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.
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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.