TENNIS
Simon to face Tsonga
Gilles Simon was set to face fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in yesterday’s Open de Moselle Final, with both men looking for a historic third victory in Metz. Both won in straight sets on Saturday, with Simon beating Martin Klizan of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4 and Tsonga easing past Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-4 to set up a replay of the 2013 Final which Simon won. Simon’s semi-final victory was not as straightforward as the scoreline suggests. Klizan, seeded sixth, broke first with a delightful return from the baseline, but Simon reacted immediately with two successive breaks, much to the delight of the home crowd. The second seed then found himself 3-0 down in the second set, but won the next five games. Kohlschreiber was so frustrated he broke his racket. Tsonga dominated his match and cruised into the Final in little more than an hour.
TENNIS
Raonic tops Bautista Agut
Milos Raonic of Canada beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 7-6 (2) on Saturday to set up a final against Joao Sousa of Portugal at the St Petersburg Open. Raonic hit 19 aces, four of them in the second-set tiebreaker, and held serve throughout the match. He won six straight points to win the tiebreaker and sealed the victory with another ace. Raonic will be chasing his first ATP title since winning the Washington Open in August last year. He has yet to drop a set in three matches in St Petersburg. In the first semi-final, Sousa upset third-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-4, 7-6 (5). Thiem won more points than Sousa, but his serving was inconsistent, with 11 aces balanced by landing just 46 percent of his first serves.
GOLF
Jaidee leads European Open
Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand carded a seven-under-par 64 Saturday to take a one-stroke lead after the third round of the European Open. Jaidee had eight birdies and a bogey to add to his two rounds of 68. He climbed 14 places for a 13-under total of 200 in southeastern Germany. Pelle Edberg of Sweden and England’s Ross Fisher and Graeme Storm were all a shot back at 12-under, while Jamie Donaldson of Wales, Magnus A Carlsson of Sweden and Mikko Ilonen of Finland were tied for fifth at 11-under. Peter Uihlein of the US and Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen were both 10-under, while veteran Bernhard Langer shot 70 and is tied for 31st.
SOCCER
Blatter, Platini investigated
FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA leader Michel Platini are under investigation by FIFA’s independent ethics committee and could face suspension, British media reported yesterday. Switzerland’s Schweiz am Sonntag weekly said it had information indicating that the two most powerful men in soccer were in the sights of the ethics committee and could soon be suspended. Committee spokesman Andreas Bantel told the paper he could not comment on individual cases, but hinted at committee activity. “If there is an initial suspicion, the investigatory chamber initiates a formal procedure,” he said, insisting the rules apply to everyone in soccer “regardless of position or name.” British media also said the FIFA ethics committee had opened an inquiry into the 79-year-old Blatter and Platini, his 60-year-old former ally. The massive corruption scandal that has engulfed world soccer since May made its way to the top of soccer’s governing body on Friday when Swiss authorities said the Blatter was under criminal investigation.
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