SPORT Page 2 TENNIS / FRENCH OPEN Andujar Knocks Thiem Out, Zverev Survives Scare ‘I Believed in Myself Because I Played Well (Vs Federer) Two Weeks Ago
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FFOOTBALLOOTBALL | Page 3 CCYCLINGYCLING | Page 7 Tuchel hungry Brilliant for more Bernal wins aft er guiding 2021 Giro Chelsea to win d’Italia Monday, May 31, 2021 TENNIS Shawwal 19, 1442 AH Osaka fi ned aft er GULF TIMES win, warned of expulsion SPORT Page 2 TENNIS / FRENCH OPEN Andujar knocks Thiem out, Zverev survives scare ‘I believed in myself because I played well (vs Federer) two weeks ago. Usually being drawn against Thiem is a bad draw’ Reuters against Minnen in her three-set- Paris, France ter yesterday. Kvitova, who reached the semi-fi nals at Roland Garros in wo-time runner-up 2012 and last year, struggled with Dominic Thiem was her serve from the start and suf- knocked out in the fi rst fered service breaks in her fi rst round of the French two games. TOpen by Spanish journeyman The 11th seed fought back val- Pablo Andujar 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, iantly to take the opening set to a 6-4 in the fi rst major upset of the tie-breaker under slightly windy claycourt Grand Slam yesterday. conditions on the Suzanne Leng- Sixth seed Alexander Zverev len court only to lose it by serving rallied from two sets down to three double faults. beat qualifi er Oscar Otte 3-6, The Czech was down 30-40 at 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-0, even as two- 6-5 in the second set and star- time Wimbledon champion Petra ing at a fi rst-round exit at Roland Kvitova saved a match point en Garros for the fi rst time since route to a 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-1 vic- 2010 but saved the matchpoint tory over Belgian qualifi er Greet with a crosscourt backhand win- Minnen. ner and then levelled things in It fi rst seemed that Andu- the tiebreaker. jar’s win against 20-time Grand Her confi dence soared in the Slam winner Roger Federer in decider and she jumped to a 5-0 Geneva earlier this month would lead in no time, losing just three count for nothing. But Austrian points on serve in the third set. Thiem’s game began to unravel Kvitova will next meet Russian after a dominant start on court Elena Vesnina, who strolled past Philippe Chatrier. Belarusian Olga Govortsova 6-1, Thiem, who reached the fi nal Spain’s Pablo Andujar celebrates after winning his French Open first round match against Austria’s Dominic 6-0. in Paris in 2018 and 2019, had Thiem (below) at Roland Garros in Paris, France, yesterday. (Reuters) never lost in the opening round SABALENKA ADVANCES at Roland Garros, but that pros- “Like all the shots are miss- Third seed Aryna Sabalenka pect grew as Andujar went for his ing power. They are not accurate moved into the second round of shots and unsettled his 27-year- enough. I’m moving not well the French Open with a 6-4, 6-3 old opponent. enough, so everything in my victory over Croatian qualifi er Thiem broke back after con- game there are some percents Ana Konjuh. ceding a break in the fi rst game of missing.” Sabalenka, who is seeking her the decider, but Andujar kept on Andujar, on the other hand, maiden Grand Slam title, sent piling up the pressure with deep was on a roll after beating Federer out a warning earlier this month strokes and broke again for 3-2. on the Geneva clay. when she won the Madrid Open The 35-year-old, ranked 68th “I believed in myself because I but she started on the back foot in the world, then held serve played well (against Federer) two when she was broken in the fi rst throughout to claim victory after weeks ago. Usually being drawn game and soon found herself 4-2 nearly four-and-a-half hours af- against Thiem is a bad draw,” the down in 20 minutes. ter Thiem made a total of 66 un- Spaniard said. However, Sabalenka doubled forced errors. “Winning today against a down and found her bearings be- Thiem, who took a break to ‘re- player like him is like a gift, even fore her aggression came to the set his game’ earlier this season if he has not been at his best re- fore as she created angles to open and also battled injuries, entered cently, because I’m 35 and I don’t up the court and capitalise with the tournament short of confi - know how long I’m going to be Germany’s Alexander Zverev returns the ball to compatriot Oscar Otte powerful winners to take a 5-4 dence and yesterday’s clash with playing for. (not pictured) during their French Open first round match at Roland lead. Andujar showed he had yet to re- “Beating Roger was an even Garros in Paris, France, yesterday. (AFP) Konjuh, a former junior world discover his touch even though bigger gift. I feel like Father fi rst two sets on the Suzanne the 152nd ranked Otte in the fi rst number one looking to mount a he had reached the semi-fi nals at Christmas came to my home.” Lenglen Court but the 24-year- meeting between the two Ger- and more sting in his serves. man Safi ullin or Carlos Taberner career comeback after a series of the Madrid Masters this month. Later, Zverev too seemed old German found a diff erent mans for the remainder of the Zverev has now won all seven of Spain. elbow surgeries, went on the de- “I was not struggling at all headed for an early exit like gear to completely turn the con- contest as Zverev’s movement of his fi ve-set contests at Roland fensive and handed the opening with my motivation but the game Thiem, who beat him at the 2020 test around. on the red clay improved and he Garros and will next meet anoth- KVITOVA SURVIVES MINNEN set to Sabalenka when she dou- was just not there today,” he said. US Open fi nal, when he lost the It was one way traffi c against found more power in his shots er qualifi er, either Russian Ro- Kvitova survived a big scare ble-faulted on set point. FOOTBALL Qatar has great infrastructure, world-class facilities: India’s Fernandes By Sports Reporter the second half and once we had Doha the momentum, we tried creat- ing opportunities. It was a great game for us and we defended re- idfi elder Bran- ally well,” Fernandes, who was don Fernandes has brought on as a substitute in the praised the infra- second half last time round, was structure and fa- quoted as saying by Goal.com. Mcilities in Qatar ahead of India’s With their star captain Sunil clash with the Asian champions Chhetri absent from that match in Doha on June 3. due to injury, the defence had put The last time the two teams on a spectacular show holding off met, Igor Stimac-coached India the likes of Almoez Ali and Has- had halted Qatar’s eight-match san al-Haydos. winning run in Asia with a goal- “The last time we were in Qa- less draw back in September tar the stadium was pretty cool. 2019. There was no humidity. It was Felix Sanchez’s men had scored pretty well-conditioned. Amaz- as many as 25 goals in those eight ing conditions to play football. In matches, but could not get one fact, Qatar have great infrastruc- past India’s goalkeeper Gurpreet ture and world-class facilities for Singh Sandhu. India’s Brandon Fernandes. (Twitter/IndianFootball) football. It will be a great feeling Al Sadd’s Jassim Bin Hamad to play at Al Saad’s home ground. Stadium will play host to the two joint qualifi cation fi xture. tar are a very good team and we (I’m) looking forward to a good teams yet again in their World “We went into the match with cannot aff ord to concede early. experience to play there,” Fern- Cup 2022 and Asian Cup 2023 a positive mindset. We knew Qa- We wanted to be in the game till andes said. India coach Igor Stimac speaks to his players during a training session in Doha. (Twitter/IndianFootball) Gulf Times 2 Monday, May 31, 2021 TENNIS FRENCH OPEN FOCUS Diff erent year, same failure for Kerber at Osaka Roland Garros fi ned aft er win, Germany’s Angelique Kerber returns the ball to Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina (below) during their French Open first round match at Roland warned of Garros in Paris yesterday. (AFP) Reuters “She started well and had Paris, France nothing to lose, while it took me too long to get into the contest,” Kerber said afterwards. ormer world number In her last six tries she has one Angelique Kerber’s failed to make it past the opening expulsion poor record at the French round on fi ve occasions. Open got no help yes- Kerber is now eager to play on Fterday when the German was a surface on which she fares bet- knocked out in the fi rst round by ter. Ukrainian qualifi er Anhelina Ka- “I will try to learn from the linina. match now because I played good Japan’s Naomi Osaka serves the ball In an indication that the 26th the last few weeks and I had good to Romania’s Patricia Maria Tig (not seed, who has never made it past matches,” she said. pictured) during their French Open the quarter-fi nals here despite “I did the best preparation I first round match at Roland Garros in winning the other three Grand could do in the last few weeks on Paris, France, yesterday.