Roddick off to a winning start in Shanghai

SHANGHAI -- Andy Roddick rallied to beat Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 Monday in the first round of the Shanghai Masters.The 10th-seeded Roddick won the first set easily, but Lu picked up his game in the second, rushing the net repeatedly and hitting 15 winners to eight for the American.

The former U.S. Open champion then broke Lu twice in the third set to close out the match Roddick was beaten by Lu in five sets in the fourth round of Wimbledon last year, the last time the two players met. But the Taiwanese player made too many mistakes Monday, committing 50 unforced errors, including seven double-faults."He plays so high risk," Roddick said. "Overall, I thought it was pretty good, save four games."

The 29-year-old Roddick has struggled to regain his form this season, losing in the third round at Wimbledon and pulling out of the French Open because of injury. His ranking has slipped to No. 15. 

Somdev loses in first round of Shanghai Masters

Somdev Devvarman's lean patch continued as he made another first round exit from the ATP Shanghai Masters after losing in straight sets to Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, in Shanghai today. The 84th ranked Indian lost 4-6 3-6 in an hour and 27 minutes in his opening match of the USD 3,240,00 hard court tournament. 

Now the head-to-head record of the two players stand 2-2 in four meetings this season. Since Atlanta event in July, Somdev has competed in seven tournaments, including Davis Cup tie against Japan, and has won only two matches.In the doubles event, Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes are seeded fourth and have got a first round bye. Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-haq Quershi are seeded seventh and they also have got a first round bye.

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Deepchand, Kiran win Vasai-Virar Mayor Marathon

The race that was flagged off from the Viva College in Virar and wound through the routes of Virar, Nallasopara and Vasai, attracted a galaxy of celebrities including former India hockey skipper Dhanraj Pillay and current sensation Yuvraj Valmiki. Bollywood actress Mahima Chaudhary and Marathi actresses, Sukanya Kulkarni, Kranti Redkar, Deepali Sayyad and Smita Tambe. The Vasai-Virar Mahanagar Pallika, which organised the event, was represented by Mayor Rajiv Patil, besides other members. Results: Men (Open) (42 k.m.):


Deepchand Saharan Mohansingh (Pune) 2.28.03; Bhaskar Madhukar Kamble (Vashim) 2.37.26; Nilesh Waman Bodhe (Chandrapur) 2.39.16; Bhima Sawlaram Shinde (Nashik Police) 2.40.50; Kalidas Dahikale (Pune) 2.41.10. Women (21k.m.): Kiran Prayag Tiwari (Western Railway) 1.18.21; Lalita Babar 1.19.23; Priya Prakash Thoke (Mumbai) 1.20.25; Sangeeta Yadav (Mumbai) 1.22.53; Reshma Chandrakant Dalvi (Pune); Swati Deviprasad Sarode (Amravati) 1.25.49. Men (Vasai Taluka): Don Disilva (Vasai) 2.56.10; Sandeep Pandirkar (Virar) 3.20.06; Sandip Tulaskar (Vasai) 3.34.00. Women (Vasai Taluka): Darshana Sitaram Khandekar (Virar) 1.37.05; Sangeeta B Mohankar (Chandip) 1.50.07;


Priya Pradip Surve (Nalasopara) 2.17.15. Boys U-20 (11 k.m.): Bharat Krishna Gharat (Vasai) 40.01.08; Shubham Sudhakar Taral (Virar) 40.10.03; Hitesh J Patel (Virar) 40.10.09. Boys U-17 (5 k.m.): Salim Salman Khan 25.17.08; Gurunath Dinesh Mhatre 27.10.08; Virendra Yadav 27.47.07. Boys U-14 (3 k.m.): Shohaib Mustakh Mansuri 11.08.01; Shubham Rakesh Yadav 12.08.00; ; Radhe Sagar Gupta 13.20.00. Girls U-17 (5 k.m.): Divya Suresh Padvi 20.05.06; Kavita Ankush Khandekar 27.23.09; Megha Prabhakar Patil 28.10.01. Girls U-14: (3 k.m.): Itkar Chaya Shridhar 13.10.08; Gaikar Shilpa Jagdish 13.19.01; Amisha V. Jadhav 13.23.04. PTI VKV

Pospisil leads Canada into elite World Group

RAMAT HASHARON, Israel - Vasek Pospisil has carried Canada's Davis Cup team into the elite World Group.Vancouver's Pospisil finished the weekend undefeated after a 6-2, 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory over Israel's Amir Weintraub in the deciding match Sunday of the World Group playoff tie.When Israel's Dudi Sela defeated Peter Polansky 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 earlier in the day to tie the series 2-2, Canada's re-entry into the 16-country elite tier rested on the the 21-year-old Pospisil's shoulders.