Tennis

MIAMI: Italian teen Jannik Sinner advanced to the Miami Open final on Friday, rallying past Spanish seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the biggest championship match of his young career. Sinner, who reached last year's French Open quarter-finals, defeated Bautista 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 after two hours and 28 minutes to become only the fourth teen to reach the men's final in the 36-year history of the ATP Masters 1000 hardcourt event. The 19-year-old Italian, playing only his third Masters 1000, joined 1990

Jack Draper’s ATP main-draw debut at the Miami Open ended bitterly after he collapsed with a heat-related illness and was forced to retire from his first-round match against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin. Draper, the 2018 Wimbledon boys’ runner-up and one of the UK’s best young prospects, was granted a wildcard into the tournament due to his status as a promising client of the sports agency IMG, which runs the event. During the time he did spend on court the world No 316 handled himself

World number three Simona Halep withdrew from the WTA and ATP Miami Open on Saturday because of a right shoulder injury, sending Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova into the round of 16. The 29-year-old Romanian isn't set to play again until next month's Billie Jean King Cup, formerly the Fed Cup. "I'm very sorry I have to pull out of singles and doubles at the Miami Open, but my injury doesn't let me play here as expected," Halep said in a statement. "I'm sad that I can't

LONDON: World number three Simona Halep said she is more interested in silverware than her ranking and will focus on the Grand Slams and the Olympics as she looks to add to her trophy cabinet this year after a chaotic 2020 rattled by COVID-19. The 29-year-old Romanian is among a women's field stocked with top talent at the Miami Open, Halep's first tournament in the United States since the beginning of the pandemic, after she dropped out of the U.S. Open in August

LONDON: Stefanos Tsitsipas is keeping expectations low heading into the Miami Open but said the absence of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the tournament gives players like him a better chance for success. The 22-year-old Greek, who is ranked fifth, reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open last month and the final of the Mexican Open on Saturday, in a solid start to what he hopes will be his breakthrough year. "It is an opportunity, I won't lie," he told

A great athlete who has represented our country has left us,” the Salvadoran Surf Federation said in a post paying tribute to Katherine Diaz on social media. “See you soon, great warrior. El Salvador is in mourning.” The 22 year-old had entered the water to start a training session on Friday near her home in El Tunco when she was struck. Emergency services tried to revive her on the beach, but the attempts were unsuccessful. Spanish newspaper AS reported that a sudden change

Wimbledon’s famous queue will not operate for this summer’s Championships, the All England Club has confirmed. The snake of people and tents in Wimbledon Park has become one of the defining sights of the event as tennis fans camp out overnight to secure access to the show courts. Coronavirus restrictions mean tickets will be distributed differently this year, and there will also be no reselling of tickets within the grounds. Tournament organisers are working on the basis a reduced number of fans will

LONDON: Rafa Nadal will skip the Miami Open that begins later this month in a bid to recover from a back injury in time for the clay court swing, the Spaniard said on Tuesday. Nadal had not played since his quarter-final exit at the Australian Open last month and also skipped the ATP 500 event in Dubai. The 34-year-old has since dropped down one place in the rankings to third after Russian Daniil Medvedev leapfrogged him. "Sad to announce that I won't be

Roberto Bautista Agut advanced to the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final for the second time on Friday, winning 6-3, 6-3 over third-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev in 74 minutes to stretch his winning streak in Doha to nine tournaments. On Saturday, he will play Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili in the Doha final for a chance to win his 10th ATP Tour title. After overcoming American Taylor Fritz in two pairs (7/6 and 6/1) in the second semi-final match, Georgian player Nikoloz Basilashvili qualified for Qatar's final

Roger Federer has pulled out of an upcoming tennis tournament in Dubai after returning to action following a 13-month injury layoff. The 20-time grand slam champion hadn't played competitively in over a year after undergoing two knee surgeries in 2020 but won his comeback match against Dan Evans at the Qatar Open on Wednesday. The 39-year-old was then beaten by Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili -- 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 -- in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Federer was due to continue his comeback at the Dubai

The 20-times Grand Slam champion had match point in the third set but Basilashvili held on for a deserved victory Roger Federer’s hopes of a fairytale title on his return from injury were cut down by the big-hitting Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili as the world No 42 came from behind to beat the 20-times Grand Slam champion 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the quarter-finals of the ATP event in Doha on Thursday. The 39-year-old, who played superbly to beat British world No 28 Dan Evans

Roger Federer is targeting a third Olympic medal at the Tokyo Games this year after missing out in 2016 due to injury as he looks to gain momentum when he returns to the court this week after 13 months on the sidelines with a knee problem. Federer, 39, is making his long-awaited comeback at the Qatar Open - where he plays Britain's Dan Evans in the second round on Wednesday (March 10) - after two knee surgeries ended his season last year. The

Isaiah Wilson had a rookie season that he’d like to forget as a member of the Tennessee Titans. Now, Wilson, the No. 29 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, appears to be getting a fresh start in South Beach. The Titans shipped Wilson and a 2022 7th round pick to the Miami Dolphins to exchange for a 2021 7th-rounder on Monday night, according to multiple reports. Wilson only played four snaps for the Titans in 2020 and was eventually placed on the NFL reserve/nonfootball list on Dec. 9,

The main round of Qatar ExxonMobil Open, organized by the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation, kicked off today at Khalifa International Complex, with the participation of a large number of the world's top ranked players. The organizing committee said the top four players: Austrian Dominic Thiem, Swiss Roger Federer, Russian Andrei Rublev and Canadian Denis Shapopalov will not compete in the first main round, which will be held over two days, and that they will start their career from the second round,

Novak Djokovic says it has taken "a lot of blood, sweat and tears" to break Roger Federer's record of 310 weeks ranked as world number one. The 33-year-old Serb set the record on Monday for most weeks at number one in the 48-year history of the ATP rankings. "My family have supported me for day one," Djokovic won his 18th Grand Slam singles title and his ninth Australian Open crown in Melbourne last month. Djokovic, whose longest continuous run at the top was

The early exits of Saina Nehwal, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen did them no favours as they fight to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. It is not so much the prize money available at relatively lower level tournaments like the just-concluded Swiss Open Super 300 (which offered a pot of $140,000) that is of importance to most of the top-25 international Badminton players as the points that are up for grabs, and which could determine qualification for the quadrennial Olympic Games. Players poised tantalisingly

Novak Djokovic equalled Roger Federer’s all-time record for most weeks as ATP world No 1 on Monday. He has now held the top spot for the 310 weeks. Djokovic’s ninth Australian Open title last month guaranteed that he will surpass Federer’s record on 8 March. Having reached another milestone in his illustrious career, Djokovic has said he will adjust his playing calendar and make overhauling Federer and Rafael Nadal’s joint-record of 20 men’s grand slam titles his top priority. “Now, after achieving the historic No 1

Victoria Azarenka has withdrawn from her Qatar Total Open semifinal against Garbine Muguruza due to a back injury. The Belarusian, a two-time champion in Doha in 2012 and 2013 as well as runner-up to Lucie Safarova in 2015, sustained the injury during her quarterfinal win over No.1 seed Elina Svitolina. Azarenka said in a press statement: "Unfortunately, the pain in my back that I experienced during yesterday's match has not gone away enough in order for me to be able to compete tonight.

The top two seeded players at the Qatar Open were eliminated in the quarterfinals as Victoria Azarenka played through pain to win against Elina Svitolina and Jessica Pegula defeated Karolina Pliskova on Thursday. Azarenka held off a late comeback from top-seeded Svitolina, her doubles partner this week, to seal a 6-2, 6-4 win on her third match point. Azarenka managed an apparent lower back problem with stretches and help from a physiotherapist. "In the warm-up, I just felt a very sharp pain and

No.4 seed Petra Kvitova came through a stellar hard-hitting clash 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 over Anett Kontaveit to reach her third Qatar Total Open semifinal in one hour and 46 minutes. In the last four, the 2018 champion will face qualifier Jessica Pegula, who needed just 57 minutes to upset No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-1. WTA's official website said that Both players have been in top form this week, reaching the quarterfinals without dropping more than five games in any match, and were