Japan’s Osaka stuns Venus

Hong Kong, October 11 

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Japanese teenager Naomi Osaka fought back from an early break to stun Venus Williams in straight sets and move through to the quarterfinals of the Hong Kong Open. Osaka prevailed 7-5 6-2 for her best career win by ranking. “I feel like even if I hit one semi-short ball she would come in and crush it, so I had to play really well,” Osaka said. 

Zhu upsets Kvitova

Tianjin (China): China’s Zhu Lin staved off a mid-match fightback to upset Petra Kvitova 6-4 5-7 6-4 for her maiden top 20 win in Round 1 of the Tianjin Open. 

Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova trounced ninth seed Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4 6-2. 

Federer, Nadal advance

Shanghai: Roger Federer was uncharacteristically sloppy as he fended off dogged Diego Schwartzman 7-6(4) 6-4 to labour into the third round of the Shanghai Masters.

Rafa Nadal continued his imperious run of form when he extended his winning streak to 13 matches with a 6-2 6-1 victory over American Jared Donaldson.

Kyrgios fined $10,000 for Shanghai walk off

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has been fined $10,000 and deducted his $21,000 first-round losers’ cheque following his decision to walk off after losing the first set against Steve Johnson in the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday. Kyrgios had just been beaten in a tiebreak against Johnson when he walked to the net, offered his hand to the American and stormed off court. Kyrgios, 22, was booed off court by the crowd.

The ATP said that Kyrgios had failed to complete a medical visit to explain his actions. Kyrgios said later on Twitter that he had been suffering with a stomach bug and a shoulder problem. 

Fognini gets two Grand Slam ban for US Open outburst

London: Italy’s Fabio Fognini was provisionally suspended for two Grand Slam tournaments and fined $96,000 for his outburst at this year’s US Open, the Grand Slam Board said on Wednesday.

Fognini directed vulgar language towards chair umpire Louise Engzell during his first-round loss and was subsequently disqualified from the tournament. One of the two Grand Slam tournaments the 30-year-old faces a ban from must be the US Open, although the sanction will only be imposed if he is found guilty of another Grand Slam Major Offence during the next two years. — Agencies