Baghdatis advances to second round
Yen-Hsun Lu held his nerve to beat #NextGen ATP star Karen Khachanov, who recovered from a 3-5 deficit in the deciding set and held two match points, in a thrilling 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(9) victory on Tuesday at the ASB Classic. Lu, the 2014 finalist, could not convert two match point opportunities at 5-4 in the third set, and at 6/5 and 8/7 in the tie-break. He saved match points at 6/7 and 8/9 before completing a memorable win, over two hours and 39 minutes, with a forehand winner. He will next play seventh seed Steve Johnson.
Joao Sousa started his 2017 with a 6-1, 7-5 victory against fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Sousa won 55 per cent of his second-serve points in the 88-minute win. He’ll next meet 27-year-old qualifier Brydan Klein, who saved one match point to outlast Facundo Bagnis 6-1, 6-7(6), 7-6(3). Klein could not convert four match point opportunities at 6/2 in the second set tie-break, while Bagnis held one match point chance at 5-3 in the deciding set.
Eighth seed Marcos Baghdatis, in his third appearance in Auckland, will hope to improve on his 3-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against wild card Dustin Brown in the second round after he beat 2015 finalist Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-4. Jeremy Chardy won the final match of the day 6-4, 6-2 over local wild card Artem Sitak and now challenges sixth seed Feliciano Lopez. Chardy and fellow Frenchman Fabrice Martin won the Qatar ExxonMobil Open doubles title last week.
Matkowski/Qureshi Reach Doubles QFs
Fourth seeds Marcin Matkowski and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi lost just three of their first service points and struck eight aces past Ryan Harrison and John Isner in a 7-6(4), 6-1 victory over 67 minutes for a place in the last eight.
Bagnis and Diego Schwartzman edged past Ramos-Vinolas and Jiri Vesely 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-7 in one hour and 52 minutes. The Argentines could not convert one match point chance – on a deciding point at 5-4 in the second set and then minutes later saw a 5/3 lead vanish in the subsequent tie-break.
| Australian Open 2017 |
|---|
| Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne Dates: 16-29 Jan |
| Coverage: Radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and TV highlights on BBC Two; live text commentary on selected matches on the BBC Sport website and mobile app. |
The first Grand Slam of the 2017 season begins with the Australian Open from 16-29 January in Melbourne.
Defending men’s and women’s champions Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber will be in action alongside world number one Andy Murray, who is seeking his first Australian Open title.
BBC Radio 5 live sports extra is live from Melbourne Park with commentary from each day of the tournament.
BBC Two rounds up the day with a daily highlights programme from 21 January.
There’s also live text commentary on selected matches, including every time Andy Murray or Johanna Konta play, on the BBC Sport website and mobile app.
All times GMT.
07:00-14:00 – BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
07:00-14:00 – BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
07:00-14:00 – BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
07:00-07:45 – BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
07:00-14:00 – BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
07:00-12:55 – BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
15:00-16:30 – Highlights, BBC Two
08:30-13:15 – BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
17:15-18:15 – Highlights, BBC Two
07:00-14:00 – BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
16:30-17:30 – Highlights, BBC Two
07:00-14:00 – BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
16:30-17:30 – Highlights, BBC Two
07:00-14:00 – BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
16:30-17:30 – Highlights, BBC Two
08:30-13:15 – BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
17:00-18:00 – Highlights, BBC Two
08:30-12:30 – BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
17:00-18:00 – Highlights, BBC Two
Women’s final
08:30-12:30 – BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
13:15-14:30 – Highlights, BBC One
Men’s final
08:30-12:30 – BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
13:00-14:30 – Highlights, BBC Two
Matches and coverage times are subject to late changes. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made.
You can view BBC Sport output as well as listen to our radio sports programming on the BBC iPlayer.
The BBC Sport website is available via desktop, mobile, tablet and app, giving fast and easy access to the live stream, text commentaries, news, reports and schedules. The BBC Sport app is available free on Apple and Android devices.
National and regional variations have been included in this list where possible, but please check your local listings for more detailed information.
Maria Sharapova will make her professional comeback at the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart on 26 April after her 15-month doping suspension.
The 29-year-old former world number one was given a two-year ban in March after testing positive for meldonium.
Her suspension was then reduced in October following an appeal.
The tournament in Germany starts two days before the Russian’s suspension runs out and she will not be allowed to attend until the day of her match.
Sharapova, whose main sponsor is Porsche, will return to tennis without a ranking and needs a wild card to enter the tournament.
“I could not be happier to have my first match back on tour at one of my favourite tournaments,” she said.
“I can’t wait to see all my great fans and to be back doing what I love.”
The five-time Grand Slam champion won the Stuttgart title for three years in a row from 2012 to 2014.
She last played a professional tournament at the Australian Open 12 months ago, where she failed the doping test.
Sharapova was a long-time user of meldonium and says she was unaware it had been added to the banned list at the start of 2016.
She has already taken part in two exhibition events since her ban was reduced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
British number one Johanna Konta reached the last eight of the Sydney International with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Australian Daria Gavrilova.
The 25-year-old broke the world number 25 in the opening game and dropped only four points on serve in the first set.
The world number 10 wasted four match points on her own serve in the eighth game of the second set, but broke Gavrilova in the ninth to seal victory.
Konta will play Russian world number 26 Daria Kasatkina in the quarter-finals.
The 19-year-old beat world number one Angelique Kerber earlier. Third seed Dominika Cibulkova and fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova were also beaten on Tuesday.
Konta said: “It’s such a strong tournament, such depth. I know going into every single match that it’s going to be a tough one and I’m just going to have to, first and foremost, take care of things my end.”
Briton Brydan Klein reached the second round of the Auckland Open with a 6-1 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-3) win over Facundo Bagnis – ranked 269 places above him.
The world number 324, who represented Australia until 2013, swept through the first set against the Argentine.
Find out how to get into tennis in our special guide.
The 27-year-old Briton then wasted four match points in the second set tie-break as Bagnis hit back to level.
But Klein retained his composure and overturned a 5-2 deficit in the final set to win the match in the tie-break.
Klein will play Portugal’s Joao Sousa in the second round.
Australian Nick Lindahl, once ranked 187 in singles, is banned for seven years and fined for match fixing.
From 9-12 December, Tecnifibre organised a pre-season physical training camp, an initiative born from the unique “On the Road to the ATP World Tour” concept with the ATP World Tour.
Five young and hopeful players from the Tecnifibre team gathered in Bretagne in France for four days of training. The camp concentrated on performance, commitment, sharing information and training together. Russians Daniil Medvedev, No. 99 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, and Alen Avidzba along with Frenchmen Hugo Grenier, Johan Tatlot and Boris Fassbender pushed their limits during the intensive training designed by coach Patrick Chamagne.
The players participated in numerous activities, including beach soccer, paddle tennis, sand yachting, sea kayaking and sea aquagym. The goal of the camp was to discover disciplines that were very far away from tennis so that the players could step outside of their comfort zones to prepare physically and mentally for the long 2017 season ahead of them.
This was also an opportunity for members of the Tecnifibre team to not only to create a link of proximity with one another, but also to evaluate their own potential for the years to come.
Guillaume Ducruet, Sports Marketing Manager, said: “To step outside of tennis and to change their daily routines, it was interesting for us to see if they could step up to the challenge. The team experience also allowed the players to share their experiences and to motivate one another. Tecnifibre likes to be at the side of its athletes all year-round. This proximity is part of our brand culture. It is rare for these young players who are always on tour, to spend time as part of a group.”
Tecnifibre, where open-mindedness is one of the keys to success at this level, is the only brand that offers such an experience to its ambassadors: to go one step further other than to give out equipment.
Medvedev, recently winner of the second Tecnifibre “Young Guns” contest, found this experience extremely enriching. “Preparation is the most important element in tennis. You find your weaknesses, your physical ability, your mental ability. This is what prepares you for the season to come.
“My main goal for the next year is to remain in the Top 100 and, if possible, to go up into the Top 50. This is why I take preparation seriously and why I came to this camp this winter.”
Medvedev has made a good start to the 2017 season. The #NextGenATP player reached his first ATP World Tour final on Sunday at the Aircel Chennai Open (l. to Bautista Agut).