Azarenka Australia’S Daria Gavrilova Lost to Croatia’S Petra Martic
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FOOTBALL | Page 3 RUGBY | Page 6 Lyon striker ‘Express Lacazette has yourself’, Arsenal medical, coach tells say reports All Blacks Wednesday, July 5, 2017 BOXING Shawaal 11, 1438 AH Beaten Pacquiao GULF TIMES to ‘think hard’ about retiring SPORT Page 5 SPOTLIGHT Federer, Djokovic get free passes at Wimbledon It was great to be back on Centre Court. It’s the cradle of tennis history, but you REQUEST never like to end a match this way: Novak Djokovic, after his first round match Federer pleads for no AFP London panic measures over oger Federer and Novak Djok- ovic barely had to break sweat Wimbledon pull-outs to make winning starts at Wimbledon as their injury-hit AFP the Slams opt for the best-of-three Ropponents retired hurt from their fi rst sets format rather than the tradi- London round matches yesterday. tional best-of-fi ve. Federer is chasing a record eighth Wimbledon title and he was already oger Federer pleaded with ‘GIVE UP THEIR SPOT’ well on top at the start of his 19th All Grand Slams not to be pan- “I hope it doesn’t happen. But I be- England Club campaign when Alexandr icked into reducing matches lieve that more players clearly would Dolgopolov was forced to quit with an to best-of-three sets after fi nish their matches,” said Federer ankle injury. Rinjured players were accused of taking who is bidding for a record eighth The world number three raced into a the money and running yesterday. Wimbledon title. 6-3, 3-0 in 43 minutes on Centre Court Federer reached the Wimbledon “A player should not go on court if before the Ukrainian limped off . second round when Alexandr Dolgo- he knows he should not fi nish. The Federer, who hit his 10,000th career polov quit when trailing 6-3, 3-0 af- question is, did they truly believe ace in the eighth game of the fi rst set, ter just 43 minutes on Centre Court they were going to fi nish. will face either Dusan Lajovic of Serbia complaining of an ankle injury. “If they did, I think it’s okay that or Greek qualifi er Stefanos Tsitsipas for Earlier, title rival Novak Djokovic they walk on court. Otherwise, I feel a place in the last 32. booked his second round spot in just they should give up the spot. “It feels great to be back on Centre 40 minutes when Martin Klizan, suf- “The ATP has adjusted its rule. Court,” said Federer, who recorded his fering from a calf injury, retired at Maybe the slams should have a look 85th match win at Wimbledon, passing 6-3, 2-0 down. at what they could do for the players the mark he shared with Jimmy Con- It meant that the Centre Court to make it just a little bit easier.” nors. crowd had seen just 83 minutes of Federer believes that players who Having unexpectedly won the Aus- action involving the two men who insist on competing in the fi rst round tralian Open in January before taking have won 10 Wimbledon titles be- despite obvious physical ailments the clay-court season off to rest, Fed- tween them. should not necessarily be damned. erer, making a record-equalling 70th Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in action during his first round match against Slovakia’s Martin Klizan. “I feel for the crowd,” said Federer. “For some, they just want to be out Grand Slam appearance, is the favour- “They’re there to watch good tennis, there because they feel like miracles ite to take the Wimbledon crown for the of his career, the 12-time major winner open in a generation. had lost his “respect” for tennis follow- proper tennis. At least they see the two happen: maybe the other guy retires, fi rst time since 2012. losing in the Australian Open second World number one Angelique Ker- ing his lacklustre 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 loss to of us who gave it all they had. They saw or maybe the other guy is carrying an “Everybody’s got a chance to win round and the French Open quarter- ber, the 2016 Australian and US Open Mischa Zverev. other players that tried at least.” injury. Wimbledon and for me it’s no diff erent. fi nals. winner, is among the favourites after “I don’t know why but I felt a little bit Five men have retired from the fi rst “If I win, I have a day off , maybe I already achieved my dream to be back “He had issues walking on to court. reaching last year’s fi nal, which she lost bored out there, to be completely hon- round — on Monday, Victor Troicki I will feel better on Thursday. All here healthy. Now we’ll see how far I I tried to focus on my game plan, I was to Serena. est,” Tomic said. quit after just 20 minutes. these things play into the equation can go,” Federer said. serving well and when it mattered I The German has failed to maintain French 22nd seed Richard Gasquet First round losers all receive as well. Don’t forget those things as Djokovic, a three-time Wimbledon made a break,” said Djokovic, who is that form this season and her poor run slumped to a 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 loss £35,000 ($45,220). well. Could be rain, come back the champion, was leading 6-3, 2-0 when aiming to win a fi rst Grand Slam title culminated in an embarrassing French against Spain’s David Ferrer. There is a rule on the main ATP next day. You never know what the Slovakian world number 47 Martin since last year’s French Open. Open fi rst round loss to Ekaterina Former French Open champion Gar- Tour, but not at the Slams, that an player’s motives are.” Klizan retired after just 40 minutes on “It was great to be back on Centre Makarova last month. bine Muguruza, the 14th seed, defeated injured player can give up his place to Djokovic said he backed the ATP Centre Court due to a calf problem. Court. It’s the cradle of tennis history, Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro, Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, a ‘lucky loser’ from qualifying while rule being used at the Slams but also The 30-year-old Serb will face Adam but you never like to end a match this a semi-fi nalist in 2013, defeated Aus- 6-4. keeping the prize money. refused to criticise opponents who Pavlasek of the Czech Republic for a way.” tralian Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3, 3-6, Australian qualifi er Arina Rodiono- The thinking behind the move is fail to fi nish. place in the last 32. With defending champion Serena 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 as the 29th seed moved va, ranked 166th, saved seven match to preserve the integrity of a tourna- “If you walk out on the Centre It was the kind of trouble-free fi rst Williams sidelined while she prepares towards a potential third round classic points before defeating Russian 16th ment and prevent fans from feeling Court, there is a responsibility. I’m round Djokovic would have been hop- to give birth to her fi rst child, the race to against Djokovic. seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 3-6, short-changed. sure they tried their best, but it is ing for after the most turbulent period win the women’s title is the most wide Australia’s Bernard Tomic said he 7-6 (8/6), 9-7. But Federer does not want to see what it is,” said the Serb. BOTTOMLINE Kerber fi nds it tough going at the top Reuters Kerber is unlikely to repeat her spec- “It’s easier to go there than to stay pared with a WTA tour-leading eight in 2016 London tacular 2016 run when she fi nished there.” — that one false move here and the chasing runner-up to Williams. Such have been Kerber’s trials and tribula- duo of Karolina Pliskova or Simona Halep “Playing fi rst rounds in grand slams tions this year — reaching only one final com- could unseat her from the top spot. here can be few things in tennis are always tough, especially with (the more embarrassing than be- memory of) my fi rst-round match that Pliskova lives up to favourite tag with strong start ing beaten in the fi rst round of I lost in Paris,” Kerber told reporters af- a grand slam tournament while ter registering her fi rst win at a grand Karolina Pliskova underlined why Tranked number one in the world. slam tournament since bowing out in she is the bookmakers’ favourite to It is a painful memory that is still the fourth round at January’s Austral- win Wimbledon as the world number fresh in Angelique Kerber’s mind, hav- ian Open. three crushed Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, ing suff ered that misfortune at the “I was actually just thinking about 6-4 in the first round yesterday. French Open just fi ve weeks ago. point-by-point, trying to fi nding my With defending champion Serena Wil- It is a fate that has befallen only two rhythm during the whole match,” liams sidelined due to the impending women at Wimbledon in the profes- added the German who produced 13 birth of her first child, there is a power sional era — fellow German Steffi Graf unforced errors and only eight winners vacuum at the top of women’s tennis in 1994 and Martina Hingis in 1999 and in a below-par opening set against Fal- and Pliskova could be poised to fill it.