Neither a revved up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga nor the awful weather could prevent Andy Murray reaching a third Queen’s Club final on Saturday as he battled back from a set down to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Murray was to face champion Marin Cilic in yesterday’s final after the Croat triumphed 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 against Lleyton Hewitt.
After persistent showers kept the players off court for most of the day, Murray emerged into the evening gloom to find Tsonga playing tennis of the highest caliber.
The US Open champion was outclassed in the opening set and faced two break points in the seventh game of the second as the Frenchman tightened the screw.
However, Murray managed to get a handle on the Tsonga serve that had bamboozled him in the early stages and turned the encounter on its head, quickly gaining the psychological edge.
Having missed the French Open with a back injury, Murray is still easing his way back to full fitness and will be pleased to have come through a testing workout against a player who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros this month, beating Roger Federer on the way.
GERRY WEBER OPEN
Reuters, HALLE, Germany
Roger Federer edged closer to his first title of the season when he came from a set down to beat defending champion Tommy Haas 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and book a place in yesterday’s Gerry Weber Open final against Mikhail Youzhny.
The Swiss looked sharp on grass as he prepares for his title defense at Wimbledon later this month.
Youzhny outclassed Richard Gasquet of France 6-3, 6-2.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite