THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2019 16 Murray reaches Beijing quarters Britain’s defeated his compatriot Cameron Norrie at the China Open tournament in Beijing ly in and out of the post-match of the second set and Murray Murray reached his press conference. was struggling, bending over • Blowing out his cheeks sever- between points with his hands first last-eight berth al times, the three-time Grand on his knees to catch his breath. since hip joint surgery Slam champion said he had slept He shook his head as he in the 90 minutes between his slumped red-faced in his seat at AFP | Beijing victory and talking to reporters. 5-2 down. “I’m tired, I just had a sleep He displayed the battling qual- before coming. I mean, I’m really ities which took him to number xhausted Andy Murray tired,” he said. one in 2016 to somehow surge battled into a singles To save his creaking body from back, only to lose the second set Equarter-final for the first more punishment, Murray said on the tie break. time in a year yesterday -- and that he switched tactics in the But he somehow wrestled then immediately grabbed a deciding third set. back the initiative in the decid- snooze. “I decided if I want to win I er, breaking Norrie’s first ser- The former world number one have to go and take risks and vice game on the way to a trade- outlasted fellow Briton Cameron come to the net, try and finish mark gritty victory. Also into Norrie 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (4/7), 6-1 the points quicker, which I did,” the quarter-finals was Russian over nearly three gruelling hours he said. fourth seed , a in hot and hazy Beijing. Murray defeated US Open 7-6 (7/0), 7-6 (7/5) winner over The 32-year-old, now ranked semi-finalist France’s Jeremy Chardy. a lowly 503, will play top seed on Tuesday for his biggest scalp In the women’s draw, the 2017 or Chinese since his return to singles tennis US Open finalist Madison Keys wildcard Zhang Zhizhen in the in mid-August. was a surprise loser to unseeded last eight of the China Open on The hard-fought triumph over Britain’s Andy Murrayˇhits a return fellow American Jennifer Brady. Friday. 69th-ranked Norrie means he Teenage US Open champion On the mend after a ca - reaches the last eight in singles Murray showed several flash- direction of his coaching team to an untimely double fault by Bianca Andreescu reached the reer-saving hip operation in on the ATP Tour for the first time es of irritation as the first set courtside. his compatriot. last 16 with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) vic- January, Murray looked all in since Shenzhen in September against Norrie went to the tie But he regained his compo- The 24-year-old Norrie broke tory over Belgium’s unseeded afterwards, and walked ginger- last year. break, chuntering away in the sure and captured the set thanks Murray’s serve in the sixth game Elise Mertens.

Rohit hits ton as India dominate day one

Reuters | Visakhapatnam

ohit Sharma scored a centu- Rry in his first innings as In- dia’s new test opener and gave the hosts a flying start along with partner Mayank Agarwal in the first of the three-match series against South Africa at Visakhapatnam yesterday. Rohit and Agarwal ensured South Africa’s bowlers went wicketless on the first day to take India to 202 for no loss after home captain Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat. Rohit completed his fourth test hundred and was unbeaten Rohit Sharma plays a shot on 115 with Agarwal 84 not out bowlers and spinners from more freely. - his best test score - when bad South Africa failing to make Rohit frequently danced light and rain forced an early any impact. down the pitch to the spinners, end to day’s play. The visiting pace duo of Kag- hitting five sixes to go with 12 The only player in the world iso Rabada and Vernon Phi - fours. with three double hundreds in lander beat the bat on a few A top-edged lap-swept one-day internationals, Rohit occasions with the new ball and four off debutant Senuran has built a formidable reputa- those were the only moments of Muthusamy, which narrow- tion as a limited-overs opener discomfort that the right-hand- ly missed the fine leg field - but batted in the middle order ed batting pair encountered. er, brought up his fifty, and in his stop-start test career. South Africa captain Faf du a slashed boundary that just The 32-year-old could not Plessis introduced spin in the eluded the gully fielder were have hoped for a more benign ninth over in the form of Kes- among the rare moments pitch to begin his journey as a hav Maharaj but it only allowed when Rohit did not look in test opener with both the fast the Indian batsmen to score control.

Gunathillaka’s best propels Sri Lanka to 297-9

AFP | Karachi second, 50 for the third with Angelo Perera (13) and 74 with echarged opener Danush- debutant Minod Bhanuka (36) Rka Gunathilaka scored a for the fourth in a brilliant dis- career best century to lift Sri play of batting. Lanka to a challenging 297-9 He was finally dismissed in against Pakistan in the third the 45th over, bowled by pace- and final day-night internation- man Mohammad Amir who was al against Pakistan in Karachi the best Pakistani bowler with yesterday. 3-50. The 28-year-old left-hander It was Amir who gave Pa - knocked a 134-ball 133 with 16 kistan an early breakthrough boundaries and a six for his sec- Sri Lanka’s Danushka Gunathilaka when he had Avishka Fernan- ond hundred which lifted Sri plays a shot do caught behind for four by Lanka after they won the toss Sarfaraz Ahmed, leading Pa- and batted on a flat National plines in the last two years, kistan for the 50th time in an stadium pitch. held the innings together with ODI. Gunathilaka, suspended stands of 88 with skipper La- Pakistan scored 285 after los- twice for breaches of disci - hiru Thirimanne (36) for the ing four wickets in 47 overs.

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