TENNIS
Venus exits WTA Istanbul
Top-seeded Venus Williams’ bid to win the WTA Istanbul Cup ended at the first hurdle on Tuesday as the US icon lost 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko. Bondarenko looked to be cruising at 6-4, 5-2 before 35-year-old Williams rediscovered her touch and fighting spirit, and battled back to even serve for the set. However, Bondarenko woke up from her mini-slump and won 11 of the last 15 points to take the match. “Your first match is never perfect. She’s played matches in the qualification and just never missed today, making great shots all game long. I’m really sad. I came here to play and to win, but I ran into an opponent that was just too hot today,” Williams said.
TENNIS
Almagro defeats Verdasco
Nicolas Almagro upset fifth-seeded Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 in an all-Spanish contest on clay to reach the second round of the Swedish Open on Tuesday. Almagro, the 2010 Bastad champion and winner of 12 clay-court titles, sealed victory on his third match point. Sixth-seeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil beat Swedish wild-card Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-2 and next faces another Swede, Christian Lindell. Paul-Henri Mathieu beat seventh-seeded Jeremy Chardy 7-5, 6-3 in an all-French first-round match and next plays Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, who easily defeated Marsel Ilhan of Turkey 6-2, 6-0. In other matches, No. 8 Jerzy Janowicz of Poland took 89 minutes to overcome qualifier Andrea Arnaboldi of Italy 6-4, 7-5. His next match is against Steve Darcis of Belgium, who beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-4, 6-3. Germany’s Alexander Zverev hit nine aces in a 6-7(4/7), 6-4, 6-3 victory over compatriot qualifier Julian Reister to line up a second-round match with No. 4 Juan Monaco of Argentina. Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain beat Luca Vanni of Italy 6-4, 6-4.
TENNIS
Jaziri rallies to beat Krajicek
Seventh-seeded Malek Jaziri of Tunisia rallied to defeat Austin Krajicek of the US 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the Claro Open on Tuesday. The 82nd-ranked Jaziri needed 1 hour, 53 minutes to clinch the win and secure a spot in the round-of-16 of the ATP 250 hard-court tournament. In other first-round matches on Tuesday, qualifier Marcelo Demoliner of Brazil defeated Illya Marchenko of Ukraine 6-3, 7-5, while Tatsuma Ito of Japan came back to beat qualifier Matthew Ebden of Australia, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Top-seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia and second-seeded Bernard Tomic of Australia were scheduled to debut yesterday.
ICE HOCKEY
Las Vegas eyes NHL team
Las Vegas is hoping to gain its first major sports team with confirmation that it is one of two cities to apply to join the National Hockey League. Bids from Las Vegas and Quebec City were submitted to the NHL by the Monday deadline, the league said on Tuesday. “We can confirm that we have received two applications: one from Bill Foley for a franchise in Las Vegas, Nevada, and one from Quebecor for a franchise in Quebec City, Quebec,” the league said. Bill Foley is a businessman who heads the group named Hockey Vision Las Vegas. Quebecor, a Canadian telecom and media conglomerate, announced on Monday that it was seeking a franchise. The league said they were the only two to apply from the 16 that initially expressed interest. Multiple reports said the potential new owners had to include a US$10 million down payment. Two more stages of “documentation submission” are required before a final decision is made.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
RSS