Davis’ late three downs Nuggets

Anthony Davis has never been this deep in the playoffs, never had the chance to take such an important shot. It is nothing new for the Los Angeles Lakers, though. So when Davis’ three-pointer swished through the net as time expired on Sunday to give the Lakers a 105-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets and a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals, coach Frank Vogel thought of a Laker who had done it before. “That’s a shot Kobe Bryant would hit,” Vogel said. “To me, A.D. coming off, just flying to the wing like that, catch-and-shoot with the biggest game on the line of our season, nothing but net, it’s a Mamba shot.” The Lakers were wearing their Black Mamba jerseys. They were codesigned by Bryant, their Hall of Fame guard who died on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash. Davis said wearing the jerseys that mean so much to the team made his winner feel even better. “In the jersey we wore tonight, it just makes it even more special,” he said. Davis finished with 31 points. He scored Los Angeles’ final 10 points and had 22 in the second half to help the Lakers avoid becoming the latest victims of a Denver comeback. “Special moment for a special player. Happy to be a part of it,” said LeBron James, who had 26 points and 11 rebounds. The Nuggets had trailed by as many as 16, but Nikola Jokic scored 11 straight Denver points down the stretch, including a basket that made it 103-102 with 20 seconds to play. Alex Caruso then missed a three-pointer and Jamal Murray blocked Danny Green’s shot out of bounds with 2.1 seconds to play. Rajon Rondo inbounded under the basket and found Davis curling toward the sideline, and the All-Star forward swished it to put the Lakers halfway to the NBA Finals. Jokic said

Mane at the double as Liverpool beat Chelsea

More than US$250 million spent trying to catch Liverpool and Chelsea are still far from the level of the English Premier League champions. Two months since Chelsea finished 33 points behind Liverpool, a 2-0 loss on Sunday to Juergen Klopp’s side showed just how far the gap is to be bridged. For all the attacking options now available to Frank Lampard, the Chelsea manager was let down by a reckless foul by defender Andreas Christensen and yet another blunder by goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. “I expect us to be competitive with Liverpool,” Lampard said. “We had a few threats for them. The red card changed it completely, obviously.” What had been a tepid game swung in Liverpool’s favor in first-half stoppage-time when Christensen grabbed Sadio Mane from behind with both hands, hauling down the winger and seeing red. With a man advantage, an assertive Liverpool pressed immediately after halftime — and took just five minutes to go in front. An interchange between Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah ended with Mane heading into the net. It took four minutes to double the lead — helped by Kepa. The Chelsea goalkeeper controlled Fikayo Tomori’s back-pass before trying to clear to Jorginho. It was easily intercepted by Mane, who slotted into the net. With spectators still prohibited from stadiums to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Chelsea players at least avoided any taunting chants from Liverpool fans. “It’s a clear mistake that has cost us,” Lampard said. “Those fine margins change games at this level, so we have to keep working, Kepa has to keep working. He has to have support around him, that’s very clear. It was a clear mistake on the day.” A thigh problem for Jordan Henderson had forced the Liverpool captain off at halftime, allowing Thiago Alcantara to come on for his debut. The new recruit from Bayern Munich slotted seamlessly into

DeChambeau wins the US Open and silences skeptics

Bryson DeChambeau’s unorthodox style got major validation on Sunday, as the power-driving “mad scientist” of the PGA Tour claimed the US Open by a definitive six-stroke margin and silenced the skeptics. Since he unveiled his single-length set of clubs at the start of his professional career, the former physics major has embarked on a one-man mission to revolutionize golf, facing plenty of doubts in a sport where tradition is valued above all else. His most recent experiment was perhaps his most ambitious yet: a physical transformation that saw the 27-year-old pack on about 14kg of muscle with a high calorie diet and hours spent at the gym during the PGA Tour hiatus this year to add jaw-dropping velocity to his drive. “I all of a sudden got a lot stronger, worked out every day, been working out every day, and all of a sudden — not because of clubs, but because of me, I was able to gain 20, 25 yards,” said DeChambeau after winning his maiden major title over fellow American Matthew Wolff. Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, who finished tied for eighth place at Winged Foot Golf Club, told reporters that he was initially skeptical that DeChambeau’s hard-charging approach would work in the long term, after playing with him at Colonial in June. “I sort of said: ‘OK, wait until he gets to a proper golf course, he’ll have to rein it back in,’” McIlroy said. “This is as proper as they come, and look what’s happened. Yeah, he’s got full belief in what he’s doing and it’s pretty impressive.” Unlike some of his past experiments — including his now-banned on-course compass and the “side-saddle” putting technique he tried and quickly abandoned in 2017 — DeChambeau told reporters his new approach was here to stay as he aims to add more muscle before the

Hsieh and Strycova advance to finals

ANGER MANAGEMENT: While Rafael Nadal fell to Diego Schwartzman, Novak Djokovic ultimately beat Dominik Koepfer, but not before breaking his racket in frustration

Top seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strycova on Saturday survived a minor scare at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome to advance to their fifth women’s doubles final of the season. The Taiwanese-Czech duo were seemingly cruising in their semi-final against unseeded Hayley Carter and Luisa Stefani when they raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening set on the clay courts at the Foro Italico. However, the American-Brazilian pairing then won five straight games — including saving two set points — to level at 5-5, before the favorites for the title won eight of the final nine points to clinch the set and go on to seal a 7-5, 6-4 victory in 1 hour, 31 minutes. Hsieh and Strycova saved five of eight break points and converted five of nine, winning 48 percent of their first-return points to keep their bid for a fourth title of the season on track, after victories in Brisbane, Dubai and Qatar. The only blemish on the Taiwanese-Czech duo’s record this season was at the Australian Open, where they fell to a 6-2, 6-1 defeat in the final to Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic. The top seeds were due to face unseeded Anna-Lena Friedsam and Raluca Olaru in the final, after the German-Romanian pairing rallied to edge Japanese seventh seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara 3-6, 6-2, 10-4 in 1 hour, 26 minutes in the other semi-final. In the women’s singles, Simona Halep remained on track for a first Rome title, advancing to the semi-finals after Kazakh rival Yulia Putintseva retired while trailing 6-2, 2-0. Halep has twice finished runner-up in Rome in 2017 and 2018, and “really wants to win” the tournament. “It’s one of the biggest goals now,” said Halep who is on a run of 12 consecutive victories after winning in Dubai in February and in Prague after the

By Dave Carroll

Michelle Pao wins Golden Boot in beating Hang Yuan

Michelle Pao on Saturday put on a stellar performance, scoring four goals to claim the Golden Boot award as she led Taichung Blue Whale to rout Hang Yuan FC 6-2, while Hualien City finished the season with a 3-3 draw against Inter Taoyuan FC. Heading into the final round at Kaohsiung National Stadium, it was a close race to win the Taiwan Mulan Football League’s top scorer honors, as Pao and Hualien City striker Wu Shih-ping each had 17 goals. As for the league title, that was already determined on Sept. 12, when Hualien prevailed 2-1 over Blue Whale. Operating just behind the two main strikers, Pao led much of the attacking play, and early on raced toward the goal and was tackled from behind. Pao scored on the ensuing penalty shot, but Hang Yuan striker Liu Yi-fang leveled the score, blasting a shot from 20m in the 15th minute. It remained 1-1 into the second half, until Pao in the 61st minute received a cross inside the box to slot it home for her second goal. Two minutes later, Blue Whale opened up opposition defense with a passing combination, allowing Pao to latch on into the box and drill a shot into the upper corner for a hat-trick. In the 75th minute, Hang Yuan forward Wang Hsin-tzu closed the gap to 3-2 with a header, and six minutes later, Pao raced into the box to collect a long pass, tapping the ball into the bottom right corner for her fourth goal. Blue Whale players took advantage of the disarray to reach the net twice before the whistle, with striker Nien Ching-yun dribbling past defenders to score in an outstanding individual run on the way to the 6-2 final score. Pao ended the match with 21 goals for the season, while Hualien City’s Wu grabbed a brace in her

By Jason Pan

Pogacar’s Tour de France win marks shift

In a dramatic last-gasp turnaround Tadej Pogacar on Saturday won the Tour de France as the overnight leader Primoz Roglic suffered a mountainside meltdown during a thrilling individual time-trial on the last day of real racing. It was a staggering end to a bizarre Tour and the penultimate stage duel between two compatriots of different generations is to go down as one of this year’s great sporting moments. The 21-year-old Pogacar was to lead the peloton into Paris yesterday wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey and, barring a freak disaster, would climb onto the top step of the podium. “I cried, I’m sure I’ll cry again,” said Roglic, who led the race 12 days before wilting at the final hurdle. Staggeringly, the Pogacar would also pull on the polka dot jersey as best climber on the Tour, and also the white one as best under-25s rider. “I’m just a kid from Slovenia,” he said. “I could hear nothing on the final climb and I went for it with everything,” he said. Often unlucky Australia’s veteran Richie Porte climbed to third overall to make the Tour podium for the first time, while Spain’s Mikel Landa and Enric Mas rounded out the top five with strong finishes too. “It was such a sweet moment,” Porte, 35, said. He had considered staying home as his wife was expecting a baby, he said. “She told me to go, but didn’t want to see me at the back of the peloton,” he added. Roglic, 30, had led the Tour since stage nine and his dramatic meltdown on the final climb means even as loser he remains the big story. “I had a bad day, he deserved his win. I’m disappointed, but I can be proud of second place,” Roglic said. “I don’t have a clear mind, it is how it is,” he said. “I struggled with everything, I

Barca’s president to remain, despite 20,000 signatures

Barcelona’s embattled club president has no intention of resigning after more than 20,000 club members signed a petition for Josep Bartomeu and his board to face a censure vote. “No one is thinking about stepping down,” Bartomeu told Catalan television TV3 on Saturday before Barcelona beat Elche 1-0 in its third and final preseason match. On Thursday the group of club members wanting a change in the leadership handed in 20,687 signatures calling for a referendum over whether the board should be removed. That surpassed the 16,520 signatures — the equivalent to 15 percent of all members — needed to force the vote. The success of the signature-raising campaign led to speculation in local media that Bartomeu would contemplate resigning. “The number [of signatures] surprised even the promoters of the motion,” Bartomeu said. “The board will continue working to build the most competitive team possible.” A date for the referendum has not been set, but if the signatures are validated, it should happen in the coming weeks. Bartomeu and his board are already set to be replaced in a club election in March, but some club members think they should go now after last month’s 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich, a season without titles and Lionel Messi’s attempt to leave the club. Messi gave up on his desire to not complete the final year of his contract after Bartomeu refused to let him go. Messi said that Bartomeu had promised him he could decide his own future this summer and that he felt betrayed by his boss. Bartomeu said that he wanted to move on with Messi. “I won’t get into a conflict with him,” Bartomeu said. “These are things that must be said in private. We must make it possible that Messi stays with us. He is our captain and our team leader. We have seen how he has

SPORTS BRIEFS

HOCKEY NHL season start still in air NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Saturday said he would not be surprised if the next NHL season begins after the tentatively planned Dec. 1 start date. In his annual pre-Stanley Cup Final news conference, Bettman said that there is still too much uncertainty to know what that season would look like. He would not address speculation about an all-Canadian division given the US-Canada border closure to nonessential travel. The focus would remain on the safety for players, coaches, staff and fans, Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. “If there’s an option to consider, believe me, we’re considering it,” Bettman said. The league has repeatedly said that opening training camps on Nov. 17 and beginning the season on Dec. 1 were tentative targets. Bettman raised the possibility of the season starting later in December or in January. Asked about potentially not playing until the autumn of next year, Bettman said he anticipates a full, 82-game season and playoffs. “How and when we do that is something that we don’t all have enough information to make any decisions,” Bettman said. The US-Canada border is a significant issue and has more of an effect on the NHL than other pro sports leagues because it has seven teams in Canada and 24 in the US until Seattle is set to become the 32nd franchise next year. Canada did not allow MLB’s Blue Jays to play in Toronto this season because of cross-border travel. RUGBY UNION Southern Kings to liquidate South African Rugby (SA Rugby) has placed the Southern Kings into voluntary liquidation because of debts of 55 million rands (US$3.37 million) and no chance of generating any income this year. The Kings, based in Port Elizabeth, were last month withdrawn from all competition due to their financial position following a failed takeover

Taiwan’s Hsieh reaches semis

‘GREAT EVENING‘: In the women’s singles in Rome, Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova advanced, while Rafael Nadal swept into the quarters in the men’s singles

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic on Friday had to dig deep to advance to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. The top seeds, who did not drop a game in their opening match on the clay courts at the Foro Italico, battled to a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 victory over sixth seeds Veronika Kudermetova and Katerina Siniakova in 1 hour, 39 minutes. The reigning Wimbledon champions saved nine of 11 break points and converted three of eight, winning 56 percent of points on their second serve and sending down two aces to see off the challenge of the Russian-Czech pairing. The Taiwanese-Czech duo in the semi-finals were due to face unseeded Hayley Carter of the US and Luisa Stefani of Brazil, who rallied from a set down to defeat Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic and Andreja Klepac of Slovenia 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 10-8 in 1 hour, 42 minutes. Their match was to begin at about press time last night. Hsieh and Strycova are looking to claim their fourth title of the season after victories at the Brisbane International in January, and the Dubai Championships and Qatar Open in February before the WTA Tour was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the women’s singles, Simona Halep and defending champion Karolina Pliskova eased into the quarter-finals on Friday and Halep yesterday to the semi-finals. Top seed Halep on Friday rallied from 3-0 down in the first set to see off Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska in a 7-5, 6-4 victory that took 1 hour, 28 minutes. “Big picture, I think it was a great match and gives me confidence that even in these conditions with a big hitter that I could win in two sets,” Halep said. The two-time Rome finalist yesterday beat Yulia Putintseva, who on Friday battled back

By Dave Carroll

Brumbies resist Reds to claim third title

The ACT Brumbies withstood a late onslaught to edge a gutsy Queensland Reds 28-23 and clinch the Super Rugby AU title yesterday, solidifying their status as the kings of Australian rugby union. The Canberra side went to the break two points ahead and put the hammer down to stretch their lead to 28-13 before the Reds came storming back to set up a tense finale. Newly minted Wallaby Noah Lolesio scored 13 points in the three-tries-to-two victory to deny coach Brad Thorn’s young and fast-improving Queensland side a first win in the Australian capital since 2014. It was the Brumbies’ third Super Rugby title — albeit a domestic version after the COVID-19 pandemic halted international rugby — following their triumphs in 2001 and 2004. “It was a huge effort from the boys, but you have to give credit to the Reds,” said skipper Allan Alaalatoa, whose side were dominant all season. “We always knew they were going to come back in the second half and they made it really hard for us,” Alaalatoa said. “I’m really proud of the boys to be able to close out the game,” he said. Although the Reds had not beaten the Brumbies in Canberra for six years, they went into the game upbeat after upsetting them 26-7 in Brisbane earlier this month. However, the experience of Dan McKellar’s men, Australian conference champions in three of the past four Super Rugby campaigns, ultimately proved decisive. “We shot ourselves in the foot a bit again, our ill-discipline was very costly, but this team has got a lot of fight and I’m incredibly proud of every single one of them,” Reds skipper Liam Wright said. “They’ve put in an amazing amount of effort this season,” he said. Despite losing, it was a breakout year for the Reds with their run to the final capping a team rebuild that

Bayern Munich rout Schalke 04 in record opener

The new Bundesliga began in an empty stadium on Friday with eight-time defending champions Bayern Munich marching to an 8-0 rout of Schalke 04 for a record in the league’s opening match. And it should have been more. Germany winger Leroy Sane starred and scored on his Bayern debut, while Jamal Musiala became Bayern’s youngest-ever goalscorer at 17 years, 205 days, but otherwise it was business as usual as they totally dominated and the visitors tried limiting the damage. Schalke’s winless run stretched to 17 games, while Bayern extended their winning run to 22. Serge Gnabry scored a hat-trick and Sane set up two of the goals. It was 3-0 by halftime and Bayern missed a host of chances. “Everyone was so hungry. We were all looking forward to the new start and we just wanted to attack,” said Sane, a former Schalke player who joined Bayern from Manchester City in the off-season. The game took place without fans, despite plans for 7,500 spectators to attend. A spike in local COVID-19 infections prompted authorities to close the doors. “It’s a really big blow. We were really looking forward to our fans,” Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said before the game. The team showed no ill effect from the supporters’ absence, nor the short break of 26 days after winning the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain. It was the biggest opening night win since 2016, when Bayern routed Werder Bremen 6-0. Gnabry got the side off to a flying start in the fourth minute, taking Joshua Kimmich’s pass from midfield, switching direction to elude Schalke captain Benjamin Stambouli, then unleashing a fine strike with his left boot inside the left corner. Robert Lewandowski almost made it 2-0 a minute later after being set up by Sane, but Sebastian Rudy deflected the Poland striker’s shot. Schalke held out until the 19th minute, when

Everton crush West Bromwich Albion in Premier League

Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored a hat-trick and James Rodriguez bagged his first Premier League goal as Everton crushed 10-man West Bromwich Albion 5-2 yesterday to extend their perfect start to the season. Carlo Ancelotti’s side fell behind to Grady Diangana’s early goal at Goodison Park, but Calvert-Lewin equalized and James put them ahead before West Brom imploded. Kieran Gibbs was dismissed for pushing James in the face at the end of the first half. Then Albion boss Slaven Bilic was sent to the stands after storming onto the pitch for a furious rant at referee Mike Dean. Matheus Pereira equalized for Albion after the interval, but Michael Keane restored Everton’s lead and Calvert-Lewin sealed the points with his second and third goals. At 23, Calvert-Lewin is the youngest Englishman to score a Premier League hat-trick for Everton.

Lakers dominate Nuggets in Western finals opener

DEFENSIVE WOES: Nuggets coach Mike Malone said that they did not do enough on defense and fouls had hurt their effectiveness, lamenting 24 in one quarter

Anthony Davis scored 37 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers dominated the Denver Nuggets 126-114 on Friday in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference finals. LeBron James added 15 points with 12 assists and six rebounds for the Lakers, who shot out of the gate after dropping their opener in each of their previous two playoff series in the NBA’s COVID-19 bubble in Orlando, Florida. After a close first quarter ended with the Nuggets up by two, the Lakers seized control in the second quarter, outscoring Denver 34-21 to take a 70-59 lead into halftime. Lakers reserve Alex Caruso converted a three-point play to spark a 17-1 scoring run, the Nuggets going without a basket for more than five minutes to start the second quarter. “It took a quarter for us to kind of figure it out,” James said. “I’m not saying we fully figured them out because it’s too early in the series to say that, but we started to get a better feel, just started to get in a better rhythm defensively and we started to get some stops in that second quarter and we were able to build that lead up going into halftime.” Well aware that the Nuggets had proved their resilience with some big second-half comebacks against the Los Angeles Clippers in the previous round, the Lakers kept the pressure on after the break. Denver trimmed the deficit to nine points midway through the third quarter, but their efforts were hampered with star Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Paul Millsap all in early foul trouble, and that was the closest they got in the second half. Jokic and Murray both scored 21 points to pace the Nuggets. Michael Porter added 14 off the bench, but Denver coach Mike Malone said that they did not do enough

Antetokounmpo claims second straight MVP award

Giannis Antetokounmpo’s historic year earned him a historic awards sweep. The Milwaukee forward is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season, being named as its winner on Friday. He got the Defensive Player of the Year award earlier in these NBA playoffs. The 25-year-old Antetokounmpo becomes just the third player in league history to win MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, joining Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. “Michael Jordan, one of the best players who’s ever done it, if not the best,” Antetokounmpo said. “Hakeem, a guy that I look up to, he came from where I’m from, Nigeria, where I have roots... Just being in the same sentence with them, that means a lot to me.” Antetokounmpo — who was in his native Athens with his family when the award was announced — received 85 votes. There were 101 votes available; 100 from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters who cover the league, plus one additional vote through fan balloting. “It feels good to get this award announced when I’m back home,” Antetokounmpo said, after telling NBA commissioner Adam Silver — who was in possession of the trophy on Friday — to hang on to the hardware until he returns to the US. “I’m going to ship it to Greece,” Silver said during the televised announcement show on NBA TV. “No, don’t do that,” Antetokounmpo replied. “I’ll come get it when the season starts.” LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers got the other 16 first-place votes and finished second, while James Harden of the Houston Rockets finished third. James, a four-time MVP, said he was not pleased initially when he saw that he finished second by such a wide margin. “Not saying that the winner wasn’t deserving of the MVP, but that [ticked] me off,” James

NY Yankees rally for ninth straight victory

The New York Yankees’ bats arrived just in time on Friday to help extend their longest win streak of the season. Gary Sanchez hit a tying home run with two outs in the ninth inning, while D.J. LeMahieu had a go-ahead double in the 12th as the Yankees rallied past the Boston Red Sox 6-5 for their ninth straight victory. New York improved to 8-0 over their longtime rival this season. Dating to last year, the Yankees have won 11 in a row over the Red Sox, one short of their best streak ever against them. “”I had absolute confidence we were going to find out a way back in this game,” LeMahieu said. “I feel like we’re playing like we should be playing. We’re all clicking.” The victory moved the Yankees (30-21) just ahead of Minnesota (31-22) for the No. 4 seed and home field in the first round of the playoffs. The fourth-seeded club are to host the No. 5 team in every game of the best-of-three series. The Yankees won on a night in which sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton were in the lineup together for the first time since Aug. 8 after recently returning from the injured list. Sanchez said their returns came at the perfect time. “They’re key pieces to our team,” he said through a translator. “When they are in the lineup they have certain energy and an intimidation factor.” Jonathan Loaisiga (3-0) pitched three scoreless innings to get the victory in a game that ended well past midnight. Ryan Weber (1-3) took the loss. PADRES 6, MARINERS 1 Manny Machado homered twice and drove in four runs, while Chris Paddack one-hit Seattle for six shutout innings as the Padres beat the Mariners to reduce their magic number to 2 for their first playoff berth since winning the National League West in 2006. They

Sebastien Loeb becomes oldest leader at the WRC

Sebastien Loeb at 46 became the oldest driver to lead a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) after ending Friday’s opening leg of Rally Turkey with a 1.2 second advantage over Hyundai teammate Thierry Neuville. The Frenchman, a nine-time world champion and three-time Rally Turkey winner who now races only in selected events, was competing for the first time since January’s Monte Carlo season opener. Turkey is the fifth round of the championship. “I didn’t expect to be leading tonight,” he told the wrc.com Web site after the two short and dusty evening speed tests totaling 25.22km. “The last stage, I had a lot of pressure at the start because we didn’t find the road so good. I had precise notes so I was able to do it and leading the rally tonight is the best thing that can happen,” he said. Toyota’s championship leader Sebastien Ogier, who won six titles in a row after compatriot Loeb retired from full-time rallying, was in third place, 0.1 seconds behind Neuville. Teammates Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanpera were fourth and fifth respectively. Estonian world champion Ott Tanak was in seventh for Hyundai, but only 4.8 seconds off the lead.

Hsieh and Strycova rout Japanese duo

‘GREAT COMPETITOR’: Former French Open champion Garbine Muguruza was tested by American teenager Coco Gauff, before the Spaniard advanced in three sets

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic on Thursday cruised into the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia by handing their Japanese opponents a rare “double bagel,” a feat matched by US Open losing finalist Victoria Azarenka in the women’s singles. Top seeds Hsieh and Strycova took just 49 minutes to see off the challenge of Japanese duo Nao Hibino and Makoto Ninomiya 6-0, 6-0 on the clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome. The Taiwanese-Czech duo saved both break points they faced and converted six of 14, winning 62 percent of their first returns as their bid for a fourth title of the year remained on track. The favorites were next due to face sixth seeds Veronika Kudermetova and Katerina Siniakova, after the Russian-Czech duo routed Italian wild-cards Giulia Gatto-Monticone and Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-0 in 47 minutes. In the women’s singles, Azarenka produced a masterclass on Centre Court to knock out third seed Sofia Kenin 6-0, 6-0 in the second round. Azarenka, who beat Venus Williams in a two-hour first-round match on Wednesday, needed only an hour to dispatch the Australian Open champion. American Kenin, who received a bye into the second round, had no answers to Azarenka’s consistency from the baseline and made a string of errors, finishing the match with 22 unforced errors, while Azarenka made only four. Kenin did not create a single opportunity to break the 31-year-old Belarusian, while Azarenka won an overwhelming 89 percent of her first serves, while converting six of 11 break points. “I think consistency was key to the scoreline, I feel like I played really smart tennis today,” Azarenka said. “I was able to use a lot of the court and different pace. I went for bigger serves when I needed it, I went for variety. I wasn’t feeling

By Dave Carroll