ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, MAY 31, 2021 SPORTS 14

Osaka fi ned $15K for skipping media; Thiem out Djokovic warms up for French Open with title in Belgrade BELGRADE, Serbia, May 30, (AP): warmed up for the French Open by beating Alex Molcan 6-4, 6-3 to take his 83rd career title on Highlanders beat Rebels in home soil at the Belgrade Open. Top-ranked Djokovic struggled on serve in the fi rst set as he was broken Super Rugby Trans-Tasman three times by his Slovakian opponent. Djokovic was also broken once in SYDNEY, May 30, (AP): The Dun- knocked the ball on near the goalline the second set by Molcan, the 255th- edin-based Highlanders restored the ranked qualifi er playing his fi rst tour- in the fi nal minute. level fi nal, but was reliably able to dominance of teams in “We’ve done a fair bit of trave- dominate Molcan’s serve for a total six the trans-Tasman Super Rugby com- ling in the last couple of weeks but breaks in the match. petition Sunday with a 42-27 win we came here with a purpose and re- It’s the third career title for Djoko- over the Melbourne Rebels in the fi nal ally tried to chase that bonus point,” vic in his home nation after he won the match of the third round. Highlanders captain Ash Dixon said. Serbia Open, a different tournament in The Queensland Reds gave Austral- “But we just pulled up short right at the same city, in 2009 and 2011. ian teams their fi rst win in 14 matches the end.” Djokovic is drawn against Tennys in the tournament on Saturday night Sandgren of the United States in the when they beat the Hamilton-based RUGBY fi rst round at Roland Garros. Chiefs 40-34, hanging on after lead- In Parma, , Sebastian Kor- ing 33-0 at halftime. Sunday’s match was to be played da won his fi rst ATP trophy with a The Highlanders prevented the start in Queenstown, New Zealand where straight-set victory over Italian wild of an Australian streak with a win by card Marco Cecchinato at the Emilia- it would have been attended by New Romagna Open. six tries to four, giving New Zealand teams a 14-1 record after three of fi ve Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Korda became the fi rst American in Ardern and her Australian counterpart 11 years to lift a trophy on European rounds. clay, since won in Bel- But they missed a vital bonus Scott Morrison who are meeting at a grade in 2010. point when scrumhalf Aaron Smith summit in the South Island resort. Korda had not dropped a set all week in Parma and he carried on that run in the fi nal to see off the 104th-ranked Colombia’s Egan Bernal celebrates as he completes the fi nal stage to win the Giro d’Italia cycling race, a 30.3 Cecchinato 6-2, 6-4 in 75 minutes. kilometers individual time trial from Senago to Milan, Italy, on May 30. (AP) The 20-year-old Korda had lost the only other fi nal he had contested, against at the in January. Bernal adds Giro title In Paris, Naomi Osaka was fi ned $15,000 at the French Open for skip- ping a post-match news conference after her fi rst-round victory Sunday - to Tour de win and threatened by all four tournaments with stiffer penalties, in- cluding being defaulted, if she contin- Caruso 2nd overall ues to avoid meeting with the media. The fi ne will come out of Osaka’s Ty Gibbs takes lead late to win prize money and was announced in a Novak Djokovic of Serbia kisses his trophy after their fi nal tennis match of MILAN, May 30, (AP): Co- joint statement from the president of the the Belgrade Open tennis tournament against Alex Molcan of Slovakia, in Xfi nity Series race at Charlotte French tennis federation, Gilles Moret- Belgrade, Serbia, on May 29. (AP) lombian rider Egan Bernal ton, and the heads of the other majors. added the Giro d’Italia title CONCORD, N.C., May 30, (AP): Ty led the most laps - 105 of 200 - and Osaka returned to Roland Garros af- to his Tour de France win Gibbs, the 18-year-old grandson of yet again left without a victory in ter skipping the trip last time, turning after safely maintaining car owner Joe Gibbs, took the lead eight years in competing in NAS- in a mistake-fi lled 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory with 20 laps left at Charlotte Mo- CAR’s top three series. over 63rd-ranked Patricia Maria Tig his advantage on the fi nal tor Speedway and held off the fi eld Hemric dominated much of the at Court Philippe Chatrier on Day 1 in day’s time trial to Milan on on a fi nal restart to win the second fi rst half of the race, sweeping the Paris. Sunday. Xfi nity Series race of his rookie sea- fi rst and second stages. But Briscoe After the was son. passed him for the lead with 85 laps pushed to a September start with a lim- Bernal, who won the Tour in Gibbs had won the Daytona road to go. Hemric’s struggles got worse it of 1,000 spectators per day because 2019, was last off the ramp with an course event in February with a late during a caution when he had to of the coronavirus outbreak, things overall lead of almost two minutes. pass through a grassy area. This back up to get out of his pit stall, were closer to normal Sunday: It was The Ineos Grenadiers rider com- time, Gibbs overcame a spin at the then was tagged with a penalty for a sun-kissed May day and more than pleted the 30.3-kilometer (18.8- end of the second stage and kept an uncontrolled tire. 5,000 fans were allowed in. mile) route in 35 minutes, 41 seconds his patience until the end when he Other results perhaps were more to clinch overall victory by 1:29. He came out on top of a side-by-side CAR RACING newsworthy than a straight-set win by pumped his hands above his head as duel with NASCAR Cup Series rac- the No. 2-ranked Osaka - that’s cer- er Chase Briscoe, who lost control tainly the case for U.S. Open champi- he crossed the line in front of Mi- and surrendered the lead to Gibbs. Hemric fell from second to 27th. lan’s famous cathedral. Gibbs had one fi nal challenge on He rallied back into the top 10 be- on and two-time French Open runner- “It’s diffi cult to realize what I’ve the last restart but pulled away from fore an accident on a restart 14 laps up ’s 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 loss to 68th-ranked Pablo Andujar Japan’s Naomi Osaka returns the ball to Romania’s Patricia Maria Tig dur- done. I have just won a Giro d’Italia. the pack when the green fl ag fl ew from the fi nish ended his chances. ing their fi rst round match of the French open tennis tournament at the I have no words after what happened like so many JGR drivers of the past Hemric has gone 187 starts in the - but the events that unfolded after the to gain the win. Cup Series, Xfi nity and Camping Japanese superstar’s match were of Roland Garros stadium, on May 30, in Paris. (AP) in these two years,” said the 24-year- high interest. old Bernal, who has struggled with a A proud Joe Gibbs beamed from World Trucks without a win. the standard back-and-forth with the course. She framed it as a mental health the pits, a big smile on his face. The race had a sense of the old, That’s because Osaka vowed in a issue, saying that it creates self-doubt to lingering back injury that forced him Twitter post Wednesday, and then kept media in Paris, the sort of thing ath- “It’s defi nitely nice to win on an pre-pandemic days, with practice have to answer questions after a loss. to abandon last year’s Tour. oval, especially so nearby home- Friday and qualifying Saturday that promise Sunday, to stay away from letes in various sports do as a matter of town,” Gibbs said. morning before the event. Riley Players at Grand Slam tournaments Ty Gibbs apologized to Briscoe Herbst won the single-lap qualifying are required to attend news confer- CYCLING if he had any part in the spinout, to start on pole with Briscoe right ences if requested to do so; refusing is although replays seemed to show beside him on the front row. punishable by fi nes of up to $20,000. Damiano Caruso was second their cars did not touch. The most serious crash came That, of course, is not a big deal to overall, with Simon Yates complet- Briscoe made his fi rst Xfi nity start on a restart on lap 150 when Ryan Osaka, the world’s highest-earning ing the podium . Yates fi nished 4:15 of the season and led 60 laps. “It’s Sieg, who had just taken the lead female athlete thanks to endorsement defi nitely frustrating,” he said of the out of the pits, lost grip and slid near contracts worth tens of millions of dol- behind Bernal. close call. the apron for a stretch before turn- Bernal’s teammate, Filippo Gan- lars annually. Reigning Xfi nity Series champ ing back up the track where his car “It’s her own choice. I think she’s na, won the individual time trial Austin Cindric was second, fol- was slammed hard by Josh Berry capable of making her own choices despite a late puncture after the Ital- lowed by Harrison Burton, Brandon and Brett Moffi tt. and obviously she will do always ian’s closest rival, Remi Cavagna, Brown and Tyler Reddick. Briscoe All drivers walked from the their what’s best for her,” Tig said. “I think fi nished sixth. cars unharmed, with Berry and Sieg crashed with about 600 meters to go. that’s what’s happening now. It’s her Ganna was the favorite to triumph It was the latest racing disap- getting the OK from the infi eld care pointment for Daniel Hemric, who center. choice of doing what she feels is best on the 21st and fi nal stage. He won for her.” the opening time trial in Turin and The Grand Slam tournaments’ state- all three time trials in last year’s Giro change bikes after a puncture. leader’s hot seat. ment said Osaka has been “advised” as well as another stage. Cavagna looked set to beat his Cavagna got up unhurt and fi n- that “should she continue to ignore her Ganna took the lead with a time time but the French time trial cham- ished second, 12 seconds behind media obligations during the tourna- of 33:48 but his chances of winning pion appeared to lock up his brakes Ganna. Ty Gibbs (left), celebrates with a crew member after winning the Alsco Uni- ment, she would be exposing herself seemed precarious as he lost about at a corner and fl ipped over his bi- Edoardo Affi ni was third, a second forms 300 NASCAR Xfi nity Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway to possible further Code of Conduct 20 seconds when he was forced to cycle as Ganna watched from the further back. on May 29, in Charlotte, NC. (AP) infringement consequences.”