TENNIS
Federer ranked No. 1 again
Roger Federer on Saturday staged a 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) comeback over Nick Kyrgios to reach the Stuttgart Cup final and take back the world No. 1 ranking. The 36-year-old Swiss is to resume his place at the top of the ATP rankings for the sixth time in his career today, beginning a record 310th week at the summit of the men’s game. His upward move leaves Rafael Nadal at No. 2 as the countdown to Wimbledon intensifies with two weeks left before the start of the grass-court major. “I feel great, I’m very happy,” Federer said, adding that playing for the ranking in a smaller event gives the achievement more emphasis. “I’m happy I was able to stay calm and play good tennis at the end.”
GOLF
Mickelson hits moving ball
Phil Mickelson’s apparent fit of pique led to a sextuple bogey 10 on Saturday as he hit a moving ball with his putter in the third round of the US Open. It was a childish display from a five-time major winner celebrating his 48th birthday. When a putt at the 13th hole at Shinnecock Hills rolled past the cup and began slipping down a slope, Mickelson trotted over and batted it back toward the hole before the ball had stopped. With the penalty, he racked up a sextuple bogey 10 at the par-four hole, leaving him 10-over for his round and 16-over for the tournament.
CRICKET
England lead Australia 2-0
England on Saturday beat Australia by 38 runs to win the second one-day international (ODI) in Cardiff and so take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Australia, set an imposing 343 to win, remained in the hunt, while opener Shaun Marsh was making 131 before being bowled out for 304 as the world champions suffered a seventh defeat in eight ODIs. Earlier, Jason Roy made 120 and stand-in captain Jos Buttler 91 not out in an England total of 342 for eight after Australia captain Tim Paine won the toss and fielded. The series continues at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge tomorrow.
RUGBY UNION
US have first win over Scots
Hooker Joe Taufete’e scored tries either side of halftime, while flyhalf Alan MacGinty added 12 points with the boot to help the US beat Scotland for the first time with a 30-29 victory in Houston, Texas, on Saturday. Loose forward Hanco Germishuys also scored a second-half try as the US overturned a 19-6 deficit. It was their first win against Scotland in seven tests. Germishuy’s try had given the Eagles an eight-point lead with 20 minutes still to play, but they held on until after the fulltime hooter when Dougie Fife scored Scotland’s fourth try. Blair Kinghorn and George Turner had both scored first half tries for the visitors, while they were also given a penalty try to give them a comfortable 19-6 lead with halftime approaching. However, Taufete’e scored his first try less than two minutes later to give his side some momentum that they continued after the break with his second five-pointer. “Give credit to America,” Scottish captain Stuart Hogg said. “They really took their opportunities when they were there. We weren’t good enough from the get-go. We scored a nice try early on and then we went to sleep.” The US face Canada next week, while Scotland travel to Argentina to face the Pumas.
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