Top-seeded Azarenka advances in China Open
Top-seeded Azarenka advances in China Open
BEIJING — Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka and No. 2 Maria Sharapova advanced to the second round of the China Open on Monday.
Azarenka routed Alize Cornet of France 6-1, 6-0, while Sharapova had a harder time knocking off Simona Halep of Romania 7-5, 7-5.
Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, seeded 10th, also advanced, beating Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa 7-5, 6-7 (8), 6-2. Lara Arruabarrena-Veinco of Spain defeated Zheng Jie of China 6-2, 6-4.
Other first-round winners included Sorana Cirstea of Romania and Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, who upset fourth-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.
In the first round of the men’s draw, fourth-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia, last year’s runner-up, lost to Marius Copil of Romania 3-6, 6-7 (0), 6-4.
American Sam Querrey defeated Fernando Verdasco of Spain 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Florian Mayer of Germany, Carlos Berlocq of Argentina and Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine also won.
Berdych wins 1st-round match at Japan Open
TOKYO — Second-seeded Tomas Berdych defeated Benoit Paire of France 6-1, 7-6 (6) in a first-round match at the Japan Open on Monday.
Berdych used a powerful serve and strong play from the baseline to win in 1 hour, 44 minutes under a blazing sun at Ariake Colosseum.
Earlier, seventh-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland worked to oust Japanese wild card Hiroki Moriya 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. The match was even in the final set until the 16th-ranked Wawrinka broke Moriya to move ahead 4-3.
Lukas Lacko of Slovakia scored a 6-0, 6-2 win over Alberto Ramos of Spain earlier Monday.
Top-seeded Andy Murray, the defending Japan Open champion, will take on Gael Monfils of France in a first-round match Tuesday or Wednesday.
Gretzky hopes for labor deal by Winter Classic
TORONTO — The Great One is optimistic about the NHL’s labor situation.
Wayne Gretzky thinks the league’s lockout will end before the showcase Winter Classic between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Detroit and Toronto are scheduled to play outdoors at Michigan Stadium to kick off the new year.
Ex-Ohio State star charged in shooting
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Former Ohio State football star Jim Stillwagon is suspected of shooting at a pickup truck on a highway ramp and later striking the driver with a handgun, causing it to fire a bullet that grazed the man’s head, after a road rage incident that spanned about 14 miles, police said Monday.
The college Hall of Famer, a middle guard who helped the Buckeyes to a national championship in 1968, was jailed on a felonious assault charge and had bond set at $350,000 in municipal court in Delaware, north of Columbus.
Court records didn’t list an attorney for the 63-year-old Stillwagon.
A phone message was left Monday at his home in suburban Columbus.
The Sunday afternoon altercation between the truck driver and Stillwagon, who was on a motorcycle, might have started when one driver cut off the other, police said.
Indianapolis promotes C from practice squad
INDIANAPOLIS — Center A.Q. Shipley is moving from the Colts practice squad to the active roster.
The move, made Monday, could be an indication that starting center Samson Satele is still ailing from an undisclosed knee injury. Satele had to leave each of Indy’s last two games early because of the injury.
Shipley was signed by the Colts in January, made the active roster, then was waived Sept. 10 and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He did play against Chicago in Indy’s season opener.
To make room for Shipley, the Colts waived outside linebacker Mario Addison.
Indy (1-2) also made two moves with the practice squad, signing cornerback Marshay Green and releasing cornerback D.J. Johnson.
By wire sources