TENNIS
Sousa, Coric suffer upsets
Two seeded players lost in the first round at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier on Tuesday, while local favorite Paul-Henri Mathieu advanced in straight sets. Ruben Bemelmans upset sixth-seeded Joao Sousa 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 and Michael Berrer defeated No. 7 seed Borna Coric 7-6 (7/5), 6-2. Mathieu saved all seven break points to beat teenager Elias Ymer, 6-1, 6-4 to set up an all-French second-round match with fourth-seeded Benoit Paire. Also Jan-Lennard Struff beat Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 7-5 and qualifier Dustin Brown had a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Steve Darcis.
TENNIS
Ramos-Vinolas advances
Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain reached the second round of the Ecuador Open in Quito on Tuesday, defeating Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-4, 7-6 (9/7). The No. 7 seed will face American Rajeev Ram in the second round. Ram defeated Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-4, 7-6 (8/6). In another first-round match in the tournament — the first in a month of clay-court events around Latin America — qualifier Andrej Martin of Slovakia defeated Marcel Granollers of Spain 7-6 (9/7), 6-2. Top-seeded Bernard Tomic of Australia had a bye into the second round and will play Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain.
SOCCER
No Venezuelan extradition
Venezuela on Tuesday said it would not seek the extradition of former national soccer federation boss Rafael Esquivel, who is detained in Switzerland as part of a probe into corruption in world governing body FIFA. Esquivel, 69, who was also a member of the executive committee of the South American Football Confederation, was arrested in May last year in Zurich with six other soccer executives on US arrest warrants. The comments about a possible Venezuelan extradition request followed press reports that Esquivel’s lawyers wanted him to be tried in his own country rather than in the US. “It’s not true that Venezuela has requested his extradition,” chief state prosecutor Luisa Ortega told parliament. “Furthermore, we’re not going to request it.” Swiss authorities have approved the extradition of Esquivel, who was born in Tenerife and has dual Spanish-Venezuelan citizenship, to the US.
BOXING
Khan to fight Alvarez
Amir Khan will challenge Mexico’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for his WBC world middleweight title in Las Vegas on May 7 in what will be the Briton’s first fight for a year. The 29-year-old Khan, a former Olympic silver medalist and light-welterweight world champion, will be Alvarez’s first opponent since the Mexican beat Miguel Cotto on a unanimous points decision in Vegas in November last year. “Amir was a decorated amateur, a two-time world champion and is in the prime of his career. Fans are in for a great fight on May 7,” Alvarez, 25, beaten only once in 48 fights, said in a statement from Golden Boy Promotions. Alvarez, whose nickname, Canelo, comes from the Spanish word for cinnamon owing to his red hair, has only one defeat on an otherwise unblemished record, a majority decision loss to American star Floyd Mayweather Jr. Khan, who boasts a 31-3 record with 19 knockouts, has not fought since outpointing Chris Algieri in New York in May last year. “I know Canelo fights the best and wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to face me like others have,” Khan said. “My goal is to always fight the biggest names and the best fighters that is why I’m excited for this fight.”
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
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