Spain’s new Davis Cup captain Gala Leon shrugged off “sexist debate” about her appointment on Tuesday and said her only concern was taking the team back to the top of the sport.
Leon, who had a career-high ranking of No. 27 as a player, was the surprise choice to replace Carlos Moya, who stood down after the five-time Davis Cup winners were relegated from the World Group following defeat against Brazil.
“Everyone has the right to say what they think. I am not here to create a sexist debate, but to help the Davis Cup team to return to the World Group and [ensure] that the trophy returns home soon,” Leon told a press conference.
Leon previously held the role of sports director at the Spanish tennis federation and has now become captain after initially being given the role of looking for a successor to Moya.
The appointment of Leon immediately led to a flood of criticism in Spain, including from Rafael Nadal’s uncle and coach, Toni Nadal.
“In recent years when you look at decisions like these there have been consultations with players, which I think is right, but in this case it hasn’t happened,” Toni Nadal told Spanish radio. “I have nothing personal against her. I don’t know her capabilities and I hope she does well, but at first sight she doesn’t know men’s tennis. If you told me she had been involved for the last 10 years on the men’s circuit, then I would say it was normal.”
“I am not being chauvinist. Anyone who says that doesn’t know what the word means. Having said that, I am a bit stuck in the past when I see a woman in the men’s dressing room. I accept that I am a bit old-fashioned, but you can’t say I’m being chauvinist,” he said.
However, double Grand Slam champion Andy Murray, who broke the mold earlier this year by engaging Amelie Mauresmo as his coach, came out in support of Leon.
“Congrats to Gala Leon Garcia for becoming first female Spanish Davis Cup captain today... hopefully first of many,” the Scot said on Twitter.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
Inter’s defense of their Italian Serie A title was hit with a setback on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at home to AS Roma, while Scott McTominay netted a brace as SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-0 to go top of the table. No fixtures were played on Friday or Saturday because of the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, meaning the full round of Serie A matches took place on Sunday and yesterday. Matias Soule’s first-half strike for Roma knocked Inter off top spot earlier in the day before new Napoli opened up a three-point buffer with victory in Sunday’s
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa yesterday set a women’s only world record of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 50 seconds as she won the London Marathon, while Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe put a star-studded men’s field to the sword. For 28-year-old Assefa it was ample compensation for finishing runner-up in London and the Paris Olympics last year — especially as bitter Dutch rival, the Ethiopia-born Sifan Hassan, finished third. Assefa dropped Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei as the race, played out in blazing sunshine and with thousands lining the route, entered its business end. She came home almost three minutes clear of the Kenyan. Hassan, who beat her in
RSS