■SPAIN
Nadal attire draws comment
Rafael Nadal has abandoned his trademark sleeveless tops and capri pants for T-shirts and above-the-knee shorts at this year’s Australian Open. Not everyone likes it. Sports bloggers and fan forums have been puzzled by his new attire, with at least one female blogger complaining that she missed seeing his sculpted biceps. Nadal shrugged off the interest. “For sure, when you have a change, some people like, other people don’t like,” Nadal said. “For sure with the sleeveless, not everybody like the sleeveless. Right now gonna be the same, no? I feel good like this,” he said. “Important thing in the end is not the clothes; is the ball and racket and play well.”
■FRANCE
Fan goes too far
Sebastien de Chaunac appreciated his vocal fans during his second-round match on Thursday — all but one. The Frenchman was serving to American James Blake at the beginning of the third set when a man courtside began to encourage him. De Chaunac asked the chair umpire to intervene. Later, during a big rally, the man started again. “It was a pretty big point, it was probably my last chance to break James ... and the guy was talking to me before every hit, saying, ‘Come on, come on, yeah, yeah, allez,”’ de Chaunac said. “I could have won the point, but I lost it.” De Chaunac approached the man and spoke to him: “I just told him in a bad way in French to shut up.” The man apologized but later in the match was escorted out when he continued to talk during points. De Chaunac lost to Blake 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. “I don’t know if he was doing it on purpose or he didn’t realize,” de Chaunac said. “He looked so happy to be there, maybe more happy than I was. It was kind of an awkward situation. You want to keep him on your side, but on the other hand, he’s too loud.”
■UNITED STATES
Serena recalls best win
Asked for her greatest win ever, Serena Williams nominated a triumph over Andy Roddick, when she about 11. “There’s an argument about the score,” the second-seeded Williams, winner of nine Grand Slam singles titles, said. “I think I beat him like 6-1. He says it was 6-4. He always says he’s ready for a rematch, but there’s no need for a rematch.” She said Roddick, winner of the US Open in 2003 and seeded seventh in the men’s draw here, will “hate me for saying that!” Williams said her victory came in a practice match in Florida when they were both much younger but noted that “age doesn’t matter.” And she had other “unofficial” wins, she said. “Indirectly, you know, I’ve beaten a lot of people on the men’s tour,” she laughed. “Indirectly I have wins over [Roger] Federer, [Rafael] Nadal. Just so exciting.”
■CZECH REPUBLIC
‘Bad girl’ Vaidisova fined
Nicole Vaidisova became the first woman to be fined at this year’s Australian Open yesterday, joining 18 men penalized for bad behavior at the season’s first grand slam. The Czech received a US$2,000 penalty from the International Tennis Federation for failing to appear at a news conference after her 6-2, 6-1 first round loss to Severine Bremond of France. The former world No. 7 has slipped down the rankings after a poor run last year and is now outside the top 50. Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov has copped the heftiest dent to his wallet in the first five days, being fined US$500 for racket abuse and another US$2,500 for verbal abuse. Both fines stemmed from the 29th seed’s first round loss to Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
Spain starlets Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams dazzled on Thursday as La Roja beat France 5-4 in a thriller in Stuttgart, Germany, to set up a UEFA Nations League final with Portugal. Yamal bagged a brace, while Williams scored and provided an assist as the two wingers cut France’s makeshift defense to ribbons. Mikel Merino and Pedri were also on the score sheet for the UEFA Euro 2024 champions. Kylian Mbappe netted a second-half penalty, but Spain were 5-1 up and cruising, before Les Bleus suddenly woke up as their opponents took their foot off the pedal. France’s three late goals — a
Italy crashed to a 3-0 loss away to Norway, as the four-time FIFA World Cup champions made a disastrous start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday, while Belgium had to settle for a draw in North Macedonia. Alexander Sorloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland all scored in the first half in pouring rain in Oslo as Norway made it a night to forget for Italy, who missed out on the past two World Cups. “I have no explanation. Our supporters don’t deserve this kind of match. We need to do some soul-searching. It’s unacceptable,” Italy captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi
The Crusaders yesterday produced a clinical performance in difficult conditions to beat the Queensland Reds 32-12 and claim home advantage in next week’s Super Rugby semi-finals. Lock Scott Barrett and prop Tamaiti Williams scored first-half tries to reward an outstanding performance from the Crusaders’ forwards in wet, slippery conditions and bitterly cold temperatures. Scrumhalf Noah Hotham defied the conditions in the second half to score a superb solo try and, after kicking a conversion and penalty to make the score 22-0 at the hour mark, flyhalf Rivez Reihana scored a try which took the game beyond the Reds. “Typical Christchurch weather, cold, wet
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