CRICKET | Page 4 NNBABA | Page 6 Australia Golden State To Advertise here close in on Warriors hold Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 victory and off Hawks for top ranking 50th win Wednesday, February 24, 2016 FOOTBALL Jumada I 15, 1437 AH Sheikh Salman’s GULF TIMES steely campaign for FIFA presidency SPORT Page 9 QATAR TOTAL OPEN Tuesday trouble: Kerber, Halep, Safarova out AFP the world number four in the third ing a Grand Slam champion. was just happy to be playing tennis Doha for a memorable win. “I don’t know if it was the pres- again after several months out. Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay sure or not. I know, of course, “I can’t complain even if I play ended defending champion Lucie pressures from the last years, but terrible, I’m so happy to be back on ew Australian Open Safarova’s campaign with a 7-6 (6) maybe it was both,” she told re- tour,” she said. “I’m really grateful. champion Angelique 7-5 win. porters. I really realised how much I missed Kerber crashed out of the Earlier, in a lacklustre perform- “I mean, I was feeling this and loved tennis when I was forced Qatar Open yesterday, in ance, Kerber lost her serve six morning also not good when I was out because of my injury at the end Nher fi rst singles tournament since times, hit 38 unforced errors—Sai- practising. This is actually what of 2015.” winning in Melbourne last month. sai hit only eight—and was beaten I can say, I don’t know how many Earlier yesterday, the tourna- An out-of-sorts Kerber lost her in just one hour and eighteen min- mistakes I did today. This is not my ment’s number three seed Ag- second round match—she received utes as her opponent dominated. game, to make so many mistakes. nieszka Radwanska won 6-4, 6-4 a fi rst round bye—in straight sets The second set took just 28 min- “I was trying to go for it. I think against Kateryna Bondarenko from 7-5, 6-1 to China’s Zheng Saisai, utes as the German’s game col- it was more like I was not feel- Ukraine. “Obviously it was hard who is ranked 71 places below the lapsed. ing my game and not fi nding my conditions, but I won,” said Rad- world number two. Kerber, who has not played any rhythm.” wanska. “That’s the most impor- Two hours 20 minutes later, the singles tournaments since beating A delighted Saisai plays Cana- tant thing. The fi rst matches are Premier 5 tournament was also Serena Williams in Melbourne on da’s Eugenie Bouchard in the third always very tricky, especially the left without the Romanian second January 30, grew increasingly ex- round. diff erent conditions everywhere, seed Simona Halep. asperated with her form on a blus- Bouchard beat the Czech Re- and here in Doha as well. We used The 2014 Qatar Total Open tery night in Doha and at one point public’s Denisa Allertova 7-6 (7- to it (being) always a bit windy and champion blew a 4-0 lead against could be heard telling her coach 0), 7-5 as she continues her recov- can be very tough.” Russian Elena Vesnina in the sec- Torben Beltz that she was tired and ery from a traumatic end to 2015. Also through is Petra Kvitova who ond set, after having won the fi rst, had no energy. Bouchard, who confi rmed she is won 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 against Czech to lose 7-6 (1), 4-6, 1-6. The Poland-based German said still pursuing legal action against compatriot Barbora Strycova. Vesnina, ranked 114 rungs be- she did not know if her poor per- the United States Tennis Asso- Romanian Monica Niculescu low Halep at 118, won six straight formance was down to a lack of ciation after she slipped and fell beat former world number one and games in the second set to level the match fi tness or not being able to down in a locker room during the Serbian 14th seed Jelena Jankovic German top seed Angelique Kerber reacts to a lost point during her Qatar Total Open second round match at 1-1, before breezing past respond to the new pressure of be- US Open last September, said she 3-6 6-4 7-5. match against China’s Zheng Saisai yesterday. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil Gulf Times 2 Wednesday, February 24, 2016 TENNIS Qatar Total Open DUBAI TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS Rd 2 singles results Berdych celebrates Elena Vesnina (Russia) beat 2-Simona Halep (Romania) 6-7(1) 6-4 6-1; Monica Nicules- decade in Dubai cu (Romania) beat 14-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) 3-6 6-4 7-5; CoCo Vandeweghe (US) beat with Sousa win 6-Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) 6-4 6-2; 11-Timea Bacsin- Agencies but overall my performance szky (Switzerland) beat Yulia Dubai was quite good. it’s good to go Putintseva (Kazakhstan) 6-2 through and not make things too 7-6(0); Zheng Saisai (China) complicated.” beat 1-Angelique Kerber (Ger- omas Berdych marked Second seed Stan Wawrinka many) 7-5 6-1; Jelena Ostap- his tenth appearance at survived a miserable start to turn enko (Latvia) beat 12-Svetlana the Dubai Tennis Cham- the tables on Ukrainian Sergiy Kuznetsova (Russia) 7-6(5) pionships with a 6-1, Stakhovsky 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 and T6-4 thumping of Joao Sousa to squeeze into the second round. 6-0; Timea Babos (Hungary) beat 16-Sara Errani (Italy) 6-4 reach the second round yester- The two-time Grand Slam 6-1; 9-Roberta Vinci (Italy) day. winner, after trailing a set and a beat Darya Kasatkina (Russia) The Czech seventh seed, who break, won fi ve straight games to 2-6 6-4 7-6(3); 5-Petra Kvitova arrived in the Gulf after a semi- level at a set each, He then moved (Czech Republic) beat Barbora fi nal last weekend in Marseille, into winning position in the third Strycova (Czech Republic) has twice fi nished a fi nalist at the with a break for 6-5; a game later, 7-6(2) 6-4; 8-Carla Suarez Aviation Club and has reached he fi nished it all off with an ace. Navarro (Spain) beat Donna the semis here at four of the last Spanish fourth seed Roberto Vekic (Croatia) 7-6(5) 6-4; An- fi ve editions. Bautista Agut kept up the win- drea Petkovic (Germany) beat The ATP number seven im- ning pace he has established this Margarita Gasparyan (Russia) proved to 21-9 at the event as he season as he claimed his 15th vic- 6-3 6-3; Eugenie Bouchard prepares to face 144th-ranked tory of 2016, defeating Italian Si- (Canada) beat Denisa Aller- Thomas Fabbiano after the Ital- mone Bolelli 6-2, 6-4. tova (Czech Republic) 7-6(0) ian defeated Argentine Leonardo Spain’s number three has 7-5; 3-Agnieszka Radwanska Mayer 6-3, 6-4. made his best career start and al- China’s Zheng Saisai celebrates her Qatar Total Open second round win over German top seed Angelique Kerber at the Khalifa International (Poland) beat Kateryna Bond- Berdych won his opening set in ready owns trophies in Auckland Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday. Saisai won 7-5 6-1. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil arenko (Ukraine) 6-4 6-4 just 23 minutes but had to come and Sofi a. out on top in the second set after “It’s been the best start for me, an exchange of three consecutive so I have to be confi dent for sure,” breaks to deny Sousa any chance the Spaniard said. “I feel great on of beating a top 10 player for only the court, and I feel I have a lot of the second time in his career. rhythm. I played a lot of matches. Berdych double-faulted on a It’s good to win matches and to fi rst match point but fi red over have confi dence. an ace on the second to advance. German eighth seed Philipp “He was struggling in the fi rst Kohlschreiber beat Marsel Ilhan set, he could only get better,” the 6-1, 7-5 while Croatian young- winner said. ster Borna Coric defeated Czech “He started to play a little bit Jiri Vesely 6-4, 6-4. more solid, a little bit more ag- Marseille winner Nick Kyrgios gressive from his forehand side, was making his local debut as he his stronger one. played Martin Klizan, the sev- “He pushed me a bit more, enth seed. Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova serves against compatriot Barbora Strycova (below, left) yesterday. Polish third seed Agnieszka Radwanska in action against Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko (below, right) during Kvitova, seeded fifth, won 7-6(2) 6-4. their second round match yesterday. Radwanska won 6-4 6-4. FOCUS Aspetar provides medical support at Qatar Total Open By Sports Reporter cians, nurses, podiatrists, on- Doha site radiology services, as well as emergency medical technicians. The team will provide on-site spetar – the world’s fi rst aid, intervention and sup- leading orthopaedic port for serious injuries, as well and sports medicine as medical advice for those ten- hospital – is providing nis stars involved in the tourna- Acomprehensive medical services ment. and support throughout the 2016 The provision of medical serv- Qatar Total Open, which will ices and support at the Qatar To- conclude on Saturday, February tal Open builds on the long-term 27.