David Nalbandian of Argentina and home hero Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will contest yesterday’s Paris Masters final with the winner grabbing the final spot in the Masters Cup in Shanghai later this month. Nalbandian, the defending champion here, defeated Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 in a topsy-turvy contest. Tsonga had too much power and panache for American James Blake winning at a canter 6-4, 6-3.
That result ended Blake’s Masters Cup hopes, made sure of qualification for seventh-ranked Juan Martin del Potro and means that the winner of yesterday’s final between Nalbandian and Tsonga will complete the eight-man line-up in China. The six others already qualified before Saturday were Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Davydenko, and Andy Roddick. Nalbandian’s win confirmed the fine vein of form that the eighth seed has struck as he gets ready for his ultimate goal, leading Argentina to their first Davis Cup title against Spain in Mar del Plata later this month.
The muscular South American took up where he left off on Friday in his outstanding quarter-final win against Andy Murray by peppering Davydenko off both flanks.
■BELL CHALLENGE
AFP, QUEBEC CITY, CANADA
American Bethanie Mattek spoiled Aleksandra Wozniak’s bid to become the first Canadian to reach the final of the WTA’s Bell Challenge on Saturday and booked her own first WTA Tour final berth in the bargain. Mattek, the sixth seed, defeated the fifth-seeded Canadian 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to reach the final of the US$175,000 Tier Three event.
The American faced a tough task in yesterday’s final, taking on top-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova. Petrova, a former world No. 3 now ranked 11th in the world, encountered little resistance in a 6-1, 6-3 victory over US lucky loser Angela Haynes.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
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