World No. 14 Julia Goerges yesterday won her third successive tournament as she blasted her way to a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Caroline Wozniacki to seal the Auckland Classic title.
Goerges was rarely troubled by the world No. 3 as she used a powerful service and blistering forehands that kept the Dane pinned deep and unable to extend rallies beyond a few shots.
The 29-year-old German, who has played at the Auckland tournament every year since her first visit in 2010, extended her winning streak to 14 matches stretching back to last year, when she won in Moscow and Zhuhai, China.
“It feels amazing, but it’s not just about winning here, but about my consistency over the last few months,” Goerges said after she became the first woman to be presented with a korowai, or Maori feather cloak, that is to be awarded to every subsequent winner. “I have become much more mature — that’s thanks to my team who have really changed my brain.”
Goerges stamped her intentions on the opening point when she smashed a forehand service return back at Wozniacki’s feet and broke to take a 1-0 lead that she never relinquished.
She sealed the first set after 35 minutes with her seventh ace and then broke Wozniacki again in the first game of the second set and continued to overpower.
Wozniacki had an opportunity to get back on serve in the fourth game when she had a break point, but Goerges simply pulled out another ace and consolidated her lead.
“I have got a lot of matches under my belt and it was the type of preparation I hoped for,” Wozniacki said as she looked ahead to the Australian Open, which is to begin on Monday next week. “Hopefully it will be a great couple of weeks.”
SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL
AP, SYDNEY
French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko yesterday had an upset 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 loss to Ekaterina Makarova on a sweltering opening day of the Sydney International.
No. 3 Ostapenko was one of two highly seeded players to exit the women’s draw in the first round, with fifth seed Kristina Mladenovic retiring from her earlier match while trailing Australian wildcard entry Ellen Perez 6-4, 4-2.
Goerges also withdrew from the tournament after winning the Auckland Classic citing a right knee injury.
The conditions forced organizers to activate heat policies — including longer breaks between sets — during part of the day, with some areas of western Sydney experiencing the hottest day in nearly 80 years, with temperatures peaking above 47oC.
BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL
Reuters
Nick Kyrgios yesterday clinched his maiden tour title on home soil in a big confidence boost ahead of the Australian Open, beating Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-2 in the Brisbane International final.
Carrying a niggling knee injury, Kyrgios made a rusty start and was forced to save five break points before he carved out his first break in the seventh game.
The 22-year-old claimed the first set before taking control of the match after his opponent dropped his serve at the start of the second set with a frustrating double fault.
Kyrgios, ranked 21th in the world, broke big-serving Harrison again in a sublime second set display to close out the match and seal his fourth career title.
Deep runs at grand slam events have eluded Kyrgios, but a strong start to the season, including a semi-final victory over world No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov, should put him among the early contenders for the first Grand Slam of the year.
‘REMARKABLE’: Gaelic football is a traditional Irish sport that blends the skills of soccer and rugby, and hurling is an ancient sport played with a wooden stick and ‘sliotar’ The Taiwan Celts Gaelic Football Club marked a milestone achievement at the Asian Gaelic Games in Bangkok on Nov. 23 and 24, with two sides advancing to the knockout stages and competing at hurling for the first time. The event brought together 68 teams from 16 clubs across Asia, with more than 800 players in men’s and women’s tournaments. Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends the skills of soccer, rugby union and basketball. Hurling is an ancient Irish sport played with a wooden stick, called a hurley, and a small ball, or sliotar. The Taiwan Celts’ women’s team reached
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
Taiwan’s Lin Cheng-jing won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk in the women’s under-49 kg division at the 2024 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain on Saturday. Lin won her first medal at a World Weightlifting Championships for lifting 107kg in the clean and jerk in her weight class, 2kg more than Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines. However, Ramos won bronze for the combined lift after topping Lin by 5kg in the snatch. Ri Song-gum of North Korea won gold in the division’s combined lift with a total of 213kg, while Xiang Linxiang of China took silver with
RSS