TENNIS
Cibulkova beats Pironkova
Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova overcame the heat and a three-hour match with Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova on Sunday in the first round of the Connecticut Open. The 26-year-old Cibulkova won 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (7/5), 6-3 as she continues her comeback from left Achilles surgery that sidelined her for more than four months this year. “The sun wasn’t so strong, but it was really, really humid,” Cibulkova said. “I was sweating a lot, and in the end I was cramping a lot. I could feel it in my body I was getting really tired, but I knew I had to stay strong. I said to myself: ‘OK, I’m here for three hours now, I’m not going to give it up.’” The tournament lost its top seed when Simona Halep withdrew because of a left thigh injury after losing to Serena Williams in the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati earlier in the day. Halep was replaced in the draw by lucky loser Lesia Tsurenko. In women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Chuang Chia-jung and China’s Liang Chen defeated Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena and Slovakia’s Andreja Klepac 6-3, 6-2 in their first-round match. In other matches at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center, Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu beat Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 and the Czech Republic’s Barbora Strycova topped Italy’s Camila Giorgi 6-2, 7-5.
TENNIS
Groth defeats Donaldson
Australia’s Sam Groth beat the US’ Jared Donaldson on Sunday night in the first round of the Winston-Salem Open. Groth won 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/5) to advance to face 13th-seeded Steve Johnson of the US in the second round. South Korea’s Chung Hyeon also advanced, beating Britain’s James Ward 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-3. Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun beat Robin Haase of the Netherlands 7-6 (7/4), 6-2; Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman topped Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-4, 7-6 (10/8); and Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo advanced when Belgium’s Steve Darcis retired.
CYCLING
Greipel wins Cyclassics
German sprinter Andre Greipel, who won four stages on this year’s Tour de France, survived a fall after just 10km to win the Vattenfall Cyclassics race in Hamburg, Germany, on Sunday. The 33-year-old Lotto Soudal rider, who was born in Rostock, northern Germany, relished his first victory in Hamburg to win in 4 hours, 57.05 minutes, ahead of Norway’s Alexander Kristoff and Italy’s Giacomo Nizzolo in a blanket finish. A crash ended the hopes of Britain’s Mark Cavendish, who had been amongst the prerace favorites.
FORMULA ONE
Pirelli shifts blowout blame
Sebastian Vettel’s explosive Belgian Grand Prix blowout would not have happened if tire manufacturer Pirelli had been listened to two years ago, the Italian company said in a statement on Sunday. Pirelli said they had asked in 2013, after a spate of blowouts at the British Grand Prix forced a change in construction, for a maximum to be set for the number of laps that could be run with the same tires. “This request was not accepted. The proposal put forward a maximum distance equivalent to 50 percent of the grand prix distance for the prime tire and 30 percent for the option. These conditions, if applied today at Spa, would have limited the maximum number of laps on the medium compound to 22,” Pirelli said. Ferrari’s Vettel, who was running in third place, had completed 27 laps on the medium tire and was on a one-stop strategy when his car’s right rear blew on the penultimate lap of the race.
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
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
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two
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