Rain on Tuesday wiped out the opening day’s play at the Miami Open, delaying the start of the tournament at its new Hard Rock Stadium home.
Having outgrown the cramped quarters of Key Biscayne’s Crandon Park, and unable to secure the necessary approvals to renovate and expand, the Miami Open has moved to the home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but the day-long rain spoiled the moment.
With a 25 percent jump in ticket sales, tournament director James Blake, a former world No. 4, had been expecting a record crowd, but instead the 14,000-seat temporary show court inside the stadium stood empty and the luxury boxes were silent.
Germany’s Andrea Petkovic and 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova of the US were scheduled to christen the action on the main show court with Mari Osaka, the sister of Japanese world No. 1 Naomi Osaka, taking on Whitney Osuigwe in the nightcap.
“When we get through the first day or two, and see what we are in store for I have a feeling we will be announcing a lot of [attendance] records broken,” Blake said.
Fans can expect a wide open tournament if the season follows the current trend. There have been 19 ATP Tour events this season and 13 WTA events, each producing a different winner.
Bianca Andreescu, the 18-year-old Canadian who stunned the field at Indian Wells last week to claim her first career win, is on that list, as well as Sloane Stephens, the reigning Miami champion, who can count on having the US crowd in her corner.
The men’s draw is also thick with former champions, led by six-time winner and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and three-time winner Roger Federer, who will be on alert after crashing out in the first round a year ago.
World No. 1 Naomi Osaka will also be wary, with in-form German Angelique Kerber lurking in her quarter of the draw.
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