Venus loses, Kerber advances
Angelique Kerber felt the same old rhythm as last year at the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, S.C. Venus Williams wished that she did too, instead of bowing out of the tournament Thursday.
The top-seeded Kerber, the defending champion, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Slovakia’s Kristina Kucova. Williams looked like she would join the reigning Australian Open champion, up 2-1 in the third set of her match. But instead, Yulia Putintseva won five of the final seven games to oust the 35-year-old American, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-4.
Kerber will face Irina-Camelia Begu on Friday and Putintseva will face fifth-seeded Sara Errani ,a 6-4, 7-6 (5) winner over No. 10 seed Samantha Stosur. Begu topped Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig, 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (4).
No. 7 seed Sloane Stephens, the lone American left, defeated 12th-seeded Daria Gavrilova of Australia, 6-4, 6-3, and will take on 14th-seeded Daria Kasatkina of Russia.
Defending champion Jack Sock beat Australia’s Matthew Barton, 6-2, 7-6 (5), on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals in the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston.
The fourth-seeded American will face seventhseeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Spain’s Fernando Verdasco.
Tim Smyczek, beat fellow American Donald Young, 6-2, 6-4, and will next face third-seeded Feliciano Lopez.
Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey reached the quarterfinals Wednesday.
UC Irvine junior center Mamadou Ndiaye filed paperwork to become eligible for the 2016 NBA draft. The 7-6 Ndiaye spoke with Irvine Coach Russell Turner and plans to test the waters without hiring an agent.
Under a new NCAA rule this year, he will have until May 25 to withdraw his name from draft consideration and retain his collegiate eligibility.
He was named to the All-Big West Conference first team this season when he averaged 12.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. Ndiaye was also named the Big West’s best defensive player for the second time in three years.
Gonzaga sophomore Domantas Sabonis also has declared for the NBA draft. Sabonis, 19, said Thursday he is exploring his options without hiring an agent at this time. The son of former NBA star Arvydas Sabonis, the 6-11 forward is Gonzaga’s alltime leader in career field-goal percentage at .632.
Nick Schmaltz scored off a rebound with less than a minute left and North Dakota beat Denver, 4-2, on Thursday night at Tampa, Fla., to advance to the NCAA hockey championship game for the first time in 11 years. North Dakota will face top-seeded Quinnipiac on Saturday night in the title game. Quinnipiac advanced with a 3-2 victory over Boston College and is looking for its first national title.