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GULF TIMES

SPORT

TENNIS

Djoko storms to 70th win

Greek fifth seed Tsitsipas downs Cuevas in straight sets, while ninth seed Shapovalov

at Roland Garros

crashes out after loss to Carballes Baena

AFP

Paris, France

orld number one Novak Djokovic took another conﬁdent

W

stride closer to an
18th Grand Slam title with his 70th win at Roland Garros yesterday. Djokovic, the 2016 champion, needed just 83 minutes to complete a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 demolition of Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis. The top seed went level with Roger Federer for victories at the tournament, although still 25 behind Rafael Nadal’s all-time best. He will now face Colombian lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan,

Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in action during his second round match against Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas (not pictured) at French Open yesterday. (Reuters)

ranked 153, for a place in the last 16.
“It was diﬃcult for Ricardas in

the third set as he had an injury Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in action during his French Open second round match against Lithuania’s Ricardas and couldn’t move very well,” Berankis (not pictured) at Roland Garros in Paris, France, yesterday. (Reuters)

said Djokovic whose afternoon

RESULTS

Men (Round II)

sipas (GRE) bt Pablo Cuevas (URU) 6-1, 6-4, 6-2

stroll was eased by his opponent needing treatment on back problem after the second set.

SHAPOVALOV LOSES IN FIVE
HOURS

“Scheduling is absolutely aw- was to the semi-ﬁnals in 2012. ful. It’s just complete trash,” The seventh seed defeated It-

1-Novak Djokovic (SRB) bt Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 6-1, 6-2, 6-2; Daniel Elahi Galan (COL) bt Tennys Sandgren (USA) 6-2, 6-2, 6-3; 20-Christian Garín (CHI) bt Marc Polmans (AUS) 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (3), 6-4; 15-Karen Khachanov (RUS) bt Jiri Vesely (CZE) 6-1, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2); 10-Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) bt Attila Balazs (HUN) 6-3, 6-1, 6-2; 17-Pablo Carreno-Busta (ESP) bt Guido Pella (ARG) 6-3, 6-2, 6-1; Daniel Altmaier (GER) bt 30-Jan-Lennard Struﬀ (GER) 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3; 7-Matteo Berrettini (ITA) bt Lloyd Harris (RSA) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; Marton Fucsovics (HUN) bt Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 7-6 (2), 6-3, 7-5; Thiago Monteiro (BRA) bt Marcos Giron (USA) 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-1; Kevin Anderson (RSA) bt 22-Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3; 13- Andrey Rublev (RUS) bt Alejandro Davidovich (ESP) 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1; Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) bt 9-Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 8-6; 18-Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) bt Andrej Martin (SVK) 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-1; Aljaz Bedene (SLO) bt Nikola Milojevic (SRB) 7-5, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4); 5-Stefanos Tsit-

Women (Round II)

a

8-Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) bt Darya Kasatkina (RUS) 7-6 (6), 6-0; 30-Ons Jabeur (TUN) bt Nao Hibino (JPN) 7-6 (4), 6-4; Danielle Collins (USA) bt Clara Tauson (DEN) 6-2, 6-3; 11-Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) bt Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) 6-3, 6-2; Fiona Ferro (FRA) bt 14-Elena Rybakina (KAZ) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Patricia Maria Tig (ROU) bt Christina McHale (USA) 6-4, 6-3; Irina Maria Bara (ROU) bt Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) 6-1, 4-0 retd; 4-Sofia Kenin (USA) bt Ana Bogdan (ROU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; 7-Petra Kvitova (CZE) bt Jasmine Paolini (ITA) 6-3, 6-3; Leylah Fernandez (CAN) bt Polona Hercog (SLO) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1; Clara Burel (FRA) bt Kaja Juvan (SLO) 7-6 (8/6), 6-2; Zhang Shuai (CHN) bt Alize Cornet (FRA) 6-4, 7-6 (3); 13-Petra Martic (CRO) bt Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) 6-7 (1), 7-5, 6-3; Laura Siegemund (GER) bt Julia Goerges (GER) 1-6, 6-1, 6-3; Paula Badosa (ESP) bt 29-Sloane Stephens (USA) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) bt 2-Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 6-4, 6-2

Garbine Muguruza, the 2016 raged the Canadian on having to aly’s 94th-ranked Jasmine Pao-
“But I felt good just as I did in champion from Spain, knocked return to the court later to play lini 6-3, 6-3 to register her 25th the ﬁrst round and I want to con- out Pliskova’s twin sister Kristy- doubles. tinue like that.” Djokovic, bidding to become the ﬁrst man in half a century to committed 106 unforced errors reach the third round for a fourth last year’s junior champion, who win all four majors twice, also as he crashed out following a 7-5, successive year.
French Open win.

Kvitova next faces 18-year-

na, 6-3, 6-2.

Dimitrov downed Slovakia’s

Ninth seed Denis Shapovalov Andrej Martin 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-1 to old Leylah Fernandez of Canada,

reached the last 32 of a Slam for dropped only five games in his 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 loss to Robfirst round match against Mikael erto Carballes Baena.
Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsit- the first time by seeing off Polona sipas, who made the fourth round Hercog 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
Ymer who likened facing the Serb to a “snake killing its prey”.

Spanish world number 101 last year, downed claycourt spe-

Australian Open champion and

Carballes Baena prevailed after cialist Pablo Cuevas 6-1, 6-4, fourth seed Sofia Kenin needed
Victory stretched his 2020 a five-hour battle on Court Su- 6-2 having needed to come back three sets to see off Ana Bogdan record to 33-1, his only defeat zanne Lenglen to set up a clash from two sets down against of Romania, winning 3-6, 6-3, coming via disqualification from with 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov. the US Open. Shapovalov, who reached the Former champion Jelena Os- quarter-finals of the US Open, enia’s Aljaz Bedene, the world Russia’s Daria Kasatkina 7-6 (6), tapenko swept second seed twice served for the match in number 56. 6-0. Karolina Pliskova out of the tour- the final set at 5-4 and 6-5 but Also moving on was two-time Kasatkina has now gone two nament, triumphing 6-4, 6-2 on was broken three times in suc- Wimbledon winner Petra Kvito- years without beating a top 10 the back of 27 winners. cession. va, whose best Roland Garros run player.

Jaume Munar in his opener.

6-2 while eighth-seeded Aryna

Next up for Tsitsipas is Slov- Sabalenka of Belarus took down

Qatar 2022 Team Base Camp Sites

Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy is preparing as many as 41 Base Camp training sites for the teams that will participate in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Each of the base camp will consist of two FIFA-compliant floodlit natural grass pitches, ancillary team facilities, spectator areas for public training sessions and more. Here’s a glimpse... (Twitter/RoadTo2022News)

Gulf Times

2

Friday, October 2, 2020

TENNIS

FRENCH OPEN

SPOTLIGHT

Tunisia’s Jabeur plays mind games to climb rankings

Ostapenko ﬁnds art of drop shot in

to her game, Jabeur said: “The mindset.

Reuters

Paris, France

“I put something in my head that I kind of got sick being all ns Jabeur was fed up the time in 50 or top 100. I know with her ranking at the that I was able to win against start of 2020, having some players from top 10, top 20.

O

dropped to 85th in the

“I was not afraid to push more

world, but after making men- or get injured. Usually I was kind tal adjustments the Tunisian is of stuck in that side with my

ﬁrmly on course to achieve her

mind: If I want to push harder, I

big Paris victory

target of breaking into the wom- think that I will get injured. So I

en’s top 20.

took that oﬀ my mind. It really

Jabeur became the ﬁrst Arab helped me.”

Former French Open champion beats second seed Pliskova in straight sets

woman to reach a Grand Slam

She climbed to her career-high

quarter-ﬁnal at this year’s Aus- ranking of 31st at the end of Autralian Open to start climbing the gust.

Reuters

Paris, France

rankings and she has not looked back since.
“I always want to achieve the top 20 ranking,” the former
The 26-year-old also made French Open junior champion the last eight in Qatar before the said after defeating Japan’s Nao shutdown of the circuit due to Hibino 7-6 (4), 6-4 to set up a atvian Jelena Ostapenko is known on the tennis

circuit for her aggres-

the Covid-19 pandemic.

third-round clash against eighth

L

sive play and booming

She continued her strong seed Aryna Sabalenka.

“Obviously, it’s going to be groundstroke winners. showing after the resumption on
But the former French Open champion has rediscovered her love for the drop shot in the colder and slower conditions of this year’s Roland Garros, and she put that weapon to good use yesterday in her 6-4, 6-2 second-round demolition of second seed Karolina Pliskova. the hardcourts at Lexington and diﬀerent this year because there New York, where she reached the is not a lot of tournaments. But quarter-ﬁnals of the Western & it’s the same goals. I’m still keepSouthern Open and the US Open ing my motivation on to really

third round.

play good. To be honest, I’m lov-

Asked what changes she made ing it.”

“I think when I was a junior, but then (for) some time didn’t use

I

was using them

Ithem,” Ostapenko, who became champion in Paris in 2017 as an unseeded player, told reporters.
“I kind of forgot that I have this good shot, because I think I do good drop shots, sometimes winners, and it’s tough for girls. I think in these conditions the ball is bouncing super low, so it’s even tougher to get it back.” This year’s French Open was moved to September from its usual May-June slot due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the autumn weather has made the claycourts more sluggish.

Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in action during her French Open second round match against Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova (not pictured) at
The 23-year-old Ostapenko, Roland Garros in Paris, France, yesterday. (Reuters)

whose world ranking peaked at

ﬁve in 2018, was aggressive from

“Girls are expecting me al-

“Even if I can’t hit that ball, is to climb up the rankings lad- winning only one Grand Slam. I

the outset against Pliskova un- ways to hit the ball so strong, hit winners, sometimes to mix der again and regularly chal- want to achieve more and I want

der the closed Court Philippe and especially here on clay it’s it up and the girls don’t expect lenge for titles.

to be back in top ﬁve, top 10.

Chatrier roof and hit 27 winners. useful because the bounce is it. I think I hit really good drop

“Of course it’s (2017) in my Step by step...

But she also used drop shots much lower because it’s much shots, like very close to the net memory because it’s the big-

“Still being aggressive player,

judiciously, often leaving Plisk- colder this year. I think it’s very so it’s hard to get them back.”

gest win of my career so far, but I I think it can bring me a lot of

ova with too much ground to useful,” said Ostapenko, cur-

The variety helps, but con- have to move forward,” she said.

wins but consistency probably

cover to reach them.

rently ranked 43rd.

sistency will be key if Ostapenko

“The world doesn’t stop with in my game is the key.”

FOCUS

Anisimova faces Halep, hoping to dedicate win to dad

Spaniard is ﬁrst player convicted of ‘courtsiding’ betting oﬀence

proud. So hopefully this year, I can win a couple of tournaments and dedicate

Reuters

Paris, France

those to him.”

suspended on condition of there being no further breaches of the tennis anti-corruption programme. The ITU said the

Reuters

Paris, France

Anisimova has looked in ominous form manda Anisimova meets top seed Simona Halep in the third round of the French Open yesterday in a highly-anticipated at Roland Garros so far, swatting aside both Tamara Korpatsch and Bernarda Pera in straight sets and dropping only four games in two rounds.

nranked Spaniard Gerard Platero Rodriguez has become the player had acted as a courtsider at an ITF M15 tournament held in Pittsburgh in July 2019. “He is the first tennis player to be charged with and convicted of the practice,” it said. The Spaniard also placed 75 online bets on matches during June 2019, in a clear breach of rules banning any form of betting on tennis.

A

rematch of last year’s quarter-ﬁnal,

Halep, who has been equally impres-

sive, said she expects a tricky test when the pair meet on Court Philippe Chatrier.
“Well, it’s one year between, so it’s going to be a little bit tough to explain now how it’s going to be,” Halep said.
“But I’m going to talk with the coach, I know it’s going to be tough because she’s hitting the ball strong and ﬂat.

U

which the American teenager won.

first tennis player convicted of ‘courtsiding’, which involves sending live scoring data from a match to a third party for betting purposes.

The 19-year-old, who lost in the last four to eventual winner Ashleigh Barty after stunning the 2018 champion, had to deal with a personal tragedy shortly after her Roland Garros high with the sudden

The Tennis Integrity Unit

death of her father and coach Konstantin.

(ITU) said in a statement that Rodriguez, 25, had been suspended for four years and fined $15,000 for courtsiding, betting and non-cooperation oﬀences. Six months of the ban were

Anisimova, who pulled out of last

year’s US Open and only returned to ac-

“I remember the match from last year,

I remember also that I didn’t play what I wanted, so I will do some changes and I

It said he had also failed to engage or co-operate with the investigation and disciplinary process.

tion in January, is hoping to win her ﬁrst Romania’s Simona Halep and Amanda Anisimova (right) of the US. (Reuters/AFP)

title of the year, which she plans to dedicate to her father.
“It took a little bit of time for me to en- lier this year.

joy the game again,” Anisimova said ear-

“Getting back on court always brings will just try to play better and to take my

me good memories and I try to make him chance.”

BOTTOMLINE

Jamie Murray wants LTA to think long-term aﬅer French Open failures

As for the LTA’s academies, Murray sees room for improvement there, too. “I think it’s very diﬃcult for you to tell me that bonus scheme is fair and is not would have his ideas again.

By Kevin Mitchell

The Guardian

enamoured of continued change on the performance side.
“For me, that’s the biggest issue with it all. I really hope he is
Against that, however, he ar- doing a good job. I like talking to him about British tennis and this 13-year-old kid is going to what is going on. He really cares, be a great player and my 13-yearwhich is a huge thing. Hopefully, old kid is not going to be a player. we will start to see the fruits of How can you tell me who is going his labour and what he is putting to be a success at that age in the

he state of British ten-

gues against a kneejerk urge for

change, and he believes Scott Lloyd, who took over as chief executive of the LTA from Michael Downey in January 2018, might be the person to turn things around if given a chance. “I’ve spoken to Scott a few times about things,” Murray said. “I think he is doing a good job. But, again, it’s diﬃcult to judge him on two, three years in the job. Hopefully, what he is putting in place now, again if it’s seen through, you will see rewards in ﬁve, six, seven, 10 years’ time. nis is not a geographical place but an island of despond for those weary of

T

serial failure, and wet, grey Paris has provided a suitable miserable backdrop to another calamitous French Open campaign. However, Jamie Murray, never one to panic on court and invariably considered in his judgments away from it, provided qualified comfort for the nation’s favourite sporting target as he moved into the second round of the doubles with Neal Skupski. in place.” However, Murray has wider senior game?” He adds: “[But] let’s get behind reservations. “The mentality it and hopefully they have got the was: ‘We’re going to really, re- right people running these acadally back the few and give them emies to get the best out of these big support’ – for, I don’t know, kids. The most important thing three to five years, perhaps? – is making sure that they have the then not much for anyone else. right people because, if not, it’s a There’s the bonus scheme, but I massive waste of money.” don’t think that really helps other guys that much.
These might be important but arcane issues in tennis that pass
“Personally, I don’t agree with by most casual fans. What disinthat. The margins are so small in terested parties can see, though, is tennis to decide: ‘You’re going to few players beyond Andy Murray get £70,000 a year and I’m going standing tall on the world stage to get nothing,’ but actually the for any length of time. As a with difference could be so marginal. a Rafael Nadal top-spun winner And, at the end of the day, it’s on the damp and heavy clay of someone’s opinion as to who gets Roland Garros, images leave a lin-
Speaking after six compatriots in the singles draws – including his brother, Andy – had packed their bags after one round, Murray wondered if the Lawn Tennis Association’s funding programme for players will deliver long-term results, questioned

whether the randomness of the British tennis player Jamie Murray.

“He might leave the job in a couple of years and what he has done, you don’t see it because you don’t see a new player in the top 10, or whatever, or participation is not up loads and loads. So people think he has done a crap job, and it’s ‘get the next person

in and we will try him’. But he

the funding.”

gering impression in tennis.

Gulf Times

3

Friday, October 2, 2020

FOOTBALL

DRAW

FOCUS

Lewandowski named UEFA

Messi, Ronaldo in Champions League

men’s player of year

the award for best forward in

AFP

Geneva

last season’s Champions League after amassing 15 goals in 10 games. In one match against Red Star Belgrade he needed just 14 minutes to score four times.

obert

Lewandowski

was named UEFA men’s player of the year yesterday following a su-
The 32-year-old was also top scorer in the Bundesliga last season with 34 goals, equal to a goal a game in the 18-team league. It was the ﬁfth time he claimed the award for the highest number of goals in the German top ﬂight since arriving at Bayern from Borussia Dortmund in 2014. Lewandowski would have been the strong favourite to win this year’s Ballon d’Or had it not been cancelled by France Football magazine due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was a good evening overall for Bayern, with Neuer winning the 2019/20 Champions League goalkeeper of the season, Joshua Kimmich winning defender of the campaign and Hansi Flick being named men’s coach of the year.

R

perb season in which he won the treble with Bayern Munich. Lewandowski was at the Champions League group-stage draw in Geneva to receive the award, just weeks after Bayern won the 2019/20 edition of the competition.

group stage clash

They will resume the rivalry they developed when Ronaldo was at Real Madrid

The Poland striker, who scored 55 goals in 47 games as Bayern also won the Bundesliga and German Cup, saw oﬀ Bayern teammate Manuel Neuer and Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne to win the award.
“It’s an amazing feeling, because you work so hard, so this trophy is something special,” said Lewandowski after receiving the award.
“I have to say thank you to my teammates and coaches who helped me get where I am. Also my family have given me so much support and are so important.”
They will also be favourites to qualify for this season’s Champions League knockout stages after being drawn in Group A alongside Atletico Madrid, Salz-

burg and Lokomotiv Moscow.

Lewandowski also picked up

Didier Drogba and UEFA General Secretary and Director of Football Giorgio Marchetti during the Champions League draw in Geneva yesterday.