The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Kuchar grabs Memorial lead while Tiger soars to 79
- Nadal too good for Italy’s Fognini at French Open
- Nishikori is Japan’s first man to reach last 16 in 75 years
| Kuchar grabs Memorial lead while Tiger soars to 79 Posted: 01 Jun 2013 05:22 PM PDT DUBLIN, Ohio - Matt Kuchar fired a two-under par 70 to seize a two-stroke lead over fellow Americans Kevin Chappell and Kyle Stanley after Saturday's third round of the $6.2 million US PGA Memorial tournament. In a round where world number one Tiger Woods struggled to a 79 to stand 16 strokes off the pace and second-ranked Rory McIlroy settled for a 75 and stood 14 strokes back, Kuchar offset back-nine stumbles with long birdie putts. Kuchar birdied the par-3 fourth and par-5 seventh but closed the front nine with a bogey. He responded with a 19-foot birdie putt at the par-4 10th, then sandwiched two birdies between bogeys at the par-3 12th and par-5 15th. Kuchar dropped an 11-foot birdie at the par-4 13th and followed by sinking a 17-foot birdie putt at the par-4 14th at the Muirfield Village layout where 18-time major winner Jack Nicklaus is the tournament host. After 54 holes, Kuchar was on eight-under 208 with Stanley and Chappell both on 210. Stanley stumbled to a 73 on Saturday while Chappell fired a 68. "I played some steady golf. I got the wind figured out as best as possible and I'm driving it well," Kuchar said. "You can play some moderately aggressive golf out there." Woods began on the back nine and had a horror-show start with double bogeys at the 12th, 15th and 18th holes plus a bogey at the 17th. After birdies at the first and second and another at the fifth, he closed with bogeys at the sixth and ninth. "It was a rough day. It was tough out there from beginning to end," Woods said through a PGA Tour media official. The 44 Woods posted on his opening nine was the highest nine-hole score of his PGA Tour career by a stroke, while his 79 matched the second-highest score of his pro career. "We didn't hit that many bad shots starting out the day and the next thing you know we are quite a few over par," Woods said. "It was a tough day. I tried to fight back on the back nine. It just didn't quite materialize." McIlroy fared little better, starting with a bogey at the 10th that he answered with a birdie at the 12th. He made a bogey at the first, a double bogey at the third and a bogey at the eighth before closing with a birdie. England's Justin Rose, Australian Mike Jones and Bill Haas, the American who led after the second round but sputtered to a 76 in the third, shared fourth on 211. Reigning Masters champion Adam Scott of Australia, past Masters winner Charl Schwartzel and Americans Scott Piercy and J.J. Henry shared seventh on 212 with another past Masters champion, Bubba Watson, among a trio on 213. Chappell birdied three holes in a row starting at the par-5 fifth and answered his lone bogey at the par-5 11th with birdies at 13 and 15. Stanley had five bogeys, two on par-3 holes, but took advantage of the par-5 holes with birdies at the fifth and 15th and an eagle at the 11th after putting his second shot only two feet from the cup. - AFP |
| Nadal too good for Italy’s Fognini at French Open Posted: 01 Jun 2013 05:36 PM PDT RAFAEL Nadal endured another slow start at the French Open yesterday before finding his form to defeat Italy's Fabio Fognini 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4 and qualify for the last 16. In the end it was a comfortable enough win for the seven-time defending champion, but he was made to look sluggish on occasions against an opponent he would normally be expected to dispatch in double-quick time. Next up, on his 27th birthday tomorrow, will be Japan's Kei Nishikori as the Spaniard continues his campaign to become the first man in tennis history to win the same Grand Slam title eight times. Nishikori defeated Benoit Paire of France 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-1 to become the first Japanase man to reach the last 16 at Roland Garros in 75 years. Nadal went into his 56th career match at Roland Garros in a bad mood, complaining about the cold, overcast conditions Paris has produced and "joke" Roland Garros scheduling he felt could disadvantage him against Fognini. The seven-time champion lost the opening set of his first two ties, the first time that has happened to him in Paris, and he nearly got off to another shocker as Fognini, like Daniel Brands and Martin Klizan before him, went for broke. Dropped service games by Nadal in the fifth and 11th games produced a tie-break that the defending champion led from the start to win 7-5. Fognini again had Nadal struggling on serve at the start of the second set, winning over the centre-court crowd with his bold tactics and expressive nature. But he failed to convert a couple of break points and, after the Italian dropped his serve and received treatment for a blister on his hand, Nadal started to race away with the match. He pocketed the set 6-4 and when he broke at he start of the third set, the writing was on the wall for in increasingly distracted Fognini who fired his last bullets by clawing back three games to get to 5-4 before Nadal served out. — AFP Results Men's singles Second round: Rafael Nadal (Spa) bt Martin Klizan (Svk) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3; Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Jack Sock (US) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 7-5; Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Federico Del Bonis (Arg) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-4; Jerzy Janowicz (Pol) bt Robin Haase (Ned) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt Denis Istomin (Uzb) 6-4, 7-5, 6-2; Richard Gasquet (Fra) bt Michal Przysiezny (Pol) 6-3, 6-3, 6-0; John Isner (US) bt Ryan Harrison (US) 5-7, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 6-1, 8-6; Stanislas Wawrinka (Swi) bt Horacio Zeballos (Arg) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4; Janko Tipsarevic (Srb) bt Fernando Verdasco (Spa) 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, 3-6, 5-7, 8-6. Third round: Tommy Robredo (Spa) bt Gael Monfils (Fra) 2-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2; Nicolas Almagro (Spa) bt Andreas Seppi (Ita) 7-6 (7-1), 6-0, 6-4; Kevin Anderson (Rsa) bt Milos Raonic (Can) 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; David Ferrer (Spa) bt Feliciano Lopez (Spa) 6-1, 7-5, 6-4; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt Jeremy Chardy (Fra) 6-1, 6-2, 7-5; Viktor Troicki (Srb) bt Marin Cilic (Cro) 7-6 (14-12), 6-4, 7-5; Gilles Simon (Fra) bt Sam Querrey (US) 2-6, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2; Roger Federer (Swi) bt Julien Benneteau (Fra) 6-3, 6-4, 7-5; Kei Nishikori (Jpn) bt Benoit Paire (Fra) 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-1; Rafael Nadal (Spa) bt Fabio Fognini (Ita) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4. Women's singles Second round: Stefanie Voegele (Swi) bt Kaia Kanepi (Est) 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 8-6; Maria Kirilenko (Rus) bt Ashleigh Barty (Aus) 6-3, 6-1; Marion Bartoli (Fra) bt Mariana Duque (Col) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5; Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt Kirsten Flipkens (Bel) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3; Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Eugnie Bouchard (Can) 6-2, 6-4. Third round: Serena Williams (US) bt Sorana Cirstea (Rom) 6-0, 6-2; Roberta Vinci (Ita) bt Petra Cetkovsk (Cze) 6-1, 2-6, 6-2; Angelique Kerber (Ger) bt Varvara Lepchenko (US) 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4; Ana Ivanovic (Srb) bt Virginie Razzano (Fra) 6-3, 6-2; Carla Surez (Spa) bt Mnica Puig (Pur) 6-4, 7-5; Sara Errani (Ita) bt Sabine Lisicki (Ger) 6-0, 6-4; Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Bojana Jovanovski (Srb) 6-4, 7-6; Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt Dinah Pfizenmaier (Ger) 6-3, 6-4; Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt Alize Cornet (Fra) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1; Sloane Stephens (US) bt Marina Erakovic (Nzl) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3; Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt Alize Cornet (Fra) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1; Sloane Stephens (US) bt Marina Erakovic (Nzl) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3; Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) bt Paula Ormaechea (Arg) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3; Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt Marion Bartoli (Fra) 6-2, 6-1; Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Zheng Jie (Chn) 6-1, 7-5. |
| Nishikori is Japan’s first man to reach last 16 in 75 years Posted: 01 Jun 2013 04:47 PM PDT KEI Nishikori became the first Japanese man to reach the last 16 of the French Open in 75 years yesterday when he defeated Benoit Paire of France 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-1 in a third round match. Emulating the feat of Fumiteru Nakano in 1938, 13th seeded Nishikori will next attempt to match his march into the 2012 Australian Open quarter-finals, but he will likely have to get past seven-time champion Rafael Nadal to do so. The Florida-based Asian star broke Paire twice in the first set, while dropping his own serve once, but he then quickly found himself a break down in the second against the Frenchman who has enjoyed a strong claycourt season. With both men struggling to hold serve, Nishikori battled back to 2-2 and there was a further exchange of breaks to get to 4-4. Paire was left furious when he was hit with a penalty point for coaching at set point up on the Nishikori serve at 5-4, but he drew level in the match by easily taking the ensuing tie-break. But it was Nishikori who looked the stronger as they got deep into the third set, with Paire struggling to stay the pace. The Japanese player took that 6-4 and he raced away with the fourth against a visibly tiring Paire to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the third time at the age of 23. In the women's action, third-seeded Victoria Azarenka overcame 10 double faults and 31 unforced errors to defeat France's Alize Cornet 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 and book a place in the last 16. The 23-year-old Australian Open champion reeled off the last six games of the match and goes on to face either French 13th seed Marion Bartoli or Italy's 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone for a quarter-final spot. "Alize is a terrific girl. It was a difficult match and she played really well, but playing on the centre court really motivates me," said Azarenka. In a match which featured 15 breaks of serve, it was the 23-year-old Frenchwoman, fresh from a third career title in Strasbourg on the eve of Roland Garros, who took the first set, courtesy of a big forehand off a second serve. Cornet took a tumble in the opening game of the second set and grimaced in pain again, feeling her upper right thigh in the eighth game as Azarenka went on to level the tie. By that stage, Azarenka, who has never got beyond the quarter-finals in Paris, had already sent down 23 unforced errors and eight double faults. Cornet was ahead 1-0 with a break in the decider before Azarenka pulled away, winning six games on the bounce to take victory after two hours and 22 minutes. — AFP |
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