Brands beats Dodig in opener in Bucharest
Brands beats Dodig in opener in Bucharest
BUCHAREST, Romania — German qualifier Daniel Brands ousted eighth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-6 (4), 6-2 at the Nastase Tiriac Trophy on Tuesday for his first win of the year on the ATP Tour. In the second round, Brands will meet another qualifier, Estonia’s Jurgen Zopp, who beat Romanian wild card Victor Crivoi 6-3, 6-3. Sixth-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi defeated French qualifier Guillaume Rufin 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, and Romanian wild card Marius Copil and Italy’s Fabio Fognini also won. Gilles Simon of France, the 2007 and 2008 winner, is the top seed.
Kuznetsova, Cetkovska reach 2nd round in Fez FEZ,
Morocco — Former U.S. and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the second round of the Grand Prix SAR by beating Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-1, 7-5 on Tuesday. The second-seeded Russian, whose last tour singles title came in 2010, broke Daniilidou seven times. Third-seeded Petra Cetkovska of Czech Republic beat Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-4, 6-2, and fifth-seeded Simona Halep of Romania advanced when Fatima Zahrae El Allami of Morocco retired after losing the first set 6-1. Qualifiers Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands and Garbine Muguruza Blanco of Spain won their first-round matches along with Sweden’s Mathilde Johansson and Spain’s Laura Pous-Tio. Bertens beat Poland’s Urszula Radwanska 6-4, 7-5, and Muguruza Blanco outlasted Anna Tatishvili of Georgia 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. In late matches, Israel’s Shahar Peer beat Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, and Arina Rodionova of Russia won the opening set 6-2 against Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky but retired when down 4-0 in the second. By wire sources