Related News

Home » Sports » Tennis

Rain hits Newport play, Wozniacki has it easy

HEAVY rain halted the only three matches that began at the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, Rhode Island, on Tuesday, ending play before two-time defending champion Fabrice Santoro got onto the grasscourt.

The start of action was delayed for about 2 1/2 hours before three matches began.

After a second delay of approximately 90 minutes, play resumed for just over 20 minutes before thunderstorms halted play for the day.

Seventh-seeded Kevin Kim of the United States lost the first set against Sebastien Grosjean of France 4-6, and play was stopped during the first game of the second set.

Santoro, the No. 2 seed, watched the action from the grandstands before retreating to the player's lounge.

Philipp Petzschner of Germany led Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-4, 3-4; and Samuel Groth of Australia was ahead of Brazil's Ricardo Mello, 7-5, 0-3.

A moment of silence was held before the first match for 24-year old French player Mathieu Montcourt, who was found dead in his Paris apartment on Tuesday.

"It was terrible," Grosjean said. "He was a wonderful kid. Twenty-four years old, in great shape. Someone called me this morning and said that he passed away last night. I talked to him four, five days ago."

In Bastad, Sweden, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark advanced to the second round of the Swedish Open on Tuesday after beating Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 6-1, 6-3.

The ninth-ranked Wozniacki broke Arvidsson twice in the first set and once in the second to complete the win in 1 hour, 3 minutes. Wozniacki, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last week, saved all three break points she faced on the clay.

Also, second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova beat Swedish wildcard Sandra Roma 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, while No. 3 Flavia Pennetta beat fellow Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 7-5.

In Budapest, Hungary, second seed Alize Cornet of France defeated Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-1 on Tuesday in the first round of the Budapest Grand Prix.

Cornet, the defending champion, took a 4-2 lead in the first set, and finished off the match by winning the last four games in the second.

Cornet will face Shahar Peer of Israel next. Peer defeated Irina Begu of Romania 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend