TENNIS
Wozniacki through in Mexico
Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark on Thursday defeated Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Abierto Monterrey Afirme in Mexico. “It was very tough,” Wozniacki was quoted as saying on the WTA Web site. “[Lucic-Baroni] plays really strong and really hard from the baseline and I didn’t have much time to get ready for my shots. So yeah, I’m very happy to be through.” In the earlier games, No. 1 seed Sara Errani of Italy went down to Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit 6-1, 6-3, France’s Caroline Garcia toppled Israel’s Julia Glushko 6-1, 6-2, Pauline Parmentier of France overcame Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig 6-3, 6-4, while the US’ Nicole Gibbs outlasted fellow American Christina McHale, who was forced to retire at 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 3-0 due to dizziness.
CYCLING
Wine row gets corked
Tour de France organizers have invited local wine producers to showcase their products during the race, after they had threatened to disrupt this year’s edition in protest at a Chilean wine being an official partner. Race supremo Christian Prudhomme on Thursday said that he and five-time Tour winner Bernard Hinault met the producers for talks at the annual Paris Agriculture Fair this week. Upset to discover that the Chilean wine “Bicicleta” was the Tour’s official wine, the two sides met in an effort to strike a deal. “We discussed the idea of regional producers showcasing their products at all the towns on the Tour itinerary,” Prudhomme said. “There is no problem at all. Wine producers and cooperatives can promote their products on the Tour de France.” The head of the French wine producers council Jerome Despey, who invited Prudhomme to the Agriculture Fair, said the matter was settled. “It would have been a mistake to block the Tour de France,” Despey said.
TENNIS
Sharapova still injured
World No. 7 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from next week’s BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells after failing to recover from a troublesome forearm injury. The Russian star said in a statement issued by tournament chiefs that she had pulled out in an effort to return to full fitness. “I am extremely disappointed that I am unable to compete in this year’s BNP Paribas Open,” Sharapova said. “I have been focused on healing my left forearm injury and tried to get my body to be 100 percent ready to play this event, as it is one of my favorite events on the WTA and so close to my home in LA. I know the tournament will be a great success this year and I will be anxious to return next year and hopefully many years after.” Sharapova has not played since exiting the Australian Open in the quarter-finals in January.
BODYBUILDING
Arnold Classic expanded
The series of sports festivals co-founded by US actor, bodybuilder and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is adding two new versions of the Arnold Classic for a total of six this year, each on a different continent. The Columbus Dispatch reported that the new versions are set to debut in Johannesburg in May and in Hong Kong in August. The Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, began on Thursday and runs through the weekend. It began as the original Arnold Classic in 1989 and now includes a massive health and fitness exposition and 70 sports and events, drawing nearly 20,000 athletes. The other festivals will be in Australia, Brazil and Spain.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE: Sabalenka aims to follow up with a third Australian Open win, while Taiwanese Joanna Garland claimed a WTA 125 title in Canberra Aryna Sabalenka beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to reach her third Brisbane International final in a row yesterday, a week ahead of the Australian Open. Sabalenka looked in great touch against the tricky Czech, who had won their last three meetings and went into the match as one of the few players with a winning record over the world No. 1. However, Sabalenka showed her class and power as she broke Muchova once in each set to take the semi-final 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final. “I struggled against her a couple of times [in
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
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