Smooth start for Federer, Nadal

July 1, 2015

London: Jul 1: Seven-time champion Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 winner, raced into the Wimbledon second round on Tuesday as the tournament sweltered in near record-breaking heat.

NadalSecond seeded Federer, bidding to become the first man to win eight Wimbledon titles and take his majors tally to 18, enjoyed a 67-minute 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 win over Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia, the world number 88 he beat at the French Open this year.

Federer will face Sam Querrey of the nited States for a place in the last 32. "I was happy I played aggressive. I was always going to miss playing that way a little bit but also he hung around," said the 33-year-old Swiss.

"He changed up his game a little bit which made it a little bit more difficult so it was interesting for me. But I'm very happy, always, to win like that."

Nadal, defeated in the second, first and fourth rounds in the last three years, reached the second round with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Thomaz Bellucci, his fifth win in five meetings against the 42nd-ranked Brazilian.

Tenth-seeded Nadal, his lowest ranking for a decade, faces Germany's Dustin Brown for a place in the last 32.

Defending women's champion Petra Kvitova, the second seed, took just 35 minutes to reach the second round, cruising to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Kiki Bertens, the world number 108 from the Netherlands.

Kvitova, also the 2011 champion, dropped just one point on serve and next meets Kurumi Nara of Japan for a place in the last 32.

"It's great to be back on Centre Court and unbelievable to see all the people clapping," said the Czech, who had been laid low by illness in the week before the tournament.

Kvitova's only dropped point on serve came on a double fault in the final game of the match.

The powerful 25-year-old left-hander would have been relieved to have enjoyed a brief first round outing as temperatures rocketed to around 30 degrees Celsius.

Nadal, who lives in sun-kissed Mallorca, said he would be happy to see the sun keep shining. "In Australia it can be much, much worse so it's no comparison but actually it's beautiful," said the Spaniard.

"When you have this weather here in Wimbledon it's probably one of the best places in the world." French 13th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was probably wishing for a few clouds after he spent more than four hours to see off Luxemburg's Gilles Muller 7-6 (10/8), 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Joining Kvitova in the second round was 10th seeded German Angelique Kerber who handed compatriot Carina Witthoeft a 6-0, 6-0 drubbing.

Kerber, a semifinalist in 2012 and who won the Birmingham tournament on grass in the run-up to Wimbledon, took just 45 minutes to clinch victory, firing 21 winners past the world number 53.

It was the third so-called "double bagel" result of the women's first round. Later Tuesday, 2013 champion and home favourite Andy Murray takes a 2-0 career lead over world number 59 Mikhail Kukushkin into their opener on Centre Court. Like Murray, Kukushkin is coached by a woman -- his wife Anastasia.

Murray beat his rival twice in 2012 at Brisbane and then at the Australian Open in the fourth round. That remains Kukushkin's best run at a major although he did reach the third round at Wimbledon in 2014 where he lost to Nadal.

Emotional farewell

Fighting tooth and nail as only he knows how old warrior Lleyton Hewitt waved an emotional goodbye to Wimbledon after losing a dramatic five-set match to Finland's Jarkko Nieminen on Monday.

Thirteen years after beating Argentina's David Nalbandian to win the title, the 34-year-old, who will retire after next year's Australian Open, went toe to toe with fellow veteran Nieminen but went down 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, 11-9.

Cheered by his fans dressed all in gold, Hewitt saved two consecutive match points at 4-5 in the fifth set before succumbing in a match spanning four hours.

"I was always going to leave it all out there, everything I had in the tank. I certainly did that," the Australian, who has played 56 five-setters in grand slams during his career, told reporters.

"I didn't leave any stone unturned preparing. In the end, obviously disappointing to lose.

"I would have loved to have played Novak (Djokovic) in the next round. But Jarkko is a tough competitor."

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News Network
May 18,2020

Karachi, May 18: Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan believes it is at least five years too early to compare Virat Kohli and Babar Azam as the Indian skipper has proven himself in "every kind of situation" and the latter has not.

"Virat Kohli is far more experienced than Babar. He has at least five years more experience of top cricket and he is at the peak of his career," said Younis, Pakistan's leading run-getter in Tests.

"Kohli has far more exposure than Babar and he has been in every kind of situation and proven himself. No one gets 70 international centuries like that and this are proof of his class and abilities. He has scored runs in every situation and all opposition."

Younis said said Babar still has a long way to go.

"Babar has been in top cricket for just around five years. He has got a very impressive batting average across all three formats and he is getting better by the day.

"You see him batting and you can see he has got the same qualities that Kohli had at the start of his career."

Besides amassing 70 international hundreds, 31-year-old Kohli averages more than 50 in all three formats. The India skipper has scored more than 20,000 runs while 25-year-old Babar has 6680 runs across formats though the Pakistan limited overs skipper has played significantly lesser number of games.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Melbourne, Jun 20: If 15 teams can be allowed to enter Australia for the T20 World Cup then fans will not be stopped from watching live action from the stadiums, Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley said on Saturday.

Hockley replaced under-fire Kevin Roberts, who recently got the boot from Cricket Australia, which is grappling with financial woes.

Different possibilities are being worked out for the T20 World to go ahead as scheduled later this year and one of them is to host the tournament before empty stands in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Hockley said crowds will be allowed, though, hosting 15 teams with players, officials and support staff is "complex" as of now, hinting that probably the ICC flagship event could be pushed back.

"The reality is, and we've got much more understanding about this in recent weeks, is crowds are most likely to come back before international travel. Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country," Hockley told cricket.com.au when asked if he would like to see the World Cup proceed without fans.

"If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise."

When specifically asked whether crowds would be permitted by the time borders have opened to the point that 15 teams will be allowed to travel to Australia, Hockley replied in an affirmative.

"That's the current thinking, yes."

Hockley said it came as a shock when he was asked by Cricket Australia to replace Roberts.

"I've had very mixed emotions. I was very shocked to be asked. I didn't see it coming at all, so I probably haven't had time yet to process it. I feel very sad for Kev (Roberts). On the other hand, I feel this is a massive privilege to be asked, it's a massive responsibility and a massive opportunity even if it's only for the next few months," he said.

Hockey did not commit when asked if he would like to assume the role full time, but he did say that he would quit as CEO of the T20 World Cup Organising Committee.

"My approach throughout my entire career has been to focus on doing the best job I can with what I've been tasked with, and the future will look after itself. And I'll continue the same approach.

"That's (T20 World Cup) been a real priority over the last 48 hours. We're reasonably well progressed and we will be appointing an interim because you just can't do both," he said.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

Mumbai, Jan 5: India captain Virat Kohli has refrained from making any comments on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), without gaining full knowledge on the sensitive subject.

The CAA will grant Indian nationality to people belonging to minority communities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12, even if they don't possess any proper document.

In 2016, Kohli had termed demonetisation as the "greatest move in history of Indian politics", which met with sharp criticism from a lot of quarters, with people questioning his knowledge on the subject.

With Guwahati witnessing massive protests against the CAA till some days back, Kohli was asked about it and the Indian skipper weighed his words carefully.

"On the issue, I do not want to be irresponsible and speak on something that has, you know, radical opinions both sides. I need to have total information, total knowledge of what it means and what is going on and then be responsible to give my opinion on it," Kohli said ahead of India's first T20 International against Sri Lanka.

The skipper made it clear that he will not like to get embroiled in a controversy by commenting on a subject that he is not well aware of.

"Because you can say one thing and then someone can say another thing. So, I would not like to get involved in something that I don't have total knowledge of and it's not going to be responsible on my part to comment on it." However Kohli on his part was happy with the security arrangements and felt that the city is "absolutely safe".

"The city is absolutely safe. We didn't see any problems on the roads," Kohli said, giving his thumbs-up for the match at the Barsapara Stadium.

The Assam Cricket Association is using this match as a "curtain-raiser" ahead of their maiden IPL match this season as Rajasthan Royals have adopted this venue.

There has been deployment of Rapid Action Force for the teams and ACA secretary Devajit Saikia has said the spectators will not even be allowed to bring along handkerchiefs and towels on the match-day as the traditional Assamese scarf was used for protests against CAA.

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