Stanislas Wawrinka stuns Rafael Nadal to win maiden Australian Open title

January 26, 2014

stanislas-wawrinka

Melbourne, Jan 26: Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka upset injury-troubled world number one Rafael Nadal to win his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open on Sunday.

The eighth seed roared through the first two sets and overcame the distraction of a back injury to Nadal, and then the loss of the third set, to take it 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

The top-seeded Spaniard seemed to strain his back early in the second set and left the court for a medical time-out but after surrendering the set, he returned to the court swinging to stun Wawrinka with an early break.

With his shot-making showing signs of a revival, Nadal saved two break points before holding serve with a barrage of sweetly-struck forehands.

A searing forehand winner down the line gave Nadal two break points and astonishingly, the Spaniard broke a flat-footed Wawrinka when the Swiss bunted a bloodless forehand into the net.

As Nadal rallied, his eighth-seeded opponent sunk, spraying shots all over the court with his concentration clearly affected by the sudden momentum switch.

Still restricted in his movements, Nadal began gunning for the lines and his stand-and-deliver approach saw him march to a 5-2 lead.

With Nadal serving for the set at 5-3, Wawrinka had a chance to break back but was unable to flush the tension out and conceded the set when he smashed a forehand into the net.

The Swiss won the first set, broke Nadal in the opening game of the second and held serve to take a 2-0 lead before Nadal grimaced in pain and clutched at his back after playing a shot from the baseline midway through the next game.

Nadal successfully held serve to trail 2-1 but quickly left the court for a medical time-out, leaving Wawrinka to argue with the chair umpire about the lack of disclosure over the injury.

Crowd jeers

Nadal re-emerged after six minutes amid some jeers from the Rod Laver Arena crowd but his movement was clearly restricted and he was unable to generate any pace on his serve.

Wawrinka simply went about his business, marching to a 4-1 lead as Nadal double-faulted repeatedly and struggled to reach wide balls.

Nadal had more treatment on his back from a physio at the change of ends, then underlined his fighting spirit by holding serve to trail 5-2, but Wawrinka went on to serve out the set with an ace.

In the first set, Wawrinka captured an early break to surge 3-1 clear and saved three break points before serving out the set, the first time he had taken one off Nadal in 13 matches.

With both players serving strongly in a smouldering start, the match suddenly came alight in the fourth game when Nadal made his first double-fault and Wawrinka crunched a passing shot to bring up two break points.

In a tense rally, the Swiss ratcheted up the pressure, with a big crosscourt forehand that Nadal was only able to parry into the net.

Without a hint of nerves, Wawinka blasted two aces before holding to lead 4-1, leaving the Rod Laver Arena crowd stunned.

The nuggety 28-year-old then tested the Spaniard again, punching a commanding backhand volley to raise another break point, but the Spaniard saved it.

Serving for the set at 5-3, Wawrinka stumbled, unable to land a first serve for five consecutive points, to concede three break points.

He saved them all as Nadal's returning went awry and he took the set with a cross-court ace.

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News Network
June 23,2020

Karachi, Jun 23: Pakistan cricketers Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and rookie Haider Ali on Monday tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed three players - Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan - have tested positive for Covid-19," said the PCB in a statement.

"The players had shown no symptoms until they were tested in Rawalpindi on Sunday ahead of the Pakistan men's national cricket team's tour to England."

The infected players will go into self-isolation.

"The PCB medical panel is in contact with the three who have been advised to immediately go into self-isolation," the statement said.

Earlier this month, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was tested positive for the deadly virus.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Karachi, Jan 10: Former Pakistan batsman and current U-19 head coach Ejaz Ahmed feels that his side can beat defending champions and arch-rivals India in the forthcoming ICC Youth World Cup beginning in South Africa on January 17.

"India has a very good cricket system and it is organized but I know that we have more passion than them when we play against each other and that is how we also beat them in the semi-finals of the recent Asian Emerging Nations Cup," Ejaz said.

Ejaz, who has played 60 Test and 250 ODIs, was head coach of the Pakistan Emerging side which beat India before eventually winning the title in Bangladesh last year.

"Even in the past, we beat India because of our greater passion and this time also I know the passion of our players will prevail over them although they have a very strong outfit," he added.

The 51-year-old Ejaz, however, said at the end of the day it would be all about how a team plays on that particular day.

"It is the same in the World Cup it does not matter which team is number one or defending champions what will matter is how a team plays on a given day. I personally feel our team is well balanced," he said.

Ejaz did not believe that India would get advantage of having played a four-nation tournament with South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe in South Africa before the World Cup.

"Our players have also trained hard in Lahore and we have played around 11 matches. We will also reach South Africa nine days before the World Cup and we have some practice games and I think our preparations are also very good for the tournament," he said.

The former batsman also said the absence of fast bowler Naseem Shah will not impact much on the team's performance. Naseem was withdrawn from the Pakistan U-19 squad after he played for the senior team in three Test matches against Australia and Sri Lanka.

"Look there was no controversy at all. The way we now see things is that you can't expect a MBA to go and take BA exams. That is how we look at Naseem Shah, he has made the grade for Pakistan and now he should be performing for the senior team," said the head coach.

"We have a couple of exciting young talent in the ranks. I expect Rohail and Haider to play for the senior team in two to three year's time, they are that good."

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News Network
April 19,2020

Zurich, Apr 19: Former Indian captain Bhaichung Bhutia was among the 50 footballers to take part in the FIFA's initiative to pay tribute to 'humanity's heroes' amid the coronavirus pandemic.

FIFA, in its statement, expressed gratitude towards all the healthcare workers and other professionals who are giving their all to ensure society continues to function in the face of the coronavirus.

"To all of these heroic people: football thanks you, football remembers you and football supports you," FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA shared a video on their official Twitter handle where footballers from present and past came been seen applauding the frontline workers.

The 50 fotballer were Bhutia, Holger Badstuber, David Beckham, Lucy Bronze, Gianluigi Buffon, Cafu, Fabio Cannavaro, Iker Casillas, Deyna Castellanos, Giorgio Chiellini, Charlyn Corral, El Hadji Diouf, Youri Djorkaeff, Han Duan, Magdalena Eriksson, Samuel Eto'o, Pernille Harder, Javier Hernandez, Luis Hernandez, Kaka, Harry Kane, Carli Lloyd, Harry Maguire, Diego Maradona, Marta, Vivianne Miedema, Ajara Nchout, Michael Owen, Mesut Ozil, Norma Palafox, Pavel Pardo, Park Jisung, Pele, Gerard Pique, Alexia Putellas, Sergio Ramos, Nicole Reigner, Wendie Renard, Roberto Carlos, James Rodriguez, Ronaldo, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Virginia Torrecilla, Yaya Toure, Marco van Basten, Danielle van de Donk, Ivan Vicelich, Arturo Vidal, Javier Zanetti and Zinedine Zidane.
"As footballers, we are used to receiving applause, but this time, we have the opportunity to show our appreciation for the many people who are risking their lives to protect ours," FIFA.com quoted Beckham as saying.

"You are humanity's heroes and we want to show that all of football supports you and everything that you do to defend all of us," he added.

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