Wawrinka in St Petersburg Open final
SAINT PETERSBURG: US Open champion Stan Wawrinka and Alexander Zverev of Germany cruised into the Saint Petersburg Open final on Saturday beating Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain and the Czech Thomas Berdych respectively.
Swiss top seed Wawrinka won his first ever meeting with the fourth seeded Bautista Agut 7-6(8), 6-2 in one hour 50 minutes to set up a clash with the German teenager in the final.
The world number three produced a catalogue of 31 unforced errors but nevertheless took the opening set in a tiebreak after one hour 15 minutes on court.
Meanwhile, the 19-year-old fifth seeded Zverev, who is seeking his maiden ATP title here, beat third seed Berdych 6-4, 6-4 in one hour 20 minutes.
WOZNIACKI TO FACE OSAKA IN TOKYO FINAL
TOKYO: Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki produced a spirited fightback to beat fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 and reach the Pan Pacific Open final on Saturday.
Awaiting the Dane in Sunday’s Tokyo final will be Japanese teenager Naomi Osaka, who continued her fairytale run with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.
Wozniacki, Pan Pacific champion six years ago, starts favourite as she goes in search of a 24th career title. “It’s good to be back,” she told reporters after almost three hours on court.
SANAM SINGH WINS SINGLES TITLE
COIMBATORE: Fourth seed Sanam Singh defeated second seed Prajnesh Gunneswaran in the singles final of the LMW ITF Men’s Futures International Tennis Tournament here on Saturday. Singh defeated Prajnesh 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. N Sriram Balaji-Vishnu Vardhan pair had won the doubles title on Friday.
FRENCH EXTENDS PAIRE SUSPENSION
PARIS: The French Tennis Federation (FFT) has extended Benoit Paire’s suspension until the end of February 2017 for “damaging” the organisation’s image by his behaviour at the Rio Olympics. The FFT, however, lifted bans on Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic who were sanctioned for criticising the organisation following a mixup over their clothing in a first-round women’s doubles loss.
