Tennis: Olympic champion Bencic thrashed in Luxembourg quarter-finals
LUXEMBOURG (AFP) – Switzerland’s Olympic tennis champion Belinda Bencic suffered a 6-1, 6-4 defeat to Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova in the quarter-finals of the Luxembourg Open on Friday (Sept 17). Samsonova, ranked 48th, claimed her second win over Bencic in as many attempts, having beaten her in the final of the grass-court tournament in Berlin in... » read more
Tennis: Pliskova fights back to set up clash with Barty in Stuttgart
STUTTGART, GERMANY (AFP) – Karolina Pliskova will face world number one Ashleigh Barty in the quarter-finals of Stuttgart’s WTA clay-court tournament after seeing off Jelena Ostapenko in a three-set battle on Thursday (April 22). Pliskova, the sixth seed, recovered from losing the first set in a tie-break by firing down 21 aces, 10 of which... » read more
Tennis: Rublev reaches ATP Vienna quarter-finals in just eight minutes
VIENNA (AFP) – Russia’s Andrey Rublev needed just eight minutes to reach the Vienna ATP quarter-finals on Thursday (Oct 29) when Italian teenage opponent Jannik Sinner was forced to quit. Fifth-seeded Rublev was ahead 2-1 in the first set when the 19-year-old world number 43 retired with a right foot injury. Rublev, now in his... » read more