THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2019 16 Vettel seeks Ferrari boost in Bahrain Reuters | Manama Bautista Agut ebastian Vettel will be aim- Sing for his third successive Bahrain Grand Prix win on Sunday as Ferrari seek to show their lack of pace in Formula stuns Djokovic One’s Australian season opener was a one-off. With Roger Federer’s match Tipped as pre-season fa - Novak Djokovic with Daniil Medvedev post- vourites, the German and new • poned after a spell of heavy team mate Charles Leclerc fin- lost the match rain forced tournament officials ished fourth and fifth in Mel- despite dominating into a reshuffle, all the focus bourne, nearly a minute behind the opening set remained on Djokovic’s shock the dominant race-winning exit. Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas. Barty topples The reigning Wimbledon, Albert Park can be seen as US Open and Australian Open Kvitova• in Miami Open something of an outlier but Fer- Ferrari’s German driver Sebastian Vettel kisses his trophy after winning last champion left court and headed rari hope the more tradition- year’s Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix straight to a press conference al layout of Bahrain’s 5.4-km AFP | Miami to try and explain this most Sakhir desert track will allow Mercedes team boss Toto remarkable of turnarounds at them to unlock the full poten- Wolff said nothing was won or ovak Djokovic’s pur- Hard Rock Stadium. tial of the SF90 car. lost at Albert Park. suit of a record seventh Big-serving Isner moved into The most successful team in In Bahrain, we expect “Whatever the Melbourne NMiami Open ATP title the last eight with a 7-6 (7/5), Bahrain, with six wins overall, to see the effect of result says, our mindset hasn’t ended in dramatic fashion on 7-6 (7/3) triumph over Great can draw encouragement from changed since then,” he said. Tuesday as Roberto Bautista Britain’s world number 22 Kyle last year when Mercedes were the corrections we “We’ve seen the potential of Agut superbly recovered from a Edmund. faster in Australia only for Fer- have made ... Ferrari’s package in Barcelona first set destruction to win 1-6, Elsewhere there was a bril- rari to turn the tables with a SEBASTIAN VETTEL (testing), so we expect them 7-5, 6-3 and book a place in the liant win for 18 year-old Felix front-row lockout and victory to come back strong in Bah - quarter-finals. Auger-Aliassime, the Canadian for Vettel. rain, with Red Bull in the mix And the top seeds kept falling who came through qualifying, That also started a streak of Bottas, having driven what as well.” as women’s world number two Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in who beat Georgia’s Nikoloz three straight pole positions for he described as the race of his McLaren, which counts Petra Kvitova slumped to a sur- action against Novak Djokovic of Basilashvili 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. the German. life in Australia to finish more Bahrain’s Mumtalakat Hold- prise 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-2 defeat to Serbia Auger-Aliassime, who is set “In Bahrain, we expect to see than 20 seconds ahead of team ing Company among its major Australian Ashleigh Barty. Agut to regroup, however. to become the first player born the effect of the corrections mate Lewis Hamilton in second shareholders, will be looking Bautista Agut, 30, may have He returned a completely in the 2000s to break into the we have made ...,” said prin - place, will be keen to serve up for their first points after Lando beaten Djokovic on the way to different player and at the end top 50 when the rankings are cipal Mattia Binotto, who re- a thriller under the floodlights. Norris finished 12th and Carlos winning the title in Doha earli- of an absorbing two hours and updated next week, plays Borna placed Maurizio Arrivabene Having come within a second Sainz retired in Australia. er this year but 15-time Grand 29 minutes, it was the number Coric after the Croatian beat at the helm before the start of of snatching victory from Vet- Bahrain will also mark the Slam champion Djokovic start- 22 seed who will now meet de- Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. the season. tel last year, Bottas has some start of the Formula Two Cham- ed like a train in this last 16 en- fending champion John Isner In the women’s draw, Barty, “We are well aware that our unfinished business on Sunday pionship with Mick Schumach- counter before being amazingly for a place in the semi-finals. who beat Kvitova for the first competitors will once again be while Hamilton, who has taken er, son of seven-times Formula reined back in. “I played more aggressive,” time having gone into the clash very strong. With that in mind, two of Mercedes’ three wins in One champion Michael and After just 25 minutes, Djok- said Bautista Agut who began to 0-4, will play Anett Kontaveit we are keen to get back on track Bahrain, will be keen to reassert nephew of Ralf, making his de- ovic was 5-0 ahead and on noticeably step inside and force for a place in Saturday’s final af- and face up to them.” his supremacy. but in the support category. cruise control, Bautista Agut Djokovic onto the back foot. “I ter the Estonian brought an end severely struggling to keep the tried to miss less balls, to really to Hsieh Su-Wei’s impressive Serbian at bay. concentrate on the beginning of run with a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory A short rain delay late in the the point with my serve, with to reach the last four in South second set allowed Bautista my return.” Florida for the first time. BUILDING ONE GLOBAL ECOSYSTEM 15-18 APRIL 2019 BAHRAIN REGISTER NOW! WWW.GEC.CO #GEC2019 Host Partners.