SATURDAY 29 JUNE 2019 SPORT 17 Tsitsipas I think is going to be a great TODAY’S ACTION champion and player. He’s got everything Seven-time Grand Slam PAKISTAN VS AFGHANISTAN NEW ZEALAND VS AUSTRALIA that you could hope for. And I think At Yorkshire Cricket Ground At Lord’s Cricket Ground champion that this Canadian, Aliassime, Headingley, Leeds London John McEnroe is going to be a number one. (12.30pm Qatar time) (3.30pm Qatar time) Yankees, Red New rivalries ready to ignite Sox bring MLB REUTERS Juan Martin del Potro have brieflyfly likelylik to win the race to a first “It’s boring to see these guys win all LONDON shone. GrandG Slam title -- taking over the time,” Tsitsipas said last week at to London But the nagging fear has from 2018 ATP Tour Finals Queen’s Club where he was beaten by For more than a decade, tennis fans have been what would happen champion Zverev in the Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals. AP been over-indulging in the greatest when the credits roll for the pecking order. “We are responsible, we work hard LONDON box-set rivalries the sport has known as final time. Shapovalov became the and believe in ourselves if we can come Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak New flames are emergingg youngesty player to beat a up with something new, come up with An array of retired All-Stars and Hall Djokovic battled for supremacy. from the embers of arguably thehe top-twotop opponent for 13 years our best games to beat those guys.” of Famers conducted a youth clinic. Federer and Nadal have squared off greatest ever era, however, with when he overcame Nadal in Montreal There has been impatience that the Workers put final touches on new 39 times and Federer and Djokovic 47 20-year-old Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, in 2017 and while he is still striving to passing of the torch has yet to happen but clubhouses, batting cages and while Djokovic and Nadal’s 54-match Germany’s Alexander Zverev, 22, and harness his electrifying game he will be seven-times Grand Slam champion John bullpens. rivalry is the most prolific and compet- Canadian duo Denis Shapovalov and Felix seeded 29th at Wimbledon. McEnroe believes the new crop are No ducks on the pond quite yet. itive in the history of men’s tennis. Auger-Aliassime, aged 20 and 18 respec- And Shapovalov is not even the best closing in and will inspire each other to After flying across the pond, the New Compelling and addictive as they are, tively, set to ignite the next generation. youngster in Canada any more. That title forge rivalries that will sustain the sport. York Yankees and Boston Red Sox those hooked by them know with each World number six Tsitsipas has career goes to Auger-Aliassime who will head “Tsitsipas I think is going to be a great relaxed, saw a few sights and tried passing episodee thethe endend moves a littlelittle winswins over ththee bibigg ththreeree andand isis beingbeing toto hishis firstfirst WimbledonWim seeded 19th after champion and player. He’s got everything to give Major League Baseball some closer. ttippedipped as the a whwhirlwindirlwwidind ririsesee ffromrom ououtsidetside ththee that you could hope for.for And I think buzz ahead of the first regular- In the casese of the bigbig manman most topp 100100 at thethe startstart of the year.year. thatthat this Canadian,Canadian, Aliassime, is season games in Europe this three, now agedd 37, 33 and goinggoing to be -- to mme he’s going weekend. 32 respectively,y, it couldcould bebe toto be a numbernumbe one,” the “More important than the two argued they haveave alreadyalready American,American, whowh will be games is what continues to happen exhausted thee narrative, working for broadcasterb here in England after we’re gone,” claiming 53 Grand Slams ESPN as a summariser,summ said. baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred between them since 2003.2003. At the momentmo those said Thursday at the clinic in north They have wonwon 15 of the last rivalries are in theirt infancy. London’s Finchley Park, not far from 18 Grand Slam titles and all of the Time will tell whetherw they Tottenham. last 10 -- sendinging new sub-plots turnt urn into “It’s programs like this that to the cutting roomoom floor. blockbusters.blockb provide kids with playing opportu- Andy Murrayrray andand nities that are so crucial to the Stan Wawrinka,a, each growth of our game.” with three Grandand Mariano Rivera, Reggie Jackson, Slams, haveve Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, FROM LEFT: Felix beenn Hideki Matsui, Carlos Beltran, Nick Auger-Aliassime, impressive co- Swisher and Aaron Boone worked stars while Alexander Zverev, with players ages 8-15 and then Andy Roddick,, Denis Shapovalov and joined Yankees owner Hal Stein- Marin Cilic andd Stefanos Tsitsipas brenner to present a truck of baseball equipment to the London Mets youth club. There was a cloudless sky and the temperature Seven men to watch at Wimbledon was in the mid-70s on a day when London had no resemblance to its REUTERS 4-KEVIN ANDERSON (SOUTH AFRICA) Big Smoke nickname. LONDON Anderson’s preparation has been limited “I like the way that it’s different by an elbow injury that forced him to skip £ to other sports,” 8-year-old Milo A look at the top men’s contenders at the claycourt season but last year’s runner- Mandolini said. “I like batting, I find Wimbledon 2019 (prefix denotes seeding): up is a threat against any opponent on grass. that quite fun.” He was not up to scratch in his first tour- In a land dominated by Premier 1-NOVAK DJOKOVIC (SERBIA) nament back from injury at Queen’s but 37 League football - soccer to novices After Djokovic’s quest to simultaneously aces in two matches suggest his booming back in the States - baseball wants hold all four Grand Slam titles for the serve will once again be his biggest weapon. to make inroads. second time came to a grinding halt in the Olympic Stadium, home of the French Open semi-finals, the Serb took the 6-ALEXANDER ZVEREV (GERMANY) West Ham soccer club, has been unusual step of preparing for Wimbledon Zverev has had a poor season, exiting reconfigured for baseball, an arti- at a hardcourt complex in Belgrade. He the Australian Open in the last 16 and Roland ficial turf surface imported and foul looked in top shape during a grasscourt Garros in the quarter-finals. He won his only poles installed. exhibition match in England this week and ATP title of the year in Geneva and the old Red cards have been replaced few people will bet against the 32-year- questions of whether he has the mental for- by lineup cards, rituals on display old, who won Wimbledon on his return titude to survive two consecutive weeks of for young fans to emulate. from elbow surgery last year, from claiming top-level tennis have only grown louder as “There’s no doubt this country’s a fifth crown and his 16th major. the season has progressed. The German’s about soccer,” Beltran said. “There’s raw power should see him safely through some kids here that they hope and 2-ROGER FEDERER (SWITZERLAND) the early rounds at the All England Club but wish one day to become Federer warmed up for his shot at he needs to improve his serve-and-volley . + & / & 0 1 ballplayers.” claiming a ninth Wimbledon title by game if he is to have any hope of reaching (* + , - . $ Major League Baseball is billing clinching his 10th Halle Open trophy, taking the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first $% & ("* this as “Old rivalry. New ground.” his tour-level career singles title tally to 102 time. ' Many of the regular fans are -- seven behind Jimmy Connors’ record 109. ( making the 3,500-mile or so He has conceded that his best days on clay 7-STEFANOS TSITSIPAS (GREECE) N ) N journey. " are behind him but even at the age of 37 Tsitsipas is the latest torchbearer of the # ("" & % Red Sox season ticket holders the Swiss is still capable of winning the 21st next generation looking to end the hegemony purchased an average of 5,831 seats Grand Slam of his career at the All England of the Big Three but the talented Greek has #$%&&%'&() (* + , - . $ per game and Yankees buyers 4,752 Club. never advanced beyond the last 16 at Wim- (*+ .(- .(/ 0. during the presale, ready to mind bledon. He has beaten Federer and Nadal ( . ( the gap and take the Jubilee or 3-RAFAEL NADAL (SPAIN) this year but is yet to prove his mettle on ,- "( *( + Central line to the Queen Elizabeth Fresh from a record-extending 12th grass. ! " 2 3 Park rather than the No. 4 to the French Open crown, Nadal heads into Wim- Bronx or the Green line to Kenmore bledon looking to capture a third title and 13-MARIN CILIC (CROATIA) %.8&%'&8('9.$.% Square. ! " !# $% avenge last year’s heartbreaking semi-final From a runners-up spot at Wimbledon & ' (# # Still, the majority of fans will be loss to Djokovic. in 2017 to a second-round exit last year, Cilic local. The 33-year-old Spaniard is in peak has been beset by injuries that have resulted 3 . +(* + , 7 & /- The baseball will vastly outdraw form ahead of his return to grass, but did in him sliding from third to 18th in the 9 :; 3 9 < = the Cricket World Cup, which not take kindly to being seeded third despite rankings. Despite his troubles, the Croat still 6 $ 45 4 2 .