lauren played really well. She was a top 15 player before getting injured and she showed that quality against me," said Wee Wern. "It was a very close game despite the scoreline and I'm really happy to go through." The world No. 6 will now take on Ireland's Madeline Perry, who defeated Czech Republic's Lucie Fialova 11-2, 11-5, 11-3. Third seed Laura Massaro of England and fourth seed Nour El Sherbini of Egypt also made the second round after hard-fought opening wins. Denmark's Line Hansen was the only player to create an upset, beating 16th seed Rachael Grinham of Australia 12-10, 11-8, 11-7. |
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