Haas needs surgery, out for rest of season
LONDON: Tommy Haas needs a fourth operation on his right shoulder and will miss the rest of the tennis season. The 20th-ranked German retired from his opening match at the French Open last month and withdrew from last week’s Gerry Weber Open in Halle to assess the injury. The 36-year-old player’s management company said Monday that Haas has three damaged tendons in his right shoulder, which was operated on in 2002, 2003 and 2007. Haas says ”the diagnosis was a real shock” and surgery ”can’t be avoided because the injury is very serious.” Haas, once ranked No. 2 in the world, will undergo surgery on Tuesday in New York. He says he no plans to retire and hopes for a comeback in 2015. Haas says ”I’m still totally convinced I’ve good matches and tournaments ahead of me.” (AP)
Azarenka happy after losing opening match
EASTBOURNE (UK): Victoria Azarenka was reasonably satisfied after losing her first match in more than three months, a three-setter in the first round of the Aegon Championships on Tuesday. Azarenka, the former No. 1 recovered from a left foot injury, lost 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to Camila Giorgi. “That’s exactly what I wanted,” Azarenka said. “I wanted to have a competitive match. I wanted to test myself, to play for a long time, see how my body is going to react. I’m pretty pleased with what happened. Obviously the result is the result, but that’s a beginning. It’s a starting point. There are a lot of positive things that I can take from what happened today.” Third seed Jelena Jankovic was also beaten, going down 6-3, 6-3 to Madison Keys, and second seed Petra Kvitova also struggled before beating Lucie Safarova 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (4), winning the last five points to claim victory on her third match point. Giorgi had previously demonstrated her grass-court skills by reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon as a qualifier in 2012, and she was a third-round finisher last year. Despite her defeat, Azarenka believed she was almost ready to compete again at the highest level. In other matches, former champion Ekaterina Makarova defeated qualifier Francesca Schiavone 7-5, 6-3, and seventh-seeded Sara Errani was beaten 7-6 (5), 6-2 by qualifier Lauren Davis. There were also wins for sixth seed Flavia Pennetta, Daniela Hantuchova, Johanna Konta and Varvara Lepchenko. Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska failed to reach the second round when she was beaten 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4) by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Monday. In the ATP event, seventh seed Santiago Giraldo was beaten 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 by Jarkko Nieminen. (AP)
Bouchard suffers setback as seeds fall
‘s-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands): Rising star Eugenie Bouchard saw her pre-Wimbledon preparations go awry after losing 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to Vania King in the first round of the WTA/ATP ‘s-Hertogenbosch Open on Tuesday. French Open semifinalist Bouchard will now arrive at next week’s tournament at the All England Club with just one grass-court match under her belt this season. Second seed Dominika Cibulkova was also sent tumbling out after losing 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to Yaroslava Shvedova. Garbine Muguruza swept aside Yvonne Meusburger 6-4, 6-1 in her second round match, while Carla Suarez Navarro eased past Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-4, 6-2 in round one. Men’s second seed Fernando Verdasco, the highest-ranked player in the field following the withdrawal of compatriot David Ferrer, recovered from a slow start to beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round. (Reuters)
Love game stuns Krajicek
‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH (Netherlands): Michaella Krajicek enjoyed a love game of her own at the WTA ‘s-Hertogenbosch grasscourt tournament when her tennis-playing boyfriend proposed to her on court immediately after she won her first round match. It was taking care of business at first for the 25-year-old Dutchwoman as she defeated Jana Cepelova 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 to reach the second round of the Wimbledon buildup tournament. And then – the icing on the cake of a perfect day for the former world junior number one – Krajicek’s boyfriend, German player Martin Emmrich, stepped onto the court, went down on one knee, and proposed. Krajicek said yes. “It was a huge surprise!” a beaming Krajicek said afterwards. “I mean, we spoke about marriage a couple of times before, but I didn’t expect it now. It’s very special. I’m really happy and I feel so lucky that he did it like this. We met here one year ago and I think it’s such a very special place to do it. The first 10 or 15 seconds when he came on the court I thought, ‘Okay, it’s nice to see him, but this is strange.’ But then I saw he had tears in his eyes, and I was like, ‘Oh wow,’ and I realised what was going to happen! I was so focused on him the whole time I didn’t hear anything he was saying! I just knew I was for sure going to say yes. That was all I knew in that moment.” (AFP)