■TENNIS
Murray to train on Christmas
British star Andy Murray will train on Christmas Day as he tries to make sure next year is the year when he wins his first grand slam title. Not since Fred Perry won the last of his eight slams in 1936 has a British man triumphed at one of tennis’s four premier events — the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Murray 22, reached this year’s Wimbledon semi-finals and became the first Briton to win the grass court slam warm-up event at London’s Queen’s Club since 1938. The Scot also spent several weeks at No. 2 in the world rankings. “I always felt I could start playing my best tennis between 23 and 26 so I’m hoping next year is going to be a good year,” Murray said at a sponsor’s event in Glasgow, Scotland, on Thursday. Murray will be training with coach Miles Maclagan on Christmas Day. “I’ll obviously try to do better next year and that’s one of the reasons why I’m spending Christmas over in the States and going over to Australia; it’s to make sure I’m in the best shape possible going into the grand slams,” he said. “I’m only going to be with my coach on Christmas Day and he’s a little bit of a Scrooge so I’m not sure I’ll be getting too many presents!”
■BASEBALL
Saito signs with Atlanta
Japanese reliever Takashi Saito agreed to a US$3.2 million, one-year contract with Atlanta on Thursday as the Braves make another move to strengthen their pitching staff. Saito, who turns 40 in February, has 83 saves in four major league seasons after a long career in Japan. He made the National League All-Star team in 2007, when he had 39 saves for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Last season, the right-hander went 3-3 with two saves and a 2.43 ERA in a setup role for the Boston Red Sox. Saito is expected to remain in that spot with the Braves, who signed closer Billy Wagner to a US$7 million, one-year deal on Wednesday.
■FORMULA ONE
BMW Sauber to compete
The BMW Sauber team was awarded the 13th entry into next year’s Formula One world championship on Thursday. Formula One’s governing body said in a statement that BMW Sauber would take the place of the departing Toyota team “subject to their signing the Concorde Agreement.” German car maker BMW agreed last month to sell its Formula One team to previous owner Peter Sauber, provided the team gets a place on the grid next season. “The FIA has worked closely with the Commercial Rights Holder and the teams involved over recent weeks and is grateful for their support in achieving the best outcome for the sport,” FIA said. BMW announced in July that it would pull out of Formula One at the end of the season, citing the global economic downturn. Peter Sauber has said his cars would use Ferrari engines and that he planned to lead the team for just one season then find a successor.
■GOLF
Appleby takes strong lead
Stuart Appleby shot a second consecutive six-under-par 66 to take a commanding lead at the wind-suspended Australian Open on Friday. Appleby had played just two holes before a near six-hour suspension because of gusting high winds on the oceanside links-style New South Wales Golf Course. By the time Appleby finished his round, overnight co-leader Scott Hend had dropped a shot after two holes and was at five-under, seven behind Appleby, along with two other golfers who hadn’t started their rounds. Some were not expected to start their second rounds until 7:30pm tonight, with the round to be completed tomorrow.
Taiwanese badminton player Lin Chun-yi had to settle for silver in the men’s singles at the Orleans Masters in France on Sunday after losing in the final to his French opponent. The 25-year-old Lin, ranked world No. 14, lost to Alex Lanier 13-21, 18-21 in a match that lasted 42 minutes at the Palais des Sports arena. It was the first time that the two players were facing each other in their professional careers. In the opener, Lin was slow to warm up, which gave the 20-year-old Lanier an opportunity to take an early lead with seven consecutive points. Despite
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
Two-time Indian Wells champion Iga Swiatek on Thursday avenged her shock Paris Olympics loss to Zheng Qinwen with a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Chinese eighth seed, setting up a semi-final against 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the California desert. In the men’s singles, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz put on a show with his acrobatic shotmaking under the lights to close out the day’s action, overcoming a 4-1 second-set deficit to defeat Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei crashed out of the women’s doubles. Swiatek, one of the gold medal favorites when she lost to eventual champion Zheng in the
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