Kohlschreiber ousts Dodig opening round at Doha
DOHA, Qatar — Philipp Kohlschreiber opened his season Monday with a 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory over Croatia’s Ivan Dodig in the first round of the Qatar Open.
The third-seeded German was joined in the second round by sixth-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia, who battled past Bjorn Phau of Germany 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Injury-plagued Russian Nikolay Davydenko, whose ranking has fallen to No. 48 from a high of No. 3, cruised past Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-2, 6-3.
Kohlschreiber outlasted his opponent with a gritty display. With both players holding serve throughout the first set, Kohlschreiber finally found a forehand winner in the tiebreaker.
Haase, Soeda advance at Chennai Open
CHENNAI, India — Sixth-seeded Robin Haase of the Netherlands and eighth-seeded Go Soeda of Japan reached the second round of the Chennai Open with straight-set victories Monday.
Haase beat local wild card Yuki Bhambri 7-5, 6-3. Soeda, last year’s semifinalist, defeated Evegeny Donskoy of Russia 6-1, 6-2.
Eduardo Roger-Vasselin of France downed Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia 6-3, 6-4, and Aljaze Bedene of Slovenia knocked out Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-3, 6-2.
The four qualifiers advancing to the main draw were Rajeev Ram of the U.S., Rubens Bemmelmans of Belgium, Cedrik-Marcel Steebe of Germany and Prakash Amritraj of India.
Kuznetsova upset in 1st round in Auckland
AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to unseeded Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 7-6 (6), 6-2, 7-5 in swirling wind Monday in the first round of the ASB Tennis Classic.
Unseeded American Jamie Hampton ousted defending champion Zheng Jie of China 7-5, 6-1. McHale, whose ranking peaked at No. 24 in August before slipping to 33 at year’s end, also struggled in the wind.
In another upset, Pauline Parmentier of France ousted seventh-seeded Christina McHale of the U.S. 6-4, 6-1.
Russia’s Elena Vesnina downed 18-year-old Canadian wild card Eugenia Bouchard, the junior Wimbledon champion, 7-5, 6-3. Former champion Yanina Wickmayer, seeded third, defeated Magdalena Rybarikova 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Greta Arn, the 2011 champion, lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to Thailand’s Nudnida Luanganam in the final round of qualifying but gained a place in the main draw as a lucky loser. Arn will face top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska after the withdrawal of injured Frenchwoman Kristini Mladenovic.
Wozniacki, Stosur out in 1st round at Brisbane
BRISBANE, Australia — Caroline Wozniacki’s first trip to the Brisbane International ended in a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) first-round loss to Kazakhstan qualifier Ksenia Pervak on Monday.
No. 9-ranked Samantha Stosur was also upset in a night match, losing 7-6 (4), 7-5 to No. 41 Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden.
In other first-round matches, fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany opened with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win over Anna Tatishvili of Georgia, French Open finalist Sara Errani beat Russia’s Olga Puchkova 6-1, 6-3 and American Sloane Stephens beat Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-3.
In the men’s draw, fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan beat Australia’s Marinko Matosevic 7-5, 6-2; sixth-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany beat Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-4, 6-4; Jarkko Nieminen of Finland had a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win over Julien Benneteau of France; and Marcos Baghdatis, the 2006 Australian Open finalist, defeated Australian wildcard entry Ben Mitchell 6-4, 6-4.
ESPN’s Storm returns 3 weeks after accident
NEW YORK — ESPN anchor Hannah Storm will return to the air on New Year’s Day, exactly three weeks after she was seriously burned in a propane gas grill accident at her home.
Storm suffered second-degree burns on her chest and hands, and first-degree burns to her face and neck. She lost her eyebrows and eyelashes, and roughly half her hair.
Storm will host ABC’s telecast of the 2013 Rose Parade on Tuesday. Her left hand will be bandaged and she said viewers might notice a difference in her hair texture where extensions have been added.
Auburn’s Lemonier entering NFL draft
AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn defensive end Corey Lemonier is skipping his senior season to enter the NFL draft.
Lemonier said Monday it was a tough decision but the one “that was best for me and my family.”
Lemonier had 5.5 sacks last season after earning coaches’ first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors with 9.5 sacks as a sophomore.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn says Lemonier “is a class act and we wish him nothing but the best as he pursues his dream to play professional football.” He praised Lemonier’s contributions both on and off the field.
The 6-foot-4, 246-pound Lemonier played in 34 career games, making 24 starts.
By wire sources
