Tennis Sports News & Betting

Serena hopes to recover in time to play at U.S. Open

Serena Williams is hoping to recover from a right foot injury in time to play at the U.S. Open, the agent for the 13-time Grand Slam singles champion said Tuesday.

Related Info Serenas titles Three U.S. Opens | Thirteen grand slams

“Right now, were taking it a day at a time. Shes resting and recovering,” agent Jill Smoller said in a telephone interview. “Shes a fast healer.”

The No. 1-ranked Williams had surgery last week in Los Angeles to repair deep cuts on her right foot. She tweeted Tuesday about spending a “5th day in bed. arghhhh”

The Ame shortly after winning her fourth Wimbledon singles title on July 3, and before playing in an exhibition match against Kim Clijsters that drew a tennis-record crowd of 35,681 in Brussels on July 8.

“She will start training again as soon as shes healed,” Smoller said.

Williams already has pulled out of three hard-court tournaments she was scheduled to enter in preparation for the U.S. Open. The seasons last major championship begins Aug. 30 in New York.

She withdrew from the July 26-Aug. 1 event in Istanbul, the Aug. 9-15 event in Mason, Ohio, and the Aug. 16-22 event in Montreal.

The foot injury also led the 28-year-old Williams to miss the full World TeamTennis season for the Washington Kastles.

Generally, neither Williams nor her older sister Venus, a seven-time major singles champion, publicly discusses injuries.

Serena Williams already missed all of February, March and April this year because of a left knee pro at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

She won her first Grand Slam championship at age 17 at the 1999 U.S. Open, and she also won the title there in 2002 and 2008. Last year, as the defending champion, she lost in the semifinals to Clijsters when a tirade at a line judge over a foot-fault call at the end of the match resulted in a point penalty.

“Serena Williams is one of our sports greatest champions, and we are very hopeful she will be back at the U.S. Open. We communicate with her team frequently, and will continue to do so,” Open tournament director Jim Curley said. “We wish her a speedy recovery.”

Anderson ousts fifth-seeded Tipsarevic at Atlanta

Kevin Anderson of South Africa beat No. 5 seed Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the Atlanta Tennis Championships on Tuesday night.

No. 7 seed Xavier Malisse of Belgium advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (1), 6-3 victory over Ryan Sweeting. The last time the Atlanta Athletic Club hosted an event, in 2001, Malisse advanced to the final before losing to Andy Roddick.

Americans Taylor Dent, Donald Young and Robby Ginepri also won, while Gilles Muller of Luxembourg will face No. 2 seed John Isner in the second round Wednesday after beating Michal Przysiezny of Poland 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4).

Ginepri, who beat Nick Lindahl of Australia 7-6 (4), 6-2, will face No. 6 seed Mardy Fish in the second round.

Dent overcame 13 double-faults to beat James Blake 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. He plays No. 4 seed Horacio Zeballos of Argentina on Wednesday.

Young, who will play Anderson, beat Dudi Sela of Israel 7-5, 6-0.

Second-round matches on Thursday include Roddick, the No. 1 seed, facing Rajeev Ram, No. 3 seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia playing Lukas Lacko of Slovakia, and Malisse against Illya Marchenko of Ukraine.

Lacko Lacko beat Igor Kunitsyn of Russia 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4).

Foot injury leaves Serena in doubt for U.S. Open

Serena Williams is in doubt for the U.S. Open because of her recent foot injury, according to the WTA Tour.

Williams cut her right foot on broken glass at a restaurant shortly after winning Wimbledon. The tour said last week she needed surgery and would miss three tournaments leading up to the Open.

Related Info Serenas titles Three U.S. Opens | Thirteen grand slams

On Monday, tour spokesman Andrew Walker said Williams is questionable for the final Grand Slam of the year. Williams return to the Open has been widely anticipated because of her tumultuous semifinal loss there last year, when she threw a tirade at a line judge at the end of a match against Kim Clijsters and was fined a record $82,500.

Because of the injury, Williams is missing the entire World Team Tennis season with the Washington Kastles. Her team said she cut the bottom of her foot and needed stitches.

“Hey guys Im doing better,” Williams tweeted Monday. “Thanks for all the love.”

On Sunday night she tweeted: “cant wait to get out of bed & back on the courts & do what i do best!”

Ranked No. 1, Williams won her fourth Wimbledon crown and 13th major title July 3. The injury occurred shortly after in Europe and at first was not believed to be serious.

After hurting her foot, Williams played in an exhibition in Brussels on July 8 against Clijsters before a world-record tennis crowd of 35,681.

Williams attended a WTT match the next night in Glen Falls, New York and did not play but briefly discussed her injury with reporters. When asked how she was able to play against Clijsters, Williams said, “Those Belgian doctors and waffles.”

Williams subsequently withdrew from upcoming tournaments in Istanbul, Cincinnati and Montreal. The last of those, at Montreal, begins Aug. 16, and the U.S. Open starts Aug. 30.

After winning the Australian Open at the end of January, Williams was sidelined through April because of an injured left knee.

Dushevina, Paszek reach 2nd round at Slovenia Open

Sixth-seeded Vera Dushevina of Russia reached the second round of the Slovenia Open on Monday after rallying for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over countrywoman Anna Lapushchenkova.

Tamira Paszek of Austria, who won the tournament in 2006 but is a wild card this year, also advanced by beating Jelena Kostanic Tosic of Croatia 7-5, 6-2.

Andreja Klepac of Slovenia lost 6-3, 6-4 to Rossana De los Rios of Paraguay.

Two other Russians also reached the second round. Virginie Razzano ousted Zuzana Kucova of Slovakia 6-2, 7-5, and Anna Chakvetadze defeated fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 6-1.

Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia is set to play on Tuesday. French Open champion Francesca Schiavone withdrew with an injury.

Kanepi’s strong start leads to victory in Palermo

Fifth-seeded Kaia Kanepi has defeated defending champion Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the Palermo Open.

Pennetta made a strong start by breaking Kanepi in the first game Sunday, but the Estonian broke back in the sixth game to draw level at 3-3.

Kanepi broke again to take a 5-3 lead. Pennetta broke back immediately, but Kanepi broke the Italian again to take the set.

In the second set, Kanepi broke three times to lead 5-2. Pennetta then held her serve before the Estonian served out the victory.

It continues Kanepis impressive recent form after she reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

Montanes takes Mercedes Cup after Monfils retires

Albert Montanes of Spain collected his second ATP title of the season Sunday after Gael Monfils retired from the Mercedes Cup final with an ankle injury.

The fifth-seeded Montanes was leading 6-2, 1-2 when the third-seeded Frenchman withdrew. Monfils had turned his right ankle in the final game of the first set.

The 17th-ranked Monfils had the ankle taped up and continued to play in the second set, but conceded defeat during the change after he took a 2-1 lead.

“My ankle just got worse and worse. I thought I could come back. But I wasnt 100 percent and Albert would have figured out he needed to just move me around for the win,” said Monfils, who was appearing in his first ATP final of the season and going for the third crown of his career.

The 30th-ranked Montanes earned the fifth win of his career to claim $61,000 and a Mercedes convertible.

“It was a fantastic week. This is a great victory for me and for all of Spain,” said Montanes. “Its an incredible year for Spain, in football, tennis and basketball. And Im happy to have added more joy to my country.”

The Spaniard had defeated Jurgen Melzer in the quarterfinals and countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero to reach the final.

Serena to miss three U.S. Open tuneups after surgery

Serena Williams needs surgery on her right foot after cutting it on a broken glass at a restaurant.

The top-ranked womens player was injured last week and will miss three tournaments leading to the U.S. Open, the WTA Tour said Saturday.

Williams has withdrawn from tournaments in Istanbul, Cincinnati and Montreal. The tour website offered no details about what happened at the restaurant.

“Im so upset I wont be able to play in the upcoming events because of this foot surgery,” Williams said on the website. “Thank you for all of your support. I cant wait to get back on the courts.”

A message left with her agent was not immediately returned.

On Monday, World TeamTennis said Williams would miss the entire season. Her Washington Kastles team said she cut the bottom of her foot and needed stitches.

On July 10, Williams attended the wedding of Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony in New York. In a photo, it appeared she had two bandages on the top of her right foot.

Williams won her fourth Wimbledon crown and 13th major title in July. The Rogers Cup in Montreal begins Aug. 16, and the U.S. Open starts Aug. 30.

After winning the Australian Open at the end of January, Williams was sidelined through April because of an injured left knee. She lost in the French Open quarterfinals in June before capturing Wimbledon.

Montanes downs Ferrero to reach Stuttgart final

Fifth-seeded Albert Montanes of Spain beat compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero for the first time in his career to reach the Mercedes Cup final on Saturday.

Montanes, bidding for his second ATP clay-court title of the season, knocked off former French Open champion Ferrero 6-3, 7-6 (6).

The match was postponed during the first set due to rain.

Montanes had lost his previous five matches against Ferrero.

In the final he will take on third-seeded Gael Monfils of France.

Monfils reached his first ATP final of the season by knocking off unseeded Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.

Monfils is hoping to claim his third ATP title of his career.

Soderling battles to Swedish Open semifinals

Robin Soderling battled through to the semifinals of the Swedish Open Friday with a hard-fought victory over Italys Andreas Seppi on a day when four of the top five seeds won.

Top-seeded Soderling prevailed in three sets 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) at the clay-court tournament, but was given a scare by the 76th-ranked Seppi.

The Italian took the first set after breaking Soderling with the score at 2-2. The big-serving Swede, who hit 13 aces during the game, won the second despite at one point trailing 3-5.

The third set was even closer, with both players having chances to win the match before Soderling won the tie-break.

“Its nice to have won without playing well,” said Soderling after the match. “At the end I didnt do anything special, he just missed.”

Soderling will face David Ferrer in the next round, after he swept Uruguays Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-3 on center court.

Soderling came out on top in five sets when the pair met last in the fourth round of this years Wimbledon.

Also making it through to the last four is Spains Tommy Robredo, who defeated compatriot Fernando Verdasco in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.

The fifth-seeded Robredo, who is chasing his third Swedish Open title, needed only 82 minutes to down second-seeded Verdasco.

“If you dont play the best match of the week against a top 10 player then you lose,” said Robredo. “I was focused all the time.”

Robredo plays countryman Nicolas Almagro, who came from behind to beat Croatias Franco Skugor in three sets 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the final quarterfinal match of the day.

Schnyder, Zahlavova Strycova reach semis in Prague

Patty Schnyder of Switzerland has rallied past Anna Tatishvili of Georgia 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the semifinals of the Prague Open.

Schnyder, a former top-10 player, said Friday she was surprised by her hard-hitting opponent and was “a bit lucky to win” after a slow start.

In Saturdays semifinals, Schnyder will face eighth-seeded Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic who overcame Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

In the remaining quarterfinals Friday, fifth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain faces Czech Lucie Hradecka, while seventh-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary plays Slovenias Polona Hercog.