TENNIS
Zverev claims debut title
US Open champion Stan Wawrinka came up short against rising German star Alexander Zverev in the Saint Petersburg Open final on Sunday, the teenager claiming his debut ATP Tour title 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. “I’m full of emotions. I just couldn’t have chosen a better place to win my maiden title,” said Zverev, who has Russian origins. “It was really hard when I was trailing 3-0 in the deciding set, but I forced myself to keep on fighting and now I’m really happy with my win.” Wawrinka congratulated Zverev, calling him the future of tennis. “You’re the future of the tennis, but you’re already at the top,” Wawrinka said. “Today you’ve played a great match and won deservedly. My congratulations for what you’re doing so far.”
TENNIS
Pouille triumphs in Metz
France’s Lucas Pouille won his first career ATP Tour title on Sunday when he downed top seed Dominic Thiem of Austria 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 in the Moselle Open final. World No. 18 Pouille, who defeated Rafael Nadal on his way to the US Open quarter-finals, claimed the victory in 78 minutes. The 22-year-old Frenchman notched his fifth victory over a top-10 opponent this year and a 30th match win overall. “Winning a title is a big step, it’s an objective I wanted to achieve this year. It was a well-played final. We both played at a high level,” Pouille said.
SOCCER
It could’ve been six: Noble
West Ham United’s Mark Noble admitted with rare post-match candor that his side were fortunate to escape with a 3-0 defeat by Southampton at the London Stadium on Sunday — their fourth successive reverse in the English Premier League. “To be honest, it could have been six,” said Noble, the club captain and veteran of 12 years. “It was laughable. We probably could have played until tonight and still not scored.” Manager Slaven Bilic looked shell-shocked after the match, answering questions with soft, measured tones. “It is the same players and manager who were doing good things last season [when they finished seventh]. Eighty percent of the team is like that, but we were not happy with how we played in the last third of the pitch,” he said.
CYCLING
Terpstra wins Eneco Tour
Dutch rider Niki Terpstra of Etixx-QuickStep won the Eneco Tour after taking second to Edvald Boasson Hagen in Sunday’s seventh and final stage. Norway’s Boasson Hagen of Dimension Data claimed the closing day’s honors in a sprint at the end of a challenging 197.8km ride from Bornem to Grammont, Belgium. Terpstra was placed fifth going into Sunday’s stage, almost half a minute behind Australian BMC Racing rider Rohan Dennis, the overall leader, but Dennis’ hopes of victory were compromised when he crashed after 48km.
GOLF
Levy edges Fisher in playoff
Frenchman Alexander Levy beat England’s Ross Fisher on the second hole of a playoff to win the European Open title in Bad Griesbach, Germany, on Sunday. After both players parred the 18th on their first attempts, Levy claimed his third European Tour title with a 30-foot putt to win the event, which was reduced to 54 holes by bad weather. It was Levy’s first title since the 2014 Portugal Masters.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
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