Svitolina reaches 3rd round of Abu Dhabi Open

Elina Svitolina
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Updated 09 January 2021
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Svitolina reaches 3rd round of Abu Dhabi Open

  • Svitolina will play either 17th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova or Britain’s Heather Watson in the third round

ABU DHABI: Elina Svitolina reached the third round of the Abu Dhabi Open with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Russian veteran Vera Zvonareva on Saturday as Karolina Pliskova was eliminated in straight sets by a qualifier.

Svitolina will play either 17th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova or Britain’s Heather Watson in the third round after a routine win over Zvonareva in just over an hour.

Third-seeded Pliskova was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by Russian qualifier Anastasia Gasanova, who was ranked 292nd in her first tour main draw and had never before played anyone ranked in the top 100. Next up for Gasanova is a third-round meeting with Sara Sorribes Tormo.

“It’s like it was not me on the court. I was so sure of myself,” Gasanova said of her breakthrough win. “It’s like when I step on the court, I’m a different person, I’m more angry.”

Sixth-seeded Elena Rybakina converted her fifth match point to seal a 6-4, 6-4 win over Wang Xiyu of China. Rybakina next plays Daria Kasatkina, who advanced to the third round by walkover after her opponent Karolina Muchova withdrew.

Separately, organizers of the Australian Open said that tennis’ top stars will quarantine in Adelaide rather than Melbourne and play an exhibition there ahead of the mega tournament, with the city also hosting a WTA event after the years’ first Grand Slam.

Some 1,270 players and support staff are due to arrive in Melbourne on charter flights late next week, where they will have to spend a mandatory 14 days in quarantine.

But with hotel rooms in the city scarce, Australian Open chief Craig Tiley said he had approached the South Australian government about taking some of them.

Matters were further complicated when a hotel in Melbourne that was due to accommodate players pulled out on Tuesday, reportedly because of concerns from residents. With little benefit to Adelaide from putting its community at risk of coronavirus by housing players, an exhibition featuring the top names in the game was suggested as an enticement.

“It would be a benefit if they played an exhibition tournament just before they came to Melbourne, so the premier (Steven Marshall) has agreed to host 50 people in a quarantine bubble and then have those players play an exhibition,” Tiley told Tennis Channel.

An official statement announcing the Jan. 29 exhibition said it would feature the world’s top three men — Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem — and two of the top three women in Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka.

World number one Ashleigh Barty was not included, but 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams was, with two more players to be added to the field.

“The conditions of the quarantine will be the same (as Melbourne),” said Tiley, with players only allowed out of their rooms for five hours to practice and train in a bio-secure bubble.

“They’ll be in a different hotel and a smaller cohort and travel direct to Adelaide. We think this is a great opportunity to actually launch before we go into the season.”

They would then head to Melbourne Park for the 12-team ATP Cup, along with two WTA tournaments and two ATP events being played from January 31 ahead of the Australian Open on Feb. 8.


Tennis-Sinner singes Lehecka, Pegula prevails on overcast day at French Open

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Tennis-Sinner singes Lehecka, Pegula prevails on overcast day at French Open

Lehecka drew loud cheers when he finally got on the board but Sinner continued his Roland Garros masterclass
Russian 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva outclassed Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-1

PARIS: World number one Jannik Sinner pummelled Jiri Lehecka at the French Open to reach the fourth round while third seed Jessica Pegula took a longer route with a battling victory over 2019 runner-up Marketa Vondrousova on Saturday.

As grey skies enveloped Roland Garros after the temperature soared a day earlier, an unrelenting Sinner turned up the heat on Lehecka at Court Suzanne Lenglen to win the opening 11 games of their clash without any response.

Lehecka drew loud cheers when he finally got on the board but Sinner continued his Roland Garros masterclass and eased to a 6-0 6-1 6-2 victory and booked a clash with Andrey Rublev, who advanced after injured Frenchman Arthur Fils pulled out.

Vondrousova is also no stranger to injuries, her latest being a shoulder problem after her Wimbledon title defense ended in the first round last year, and the Czech looked to be finding her best form again on Parisian clay.

She won the opening set of her match on Court Philippe Chatrier but American Pegula proved too good when it mattered to close out a 3-6 6-4 6-2 win and will face the winner of the all-French clash between Elsa Jacquemot and Lois Boisson.

’LUCKY CHARM’
Russian 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva outclassed Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-1 at Court Suzanne Lenglen and the sixth seed attributed the comfortable win to a colorful drawing a young supporter left for her on her bench.

“Wherever that little girl is, I want to thank her, because it’s my lucky charm,” added sixth seed Andreeva, who became the youngest woman to complete 10 Roland Garros singles match wins since Swiss two-times runner-up Martina Hingis.

Spanish 10th seed Paula Badosa would have wished for a bit of luck to force a third set against a dominant Daria Kasatkina but instead crashed 6-1 7-5 to the Russian-born 17th seed who now represents Australia.

“I was ready for a difficult match,” said Kasatkina, who can expect another big test against Andreeva next.

“I knew if she got a chance, she would take it straight away. That’s what happened in the second set. This is where things got tight. But I’m really proud of myself and how I handled the situation.”

Three-time champion Novak Djokovic takes on qualifier Filip Misolic in the evening session seeking his 99th match victory at Roland Garros and equal his tally at the Australian Open, where he has 10 titles.

Russian teen Andreeva eases into French Open last 16, to meet Kasatkina

Updated 31 May 2025
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Russian teen Andreeva eases into French Open last 16, to meet Kasatkina

  • She next plays Australian Daria Kasatkina, ranked 17, for a place in the quarter-finals
  • She has climbed to a career-high ranking of sixth this season and became the youngest ever winner of a WTA 1000 title in Dubai in February

PARIS: Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva eased into the last 16 at the French Open on Saturday with a straight-sets win over Kazakh Yulia Putintseva.

The 18-year-old, seeded sixth at Roland Garros, sealed a 6-3, 6-1 win in 78 minutes on her first match point.

She next plays Australian Daria Kasatkina, ranked 17, for a place in the quarter-finals.

Kasatkina got past Spanish 10th seed Paula Badosa 6-1, 7-5 in their third round match which lasted one hour 33 minutes.

“I knew she’s a very tricky player, she plays very interesting and makes it a little uncomfortable for me so I struggled in the beginning,” said Andreeva of her first meeting with world number 31 Putintseva.

“I practice against her so knew what to expect. I’m happy with the way I played today.”

Andreeva converted five of her eight break point chances, being broken once with 18 unforced errors to 16 for her rival.

Andreeva, who reached the semifinals last year, is hoping to become the youngest woman to win a Grand Slam title since her compatriot Maria Sharapova’s famous 2004 Wimbledon triumph.

She was still having to do school work during her run in 2024, which included a shock quarter-final win over Aryna Sabalenka.

She has climbed to a career-high ranking of sixth this season and became the youngest ever winner of a WTA 1000 title in Dubai in February, before securing another at Indian Wells.

Andreeva is hoping for another strong performance at Roland Garros, with both Sabalenka and reigning champion Iga Swiatek in the other half of the draw.

Kasatkina, 28, competing in Roland Garros for the tenth time, reached the semifinals in 2022.


‘We’re going in there to win it’: Manchester City chairman targets FIFA Club World Cup success

Updated 31 May 2025
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‘We’re going in there to win it’: Manchester City chairman targets FIFA Club World Cup success

  • In part 2 of his review of the 2024-2025 season, Khaldoon Al-Mubarak looks forward to the FIFA Club World Cup and and the developments taking place across City Football Group

ABU DHABI: Manchester City’s chairman, Khaldoon Al-Mubarak, has provided his annual review of the season to the club’s official online channel. In part 2 of the interview he reveals the team’s desire to retain the FIFA Club world Cup taking place in June and discusses the developments taking place across City Football Group. Here are some of the highlights.

On the FIFA Club World Cup…

“Well, as the defending champions coming into this new format, of course, we’re very excited. We’re very excited to come in as champions. The format actually, I really like it.

“This is a very, very serious competition. I think, in the summer, the whole world will be watching this with a big number of the top teams in the world will be competing in this tournament.

“I can assure you we’re going to give it our best shot. We’re going in there to win it. This is the beginning of the new season, not the continuation of last season.

“The team will take the rest that they will take right now, and then they start pre-season and then immediately straight into the Club World Cup.”

On Manchester City’s North Stand redevelopment…

“It’s coming up very fast. It’s going to be a great addition to the campus. Once we start the new season, everybody will start physically seeing it a lot clearer.

“The hotel is also coming up nicely. It’s moving very, very fast, but we’re happy with the contractors on the ground. This is going to be a game changer. You will see over these next 12 to 18 months. This is going to be a game changer for the campus and for the club.”

On NYCFC…

“Well, more than the foundation, the work is fully now in full effect. Construction is happening at a fast pace. This is going to be an incredible stadium. We’re very excited about what we’re doing in New York, what we’re doing for that community in terms of a proper football stadium, with a team that now is closing in on 10 years.

“It’s been a great journey. And they’ve earned (it). They deserve a stadium, and finally, they’re going to get it. And we have now a line of sight of when it’s going to be finished and it’ll be transformative for football fans in New York, for our fan base, and really at a time where football is booming in America.”

On City Football Group…

“It’s developed very well. We look at City Football Group as a group, but then each team individually and each team gets the attention it requires and gets a lot of attention from the whole leadership team.

“There’s individuality with each club. Depending on where they are around the world, each one has its own requirements. But overall, one of the things that gives us confidence is how many similar models now are following our CFG model.

“There are a lot of other groups now that are pursuing what we have built at City Football Group, which tells you there’s an appreciation that this is a good model and it’s a model that’s effective.”


Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan face off in the Champions League final

Updated 31 May 2025
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Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan face off in the Champions League final

  • European club football’s biggest prize is at stake between two teams that have felt the pain of falling at the last hurdle in recent years
  • Inter was a losing finalist against Manchester City in 2023 and PSG lost in its only final against Bayern Munich in 2020

MUNICH: Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan go head-to-head in the Champions League final in Munich on Saturday.

European club football’s biggest prize is at stake between two teams that have felt the pain of falling at the last hurdle in recent years.

Inter was a losing finalist against Manchester City in 2023 and PSG lost in its only final against Bayern Munich in 2020.

After spending billions of dollars and signing some of the sport’s greatest players like Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, PSG is still waiting to win its first Champions League title. Those superstars have now departed, but coach Luis Enrique has assembled one of the most exciting squads in Europe, with the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia filling the void left by that trio.

Enrique is aiming to win the competition for the second time as a coach, having lifted it with Barcelona in 2015, and would become the seventh coach to win the trophy with different teams.

“The motivation for me is to win the Champions League title for the first time for PSG,” he said. “That is the gift I want to give the people, the club, the city.”

Inter was looking for a treble just over a month ago, but is now left with the Champions League as its only possible trophy. It lost the Italian title by a point and was knocked out of the Italian Cup in the semifinals.

“These players in these four years did a lot — won a lot and lost sometimes. It happens. But we all gave our all, everyone. We are proud to be Inter,” coach Simone Inzaghi said. “I dreamed of playing the Champions League final. I didn’t do it as a player, but thanks to this group of players I’ve been in two finals as a head coach.”

Inter has won the Champions League or European Cup on three occasions, most recently in 2010.

When does the Champions League final begin?

The match at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. local time.


Alcaraz fights into French Open last 16 as Swiatek, Sabalenka progress

Updated 31 May 2025
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Alcaraz fights into French Open last 16 as Swiatek, Sabalenka progress

PARIS: Carlos Alcaraz survived a scare to book his place in the French Open last 16 on Friday, with defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka also through to the fourth round at Roland Garros.
Second seed Alcaraz won 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 against 69th-ranked Bosnian Damir Dzumhur in the night session to keep his title defense on course.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz arrived as the favorite at Roland Garros after securing the Monte Carlo Masters and Italian Open trophies in the build-up to the clay-court major.
But his fluctuating performances in the past two rounds have given his rivals reason to believe he is vulnerable.
“Today I honestly didn’t enjoy it that much. I suffered quite a lot,” said a relieved Alcaraz, who came from a break down in the fourth set to seal victory.
“That’s why doing a really good result in a Grand Slam is really difficult because you have to maintain a really high level for three to four hours.”
The 22-year-old next meets American 13th seed Ben Shelton who eased past Italian qualifier Matteo Gigante 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
Swiatek kept her bid for a fourth consecutive French Open title on track, coming through 6-2, 7-5 against Romania’s world number 60 Jaqueline Cristian in sweltering conditions.
Swiatek broke the 60th-ranked Cristian twice in a comfortable first set, but she was pushed a lot harder by her rival in the second and had to save six break points.
“She really stepped up in the second set. I had to step up as well. It was an entertaining match,” said Swiatek, hoping to become the first woman to win four successive Roland Garros titles since Suzanne Lenglen 102 years ago.
The 23-year-old Pole will next play 12th seed Elena Rybakina after the Kazakh dispatched 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-2 in a clash of big hitters.
Swiatek has a 4-4 record against Rybakina but has lost both previous meetings on clay. However she was relieved at avoiding Ostapenko, who is 6-0 against her.
A grinning Swiatek suggested earlier she had no preference as to her last-16 opponent before asking: “Am I a good liar?“
“Let’s say it doesn’t matter, really. Oh, my God. I couldn’t play poker,” joked the world number five who has not won a title since last year’s French Open.
Sabalenka produced a dominant display in a 6-2, 6-3 win over 34th-ranked Serbian left-hander Olga Danilovic.
But the Madrid Open winner, whose best result at Roland Garros was a semifinal in Paris two years ago, insisted the pressure was on Swiatek.
“Let’s just leave it  on Iga  since she won it, what, three times in a row,” said Sabalenka.
The 27-year-old Belarusian next plays 16th-seeded American Amanda Anisimova who ousted Danish 22nd seed Clara Tauson 7-6 , 6-4 in their third-round tie.
Zheng Qinwen ended the run of Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko 6-3, 6-4.
The Chinese eighth seed has now won nine successive matches at Roland Garros following her run to Olympic gold last year.
Zheng is through to the fourth round in Paris for the second time and will next play Russian 19th seed Liudmila Samsonova who brushed aside Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska 6-2, 6-3.
Italian fourth seed Paolini eased past Ukrainian lucky loser Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-4, 6-1.
Runner-up last year at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, Paolini next plays Ukrainian 13th seed Elina Svitolina who dug deep to see off American Bernarda Pera 7-6 , 7-6 .
Eighth seed Musetti won 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 against Argentine Mariano Navone as he follows on from his runner-up finish in Monte Carlo and semifinal runs in Madrid and Rome.
But the Italian dropped his first set in Paris against world number 97 Navone.
“I’ve grown up a lot. A match like this I don’t know if I would  come back a few years ago,” said Musetti.
“The heat was pretty tough to manage. But happy to find a way to turn around the match.”
Musetti next plays Rune who was two points from defeat in the fourth set before rallying past France’s Quentin Halys 4-6, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.
American Tommy Paul, the 12th seed, got past Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 , 3-6, 6-3 and meets Australian Alexei Popyrin, the 25th seed, who beat Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-4, 7-6 , 7-6 .
Arthur Fils, the 14th seed, withdrew ahead of his third-round match on Saturday, extending the host nation’s wait for a first men’s champion at Roland Garros since Yannick Noah in 1983.