Shanghai Masters: Novak Djokovic hums into semis after surviving 110th-ranked Mischa Zverev fright

October 15, 2016

Shanghai, Oct 15: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic hummed on the baseline to keep himself calm as he survived an almighty scare against 110th-ranked Mischa Zverev to reach the Shanghai Masters semi-finals on Friday.

ShanghaiThe defending champion, who has been struggling with motivation and injuries, lost the first set and was then taken to a second-set tie-break as tensions rose at the Qi Zhong Tennis Centre.

But qualifier Zverev`s composure cracked as the 12-time Grand Slam-winner reeled off the first four points of the tie-break and raced through the deciding set to win 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

Djokovic`s victory sets up a semi-final against Roberto Bautista, while second seed Andy Murray hammered David Goffin 6-2, 6-2 to go into a clash with Gilles Simon of France.

As Zverev became increasingly dispirited in the deciding set, Djokovic was a picture of calm as he hummed to himself to keep his mind off mistakes.

"Instead of the occasional tantrum that I used to have, I hope it`s behind me, so I would switch that vibration and transform it into a tune," said the world number one.

"I`m trying to remember, which one was it? It wasn`t any mantra. It was a famous song, actually. I was using it to just forget about my mistake, previous mistake. And it worked, I hope," he smiled.

Djokovic`s unusual tactic helped him avoid what would have been the most humiliating defeat of his season and maintained his record of reaching the semi-finals in all seven visits to the tournament.

It has been a troubled few months for the Serb, who said he had lost motivation and complained of "private issues" as he suffered shock early defeats at Wimbledon and the Olympics.He now insists he no longer cares about titles or rankings points and is concentrating only on maintaining an "optimal state of mind", a process he compared to boiling pasta.

"(It`s) like when you`re trying to prepare pasta and then when it`s boiling water, you just switch it down, you know, turn down the heat a little bit," he said.

"That`s what you`re trying to do but still keep the heat there, keep that focus, keep that momentum and trying to be in the zone and have that right intensity but just the right amount."

Chinese fans brandished Serbian flags for Djokovic but there was consternation when the three-time champion gave up an early break and sent down four double faults as he lost the first set.

Djokovic`s misfiring serve cost him another two breaks in the second set but he also broke Zverev twice as they went to a tie-break and the German stood on the verge of a famous win.

However, a succession of Zverev errors effectively handed over the set before Djokovic took control against the tiring German and saw out the victory in two hours and 20 minutes.

In the semi-finals on Saturday, Djokovic will play Spain`s Bautista, who floored Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4 to send last year`s runner-up crashing out.

Second-ranked Murray kept the heat on Djokovic`s world number one spot as he thrashed Belgium`s Goffin to set up a semi-final against Simon, who beat Jack Sock 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).

The Scot will have high confidence against Simon partly because of his strikingly strong record against French players, including his third-round dismissal of Lucas Pouille.

"I would assume it`s just a coincidence really," said Murray of his success against Frenchmen.

"Maybe some of the guys I match up well against in terms of game style, but some of the matches have been extremely close, too."

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News Network
July 3,2020

Karachi, Jul 3: Pakistan limited overs captain Babar Azam is tired of his constant comparisons with India skipper Virat Kohli and says he would rather be compared to the greats at home.

Babar, six years younger to Kohli, has a long way to go in getting close to Kohli's staggering numbers across formats. The India skipper has 70 hundreds to his name and averages more than 50 in all three formats.

"I would be more happy if you compare to me say a Javed Miandad, Muhammad Yousuf or Younis Khan. Why compare me to Kohli or any Indian player?" asked the 25-year-old, who is in England with the national team, said in an online media interaction on Thursday.

Babar has scored 16 international hundreds and averages more than 50 in ODIs and T20s. In 26 Tests, he has scored 1850 runs at 45.12.

He also said that he is not targeting any English bowler for the series next month.

"I don’t see who the bowler is or his reputation. I just try to play each ball on merit. England no doubt has a top bowling attack and they have advantage of playing at home but this is a challenge I want to score runs in," he said.

Before the squad’s departure for England, Pakistan batting coach Younis Khan said that pacer Joffra Archer will be a handful for the Pakistani batsmen.

Babar said that he would try to play every English bowler on merit but conceded that after getting runs in Australia last year, he was keen to leave his footprint in the coming Test and T20 series in England.

Reminded that some former Test players had already written off Pakistan for the England series, Babar said they were entitled to their opinion.

"But we don’t have a bad team and already we have been enjoying our training. It is good to be back on the field after such a long lay-off. I think we have the bowlers to trouble them like Abbas, Naseem, Shaheen and others while we have some experience in our batting line-up."

Babar said he would love to get a triple century in a Test match.

"When you score a century, you naturally want to go on and convert that into a double or a triple century. This is something I would like to do during the Test series.

"I like to play my natural game but my selection of shots depends on the conditions and bowlers."

Babar also ruled out any problems in the Pakistan dressing room due to the presence of former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was sacked last year.

But he said that since Muhammad Rizwan had been playing in all formats for Pakistan in recent times, he would be the starting keeper in the Test series ahead of Sarfaraz.

"I think we first have to give Rizwan a proper chance and Sarfaraz is there as back up."

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News Network
February 5,2020

Aukland, Feb 5: Striker Navneet Kaur scored a brace to guide the Indian women's hockey team to a convincing 3-0 win over New Zealand in the last game of its five-match tour here on Wednesday.

Navneet found the net in the 45th and 58th minutes, while Sharmila scored a field goal in the 54th minute as India drew curtains on the New Zealand tour on a bright note.

After a goalless opening two quarters, Navneet finally broke the deadlock for India in the 45th minute.

Sharmila then doubled the lead when she struck a powerful shot past the New Zealand goalkeeper in the 54th minute. Navneet found the net again just two minutes from the final hooter with a beautiful field strike.

India began the tour by thrashing New Zealand Development squad 4-0 before suffering close 1-2 and 0-1 defeats to the home senior team.

In penultimate game of the tour, skipper Rani's lone strike handed India a 1-0 win over Great Britain.

"...I am happy we produced three goals against New Zealand in the last match. This tour gave us a good insight about where we need to improve and one of the things is to create faster play than we do now," said India's chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

Commenting on his side's performance during the tour, Marijne said, "Sometimes we tend to keep the ball too long on the stick and then we create pressure. We need to avoid that by passing faster.

"On the defence side, we need to be a bit more calmer and need to improve our tackling. We will have a four week camp after a short break when we return home and we will be working on these points."

The Indian team will return home on February 7.

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News Network
April 6,2020

London, Apr 6: As the coronavirus brings the international sports calendar to a grinding halt, news agency Sport looks at three long-standing habits which could change forever once competition resumes.

Saliva to take shine off swing bowling

It's been a tried and trusted friend to fast bowlers throughout the history of cricket. But the days of applying saliva to one side of the ball to encourage swing could be over in the aftermath of Covid19.

"As a bowler I think it would be pretty tough going if we couldn't shine the ball in a Test match," said Australia quick Pat Cummins.

"If it's at that stage and we're that worried about the spread, I'm not sure we'd be playing sport."

Towels in tennis - no touching

Tennis players throwing towels, dripping with sweat and blood and probably a tear or two, at ball boys and girls, has often left fans sympathising for the youngsters.

Moves by officials to tackle the issue took on greater urgency in March when the coronavirus was taking a global grip.

Behind closed doors in Miki, ball boys and girls on duty at the Davis Cup tie between Japan and Ecuador wore gloves.

Baskets, meanwhile, were made available for players to deposit their towels.

Back in 2018, the ATP introduced towel racks at some events on a trial basis, but not everyone was overjoyed.

"I think having the towel whenever you need it, it's very helpful. It's one thing less that you have to think about," said Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas when he was playing at the NextGen Finals in Milan.

"I think it's the job of the ball kids to provide towels and balls for the players."

Let's not shake on it

Pre-match handshakes were abandoned in top football leagues just before the sports shutdown.

Premier League leaders Liverpool also banned the use of mascots while Southampton warned against players signing autographs and stopped them posing for selfies.

Away from football, the NBA urged players to opt for the fist bump rather than the long-standing high-five.

"I ain't high-fiving nobody for the rest of my life after this," NBA superstar LeBron James told the "Road Trippin' Podcast".

"No more high-fiving. After this corona shit? Wait 'til you see me and my teammates’ handshakes after this shit."

Basketball stars were also told not to take items such as balls or teams shirts to autograph.

US women's football star Megan Rapinoe says edicts to ban handshakes or even high-fives may be counter-productive anyway.

"We're going to be sweating all over each other all game, so it sort of defeats the purpose of not doing a handshake," she said.

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