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Friday 10 august 2018

U.S. Open champ Sloane Stephen Curry

Stephens advances in Montreal shoots 1-over 71 in

MONTREAL (AP) — U.S. Web.com Tour event
Open champion Sloane
Stephens advanced to the HAYWARD, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Curry rallied with
Rogers Cup quarterfinals, three birdies to shoot a 1-over 71 on Thursday in the
beating Carla Suarez Na- first round of the Web.com Tour's Ellie Mae Classic.
varro 6-2, 7-5 on Thursday in Making his second appearance in the $600,000
the hard-court event. event at TPC Stonebrae, the Golden State Warriors
After Suarez overcame a star rebounded from a bogey on the second hole
5-1 deficit to tie the second with a birdie on the par-5 third . He added birdies
set at 5, Stephens broke on the par-4 seventh and eighth — hitting the flag-
serve for a 6-5 lead and stick on No. 8 — and closed with a par on No. 9.
scored four straight points Playing as an amateur, Curry was eight shots be-
to put away the match, hind leaders Adam Long and Seth Reeves with the
ending it with a sharp cross- Sloane Stephens, of the Unites States, returns to Carla Suarez Na- afternoon wave still on the course. Last year, Curry
varro, of Spain, during the Rogers Cup women's tennis tourna-
court forehand. "Maybe ment, Thursday Aug, 9, 2018 in Montreal. shot 74-74 to tie for 148th and miss the cut by 11
the old me would have kind Associated Press shots.
of freaked out," Stephens Playing alongside Web.com Tour winners Martin
said. "I was kind of like, 'OK, Halep. In the quarterfinals, France's Alize Cornet 7-6 Trainer and Cameron Champ in the round that
it's fine, she's allowed to the American will face (3), 6-4. Barty will face Kiki began on No. 10, Curry slightly pulled his iron off
play well. Just kind of re- Anastaija Sevastova of Bertens of the Netherlands, the tee into the first cut of rough, up against a
group.' I did that. I was hap- Latvia, a 6-3, 7-6 (2) winner a 6-3, 6-2 winner over sprinkler head.
py with that." The 25-year- over 10th-seeded Julian eighth-seeded Petra Kvito- "I can't play this hole without getting a ruling," he
old Stephens, ranked No. Goerges of Germany. Sev- va of the Czech Republic. joked, referencing the opening tee shot last year
3 in the world, won a hard- astova, ranked 19th, won Kiki Bertens of the Nether- that wound up in a drink cup inside a cart left of
court title in Miami in March last month in Bucharest. lands upset eighth-seeded the hole.
and lost the French Open Ashleigh Barty, the 15th Petra Kvitova of the Czech He made par and also parred the next two before
final to top-ranked Simona seed from Australia, beat Republic 6-3, 6-2.q stumbling with bogeys on Nos. 13, 15 and 16.
"This time, it took me until hole No. 8 or 9 to really
Greek teen Tsitsipas just get comfortable, especially on the greens,"
Curry said. "Again, you can't simulate that pressure
standing over 10-foot putts, 5-foot putts, knowing
upsets Djokovic in Toronto they count, and how many of them for me were
for pars early. That was a hard part to adjust to, but
once you get in a groove, good things happen."
Curry made his fourth bogey at the par-3 second,
TORONTO (AP) — Greek then two-putted for birdie on the third. He cele-
teen Stefanos Tsitsipas up- brated with a lighthearted hug with caddie Jon-
set Wimbledon champion nie West, a Warriors employee and TPC Stonebrae
Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-7 (5), member.
6-3 on Thursday in the Rog- "It took me six holes last year to get my first one
ers Cup. and it took me 12 holes this year," Curry said. "I had
The 19-year-old Tsitsipas to wait a little bit. It was a nice relief to see a putt
broke the ninth-seeded go in."
Serb's serve early in the He made a 10-foot birdie putt on the seventh,
third set and held serve then hit a 9-iron from 148 yards on the eighth that
from there to reach his first ricocheted off the pin and settled 5 feet short of
career ATP World Tour Mas- the hole to set up a birdie.
ters 1000 quarterfinal. "Yeah, there's one of those off the face, hit it flush
"I feel very proud for me, and it was on line," Curry said. "I see it hit — or I
myself, and my country. hear the pin rattle — and that was a cool moment.
I'm putting Greece more I didn't know how close it landed. When I walked
deep into the map of ten- Stefanos Tsitsipas, of Greece, makes a return to Novak Djokovic, up there, literally was an inch away from dunking
nis," Tsitsipas said. "I'm pretty of Serbia, during the Rogers Cup men's tennis tournament in To- it. Out here I don't get many dunks."
sure I'm making my family ronto, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018. He three-putted for par on the par-5 ninth.
proud, all of those people Associated Press "It was fun to be able to hit some decent shots ear-
that are watching, my hours, 17 minutes. Zverev of Germany, the ly, and from there turn it into actual scoring, which
coach, my father. It was "I knew he had some issues defending champion com- was good," Curry said.
a very emotional win. I've in some particular shots in ing off a tournament vic- Trainer shot 69, and Champ had a 68.
never felt so many emo- his game, I would say. So I tory last week in Washing- "It was impressive," said Trainer, atwo-time winner
tions after a victory." was waiting and I grabbed ton that included a semi- this year. "His game as a whole was really impres-
Djokovic, a four-time Rog- him like a bulldog and stuck final win over Tsitsipas. The sive. It really surprised me. Obviously, he's not as
ers Cup champion, faded there and executed, I ex- 21-year-old Zverev beat sharp because I don't think he plays as much as
late on a warm, breezy ecuted my plan," Tsitsipas Russia's Daniil Medvedev we do." Champ won the Utah Championship last
afternoon at Aviva Centre said. "I knew that at some 6-3, 6-2. Top-ranked Rafael month and leads the tour in driving distance.
on the York University cam- point he's going to break, Nadal faced Swizterland's "It was definitely a good experience," Champ said.
pus. Tsitsipas set up match and I just patiently waited Stan Wawrinka in a night "Obviously, all the fans shouting his name and
point with a scorching for this moment and it hap- match, with the winner ad- whatnot. It was good just to see his game, too. I
cross-court winner before pened." Tsitsipas will face vancing to face sixth-seed- was very impressed.q
completing the victory in 2 second-seeded Alexander ed Marin Cilic of Croatia. q