Serena withdraws, No. 1 Osaka loses, Federer wins in Miami

Agencies
March 24, 2019

Miami, Mar 24: Serena Williamswithdrew on Saturday, blaming a previously undisclosed left knee injury. Less than two hours later, top-ranked Naomi Osakalost in the third round to tour veteran Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Osaka's departure matched the earliest ever in the tournament by a top-seeded woman and jeopardized her No. 1 ranking, depending on results next week.

"I feel like I've dealt with the stress of people asking me do I have pressure, because I have the No. 1 next to my name," Osaka said. "I thought I was doing fine with that, but I guess I'm not."

Roger Federer briefly seemed headed for the exit but instead advanced to the third round by rallying past qualifier Radu Albot 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

"Radu put me through the ringer," Federer said.

No. 2-seeded Alexander Zverev double-faulted 12 times and lost to wild card David Ferrer, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Williams' withdrawal was unexpected because she showed no signs of injury a day earlier while winning her opening match against Rebecca Peterson, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. Williams didn't mention any health issues during a news conference after the match, and the WTA had no information regarding when she was hurt.

Williams' victory ON Friday was her first at Hard Rock Stadium, the Miami Dolphins' home and the Miami Open's new center court. The tournament moved this year from Key Biscayne, where Williams won eight titles.

"I am disappointed to withdraw," she said in a statement. "It was an amazing experience to play at Hard Rock Stadium this year, and I would like to thank the Miami Open for putting on an amazing event. I hope to be back next year to play at this one-of-a-kind tournament in front of the incredible fans here in Miami."

Federer, a three-time champion, lost serve only once -- in the first game -- but was on the ropes until he swept the final three games, to the relief of an enthusiastic stadium crowd.

"It was a great atmosphere," Federer said. "It was electric. I think that's why I played so well at the end."

While attendance in the stadium continued to be spotty, outer courts were jammed, and the day session drew a tournament record 32,831 spectators.

Seeded losers on the men's side included No. 10 Karen Khachanov, No. 21 Diego Schwartzman, No. 26 Guido Pella, No. 30 Stan Wawrinka and No. 31 Steve Johnson. In a game of inches, the 5-feet-6-inch Schwartzman lost to 6-feet-11-inch Reilly Opelka 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Williams was next scheduled to play No. 18-seeded Qiang Wang, who advanced to the fourth round.

Also reaching the women's round of 16 was the 33-year-old Hsieh, who turned pro in 2001 but has achieved the two biggest victories of her career in the past nine months. Her only other win over a No. 1 player came against Simona Halep at Wimbledon last year.

With two-handed groundstrokes from both sides, Hsieh was the steadier player from the baseline against Osaka. When Hsieh closed out match point with a forehand volley winner, she began to cry as the crowd applauded her performance.

Osaka smiled when reminded it was the first time in 64 matches she lost after winning the first set.

"I know, it's depressing," she said. "I was thinking about it right after I lost."

Osaka, 21, has won the past two Grand Slam tournaments. Williams, 37, still hasn't won a tournament since the 2017 Australian Open, before she took a break of more than a year to become a mom. She has played only eight matches this year.

Williams' stay at the Miami Open was also brief last year, when she lost in the first round to Osaka. Friday's match was Williams' first since she retired from Indian Wells two weeks ago because of a viral illness.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 28,2020

Gibraltar, Jan 28: Young Indian Grand Master R Praggnanandhaa pulled off a huge upset, beating former world champion Veselin Topalov in the sixth round of the 18th Gibraltar chess festival to record his fifth straight win here.

The 14-year-old Chennai lad needed just 33 moves to put it across the Bulgarian. He had started with a loss against compatriot P V Nandhidhaa but since then he has been on a winning spree.

Praggnanandhaa, who recently won the world under-18 title, said: "It was very tough to prepare against him."

He is in second spot on five points with six other players and will take on Chinese GM Wang Hao in the seventh round.

Seventeen-year-old Russian GM Andrey Esipenko jumped to sole lead with 5.5 points with a win over Georgia's Ivan Cheparinov

The Russian player would be unpaired in the seventh round as he decided to take a bye.

A bunch of players including Indians — B Adhiban, K Sasikiran, Shardul Gagare, Karthikeyan Murali, SL Narayanan — are in joint third place with 4.5 points.

Adhiban beat Gabriel Flom, while D Gukesh, the world's second youngest Grand Master ever, defeated Martin Percivaldi to move to four points.

Also winning were Karthikeyan Murali against Qi B Chen and Gagare over France's Maxime Lagarde.

Top-seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's moderate run continued as he was held to a draw by GM Aryan Chopra.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 18,2020

Berlin, Feb 18: Sachin Tendulkar being lifted on the shoulders of his teammates after their World Cup triumph at home in 2011 has been voted the Laureus best sporting moment in the last 20 years.

With the backing of Indian cricket fans, Tendulkar got the maximum number of votes to emerge winner on Monday.

Tendulkar, competing in his sixth and last World Cup, finally realised his long-term dream when skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smacked Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Kulasekara out of the park for a winning six.

The charged-up Indian cricketers rushed to the ground and soon they lifted Tendulkar on their shoulders and made a lap of honour, a moment etched in the minds of the fans.

Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh handed the trophy to Tendulkar after tennis legend Boris Becker announced the winner at a glittering ceremony.

“It's incredible. The feeling of winning the world cup was beyond what words can express. How many times you get an event happening where there are no mixed opinions. Very rarely the entire country celebrates,” Tendulkar said after receiving the trophy.

“And this is a reminder of how powerful a sport is and what magic it does to our lives. Even now when I watch that it has stayed with me.”

Becker then asked Tendulkar to share the emotions he felt at that time and the Indian legend put in perspective how important it was for him to hold that trophy.

“My journey started in 1983 when I was 10 years old. India had won the World Cup. I did not understand the significance and just because everybody was celebrating, I also joined the party.

“But somewhere I knew something special has happened to the country and I wanted to experience it one day and that's how my journey began.”

“It was the proudest moment of my life, holding that trophy which I chased for 22 years but I never lost hope. I was merely lifting that trophy on behalf of my countrymen.”

The 46-year-old Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in the cricket world, said holding the Laureus trophy has also given him great honour.

He also shared the impact the revolutionary South African leader Nelson Mandela had on him. He met him when he was just 19 years old.

“His hardship did not affect his leadership. Out of many messages he left, the most important I felt was that sport has got the power to unite everyone.

"Today, sitting in this room with so many athletes, some of them did not have everything but they made the best of everything they had. I thank them for inspiring youngsters to pick a sport of their choice and chase their dreams. This trophy belongs to all of us, it's not just about me.”

In a tweet on Tuesday, Tendulkar dedicated the award to his country, teammates and fans.

"Thank you all for the overwhelming love and support! I dedicate this @LaureusSport award to India, all my teammates, fans and well wishers in India and across the world who have always supported Indian cricket," he tweeted.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 5,2020

New Delhi, Mar 5: Cricket's slow geographical expansion is turning out to be a blessing in disguise for the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) which looks set to beat the dreaded novel coronavirus threat and go ahead as scheduled.

At a time when the number of recorded deaths because of the deadly outbreak across the globe is touching 3500 with a plethora of international sporting events getting cancelled, the IPL seems to be in a parallel universe where "all is well".

And there are multiple practical reasons why the T20 extravaganza will be held as per schedule. A major reason is the small number of countries that play the game and an even smaller fraction of overseas players, who will compete in the world's richest cricket league starting March 29 in Mumbai.

Till Thursday, the reported number of positive COVID-19 cases in India stood at 29, including 16 Italian tourists. However, none of the overseas recruits of eight IPL franchises have expressed any apprehensions about travelling to India.

Just over 60 players from cricket nations such as Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and the Caribbean islands comprise the elite foreign brigade and the reported positive cases of coronavirus in all these countries is next to none.

"The IOC is saying Olympics in Tokyo will be held as per schedule. In comparison, IPL is a minuscule tournament. If Olympics can be held, there's no reason why IPL can't be held," a BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

STAR SPORTS FACTOR

The second and perhaps the biggest reason is broadcasters. Star Sports has bought the rights for Rs 16,347 crore (USD 2.55 billion) for a period of five years and their advertising revenues will take a huge hit if the tournament doesnt go ahead as planned. Former Delhi Daredevils CEO Hemant Dua explained the economics. "Look Star as well as BCCI has got everything insured. I don't know if there is any specific insurance cover for cancellation due to coronavirus but there is no chance of that happening if I read the situation properly," Dua told PTI.

GOVERNMENT GUIDELINES

The BCCI is also depending on the guidelines given by the government with regards to dealing with the health crisis.  "Every person availing international flights will be screened for coronavirus at the port of entry. That is the biggest health security measure. Obviously the BCCI will strictly adhere to any health advisory that government will issue," a Board official said.

But since there is an advisory that social gatherings are inadvisable at this point, won't it affect the league? "You will only come to know once the ticket sales start. If the stadiums are packed, that means people are coming but if stands are largely empty, then you can presume that people are wary.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.