OPEN DE NICE
Thiem wins first ATP title
Dominic Thiem held his nerves to win his first ATP tour title on Saturday as he completed a tight 6-7 (8), 7-5, 7-6 (2) victory over fourth-seeded Leonardo Mayer in the final of the Open de Nice. The 21-year-old Thiem, who defeated second-seeded John Isner in the semi-finals, hit seven aces and fended off all six break points to come out on top of a nearly three-hour match at the French Open warmup tournament. “The first title, I will remember it forever, so I will also remember forever Nice,” the 42nd-ranked Thiem said. It was Thiem’s second tour final after losing to David Goffin last year in Kitzbuhel. “The match today was a really, really good level,” he added. “Leonardo played outstanding and I was fighting until the end. I think it was one of the best matches I’ve ever played.” The Austrian became the eighth player born in the 1990s to win a title, joining the likes of Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov.
GENEVA OPEN
Bellucci beats Sousa for title
Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil won the revived Geneva Open title on Saturday, beating sixth-seeded Joao Sousa of Portugal 7-6 (4), 6-4. The 27-year-old Bellucci’s fourth career ATP title was his third in Switzerland. He also won on clay at the Swiss Open in Gstaad in 2009 and 2012. Bellucci, a 60th-ranked left-hander, wasted three set points at 5-4 in the first before winning the tiebreaker. He trailed by a service break in the second then reeled off four straight games to complete the victory. The Geneva Open returned to the ATP Tour after a 24-year gap, and replaced a tournament held in Dusseldorf, Germany.
STRASBOURG
Stosur wins first title of year
Third-seeded Samantha Stosur rallied to beat Kristina Mladenovic 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg on Saturday, claiming her first title of the year. The 26th-ranked Stosur, a former French Open runner-up, is returning to form after reuniting last month with former coach David Taylor. Before Strasbourg, where she won a seventh career title, Stosur had won only eight matches this year. She decided to play in eastern France at the last minute and was granted a wild card by organizers. “To play as well as I did and walk away with the title, it’s exciting, and especially going into a Grand Slam,” said Stosur, who made it to the final at Roland Garros five years ago. Stosur dropped her serve twice in the opening set, but was at her defensive best in the following sets, saving all five break points she faced. “It was good tennis. She was playing exceptionally well in that first set,” Stosur said. “There were some tricky moments in the third set, she had a few points to get it back on serve, but I’m happy I was able to keep it up and close it out, and it’s always nice to win a title, that’s for sure.”
NUREMBERG
Knapp defeats Vinci in final
Karin Knapp defeated fellow Italian Roberta Vinci 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-1 to win the Nurnberger Versicherungscup final on Saturday. The sixth-seeded Knapp forced 17 break points and converted seven — three of those in the final set — to beat her fourth-seeded compatriot in 2 hours, 6 minutes. Vinci had a walkover to the final of the clay-court tournament after the second-seeded Angelique Kerber pulled out of their semi-final with back problems. The 32-year-old Vinci, who appeared to tire in the final set, missed out on her 10th career title, while the 48th-ranked Knapp celebrated her second.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB