Isner tames Zverev to reach semis
LOSANGELES: American John Isner showed why he is playing some of the best tennis of his career, beating Mischa Zverev 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in the quarter-finals of the Atlanta Open on Friday.
Isner needed one hour and 37 minutes on Stadium Court to oust Zverev and reverse a run of defeats to the German.
Zverev had won all three of his matches against Isner last year. But the 33-year-old Isner has been rising up the rankings as he levelled their career head-to-head rivalry at 3-3.
“It was a weird match. The balls were bouncing everywhere, it was tough to control. I was happy to get through in three sets,” Isner said.
The 6-foot-10 Isner is at number nine in the ATP world rankings. He reached a career-best No. 8 last week after making it to the semis of Wimbledon.
Isner will next face fourth seed Matthew Ebden, who breezed past Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-2 in one hour, 12 minutes.
The Aussie is into his second semi-final of the season, following a run to the final four at the Libema Open.
WANG DOWNS LINETTE TO MAKE JIANGXI FINAL
BEIJING: China’s second seed Wang Qiang produced a clinical display to reach her first WTA final with a 7-5 6-2 win over Poland’s Magda Linette at the Jiangxi Open on Saturday.
The 26-year-old Wang broke her Polish opponent’s serve twice in each set and won the last five games of the match to seal victory.
Although Linette struck more winners, 21 to Wang’s 17, she was undone by 35 unforced errors over the course of the match.
It was Wang’s first victory over Linette, having lost their previous three encounters. She will face Zheng Saisai in Sunday’s allchinese final.
“I am very happy with the result. I didn’t think too much about (the head-to-head),” Wang said on-court. “I just tried to play one shot at a time.”
Sixth seed Zheng held off a determined Zhu Lin to win the other semi-final 6-3 1-6 6-2
HERAS FOUND GUILTY OF MATCH-FIXING
LONDON: Argentine tennis player Patricio Heras has been found guilty of match fixing and suspended until his punishment is confirmed at a later date, the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) said .
The 29-year-old, who reached a career-high ranking of 269 in September 2013, was found to have contrived the outcome of a match at the ATP Challenger event in Barranquilla, Colombia in 2015. “Having now been found guilty of the charges, he will be sanctioned at a future date to be determined by AHO Mulcahy,” TIU said in a statement.
POTAPOVA SETS UP DANILOVIC CLASH
MOSCOW: Russian teenager Anastasia Potapova will face fellow 17-year-old Olga Danilovic of Serbia in Sunday’s WTA final in Moscow.
Former Wimbledon junior champion Potapova overcame Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek after she retired while trailing 3-6, 6-4, 5-2 in their semi-final.
Danilovic then defeated Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 to set up a clash between two players who will be playing in their first WTA final.
KULOTHUNGAN KILLED IN ROAD ACCIDENT
CHENNAI:FORMER East Bengal midfielder Kalia Kulothungan was today killed in a road accident in his hometown Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu.
It is learnt that around 2 am today, Kulothungan’s bike crashed against an iron fence and he died on the spot. He was 40.