Canadian Vasek Pospisil, 21, suffered a narrow loss Wednesday in the first round of the St. Petersburg Open tennis tournament in Russia.
Pospisil, playing in his second career ATP World Tour event, was edged 7-5 7-6(4) by Andreas Seppi of Italy in a men’s singles match that lasted two hours.
Pospisil, ranked No. 133 in the world, played three rounds of qualifying to participate in the tournament. Seppi is ranked No. 52.
Top seed Gael Monfils booked his place in the semi-finals of the Stockholm Open after battling to a straight-sets victory over Kevin Anderson on Friday night.
The French world number 10 overcame a second-set wobble to prevail 7-5 7-5 and book a showdown with Canadian youngster Milos Raonic.
Raonic enhanced his burgeoning reputation with a 7-5 6-4 victory – which included 14 aces – over Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.
Injury-plagued David Nalbandian was forced to pull out of his scheduled quarter-final with James Blake, though, leaving Argentina with a Davis Cup headache six weeks ahead of the final against Spain.
Nalbandian suffered a thigh injury and was unable to take to the court for his match against America’s James Blake.
“I felt tension in the hamstring during the match yesterday (a 6-1, 6-1 win over Croatia’s Ivan Dodig).
Results/Draws/Updates
CHAPEL HILL, NC – Clemson junior Nelly Ciolkowski won a pair of three-set matches on Saturday at advance to the Quarterfinal round at the 2011 ITA Carolina Regional Singles Championship in Chapel Hill, NC. She is also into the quarters in doubles as well, teaming with sophomore Monika Kochanova with a surprising run.
Top-ranked and top-seeded Josipa Bek and Keri Wong also earned a spot in the quarters against NC State’s tandem of Joelle Kissell and Ashley Miller after an 8-2 win in the Round of 16 over Alkema and Garcia of Winthrop.
The Falcon football team dropped its sixth straight game, losing at Stevens Point, 31-10, Saturday afternoon.
Taylor Edwards ran the ball 23 times for 97 yards in the losing effort. Edwards was the driving force behind the opening series with 10 carries for 57 yards. The drive concluded withB.J. Letourneau hitting Edwards on a 4-yard pass – Edwards 19th career touchdown, first time on a reception.
The touchdown gave the Falcons their first lead in three weeks, when they scored on the opening drive at Trine. The early 7-0 lead, the largest lead of the 2011 season, was short lived as the Pointers answered with a score on the ensuing drive.
“This game was a lot like the first five,” said Falcon Coach Matt Walker. “We g Read full article…
Defending champion Andy Murray powered through to the Shanghai Masters final after a commanding performance in which he brushed aside Japan’s Kei Nishikori. The No2 seed will face Spain’s David Ferrer on Sunday, looking to secure a title for the third week in a row.
Murray, enjoying a superb run in Asia, will be out to add to his titles from Bangkok and Tokyo after a 6-3, 6-0 demolition of unseeded Nishikori. The Scot was taking on a player currently being tutored by his former coach, Brad Gilbert, but Murray and Nishikori were incomparable today. They shared the opening six games, but thereafter Murray was merciless as he closed in on a fifth title in 2011.