Injured Mattek-Sands loses to Vinci in Paris
PARIS (AP)—Injured American Bethanie Mattek-Sands lost to Roberta Vinci 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 Thursday in the second round of the Open GDF Suez.
Mattek-Sands struggled through a lower-back injury at 3-2 in the third set, sobbing during the changeover and calling a therapist to massage her left hip and thigh.
The seventh-seeded Italian won when Mattek-Sands sent a backhand into the net.
Mattek-Sands struggled with her serve in the first set, making four double-faults and landing only 45 percent of her first serves.
But the American qualifier took a 5-0 lead in the next set to tie the match when Vinci sent a forehand wide.
Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic also advanced, cruising past Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-0, 6-3.
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Ferrero to open Spanish Davis Cup defense
OVIEDO, Spain (AP)—Former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero will begin Spain’s Davis Cup defense against Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan on Friday in a Davis Cup first-round series.
Eleventh-ranked Nicolas Almagro plays Andrey Golubev in the second singles match as Spain is without the players who secured its fifth title in December, including Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer.
Spain’s Marcel Granollers will partner rookie Marc Lopez in Saturday’s doubles against Evgeny Korolev and Yuriy Schukin.
Almagro plays Kukushkin and Ferrero will face Golubev in Sunday’s reverse singles on indoor clay in the first ever meeting between the two nations.
Nadal, Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco have helped Spain win three titles since 2008.
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Vinci, Zakopalova reach Paris quarterfinals
PARIS (AP)—Roberta Vinci beat American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Open GDF Suez.
The seventh-seeded Italian broke twice in the final set, clinching victory when Mattek-Sands sent a backhand into the net.
Mattek-Sands struggled with her serve in the first set, making four double-faults and landing only 45 percent of her first serves.
But the American jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the next set to level the match when Vinci sent a forehand wide.
Mattek-Sands was in pain at 3-2 in the decider, sobbing during the changeover and calling a physiotherapist to massage her left hip and thigh.
Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic also advanced, cruising past Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-0, 6-3.
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Federer to face Isner in Davis Cup singles
FRIBOURG, Switzerland (AP)—Roger Federer will face John Isner in the second singles match Friday when Switzerland takes on the United States in the first round of the Davis Cup.
Switzerland’s 28th-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka opens the series against eighth-ranked Mardy Fish.
In Sunday’s scheduled reverse singles, the third-ranked Federer is set to face Fish, followed by Wawrinka against the 17th-ranked Isner.
U.S. captain Jim Courier is giving 19-year-old Ryan Harrison a Davis Cup debut Saturday, partnering Mike Bryan in doubles against Federer and Wawrinka, who won Olympic gold in doubles in Beijing.
Bryan’s twin brother Bob is unavailable after his first child was born last week.
The series will be played on indoor clay at the 7,000-capacity Fribourg Forum.
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Vania King advances to Pattaya quarterfinals
PATTAYA, Thailand (AP)—Eighth-seeded Vania King advanced to the quarterfinals of the Pattaya Open by beating Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 6-1, 6-3 Thursday.
The American played well from the baseline to beat her friend and reach the quarterfinals for the first time since last September in Seoul.
King will next play defending champion Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who beat Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-3, 6-2 in a match that was briefly suspended by light rain before the end of the first set.
Sania Mirza also advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Anne Keothavong of Britain 6-4, 7-5. Mirza, who lost the 2009 final to Vera Zvonareva, will play Taiwanese qualifier Hsieh Su-wei, who defeated Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm 7-5, 6-0.
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Tipsarevic to open for Serbia against Sweden
NIS, Serbia (AP)—Ninth-ranked Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia will take on Sweden’s Filip Prpic in the opening match of their Davis Cup first-round series.
The draw on Thursday also pitted 22nd-ranked Viktor Troicki against Sweden’s Michael Ryderstedt in the second singles match on Friday.
Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjich will face Swedish duo Johan Brunstrom and Robert Lindstedt in the doubles match on Saturday, with reverse singles to be played on Sunday.
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic is sitting out of the series to rest after winning the Australian Open.
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Youzhny to miss Davis Cup singles against Austria
WIENER NEUSTADT, Austria (AP)—Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev has opted to use Igor Kunitsyn for the opening singles of the Davis Cup series against Austria instead of his highest ranked player, Mikhail Youzhny.
The 79th-ranked Kunitsyn, who is 51 places below Youzhny, will open the best-of-five series Friday against Austria’s No. 1 Jurgen Melzer, followed by Andreas Haider-Maurer taking on Russia’s Alex Bogomolov Jr.
Tarpischev declined to elaborate on his decision and says “one should explain after the match. We will not give insights in our decisions beforehand.”
Youzhny was picked to play alongside Nikolay Davydenko in Saturday’s doubles against Alexander Peya and Oliver Marach, though these pairings are subject to change.
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Petzschner to open against Argentina’s Monaco
BAMBERG, Germany (AP)—Philipp Petzschner will open Germany’s Davis Cup first-round series with Argentina against Juan Monaco.
In the second singles Friday, Florian Mayer will play David Nalbandian. Mayer is Germany’s top-ranked player at No. 21, while Nalbandian is No. 84. Petzschner is ranked 56th and Juan Monaco is Argentina’s leading player at No. 23.
Tommy Haas makes a Davis Cup comeback when he teams with Petzschner to face Juan Ignacio Chela and Eduardo Schwank in Saturday’s doubles, with the reverse singles on Sunday.
Germany is without Philipp Kohlschreiber because of an illness.
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Stepanek to play Seppi in Davis Cup opener
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (AP)—Radek Stepanek will play Andreas Seppi in the opening singles match when the Czech Republic faces Italy in the first round of the Davis Cup.
Stepanek, who won the doubles title at the Australian Open, is 2-0 against Seppi at ATP tournaments.
Also, No. 7-ranked Tomas Berdych will face Simone Bolelli in the second singles match on an indoor hard court at CEZ Arena. Bolelli, ranked 135th, replaced Potito Starace, who caught a cold and has not trained with the team in Ostrava.
Berdych reached the Australian Open quarterfinals and won his seventh career title on Sunday in the Open Sud de France final in Montpellier. But Bolelli beat him twice of their four previous encounters. Last time, he defeated Berdych 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3 in the first round of the 2009 French Open.
“This time, it will be a different story,” Berdych said. “I play on a home court that suits me well. I’m in form. I think it will end well.”
In Saturday’s doubles, Czech pair Frantisek Cermak and Lukas Rosol are set to play Daniele Braccialli and Starace, if he recovers.
Czech Republic captain Jaroslav Navratil is still expected to replace his originally named doubles players by Berdych and Stepanek, who plan to team up for the doubles at the London Olympics.
Reverse singles are scheduled for Sunday.
The winner of the best-of-five series will face either Serbia or Sweden in the quarterfinals in April.
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Stepanek opens against Seppi in Davis Cup tie
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (AP)—Radek Stepanek will play Andreas Seppi in the opening singles match when the Czech Republic faces Italy in the first round of the Davis Cup.
Stepanek, who won the doubles title at the Australian Open, is 2-0 against Seppi at ATP tournaments.
Also, No. 7-ranked Tomas Berdych will face Simone Bolelli in the second singles match on an indoor hard court at CEZ Arena. Bolelli, ranked 135th, replaced Potito Starace, who fell ill.
In Saturday’s doubles, Czech pair Frantisek Cermak and Lukas Rosol are set to play Daniele Braccialli and Potito Starace.
Reverse singles are scheduled for Sunday.
The winner of the best-of-five series will face either Serbia or Sweden in the quarterfinals in April.
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