Russian Doping Scandal
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NBA | Page 6 GGOLFOLF | Page 8 Sacramento Patrick Reed To Advertise here Kings hold pips Jordan Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 off Bryant’s Spieth for Lakers Hawaii lead Saturday, January 9, 2016 FOOTBALL Rabia I 29, 1437 AH Holders Arsenal GULF TIMES start road to FA Cup history SPORT Page 11 FACE OFF Classic looms as Nadal takes on Djokovic in today’s Qatar final SEE ALSO PAGE 2 Gulf Times 2 Saturday, January 9, 2016 TENNIS QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN DIARY When Novak Early-season greeted fans in Arabic honours at stake as expensive sport like tennis. By Sahan Bidappa Doha When Marchenko started to train under Tibor Toth, he re- located to Bratislava, Slovakia, mong many things that since his hometown in Donetsk, Novak Djokovic can Ukraine, was at war. At the end of do, the World No 1 can last season, as part of his prepa- Djoko, Nadal clash speak in fi ve languag- rations, he went to the moun- Aes – Serbian, English, German, tains to train under his fi tness Italian and French. The Serb coach. “It was like a bit of invest- Djokovic and Nadal have a 23-all record against each other going into today’s final studied English and German at ment for me,” said Marchenko. primary school, and learned Ital- And the ‘investment’ has ian when he worked with coach brought the Ukrainian quick Riccardo Piati. dividends, at least in Doha as Soon enough, one may have he made it to the semifi nals, his to add Arabic to the list. The 10- third at the ATP level and fi rst time Grand Slam champion is since 2010. Reaching the last four quite popular on the tour with meant that he has earned $57,380 fans and has a fun demeanour to – that is more than a quarter of go with his brilliance on court. what he made all year last season. At the Qatar ExxonMobil “I’m really happy it’s paying back Open, Djokovic, after his victory that quick,” said Marchenko. in the quarter-fi nals, addressed the fans in Arabic. He put on an DJOKO BACKS ITF PREZ ON impressive accent, as he said in DAVIS CUP FORMAT Arabic: “Hello, I am happy to be If new International Tennis Fed- in Qatar. Thank you.” eration president David Hag- So he was asked, is learning gerty has his way, then the Davis Arabic on his list next? “Yeah, Cup format is set for a revamp. why not? (Smiles) I have been Haggerty has revealed a pro- coming to Dubai and Abu Dhabi posal that would see both semifi - for many years and now here in nals and fi nal played over a single Doha, as well, so I have more than week each November at a neutral enough reason to upgrade my venue. At the moment, Davis Cup knowledge of Arabic language. is played annually and competed It’s a beginning. You know, now by 16 nations in World Group, I know a couple of phrases, cou- with each round played on speci- ple of words. It’s not easy. I think fi ed weekends throughout the writing will not happen yet any year, with one team hosting the time soon (smiling) but at least other. There is also a proposal to am learning certain phrases,” the hand the defending champions a ever-jovial Djokovic said. bye in the opening round. Djokovic is not the only top star, Haggerty found an early sup- who is a master at speaking lan- porter for his idea in Djokovic, guages. Roger Federer, the 17-time with the World No 1 believing the Grand Slam champion, also speaks existing one had become stale. “I four languages fl uently – his na- think the format has to change, tive Swiss German along with there is no doubt. I’m glad that French, English and German. they are at least considering, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic (left) and Spain’s Rafael Nadal (right) beat Tomas Berdych and Illya Marchenko in their respective semi-final matches yesterday. PICTURES: Jayan Orma One of the greats of the game, talking about it,” said the Serb. Federer is known for his ability to He added: “The problem in By Sahan Bidappa two years and he couldn’t have asked for set, before closing it out in just 35 min- switch eff ortlessly between lan- tennis is that you have several Doha a tougher test to end the drought. utes. The 94th-ranked Marchenko was guages in interviews and press governing bodies. You have, well, Final at 6pm today For, Djokovic is set to be hitting peak immediately down 15-40 in fi rst game of conferences. players belonging to ATP, Fed- form, the kind that won him three Slams the second set, before he pulled things erations belonging to ITF, Grand t’s happening right here — a Novak morrow,” world No. 1 Djokovic said of his and six Masters titles last year. There back. But Nadal made the break by love MARCHENKO TALKS ROI Slams are independent. So it’s a Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal fi nal. 47th meeting with Nadal. “Let’s see what were doubts whether he would play in the in the fi fth game to take a 3-2 advantage The surprise package of the Qa- bit complicated. In the last fi ve- In 2015, Djokovic and Nadal fell in happens. We’ve played each other so semis last night as the news spread that and held onto his serves to make it to his tar Open, Illya Marchenko has ten years, you don’t have many the quarter-fi nals and fi rst round re- many times, it will be an interesting one. I he had cut short his pre-match practice second fi nal in Doha. come into the season having ‘in- top players playing Davis Cup Ispectively. Cut to today, two of the sport’s hope we put on a good show and fans will after injuring his arm. “It was not a perfect win. But I did a vested’ in something. throughout the entire year be- greatest stars in history will face-off in an enjoy it.” But he was on court right after Nadal few good things and I’m happy with re- For a player ranked 94th in the cause it’s just a terrible schedule. enticing clash at the Qatar ExxonMobil Djokovic and Nadal have split equal had won his match. Djokovic started sult,” said Nadal. “Being in the fi rst fi nal world, it’s hard to travel with a I mean, you can’t expect, you Open. number of victories in their head-to- poorly though, as he was broken in the of the season in the fi rst offi cial tourna- big team, which has coaches, fi t- know, top players to participate Last night at the Khalifa Complex, both head contest — 23 each — and today’s very fi rst game, slipping and falling on ment is great, and I am very happy for ness trainer, physio and a man- in every Davis Cup match when Djokovic and Nadal were in their ele- encounter will decide who takes the lead the ground while going for a forehand. that. For sure, it is important for me for ager. Nothing comes cheap in an it comes after every Grand Slam.” ments in their respective semi-fi nals. and a mental edge as they head to Aus- Berdych sped to a 3-1 lead and it appeared my confi dence, (to) confi rm that the end Djokovic’s encounter was the toughest tralian Open, the year’s fi rst Grand Slam that the pre-match rumours on Djoko- of 2015 season had been something re- one, as he faced last year’s Doha fi nalist beginning on January 18. vic’s injury were true. alistic and the beginning of 2016 I am FUN AND GAMES and third seed Tomas Bedych. The top They hold the record for most meet- The World No.1, however, raised his still playing well. I have already won four seed Serb was down 1-3 in the fi rst set, ings between two players in the Open game and took fi ve successive games to matches here and I am in the fi nal. That but recovered to post a 6-3, 7-6 (3) win Era, eclipsing the mark previously held close out the set, as Berdych typically lost means I have confi dence, and rhythm. So over the Czech, a victory that was a testi- by Lendl and John McEnroe. Djokovic has his game and nerves. The second went on everything’s positive,” the 29-year-old Car simulator attracts mony to both Djokovic’s mental strength an 8-1 record against Nadal since the 2013 serve till the tie-breaker, before Djokovic added. and his ability with the racquet. US Open. He is 13-10 in tour-level fi nals burst through taking a 4-0 advantage. It Second seed Nadal was up against a and 16-7 on hard courts. was no looking back thereafter as he went RESULTS visitors and players at much easier opponent, but Illya March- After their victories last night, Djoko- 19-0 in hard courts against the sixth- Singles semi-finals enko was the giant-killer of the tourna- vic has now gone into his 16th straight ranked Berdych. 1-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) bt 3-Tomas Qatar ExxonMobil Open ment. The 14-time champion, however, ATP fi nal, third longest run in the Open In the fi rst semifi nal, Nadal, well aware Bedych (Czech Republic) 6-3, 7-6 (3) dismantled Marchenko, who had knocked era behind Ivan Lendl (18) and Roger Fe- of Marchenko’s recent good run, started 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt Illya Marchenko out two seeds in previous matches, in- derer (17).