Wimbledon 2016: Novak Djokovic crashes out against Sam Querrey; Andy Murray cruises into last 16

July 3, 2016

London, Jul 3: Two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic was sent crashing out of Wimbledon by big-serving Sam Querrey on Saturday, shattering his dreams of securing the first calendar Grand Slam in 47 years.

wimbThe world number one, bidding for a fourth Wimbledon title and 13th major, suffered his earliest loss at a Slam since the 2009 French Open.

The 7-6 (8/6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5) third round defeat also ended Djokovic's Open era record run of 30 successive wins at the majors and his streak of having reached 28 consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals.

"Sam played a great match. His game was brutal and I was overpowered," said the Serb, who added that he "wasn't 100 percent healthy".

Djokovic, who completed a career Grand Slam at the French Open, refused to dwell on failing to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win a calendar Grand Slam having won in Melbourne and Paris already this year.

"I managed to win four Grand Slams in a row. I want to try to focus on that rather than on failure," he added.

"Coming into Wimbledon, I knew that mentally it's not going to be easy to kind of remotivate myself."

Djokovic added that he would not be playing in the Davis Cup quarter-final against Andy Murray's Great Britain in Belgrade in two weeks' time.

Fate sealed

America's Querrey, the world number 41, built only his second win in 10 meetings with Djokovic on an epic-serving performance over two days after the tie had been suspended with him two sets to the good on Friday.

The 28-year-old sent down 31 aces — 15 in the fourth set alone — and saved 14 of 17 break points while unleashing 56 winners.

His reward is a last-16 clash with 34-year-old Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.

"It's incredible, especially to do it here at Wimbledon. I'm so ecstatic right now and so happy," said Querrey.

Rain had saved 29-year-old Djokovic on Friday. On the resumption Saturday, the US, Australian and French Open champion took the third set 6-3.

In the fourth, he squandered 11 break points before finally breaking through at the 12th time of asking for a 5-4 lead.

But he couldn't convert with the American hitting straight back for 5-5 and holding for 6-5 when the rain returned to cause a second suspension of the day on Court One.

Djokovic served to take the set into the tiebreak and was ahead at 2/0 and 4/3 but Querrey clawed his way to two match points.

The top seed saved the first, but ballooned a forehand wide and his fate was sealed.

Murray cruises through

Djokovic's defeat was good news for second seed Murray who lost to his long-time rival in the Australian and French Open finals this year.

The 2013 champion responded by making the last-16 with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Australia's John Millman under the Centre Court roof.

"What Novak's done in the last 18 months, I don't think we'll see again for a long time. The level of consistency he's had is amazing, but it's impossible to win every match," said Murray.

Murray will play Australian 15th seed Nick Kyrgios or Spain's Feliciano Lopez for a place in the quarter-finals.

That tie was suspended due to bad light at one set apiece.

Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori beat Andrey Kuznetsov 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 to set up a last-16 clash with Marin Cilic, the Croatian ninth seed who eased past Lukas Lacko of Slovakia 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

That will be a repeat of the 2014 US Open final won by Cilic.

In-form American Steve Johnson reached the fourth round of a major for the first time by defeating former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 6-2.

The world number 29 faces seven-time champion Roger Federer for a place in the last-eight.

Canadian sixth seed Milos Raonic, a 2014 semi-finalist, defeated America's Jack Sock 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 7-6 (7/1) and next faces Belgium's David Goffin.

Due to the rain-hit first week, two-time champion Petra Kvitova only finished her second round match at 5.30 pm (1630 GMT).

The Czech 10th seed, with 43 unforced errors, lost 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) to Russia's Ekaterina Makarova.

Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska, the 2012 runner-up, enjoyed a 6-3, 6-1 win over Katerina Siniakova and next plays Dominika Cibulkova, the 19th seed from Slovakia.

German fourth seed and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber also reached the last-16 with a 7-6 (13/11), 6-1 win over compatriot Carian Witthoeft.

A semi-finalist in 2012, Kerber will next face Japan's Misaki Doi.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Atlanta, Jan 9: Top tennis stars like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams will be playing an exhibition match to raise funds for Australia's bushfire relief.

Apart from these three, Naomi Osaka, Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas have also confirmed their availability for the match, CNN reported.

The match will be played on January 15 at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena. The Australian Open Rally for Relief will be donating the proceedings from the ticket sales to the bushfire relief efforts.

Tennis star Maria Sharapova had also announced on Wednesday that she had left 10 signed pairs of her tennis shoes in her Brisbane hotel that members of the public could buy with a donation to the Australian Red Cross.

"Brisbane, I have signed ten pairs of my tennis shoes, left them at the @BrisbaneTennis
desk at the Westin Hotel, alongside a donation envelope for fire rescue efforts.They're yours to keep,we just ask you to donate AUD 300 a pair. All money going directly to Red Cross," Sharapova tweeted.

Earlier, former Australian spinner Shane Warne on Monday had announced to auction his Baggy Green cap to raise funds for victims of devastating bushfires in Australia.

Taking to Twitter, Warne made the announcement and posted a statement.

"The horrific bushfires in Australia have left us all in disbelief. The impact these devastating fires are having on so many people is unthinkable and has touched us all. Lives have been lost, homes have been destroyed and over 500 million animals have died too," Warne wrote.

"Everyone is in this together and we continue to find ways to contribute and help on a daily basis. This has led me to auction my beloved baggy green cap (350) that I wore throughout my Test career," he added.

Warne joined a growing list of cricketers to raise money for the bushfire victims. Australian players Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell and D'Arcy Short have already announced that they will donate AUD 250 each for every six they hit in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) to support bushfire victims.

Athletes from other sports too joined the movement as tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic decided to donate 25,000 dollars each for Australia's bushfire relief fund.

Wildfires have been raging across Australia for months, killing 23 people, burning about 6 million hectares (23,000 square miles) of bushland and killing a billion animals.

Naval and air rescue operations were launched on Friday as mass evacuations of towns at risk of being engulfed by flames got underway.b

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News Network
June 20,2020

Jun 20: Bengaluru FC (BFC) have signed Brazilian striker Cleiton Silva for a one-year deal, the ISL club said in a statement on Saturday.

As per the agreement, BFC have the option of extending Silva's contract for another year.

The 33-year-old, who started his career with Brazilian side Madureira, moved to Thailand where he spent the better part of the decade playing for Muangthong United and Suphanburi, apart from stints in Mexico and China.

Silva, who also operates on the wing, became the first foreign player to reach the 100-goal mark in Thailand and finished top scorer of the Thai League 1 for two seasons. He also tops the charts of the all-time leading scorers of the League.

His biggest success came at Muangthong where he racked up 57 goals in 79 appearances and won three major trophies in as many seasons at the club.

The Brazilian, who was in talks with the Blues last season before the deal didn't materialise, said he was glad to have finally made the move.

"I've signed with Bengaluru FC because I want to be a champion and this is a club that is always after titles. I have that opportunity once again at BFC. I want to make the club and its fans happy. I have been following the club for some time now because we were in talks a while ago. And I liked what I saw. I am looking forward to making my way to Bengaluru and am excited to meet my new teammates, the fans and embrace the city," said Silva.

Silva, thus, became BFC's first new foreign signing of the season after the club had handed extended deals with Juanan Gonzalez, Dimas Delgado and Erik Paartalu.

Bengaluru FC coach Carles Cuadrat said Silva's addition was an important one, given his penchant for scoring.

"Cleiton has a proven track record when it comes to scoring and this is an area we needed to strengthen on the squad. The goals aside, he even has an eye for a quality final pass and we're looking forward to working with him," he said.

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News Network
February 16,2020

Feb 16: Mayank Agarwal finally found some form going his way and Rishabh Pant mixed caution with his customary aggression as India's warm-up fixture against New Zealand XI ended in a draw in Hamilton on Sunday. The match was called off an hour after lunch with India reaching 252 for four just 48 overs into their second innings. Agarwal, who had gone through a wretched period since the second Test against Bangladesh, retired on 81 off 99 balls with 10 fours and three sixes to his name. To the relief of the Indian team management, Pant played in his customary manner to reach 70 off 65 balls, but also showed discretion when the opposition bowlers were in the midst of a good spell.

There were four sixes -- two each off leg-spinner Ish Sodhi and off-spinner Henry Cooper. While Sodhi was hit down the ground, Cooper was dispatched over extra cover on a couple of occasions.

He didn't curb his aggression though; there were times when he was ready defend against the spinners and also leave some of the deliveries that the Kiwi pacers bowled.

Even though Pant is easily the better batsman compared to his senior Wriddhiman Saha, the innings might have come too late in the day considering that the latter is a better keeper and possibly a more responsible batsman in pressure situations.

The biggest positive to have emerged from the second innings is Agarwal's poor run coming to an end.

The Seddon Park track easing out was definitely a factor but Agarwal's footwork was more assured as he played some glorious on-drives and pull-shots off fast bowlers.

Before this game, Agarwal had played 10 competitive games including first-class, ODIs and List A matches and couldn't cross the 40-run mark in 11 completed innings.

He even bagged a pair against New Zealand A in an unofficial Test match. Once he had got his form back, he didn't come out to bat after lunch giving Saha an opportunity to score an unbeaten 30, his runs coming mostly against non-regular bowlers.

The Agarwal-Pant pair added 100 runs in 14.3 overs and it also helped that part-timers like Cooper was introduced into the action. In the morning, Prithvi Shaw (39 off 31 balls) was bowled through the gate by Daryl Mitchell as the batsman left a gaping hole between his bat and pad.

Shaw, though, seemed to have done enough during his brisk 72-run stand with Agarwal, which could put an end to the debate around the opening slot even though the tracks in Wellington and Christchurch could be a test of technique for the flamboyant Mumbaikar.

It was a match that Shubman Gill would perhaps like to forget in a hurry as he was dismissed cheaply for the second time in a row. He scored 8 before Daryl Mitchell trapped him leg before.

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