NBA | Page 6 CCRICKETRICKET | Page 10 Curry helps Amla and To Advertise here get Golden Bavuma bat Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 State back South Africa on track to safety Wednesday, January 6, 2016 FOOTBALL Rabia I 26, 1437 AH Zidane vows to GULF TIMES put ‘heart and soul’ into Real Madrid SPORT Page 3 TENNIS / QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN Nadal fi ghts back for fi rst win of the year; Berdych advances ‘I began well but then I think he played well in the closing stages of the first set... happy with the way I finished it’ By Sahan Bidappa Doha RESULTS SINGLES (ROUND I) or a player, who plies his trade (2) Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt Pablo mostly in the ITF Futures and Carreno Busta (Spain) 6-7(5), 6-3, Challenger tournaments, eve- 6-1; Teymuraz Gabashvili (Rus- ry victory at the ATP Tour is a sia) bt Simone Bolelli (Italy) 4-6, Fmatter of rejoice. And if you haven’t 6-4, 6-1; Pablo Andujar (Spain) bt even won a set against a top-10 player, Paolo Lorenzi (Italy) 6-4, 0-6, 6-4; then the victory over the fancied oppo- (3) Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) nent is etched in your memory forever. bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukraine) 7-5 World No. 94 Illya Marchenko ex- 6-4; Illya Marchenko (Ukraine) bt perienced just that when he knocked (4) David Ferrer (Spain) 6-7 (8), 6-3, out defending champion David Ferrer 6-2; (8) Leonardo Mayer (Argentina) from the Qatar ExxonMobil Open yes- bt (Q) Benjamin Becker (Spain) 6-1, terday at the Khalifa Complex. Need- 6-2; Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) less to say, it was the Ukrainian’s fi rst bt Albert Ramos-Vinolas (Spain) 6-3 victory over a top-10 opponent (1-4 4-6 7-6 (7). lifetime). Marchenko should have won DOUBLES (ROUND OF 16) in straight sets but he will take 6-7(8), Jean-Julien Rojer Spain) and Horia 6-3, 6-2 over the fourth seed Ferrer Tecau (Romania) bt Jonathan Erlich any day. (Israel) and Colin Fleming (Great “I got a lot of texts from a lot of peo- Britain) 7-6(4), 6-3; Jamie Murray ple, from some people I didn’t even talk (Great Britain) and Bruno Soares to for years. Of course it happens when (Brazil) bt Radu Albot (Moldova) you get a result like that. I’m used to it,” and Martin Klizan (Slovakia) 6-3, said Marchenko, clearly basking in the 6-3; Feliciano Lopez and Marc spotlight. Lopez (Spain) bt Wesley Koolhof Meanwhile, second seed Rafael and Matwe Middelkoop (The Nadal looked to go Ferrer’s way after he Netherlands) 7-6 (5), 6-4; Philipp lost the fi rst set to fellow Spaniard Pa- Petzschner (Germany) and Alexan- blo Carreno Busta, before he recovered der Peya (Austria) bt Mousa Shanan to win 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1. Zayed and Mubarak Shannan Zayid Marchenko broke Ferrer in the very (Qatar) 6-1, 6-1; Simone Bolelli (Italy) fi rst game and should have wrapped up andSergiy Stakhovsky (Ukraine) bt the opening set while serving at 5-4. Julian Knowle (Austria) and Andre But Ferrer fought back to take the set, Sa (Brazil) 7-6 (6), 6-1. which lasted one hour and eight min- utes, in a keenly-fought tie-breaker, Today’s order of play which he won 10-8. Marchenko, having now got the be- Spain’s Rafael Nadal reaches out for a return during the Qatar ExxonMobil Open first round match against compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta at the Khalifa International CENTRE COURT (STARTS 3:30 lief of being able to stretch a player of Tennis and Squash Complex here yesterday. (Below) Last year’s finalist Tomas Berdych serves to Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil PM) Ferrer’s stature, grew in confi dence. It [7] J. Chardy (FRA) vs P. Mathieu did help him though, that the Span- “I began well but then I think he played (FRA) iard’s serving was mediocre, as he well in the closing stages of the fi rst Not Before 5:00 pm committed as many as nine double set. I came back strongly, went for the [1] N. Djokovic (SRB) vs F. Verdasco faults in the match. points more and closed out the match. (ESP) or [WC] M. Jaziri (TUN) In the second set, Marchenko broke I am happy with the way I fi nished it,” R. Haase (NED) vs [2] R. Nadal (ESP) Ferrer’s serve in the fi rst game itself the Mallorcan said. [3] T. Berdych (CZE) vs D. Dzumhur and never looked back thereafter as Earlier, last year’s fi nalist Tomas (BIH) the defending champion unusually lost Berdych of Czech Republic kept his confi dence and his movements. clean sheet against Ukrainian Sergiy COURT 1 (STARTS 3:30 PM) While the nerves crept in for March- Stakhovsky intact. Berdych, the third T. Gabashvili (RUS) vs I. Marchenko enko at the doorstep of victory, the seed, had never lost to the 62nd ranked (UKR) 28-year-old closed out the victory in Stakhovsky in the last six meetings and R. Berankis (LTU) vs A. Kuznetsov style. He forced a weak backhand from he made it 7-0 with a 7-5, 6-4 win in (RUS) Ferrer with a booming serve and shut 78 minutes. [Q] K. Edmund (GBR) vs D. Muñoz out the match with a ferocious fore- Despite continuing his domination de la Nava (ESP) hand coming to the net. over Stakhovsky, Berdych said it was “I feel great, obviously, beating a guy never easy to play the 29-year-old COURT 2 (STARTS 3:30 PM) ranked that high. And I have really huge Ukrainian. “It’s always tricky to play P. Andujar (ESP) vs [8] L. Mayer respect for David. I enjoy his matches, him,” said the Czech, who will face (ARG) how he fi ghts on court, and it’s a huge Damir Dzumhur in the second round S. Bolelli (ITA) / S. Stakhovsky (UKR) moment for me,” said Marchenko, who today. vs [3] F. Lopez (ESP) / M. Lopez (ESP) in the second round will face Russia’s “He’s one of the few who like to After Suitable Rest - [1] J. Rojer (NED) Teymuraz Gabashvili. come to the net a lot, playing a lot of / H. Tecau (ROU) or J. Erlich (ISR) / C. “The only problem in the fi rst set slice and a lot of variation in the game. Fleming (GBR) vs T. Gabashvili (RUS) was that I couldn’t believe that I can I just took my chances in the fi rst set / A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) make it, and I improved that side of my and... in the second. It was quite a solid game a lot last year. So I was just con- game today... It would be great to leave COURT 3 (STARTS 4PM) tinuing fi ghting for every point, and with the trophy in the end.” [4] P. Petzschner (GER) / A. Peya then when I got a break, it was early In the other matches, Spain’s Pablo (AUT) vs D. Marrero (ESP) / A. Seppi in the second set. I got my confi dence Andujar came through a two-hour test (ITA) back that I can actually fi ght and can the 67th ranked Busta, whom he had ful in the fi rst set. But overdid it for face Germany’s Robin Hasse today in against Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-4, 0-6, After Suitable Rest - J. Chardy (FRA) actually turn it around still,” he added. beaten in their only previous meeting the rest of the game, and committed the second round. 6-4, while Gabashvili saved fi ve of sev- / P. Mathieu (FRA) vs [2] J. Murray Nadal, the 14-time Grand Slam last year. Busta looked to hit deep to far too many unforced errors allowing Nadal was pleased to have won the en break points in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win (GBR) / B. Soares (BRA). champion, had early problems against Nadal’s backhand and was success- Nadal to settle down. Nadal will next match, despite conceding the fi rst set. over Simone Bolelli of Italy. Gulf Times 2 Wednesday, January 6, 2016 TENNIS QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN DIARY Djoko aims Off -colour Ferrer to emulate coach Becker heads to Australian By Sahan Bidappa on the ATP Tour. The Olympics Doha makes it even more taxing, as the ‘fi fth Grand Slam’ takes place once in four years. t’s Novak Djokovic’s second For the top names in the game, visit to Qatar ExxonMobil it’s not just in singles competi- Open, and there is some un- tion that they take shot at gold, Open with doubts fi nished business left for the but they are in the mix in doubles IWorld No. 1 in Doha. and mixed competition as well. At last year’s event, the Serbian Rafael Nadal seems to be al- Little-known Illya Marchenko of Ukraine downs defending champion in round one was knocked out in the quarter- ready making his plans for Rio. fi nals itself, losing to big serv- The 14-time Grand Slam cham- By Sahan Bidappa ing Croatian Ivo Karlovic. Since pion won a gold medal in singles Doha then, he has reached the fi nal of at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, every tournament he entered af- before skipping the competition ter January and ended 2015 with in London four years later due to avid Ferrer will turn 34 this his fourth consecutive season- health reasons.