ATP Finals: Grigor Dimitrov prevails in three-set encounter to become first debutant since 1998 to win title

Agencies
November 20, 2017

London, Nov 20: Grigor Dimitrov beat David Goffin 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in a gripping title decider at the ATP Finals on Sunday to become the first debutant to win the season finale since 1998.

In a surprise final match-up, the Bulgarian sixth seed held his nerve under intense pressure at London's O2 Arena to seal the biggest title of his career on his fifth match point.

He will climb to third in the rankings behind only Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as he begins to deliver decisively on his rich promise as a youngster.

"It has been a tremendous two weeks for me," said the 26-year-old. "It is such an honour to play here. This week has been one of the best I have had."

"I am lost for words," he added. "My team has been unbelievable, my family."

The Bulgarian came into the title decider unbeaten at the O2, with a healthy 4-1 head-to-head record against Goffin, including a 6-0, 6-2 win in the round-robin stage.

But seventh seed Goffin was buoyed by wins over World No 1 Nadal and and a gutsy effort against second seed Federer, coming back from a set down to beat the Swiss in the semi-finals.

Both players struggled to hold serve at the start of the contest in front of a feisty packed house and the error count was high from both men.

After three consecutive breaks, the Belgian was the first to hold his serve, forging ahead 3-1 but as time ran out for Dimitrov, Goffin played a poor service game, going long on a forehand to concede another break of serve as the Bulgarian levelled the match at 4-4.

The errors continued to flow from a nervy-looking Goffin and Dimitrov finally secured the decisive break on his fifth set point when the Belgian thumped a forehand into the net.

Goffin, 26, landed just 42 percent of first serves in the first set and made 20 unforced errors, struggling to find the bite and consistency he had enjoyed in beating Federer.

In the second set, neither player earned a break point until the sixth game, when Goffin saved himself with a dramatic backhand crosscourt shot that caught the sideline, taking advantage of two double faults from the racquet of Dimitrov in the next game to break.

Infused with renewed belief, the Belgian held his nerve to clinch the set 6-4.

Despite a sprinkling of break points, a tight third set went with serve until the sixth game, when Dimitrov broke to lead 4-2 as Goffin went wide with a backhand.

As the tension mounted, Goffin bravely saved three championship points on his own serve but Dimitrov held his nerve to seal the match on his own serve after two-and-a-half hours, at the fifth time of asking.

A disappointed Goffin said, "It was a special week for me. A week with a lot of emotion and a lot of fatigue. Now I am feeling tired but it was an amazing week.

"We did an amazing job. It was tough after losing to Grigor in the group. It was not easy to come back but we worked a lot as a team."

Masters win

Dimitrov has enjoyed the best season of his career, claiming his first Masters title in Cincinnati and winning two other titles aside from the ATP Finals as well as reaching the Australian Open semi-finals.

Nicknamed "Baby Fed" early in his career for the similarity of style in his game to the Swiss, Dimitrov has struggled to live up to the comparison, slipping to 17th in the rankings at the end of 2016.

The final that nobody expected came just a year after Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray battled it out in London for the number one slot.

But both players have been absent from the Tour for months and with Nadal also forced to pull out of the ATP Finals after his round-robin opener, the end-of-season finale has had an unusual flavour.

Sunday's final was the first time in the tournament's history that two players who qualified for the first time faced off in the title decider.

The last player to win the trophy in their first year as a qualifier was Alex Corretja in 1998.

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News Network
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has proposed radical changes in the LBW laws, stating that a batsman should be given out leg before as long as the ball is hitting the stumps irrespective of the spot of its landing and impact.

Chappell also said captains should agree on one way of working up the ball which will encourage swing bowling, even as the ICC is considering the use of artificial substances to shine the ball instead of sweat and saliva in post-COVID-19 scenario.

"The new lbw law should simply say: 'Any delivery that strikes the pad without first hitting the bat and, in the umpire's opinion, would go on to hit the stumps is out regardless of whether or not a shot is attempted'," he wrote in a column for ESPNcricinfo.

"Forget where the ball pitches and whether it strikes the pad outside the line or not; if it's going to hit the stumps, it's out."

The 76-year-old said the change in lbw law would attract expected criticism from the batsmen but it would make the game more fair.

"There will be screams of horror - particularly from pampered batsmen - but there are numerous positives this change would bring to the game. Most important is fairness.

"If a bowler is prepared to attack the stumps regularly, the batsman should only be able to protect his wicket with the bat. The pads are there to save the batsman from injury not dismissal.

"It would also force batsmen to seek an attacking method to combat a wristspinner pitching in the rough outside the right-hander's leg stump," said Chappell.

He cited Sachin Tendulkar's example on how he negotiated Shane Warne's round the wicket tactic during the 1997-98 Test series in India.

"Contrast Sachin Tendulkar's aggressive and successful approach to Shane Warne coming round the wicket in Chennai in 1997-98 with a batsman who kicks away deliveries pitching in the rough and turning in toward the stumps. Which would you rather watch?

"The current law encourages "pad play" to balls pitching outside leg while this change would force them to use their bat. The change would reward bowlers who attack the stumps and decrease the need for negative wide deliveries to a packed off-side field," he said.

Chappell said his proposed change to the lbw law would also cut down "frivolous" DRS challenges.

"This change to the lbw law would also simplify umpiring and result in fewer frivolous DRS challenges. Consequently, it would speed up a game that has slowed drastically in recent times.

"It would also make four-day Tests an even more viable proposition as mind-numbing huge first-innings totals would be virtually non-existent."

On the substitute of shining the ball without sweat and saliva, Chappell said international captains should find out a way of working up the ball.

"With ball-tampering always a hot topic, in the past I've suggested that administrators ask international captains to construct a list (i.e. the use of natural substances) detailing the things bowlers feel will help them to swing the ball.

"From this list, the administrators should deem one method to be legal with all others being punishable as illegal," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

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News Network
April 21,2020

New Delhi, Apr 21: India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said people seem to have become more compassionate while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and hoped the sense of gratitude towards frontline workers like doctors and police personnel remains even after the crisis is over.

Speaking in an online class organised by "Unacademy", Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma spoke at length about the challenges they faced before tasting success.

"The one positive out of this crisis that we as a society have become more compassionate. We are showing more gratitude to the frontline workers in this war, be it police personnel, doctors or nurses.

"I hope it stays this way even after we overcome this crisis," said Kohli with Sharma seated next to her.

Kohli said the pandemic has taught the world a very important lesson.

"Life is unpredictable. So, do what makes you happy and not get into comparisons all the time. People have a choice now how to come out of this phase. Life is going to be different after this," said the skipper.

For Sharma, the pandemic has forced people to care about the basics in life.

"There is a learning in all of this. Nothing happens without a reason. If the frontline workers were not there, we would not have access to basics," she said..

"This has taught us that no one is special than the other. Health is everything. We are more connected as a society now," she added.

During the session, Kohli was asked about the moment when he felt most helpless.

"I felt nothing was working for me when I was not picked for the state team initially. I cried the whole night and asked my coach 'why did I not get selected'?" he responded.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Melbourne, Jul 21: Cricket Australia's chief executive Nick Hockley has said that the Indian players and staff will most likely be asked to face two weeks of quarantine before the four-match Test series.

This scenario will bring the Adelaide Oval and its newly constructed hotel firmly into view as the sort of biosecure bubble, ESPNCricinfo reported.

India and Australia are slated to face each other in a four-match Test series, which is to begin from December 4 at Brisbane.

"The two-week quarantine is pretty well-defined. What we are working on is making sure that even within that quarantine environment, the players have got the absolute best training facilities, so that their preparation for the matches is as optimal as it can possibly be," ESPNCricinfo quoted Hockey as saying.

"Certainly the fact that the Adelaide Oval has a hotel. It does provide a facility not dissimilar to Old Trafford or Ageas Bowl where the hotels are integrated into the venue," he added.

Hockley also said that an exacting standard of biosecurity and testing would be applied before the series against India as the coronavirus cases are spiking in the subcontinent.

"It's widely known and it's unlikely that international travel restrictions would have lifted by the time that India will be due to come into the country. Clearly there will be testing regimes. We will be able to test people before that they get on to the plane and it is the nature of the situation of making sure we have the quarantine arrangements in line with government and health authority protocols," Hockley said.

"The key thing for the players is that there's regular testing and that we appropriately quarantine them when they come in and all of those plans are currently in development," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the postponement of the T20 World Cup 2020 slated to be held in Australia from October 18-November 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the announcement, the BCCI is likely to go ahead with the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October-November window. However, it is known where the T20 tournament will be played as cases continue to rise in India.
"I think the BCCI has made no secrets that they are considering what that means for the IPL. For us, it's about getting a bit of an understanding and certainty around what that means. Clearly, in a normal course, some of our best players are obviously top picks for those IPL teams," Hockley said.

"It's a bit premature to speculate on that. We need to understand what the plans are if any and once we understand that we will make decisions accordingly," he added.

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