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Home , Sloane Stephens

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3-4, 2021 SPORTS 14 Stephens overpowers Gauff at US Open; Osaka’s foe withdraws as Tsitsipas rolls

López wins stage Roglic keeps Vuelta ‘lead’ ALTU D’EL GAMONITEIRU, Spain, Sept 2, (AP): Primoz Roglic moved closer to clinching his third consecu- tive Spanish Vuelta title after increas- ing his lead on the fi nal test in the high mountains on Thursday, while Miguel Ángel López won the demanding 18th stage. López held off a late attack by Roglic to claim the 162-kilometer (100-mile) route that crested three mountain passes before a fi nish atop the beyond- category Altu d’El Gamoniteiru. It is the fi rst time the Spanish Roglic Grand Tour has included the grueling ascent with an av- erage gradient of nearly 10% over 14.6 kilometers (9 miles). López broke away from the group of the hardiest riders, in-

CYCLING

cluding Roglic, with around 5 kilometers (3 miles) to go and overtook David de la Cruz in the fog that obscured the vision of the valleys below. Michael Storer was eyeing a third win at this Vuelta when he started the fi nal ascent with a two-minute advan- tage. But he soon saw his advantage crumble as the top riders picked up the pace on the grueling upward haul. López gave Movistar its fi rst win at this year’s race, fi nishing in 4 hours, 41 Garbine Muguruza of Spain, returns a shot to of Germany, during the second round of the US Open championships, on Sept 1, in New York. (AP) minutes, 21 seconds.

Halep, Muguruza and Azarenka move on, Schwartzman wins rain-delayed match Raikkonen to retire at end of F1 season

NEW YORK, Sept 2, (AP): view. match since losing to Three years ago, a reporter Only one other court at Flushing Gauff at the 2020 . Verstappen hopes his fans get a Meadows can be covered during And against Stephens, Gauff did asked Sloane Stephens to bad weather, but even that was an briefly display the varied skills that win to remember at Dutch GPrix point out a younger tennis issue Wednesday evening, because helped her to that win and others on wind helped push rain through the big stages, including twice against AMSTERDAM, Sept 2, (AP): Formula in the dunes between world champions. player most fans might not One fans will hope Sunday’s Three-time F1 champion Nelson have heard of yet, someone space between the concourse and , and a run to the the retractable cover at Louis Roland Garros quarterfinals in June. Netherlands Grand Prix is a spectacular Piquet took pole position, four-time she thought could become a race to remember rather than a dismal champion Alain Prost had the fastest Armstrong Stadium - a gap there on But Stephens, quite simply, was one to forget. lap. Victory went to the late Niki Lauda household name some day. purpose to provide natural ventila- better. From 4-all at the outset, she Last weekend’s rain-drenched ahead of Prost and the late Ayrton Stephens paused to ponder, tion. So the match between two- claimed eight of the remaining 10 Belgian Grand Prix was called off short- Senna, both winners of three world but not for long, before re- time major finalist games, with a performance largely ly after it restarted under a safety car for titles. and Diego Schwartzman was built with terrific placement of her a few slow laps, and more than three There will be four world champions sponding: , then delayed for nearly a half-hour at serves and stinging forehands. hours later than its scheduled time. on the grid on Sunday. 14. 5-all in the first set while workers Gauff’s lone break chance came Hopeful fans, many stuck in traffic Hamilton is joined by Vettel, Stephens had first met Gauff used air blowers to dry the playing when she was up 2-1 in the second for hours getting in and out of Spa- Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen. several years earlier - they last hit set, but Stephens held there, then Francorchamps, had waited soaked to They have a combined seven titles the bone. but none of them are remotely close to together on a court in when TENNIS broke at love and was on her way, All they eventually saw was a measly Gauff was 12 - and clearly knew never ceding another game. challenging Hamilton. 10 minutes of drivers crawling behind a Verstappen certainly is and a seventh what she was talking about. The “The forehand,” Stephens said, safety car and then stopping on Lap 4 as surface, then stopped again early in victory of the season would move him world would quickly discover Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece re- “was key today.” track water sprayed over their helmets. back in the lead in a thrilling title race. Gauff, too. The pair of friends met the second set when the court got acts to winning a point against Gauff had seen that forehand up F1 rules still gave Red Bull’s Max Doing so in front of his legion of in an official match for the first so wet that efforts to clear the pud- Adrian Mannarino of France during close five years ago during a friendly Verstappen the win because he’d com- devoted fans, who time Wednesday night at the US dles were abandoned. the second round of the US Open practice but, as she noted: “I defi- pleted two laps, while seven-time F1 Verstappen calls Eventually, the tournament gave tennis championships, on Sept. 1, nitely don’t remember how her ball champion Lewis Hamilton finished his “Orange Open, and it was Stephens, the third. The Mercedes driver branded the 2017 champion now ranked 66th, up on getting that match done in in New York. (AP) felt when I was 12. She definitely Army” and who Armstrong and decided to move it to was probably taking some pace off situation “a farce.” follow him in huge who pulled away for a 6-4, 6-2 vic- am, following the conclusion of tory over Gauff, now 17 and seed- Ashe, where Schwartzman wrapped then. I don’t really count that.” numbers, would up a 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4 win just past 1 runner-up Stefanos Stephens, who was two points MOTOR RACING be especially poi- ed 21st. Tsitsipas’ 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-0 vic- gnant. Afterward, the pair met at the net from losing to good friend Madison tory over Adrian Mannarino. Those Keys on Monday in a rematch of Saturday’s for a warm hug, before Stephens moving on in the men’s draw in the qualifying, with praised the player - and person - their 2017 final in New York, won There was widespread criticism of F1 afternoon included No. 2 Daniil and governing body FIA, who have tens of thousands Gauff has become. 39 of 49 points she served, an 80% of spectators Medvedev, No. 5 Andrey Rublev and rate. She also put 84% of her first pledged to review what happened and “I love Coco. I think everyone 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, also look at options for fans who bought Raikkonen shouting for knows I love Coco. At the end of the serves in play. Verstappen, may who takes on Tsitsipas next. “I love that,” Stephens said when a tickets. match, I said, ‘I love you.’ She’s The botched race saw only half points feel intense even for some as experi- such a great player and I feel so The conditions didn’t matter at all reporter told her about that number. enced as Hamilton. The 36-year-old to defending champion Naomi awarded to the winner, giving Max lucky to have seen her grow up and More than a decade Gauff’s senior Verstappen 12.5 points for his sixth win Brit is F1’s record holder with 101 pole play since she was 8,” Stephens told Osaka, who advanced in the morning at age 28, Stephens also handled her of the season and least memorable of his positions but he trails Verstappen 6-3 the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd. when her second-round opponent, opponent’s faster serves adroitly, 16 career victories. this season and 6-4 for wins. “I know,” Stephens added, “there’s Olga Danilovic, pulled out of the breaking three times. Victory in Spa trimmed Hamilton’s Hamilton has been pushed harder tournament because of what she said Both walloped the ball during big- overall lead from eight to three points than at any time since he lost to then- going to be great things ahead for Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in her.” was a viral illness - but not COVID- strike exchanges from the baseline, heading into the Dutch GP, where 19. Hamilton seeks a record-extending 2016. With the Ashe roof shut during a with enviable and unrelenting power. Now Verstappen wants to take heavy downpour brought by rem- Other past major title winners The official stats showed they com- 100th win, and at Verstappen’s home track. Hamilton’s F1 crown and prevent him nants of Hurrican Ida - a tornado , Garbiñe Muguruza bined for 24 winners and 44 unforced from becoming F1’s first driver to win and moved on The undulating 4.3-kilometer (2.7- warning was in effect in the region errors, but that latter designation mile) circuit is located at the seaside eight titles. and there was flooding around the more conventionally with straight- seemed unfair to assign, given how resort town of Zandvoort just outside of Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen will grounds of the set wins. Muguruza next faces much each was forced to try to han- Amsterdam. Rising and falling through retire at the end of the Formula One National Tennis Center - the thump- Sloane Stephens of the United Azarenka, who in addition to a dle from the other side of the net. dunes, it is fast flowing with banked season, concluding a career that spanned thump-thump of the rain created a States, serves to Coco Gauff of pair of Australian Open trophies is “Obviously, I have a lot of respect turns of up to 18 degrees offering plenty two decades and included the 2007 bass beat that drowned out the usual the , during the sec- a three-time runner-up at the US for Sloane. Looked up to her for a of chances for overtaking. world championship. sounds of a tennis match. It was so ond round of the US Open tennis Open, including when she lost to while. Known her since I was little,” Zandvoort first hosted a race in 1952 Raikkonen is in the final year of his loud Stephens could barely hear the championships, on Sept 1, in New Osaka in the final a year ago. Gauff said. “But I don’t think our and last did so in 1985. It was set to contract with Alfa Romeo. The Finn questions during her on-court inter- York. (AP) Osaka hasn’t been beaten in a relationship affected the match.” return last year only to be one of several announced his departure on Instagram canceled due to the coronavirus pan- on Wednesday ahead of this weekend’s demic. Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. In 1952, Alberto Ascari led a 1-2-3 Raikkonen’s retirement will open a Sabres re-sign Mittelstadt to 3-yr, $7.5 million deal finish for Ferrari, which has not won an seat at Alfa Romeo for the 2022 season. F1 race since Sebastian Vettel’s victory The team has fielded the same lineup of at the Singapore GP two years ago. Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi for Blues, Parayko agree on $52 mln, 8-year extension The ’85 edition was an intense duel the past three seasons. ST. LOUIS, Sept 2, (AP): Colton Parayko’s name is left from the Blues team that won the Cup in 2019. saw his production jump when he gained additional out of trade rumors and in the St. Louis Blues’ long- “Winning here in 2019 was special, and I want the playing time after coach Ralph Krueger was fi red in term plans after agreeing to terms on a $52 million, chance to stay here and do that again,” Parayko said. mid-March and replaced by Don Granato, who has eight-year contract. ❑ ❑ ❑ taken over on a full-time basis. The team’s top defenseman was set to become an Overall, Mittelstadt has 27 goals and 61 points in unrestricted free agent next summer, and his impend- The Buffalo Sabres re-signed center Casey Mit- 155 career games. ing departure threatened to remove another key per- telstadt to a three-year, $7.5 ❑ ❑ ❑ former from the blue line that helped St. Louis hoist million contract. the Stanley Cup in 2019. Instead, Parayko will count Mittelstadt, a restricted free After Lou Lamoriello was conspicuously quiet agent, was selected in the fi rst for most of the summer, he completed most of the round of the 2017 draft. The New York Islanders’ offseason work by signing ICE HOCKEY 22-year-old from Minnesota four players to multiyear contracts. overcame early career incon- Goaltender Ilya Sorokin got $12 million over sistencies to fi nish third on three years, homegrown winger Anthony Beauvil- $6.5 million against the salary cap when his new deal the Sabres with 10 goals and lier $12.45 million over three years, trade deadline starts in the 2022-23 season until it runs out in 2030. fourth with 22 points in just 41 pickup Kyle Palmieri $20 million over four years Parayko put up 12 points during the Blues’ Cup games last season. and fourth-line mainstay Casey Cizikas $15 million run two years ago. He was limited to that many dur- That’s a jump from 2019-20 over six years. The deals keep together a core that ing an injury-plagued 2021 season. The departures Parayko when his struggles led to Mit- reached the third round of the playoffs each of the of captain Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, Joel telstadt being demoted to the past two seasons. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands is interviewed ahead Edmundson, Carl Gunnarsson and Vince Dunn made minors. “It’s exciting what we’re doing right now,” Cizikas of Sunday’s Formula One Dutch Grand Prix at the Zandvoort racetrack, Parayko and Robert Bortuzzo as the only defensemen Used sparingly to open last season, Mittelstadt said. “We’re gearing up for another big year.” Netherlands, on Sept 2. (AP)