ESTORIL OPEN
Kyrgios reaches first final
Australian Nick Kyrgios was due to play for the first title of his career yesterday when he was due to take on two-time finalist Richard Gasquet. Seventh seed Kyrgios reached his first career final by stunning clay-court specialist Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 5-7, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3. Gasquet, seeded fifth, flirted with disaster when he was broken while serving for victory, before recovering in a runaway tiebreaker for a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/1) result over another Spaniard, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Gasquet, the runner-up in 2007 and 2012, and Kyrgios played twice last season, the Frenchman winning a Davis Cup rubber and Kyrgios coming out ahead in their Wimbledon second-round clash. Both finalists are returning from six-week injury spells, with Kyrgios out with an ankle problem and Gasquet dealing with back pain.
ISTANBUL OPEN
Federer survives stern test
Top seed Roger Federer on Saturday survived a stern test from world No. 63 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina to reach the final of the Istanbul Open after a tense three-set encounter. Federer, 33, looking to win his 85th career title and gain confidence on clay ahead of the French Open later this month, was yesterday due to face third seed Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, who swatted away second seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in straight sets. Federer looked rattled all afternoon as he failed to find a rhythm on his first serve and even received a rare code violation. Losing the first set, he eventually prevailed 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. In the second semi-final, Cuevas outclassed Dimitrov 6-2, 6-4, dealing the the Bulgarian world No. 11 knockout punches in the long rallies and capitalizing on his many errors. The volatile Dimitrov found it hard to maintain his composure and was docked a point in the sixth game of the second set when he destroyed his racket by smashing it into the baseline.
PRAGUE OPEN
Pliskova wins all-Czech final
Top seed Karolina Pliskova rallied from a set down to claim her fourth WTA Tour title by defeating qualifier Lucie Hradecka 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in an all-Czech final on Saturday. World No. 14 Pliskova wasted three match points when she was 5-2 up in the final set, but she served out the match in the following game, converting her fifth match point with a forehand winner. “It was all about a few points,” Pliskova said. “I’m really happy I managed to win it.” It was the seventh career final for world No. 74 Hradecka, but she has lost them all. Hradecka hit 17 aces to Pliskova’s eight, but also double-faulted 10 times. Pliskova jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second set, before wasting two set points at 5-2 and allowed Hradecka to tie it at 5-5, but she converted her third set point to even the match. Hradecka got a break for a 5-4 lead in the opening set and converted her second set point when Pliskova sent a backhand return long.
GRAND PRIX DE SAR
Svitolina wins third title
Fourth seed Elina Svitolina saved eight of 11 break points on her way to her third WTA Tour title as she defeated unseeded Timea Babos 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) in the Grand Prix de SAR final on Saturday. Svitolina extended her unbeaten record in finals to 3-0 after hitting nine aces and breaking Babos four times. The Ukrainian world No. 25 won her previous titles in Baku in 2013 and last year. Babos relinquished a 5-2 lead in the opening set as she failed to convert five set points. She was also two points away from sealing the second set at 5-4, but Svitolina won the last 11 points of the first set and was stronger in the tiebreak.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but