Page 21 - ATD 16Jan2016

SPORTS A21
Jack Sock beats David Ferrer to reach Auckland final
SYDNEY (AP) — Jack Sock
ended David Ferrer’s
hopes of a fifth singles title The 10th-ranked Tsonga
in Auckland when he beat
the top-seeded Spaniard
3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the ASB Clas- tista Agut, ranked No. 25
sic semifinals on Friday.
Ferrer seemed on track
for another final when he
took the first set. But the
26th-ranked Sock broke
the eighth-ranked Ferrer’s
serve in the second game
of the second set and held
for 3-0, and was never
threatened the rest of the
way.
Sock’s opponent in Satur-
day’s final will be another
Spaniard, the eight-seed-
ed Robert Bautista Agut,
who completed the rout
of the top seeds, beating
second-seeded Jo-Wilfried
Tsonga 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Sock advanced to his third
ATP Tour final after finishing nard Tomic retired from
runner-up indoors at Stock-
holm last year and winning
on clay in Houston.
“I knew coming in I had to
play some unbelievable
tennis,” Sock said. “It was
a difficult day, started out I Dimitrov advanced by
woke up with some flu-like
symptoms and didn’t know
if I was going to be able to
play.
“I ended up coming out
and playing some of the
best tennis of my career
Djokovic, Williams prepared for Australian Open defenses
JOHN PYE
AP Sports Writer
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)
— Novak Djokovic is in the
kind of form that has rivals
no less than Rafael Nadal
describing it as being close
to perfection.
Serena Williams has been
injured, has hardly played
since the U.S. Open and
had to withdraw from her
only tune-up event ahead
of the Australian Open.
The preparations of the
reigning champions
couldn’t be more contrast-
ing in the week leading up
to the first Grand Slam tour-
nament of the year.
They have one thing in
common, though:
they’re both favorites to
win again, having each
won three of the four ma-
jors in 2015. Serena Williams
so maybe I can stay sick to
Melbourne if I play like this.”
seemed in control of the
second semifinal but Bau-
and bidding for his third ca-
reer title, slowly turned the
match in his favor and con-
verted one service break in
the third set to confirm the
win.
No. 3-seeded Victor Troicki
and No. 4 Grigor Dimitrov
will meet in the final at the
Sydney International after
a day featuring quarter-
finals and semifinals, with
organizers catching up fol-
lowing rain delays.
Troicki beat Nicolas Mahut
4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the quarter-
finals and then had a 3-6,
6-4, 6-4 win over Teymuraz
Gabashvili, who reached
the semifinals when Ber-
their quarterfinal because
of possible food poisoning.
“I was just feeling a little bit
sick last night and was very
difficult to play two match-
es today,” Tomic said.
overcoming Alexandr Dol-
gopolov 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in
the quarterfinals and then
Gilles Muller 6-2, 7-6 (4) in
the semis.
In the women’s final, two-
time Grand Slam cham-
has won six Australian titles,
Djokovic has won five —
neither player has lost a fi-
nal at Melbourne Park.
At a ceremony preceding
the tournament draw on
Friday,
Williams and Djokovic
posed for photos with the
Australian Open trophies in
front of Rod Laver Arena.
It was only when told they
had to hand back the tro-
phies that Djokovic replied,
half-jokingly, “What do you
mean they’re not ours?” His
intentions are clear.
In some ways,
Williams’ condition reflects
the state of play in the up-
per ranks of the women’s
game.
Most players in the top 10
have withdrawn from a
tournament or retired from
a match in the first two
Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria plays a shot in his semi-final match against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg
during the Sydney International Tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Jan. 15, 2016. Dimi-
trov will meet Victor Troicki in the final at the Sydney International after a day featuring quarterfi-
nals and semifinals, with organizers catching up following rain delays.
pion Svetlana Kuznetsova
beat qualifier Monica Puig
6-0, 6-2. The Russian player
didn’t lose a game until the
third game of the second
set and won her 16th ca-
reer WTA title.
In the semifinals, Kuznetso-
va beat top-seeded Simo-
na Halep 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3,
and Puig advanced when
weeks of the season.
Williams played one set at
the Hopman Cup, where
she was hampered by in-
flammation in her left knee.
No. 2 Simona Halep (Achil-
les tendon) and Maria
Sharapova (left forearm)
withdrew from the Brisbane
International without play-
ing a match, and No. 3
Garbine Muguruza retired
during her first match with
an injured foot.
Agnieszka Radwanska
(leg) and Petra Kvitova (ill-
ness) withdrew from other
warmup tournaments and
No. 9 Lucie Safarova an-
nounced early she wasn’t
competing in Australia be-
cause of a bacterial infec-
tion.
Angelique Kerber reached
the final in Brisbane, where
she lost to resurgent two-
Saturday 16 January 2016
Belinda Bencic retired ill af- ka Cibulkova of Slovakia.
ter losing the first set 6-0.
At the Hobart International,
Eugenie Bouchard, playing
her best stretch of tennis
since sustaining a concus-
sion in a dressing room fall
at the U.S. Open last Sep-
tember, advanced to the
final with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win keep that and have that
over third-seeded Domini-
time Australian Open
champion Victoria Aza-
renka, before withdrawing
from Sydney, where Halep
returned to action.
Williams and Sharapova
have been practicing at
Melbourne Park, showing
few signs of injury.
Williams had a break after
her shocking semifinal loss
at the U.S. Open cost her a
calendar-year Grand Slam,
but said she’d started hit-
ting again in October “be-
cause I was really missing
it.”
She said at the Hopman
Cup her knee problem was
a mere “bump” in the road.
“Everything is actually real-
ly well. Feeling really good.
Excited about it,” she
added on Friday. “OK. I’m
ready now.”
She’d better be, after the
(AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
Bouchard will play seventh-
seeded Alize Cornet of
France, who beat Johanna
Larsson of Sweden 6-1, 6-1.
“I can’t remember the last
time I played that well,”
Bouchard said. “The im-
portant thing is trying to
consistently.”q
draw created a challeng-
ing path to another title.
Williams will open against
Camila Giorgi of Italy, who
finished 2015 at No. 34 and
was the highest-ranked
player who was not seed-
ed at Melbourne Park, on
Monday.
She could also meet former
No. 1-ranked Caroline Woz-
niacki in the fourth round
and No. 5 Sharapova in the
quarterfinals — a rematch
of the 2015 final.
Sharapova, the 2008
champion, said her restrict-
ed preparation was purely
precautionary.
“I think everyone sees the
bigger picture,” she said.
“You want to do what you
can to be healthy and be
a part of the Grand Slam
so sometimes that’s a deci-
sion you have to make.”q