ROTTERDAM, Feb 10 — Richard Gasquet handed the Rotterdam World Tennis tournament another box office body blow as the top seed quit yesterday a day before his opening match with a groin strain.
The pullout came a week after Roger Federer was unable to play after undergoing knee surgery which will keep him off the ATP for at least a month.
Frenchman Gasquet said that he felt his pain the day before winning the Montpellier tournament for the third time at the weekend.
The 29-year-old ranked 13th came to Rotterdam in hopes he could heal but said that he is also now feeling ill and had no choice but to quit the indoor event.
Marin Cilic, the second seed, now takes the role of favourite at the tournament where he finished runner-up in 2014.
Gasquet said that he hopes to be able to play in the Marseille event later this month.
“Of course I’m disappointed, I wanted to play here,” Gasquet said.
“It’s impossible for me to play.
“If I don’t feel 100 percent, it is better to quit. This is a big event for me, I’m sad not to be able to play here. It’s tough for me but I had no choice.
“I need to rest,” said the player whose season only began last week after missing the Australian summer campaign with back pain.
“I played four matches last week and maybe my body was not ready.”
On court, Luxembourg veteran Gilles Muller rallied to defeat Andreas Seppi 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, setting up his first career meeting with Cilic.
Muller, 32, had suffered three defeats at the hands of the Italian but turned the tables in slightly more than two hours at the Ahoy stadium.
Muller will be keen to take on second seed Cilic for the first time after the 2014 US Open winner led a three-man Croatian waver into the second round in Rotterdam.
“Cilic is one of the few guys I’ve not played, sometimes it happens like that,” said Muller, losing quarter-finalist at the event a year ago to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka.
“It will be exciting, a tough match, I hope to recover well and be ready for him.”
Muller’s big serve accounted for 19 aces against Seppi, who dropped to 4-5 in 2016 as he played Rotterdam for the ninth time.
“It was a close match, it could have gone either way at the end,” Muller, a semi-finalist last weekend in Sofia, said. “We were both fighting very hard.
“The first round of a tournament is always difficult, I also got to Rotterdam late which did not help.
“It’s a match I’m glad I won, but I can play better than this.”
Crowd-pleaser Marcos Baghdatis ended an upset of fourth seed David Goffin by winning a 41-shot rally as the Belgian fired a forehand long in a 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7/5) loss.
Baghdatis was joined in the second round by French fifth seed Gael Monfils, a 6-4, 6-4 victor over qualifier Ernests Gulbis.
South Korea’s Chung Hyeon advanced past Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 while Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber easily eliminated Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-4, 6-4. — AFP
BERLIN, Feb 10 — Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang claimed his 30th goal of the season yesterday to help fire Borussia Dortmund into the German Cup semi-finals with a 3-1 victory at VfB Stuttgart.
Gabon striker Aubameyang and Germany winger Marco Reus, who have provided 45 of Dortmund’s goals in all competitions this season, netted before Henrik Mkhitaryan claimed their late third.
Aubameyang has now scored in each of Dortmund’s last seven German Cup games, dating back to the start of last season, having also netted in Dortmund’s 3-1 Cup final defeat to Wolfsburg last May.
“Auba knows how to take his chances and he works hard on his finishing every day,” said Reus.
“It’s fun to play alongside him.”
Dortmund are in the semi-finals for the third season in a row while spirited Stuttgart had their five-match winning streak, dating back to mid-December, ended.
Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich will attempt to join Dortmund in the last four when they play VfL Bochum on Wednesday while minnows Heidenheim host Hertha Berlin.
Dortmund took the lead at Stuttgart’s Mercedes Benz Arena when Reus fired home off the crossbar with just five minutes gone.
Stuttgart fought back and levelled when Lukas Rupp’s shot deflected off Mkhitaryan and into the Dortmund net on 21 minutes to the home fans’ delight.
The visitors regained the lead when Reus set up Aubameyang for his 30th in all competitions, on 31 minutes as Stuttgart failed to cope with Dortmund’s pace.
With time running out, Aubameyang broke clear and pulled Stuttgart goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak off his line to allow Mkhitaryan a simple tap-in on 89 minutes.
Earlier, veteran Claudio Pizarro helped seal Werder Bremen’s 3-1 quarter-final win at ten-man Bayer Leverkusen by playing a key role in their shock victory.
There was a strong Latin American flavour at Leverkusen’s BayArena as Bremen booked their place in April’s semi-finals.
Mexico’s Javier Hernandez put Leverkusen ahead, then Bremen’s Argentinian centre-back Santiago Garcia levelled before Brazilian defender Wendell was sent off for Bayer just before the half-time break.
After Wendall’s dismissal, Peru’s 37-year-old striker Pizarro scored Bremen’s second by converting the resulting penalty, then set up their third.
“We did very well defensively and we reacted as a unit after conceding a goal,” beamed Pizarro.
“Now we get to go further in the Cup.”
Leverkusen took the lead when ex-Manchester United forward Hernandez continued his record of scoring in each round of the cup.
It was his 22nd goal for Bayer this season in all competitions.
After Stefan Kiessling was up-ended by Bremen’s Spanish defender Alejandro Galvez in the area, ‘Chicharito’ rifled home the resulting penalty in the 22nd minute.
The lead lasted nine minutes as Bremen’s Argentinian centre-back Santiago Garcia put Werder level by hitting the bottom left-hand corner of Leverkusen’s net to make it 1-1.
Disaster struck for the hosts when Wendell was shown a straight red for hauling down Bartels, who was through on goal, just before the break
The 37-year-old Pizarro, who last weekend became the first foreign player to make 400 Bundesliga appearances, hit his eighth goal of the season.
Pizarro then played a big part in Bremen’s third as his shot was saved by Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno, but Florian Grillitsch tapped home the rebound on 82 minutes. — AFP
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