Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who is to return to the world No. 1 ranking tomorrow for the first time in three years, remains “destroyed” by the terror attacks that rocked his homeland.
Nadal was upset by Australia’s Nick Kyrgios in a Friday quarter-final at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnatti, the last major tune-up for the US Open.
He wore black ribbons during an earlier match in tribute to whose killed after twin vehicle ramming attacks in Spain that left 14 dead.
Photo: EPA
A driver plowed his van through crowds on Barcelona’s busy Las Ramblas boulevard on Thursday and early on Friday a car struck pedestrians in the Catalan seaside resort of Cambrils.
“What happened is terrible. Everybody is destroyed in Spain, including, of course, me,” Nadal said on Friday. “Yeah, it’s a tragedy, the feeling that you are not safe in nowhere. That’s terrible. So just very sad.”
“I’m very, very sorry about what happened to all the victims, all the families, friends. Yeah, all my support. It’s the moment to be together like a country and all the being together, we go for these kind of things,” he said.
Spanish rival Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Wimbledon women’s champion Garbine Muguruza also wore black ribbons.
“All my support to Barcelona and especially to the people that are suffering a lot, for all the families of the victims,” Nadal said. “Just keep going and sorry for everything.”
Nadal said he was thrilled at being back atop the rankings after knee injuries and setbacks since he was last No. 1 in July 2014.
“Amazing, positive news,” Nadal said. “Being No. 1 after all the things I’ve been going through the last couple of years is something unbelievable, so for me it’s an amazing achievement to be back to that position.”
“I’m very happy for that and in the last most important event of the season, I need to show why I am in that position now,” he said. “So I’m going to work hard to show myself why I’m there. I’m going to try my best to play at the highest level possible in New York.”
Nadal plans to rest through the weekend, then resume workouts for the final week before the Flushing Meadows fortnight begins.
“I think I am practicing well. I’m going to give my best during this week of practice,” Nadal said. “I hope to be ready for New York. I believe that I did things well enough during the whole year to be ready to compete at the highest level of New York, so I’m looking forward to it.”
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