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.
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
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
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
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