The No 3 seed came through 7-6 7-6 6-3 after he was pushed to tie-breaks by the Argentine before winning the third set fairly comfortably.
Federer will now face Marcus Willis, the world No 772 and surprise winner over Ricardas Berankis.
Showing posts with label tennis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tennis. Show all posts
Monday, 27 June 2016
Saturday, 4 June 2016
Garbine Muguruza beats Serena Williams in straight sets to win French Open and complete her first grand slam
To Roberta Vinci and Angelique Kerber add the name of Garbine Muguruza to the list of those denying Serena Williams another grand slam title.
The world No 4 defeated the 34-year-old American 7-5, 6-4 in a high-quality French Open final to make it a hat-trick of near misses for probably the greatest woman to have played the game.
Williams is marooned on 21 grand slams, one short of Steffi Graf, after the exertions of the past week and an inspired opponent caught up with her.
Muguruza saw off the challenge of Williams 7-5, 6-4 at Roland Garros
The Spaniard produced a terrific performance in Paris
The 22-year-old puts her hands to her face in joy in the immediate moments after clinching victory
The statuesque Spaniard, born in Venezuela before moving to Europe aged six, showed admirable composure in seeing off a determined effort from Williams, who now has only the Wimbledon trophy in her possession.
And unlike Kerber, you suspect, this could be the first of numerous Grand Slams for the 22 year-old. She won the match with some ferocious hitting, despite serving nine double faults, and will be a very serious threat at Wimbledon again.
Having missed four championship points at 5-3 against the Williams serve she nervelessly served it out and clinched the match when the American let a ball she thought was going out land on the baseline.
It is the first time that Williams has lost two slam titles in a row, having been beaten by Vinci in the New York semi-finals.
Muguruza avenged her defeat to Williams in last year's Wimbledon final by beating her American opponent
Muguruza continued her fine form in the second set, breaking early and holding her serve tMuguruza continued her fine form in the second set, breaking early and holding her serve to win 6-4
Actress Hilary Swank was among the spectators watching the final on a chilly day at Roland Garros
But she had come out showing no signs of the stomach strain that may have inhibited her in the semi-finals, and hit hard from the start.
However, Muguruza was able to fight fire with fire, and her composure under pressure was impressive, as if she had learned from the experience of the Wimbledon finale last year.
She had to battle hard to save two break points in the third game and then broke herself to go 3-2 up when Williams double faulted.
But the American then rallied from 2-4 to take the next three games, her experience apparently starting to tell. The sun even made the most brief and welcome appearance, the first time it had been seen for a week.
Yet the pattern of the set repeated itself with the Spaniard then reeling off games, breaking for 6-5 with a cross court forehand, although it was her huge forehand down the line that had been causing most damage, with Williams simply unable to cover the corners.
Williams shows the expressions of a difficult afternoon on her part on a gloomy afternoon in Paris
Both players show extreme focus as they change ends between games during the second set of the match
Williams contemplates a missed chance
The twelfth game was huge as Muguruza save two break points, one with an ace, and then finally claimed her third set point with a backhand fired deep into the corner.
That would mean a further dip into the American’s reserves of energy after four days of continuous play, and Muguruza broke to go 3-1 up.
Williams kept the pressure on but, at 4-3, the 22-year-old served two aces to put herself within a game of the match.
There were some fractional misses at the first time of asking but she made no mistake at 5-4.
The world No 4 clenches her fist during her impressive display against the American great on Saturday
The two players embrace in the middle of Court Philippe Chatrier at the end of the game in Paris.
The world No 4 defeated the 34-year-old American 7-5, 6-4 in a high-quality French Open final to make it a hat-trick of near misses for probably the greatest woman to have played the game.
Williams is marooned on 21 grand slams, one short of Steffi Graf, after the exertions of the past week and an inspired opponent caught up with her.
Muguruza saw off the challenge of Williams 7-5, 6-4 at Roland Garros
The Spaniard produced a terrific performance in Paris
The 22-year-old puts her hands to her face in joy in the immediate moments after clinching victory
The statuesque Spaniard, born in Venezuela before moving to Europe aged six, showed admirable composure in seeing off a determined effort from Williams, who now has only the Wimbledon trophy in her possession.
And unlike Kerber, you suspect, this could be the first of numerous Grand Slams for the 22 year-old. She won the match with some ferocious hitting, despite serving nine double faults, and will be a very serious threat at Wimbledon again.
Having missed four championship points at 5-3 against the Williams serve she nervelessly served it out and clinched the match when the American let a ball she thought was going out land on the baseline.
It is the first time that Williams has lost two slam titles in a row, having been beaten by Vinci in the New York semi-finals.
Muguruza avenged her defeat to Williams in last year's Wimbledon final by beating her American opponent
Muguruza continued her fine form in the second set, breaking early and holding her serve tMuguruza continued her fine form in the second set, breaking early and holding her serve to win 6-4
Actress Hilary Swank was among the spectators watching the final on a chilly day at Roland Garros
But she had come out showing no signs of the stomach strain that may have inhibited her in the semi-finals, and hit hard from the start.
However, Muguruza was able to fight fire with fire, and her composure under pressure was impressive, as if she had learned from the experience of the Wimbledon finale last year.
She had to battle hard to save two break points in the third game and then broke herself to go 3-2 up when Williams double faulted.
But the American then rallied from 2-4 to take the next three games, her experience apparently starting to tell. The sun even made the most brief and welcome appearance, the first time it had been seen for a week.
Yet the pattern of the set repeated itself with the Spaniard then reeling off games, breaking for 6-5 with a cross court forehand, although it was her huge forehand down the line that had been causing most damage, with Williams simply unable to cover the corners.
Williams shows the expressions of a difficult afternoon on her part on a gloomy afternoon in Paris
Both players show extreme focus as they change ends between games during the second set of the match
Williams contemplates a missed chance
The twelfth game was huge as Muguruza save two break points, one with an ace, and then finally claimed her third set point with a backhand fired deep into the corner.
That would mean a further dip into the American’s reserves of energy after four days of continuous play, and Muguruza broke to go 3-1 up.
Williams kept the pressure on but, at 4-3, the 22-year-old served two aces to put herself within a game of the match.
There were some fractional misses at the first time of asking but she made no mistake at 5-4.
The world No 4 clenches her fist during her impressive display against the American great on Saturday
The two players embrace in the middle of Court Philippe Chatrier at the end of the game in Paris.
Wednesday, 1 June 2016
WRAPUP 2-Djokovic enters $100 million dollar club, Serena plays catch-up
* Fourth-round matches completed 2 days behind schedules
* Organisers still under fire for Tuesday's rain call
* Murray and Wawrinka set up semi-final showdown (Adds further details)
Novak Djokovic had 100 million reasons to celebrate reaching the French Open quarter-finals on Wednesday -- albeit two days later than expected -- as players finally cleared the fourth-round backlog created by the fickle Parisian weather.
After relentless rain washed out all but two hours of play over the previous two days, under-fire Roland Garros organisers said such conditions had not been seen since 1873 as they frantically tried to play catch-up by staging 12 singles matches -- instead of just four quarter-finals as is the norm -- on day 11 of the sodden championships.
That allowed world number one Djokovic to become the first tennis player to bank $100 million in prize money after his 3-6 6-4 6-1 7-5 win over Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut tipped him over the magic number.
Having won a match that was originally scheduled for Monday, begun on Tuesday and completed on Wednesday, the 29-year-old Serb will have to play four days in succession if he is to reach Sunday's title showdown.
"I have the feeling I played three matches against him," a grinning Djokovic told the crowd after donning a yellow rain hat during his victory speech.
"Yesterday the match was interrupted three times and it wasn't easy coming here at 9 am and leaving at 7.30 or 8:00 pm.
"So that's the reason why we should have the roof here," added the Serb, who joined the likes of golfer Tiger Woods and boxer Lennox Lewis in the $100 million club.
However, rather than getting worked up about the French Open not having any court cover like the other three majors, it was the organisers' decision to make the players compete in misty rain on Tuesday that overshadowed Wednesday's on-court action.
Serena Williams, who like Djokovic was bogged down in the fourth round for more than 48 hours, booked her place in the quarter-finals by walloping Ukrainian 18th seed Elina Svitolina 6-1 6-1. She will next face Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva.
In the bottom half of the men's draw, Andy Murray doused some early fireworks from Frenchman Richard Gasquet to win 5-7 7-6(3) 6-0 6-2 to set up a blockbuster semi-final against holder Stan Wawrinka. The Swiss beat Albert Ramos (Spain) 6-2 6-1 7-6(7).
RAIN PLAY STILL A HOT TOPIC
But the hot topic of the day remained what the organisers did, or did not do, on Tuesday.
Djokovic's victim Bautista Agut said officials had "pushed us to play two hours yesterday" -- the threshold needed to avoid reimbursing money to ticket-holders -- while Venus Williams labelled the conditions "really bad" after being ambushed 6-2 6-4 by Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky.
"The conditions were not playable yesterday. It's hard to see. The balls are wet, the courts are wet," said the American, whose defeat ended hopes of an all-Williams semi-final.
French Open director Guy Forget defended the tournament's actions.
"I understand that not refunding spectators .... has caused frustration and anger," he said.
"If what we are being accused of were true, it would have been in our best interests to stop play before the one-hour, 59-minute mark as our insurer would have been responsible for ticket reimbursement.
"However... our aim was to play for as long as possible, even if that meant being criticised for playing in difficult conditions."
Djokovic will be hoping he does not face another soggy day on Thursday when he is scheduled to contest his 28th successive major quarter-final against Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych, a 6-3 7-5 6-3 winner over 2013 runner-up David Ferrer.
Austrian tyro Dominic Thiem was enjoying his most successful run at a grand slam after beating Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-2 6-7(2) 6-1 6-4 to set up a last-eight clash with Belgian David Goffin.
Venus Williams' eighth-seeded conqueror Bacsinszky, describing herself as "a chameleon" who can adapt to "every type of court", will next face Dutch outsider Kiki Bertens who downed American 15th seed Madison Keys 7-6(4) 6-3.
Already in the semi-finals though are Spanish fourth seed Garbine Muguruza and 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur.
Fourth seed Muguruza ended the run of 108th-ranked American Shelby Rogers with a 7-5 6-3 win, while 2010 Paris finalist Stosur beat Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4 7-6(6).
* Organisers still under fire for Tuesday's rain call
* Murray and Wawrinka set up semi-final showdown (Adds further details)
Novak Djokovic had 100 million reasons to celebrate reaching the French Open quarter-finals on Wednesday -- albeit two days later than expected -- as players finally cleared the fourth-round backlog created by the fickle Parisian weather.
After relentless rain washed out all but two hours of play over the previous two days, under-fire Roland Garros organisers said such conditions had not been seen since 1873 as they frantically tried to play catch-up by staging 12 singles matches -- instead of just four quarter-finals as is the norm -- on day 11 of the sodden championships.
That allowed world number one Djokovic to become the first tennis player to bank $100 million in prize money after his 3-6 6-4 6-1 7-5 win over Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut tipped him over the magic number.
Having won a match that was originally scheduled for Monday, begun on Tuesday and completed on Wednesday, the 29-year-old Serb will have to play four days in succession if he is to reach Sunday's title showdown.
"I have the feeling I played three matches against him," a grinning Djokovic told the crowd after donning a yellow rain hat during his victory speech.
"Yesterday the match was interrupted three times and it wasn't easy coming here at 9 am and leaving at 7.30 or 8:00 pm.
"So that's the reason why we should have the roof here," added the Serb, who joined the likes of golfer Tiger Woods and boxer Lennox Lewis in the $100 million club.
However, rather than getting worked up about the French Open not having any court cover like the other three majors, it was the organisers' decision to make the players compete in misty rain on Tuesday that overshadowed Wednesday's on-court action.
Serena Williams, who like Djokovic was bogged down in the fourth round for more than 48 hours, booked her place in the quarter-finals by walloping Ukrainian 18th seed Elina Svitolina 6-1 6-1. She will next face Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva.
In the bottom half of the men's draw, Andy Murray doused some early fireworks from Frenchman Richard Gasquet to win 5-7 7-6(3) 6-0 6-2 to set up a blockbuster semi-final against holder Stan Wawrinka. The Swiss beat Albert Ramos (Spain) 6-2 6-1 7-6(7).
RAIN PLAY STILL A HOT TOPIC
But the hot topic of the day remained what the organisers did, or did not do, on Tuesday.
Djokovic's victim Bautista Agut said officials had "pushed us to play two hours yesterday" -- the threshold needed to avoid reimbursing money to ticket-holders -- while Venus Williams labelled the conditions "really bad" after being ambushed 6-2 6-4 by Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky.
"The conditions were not playable yesterday. It's hard to see. The balls are wet, the courts are wet," said the American, whose defeat ended hopes of an all-Williams semi-final.
French Open director Guy Forget defended the tournament's actions.
"I understand that not refunding spectators .... has caused frustration and anger," he said.
"If what we are being accused of were true, it would have been in our best interests to stop play before the one-hour, 59-minute mark as our insurer would have been responsible for ticket reimbursement.
"However... our aim was to play for as long as possible, even if that meant being criticised for playing in difficult conditions."
Djokovic will be hoping he does not face another soggy day on Thursday when he is scheduled to contest his 28th successive major quarter-final against Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych, a 6-3 7-5 6-3 winner over 2013 runner-up David Ferrer.
Austrian tyro Dominic Thiem was enjoying his most successful run at a grand slam after beating Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-2 6-7(2) 6-1 6-4 to set up a last-eight clash with Belgian David Goffin.
Venus Williams' eighth-seeded conqueror Bacsinszky, describing herself as "a chameleon" who can adapt to "every type of court", will next face Dutch outsider Kiki Bertens who downed American 15th seed Madison Keys 7-6(4) 6-3.
Already in the semi-finals though are Spanish fourth seed Garbine Muguruza and 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur.
Fourth seed Muguruza ended the run of 108th-ranked American Shelby Rogers with a 7-5 6-3 win, while 2010 Paris finalist Stosur beat Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4 7-6(6).
Tuesday, 31 May 2016
Olypiakos striker Alan Pulido fought off Kidnapper
By Olatosimi Fadahunsi.
The Olympiacos attacker was eventually left one-on-one with a captor and used the opportunity to overpower the individual and facilitate his own rescue
Alan Pulido fought off a captor, wrestling away the man's phone and pistol, state officials said Monday after the Mexico striker was rescued from his kidnapping.
Pulido was abducted by four men Saturday night in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico, setting off an ordeal that ended with Tamaulipas state officials confirming his rescue early Monday morning. The abductors had asked for a ransom but none was paid.
Speaking on Mexico's Imagen Radio, state prosecutor Ismael Quintanilla said Pulido found himself isolated with a kidnapper before taking the man's phone.
"They traded blows. He takes [the phone] and calls [the emergency number] 066. It all happened very quickly," Quintanilla said.
Quintanilla's account lines up with an official summary of three calls from Pulido to an emergency operator that were obtained by the Associated Press.
The summary says Pulido described the house and the cars parked out front during the first call. Having also taken his captor's pistol, he apparently threatened and beat the man while demanding to know the location.
Pulido later told the operator that police had arrived and were beginning to shoot, describing his own clothes so they wouldn't confuse him with his subdued captor. His final call to the operator was made to confirm the police were trustworthy, according to the AP.
The 25-year-old Olympiacos forward was seen Sunday with a bandaged wrist that Quintanilla said was suffered while Pulido was trying to escape through a broken window.
One suspect, a 38-year-old man, has been taken into custody. Three more suspects have been identified, with a search ongoing.
Source:goal.com
The Olympiacos attacker was eventually left one-on-one with a captor and used the opportunity to overpower the individual and facilitate his own rescue
Alan Pulido fought off a captor, wrestling away the man's phone and pistol, state officials said Monday after the Mexico striker was rescued from his kidnapping.
Pulido was abducted by four men Saturday night in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico, setting off an ordeal that ended with Tamaulipas state officials confirming his rescue early Monday morning. The abductors had asked for a ransom but none was paid.
Speaking on Mexico's Imagen Radio, state prosecutor Ismael Quintanilla said Pulido found himself isolated with a kidnapper before taking the man's phone.
"They traded blows. He takes [the phone] and calls [the emergency number] 066. It all happened very quickly," Quintanilla said.
Quintanilla's account lines up with an official summary of three calls from Pulido to an emergency operator that were obtained by the Associated Press.
The summary says Pulido described the house and the cars parked out front during the first call. Having also taken his captor's pistol, he apparently threatened and beat the man while demanding to know the location.
Pulido later told the operator that police had arrived and were beginning to shoot, describing his own clothes so they wouldn't confuse him with his subdued captor. His final call to the operator was made to confirm the police were trustworthy, according to the AP.
The 25-year-old Olympiacos forward was seen Sunday with a bandaged wrist that Quintanilla said was suffered while Pulido was trying to escape through a broken window.
One suspect, a 38-year-old man, has been taken into custody. Three more suspects have been identified, with a search ongoing.
Source:goal.com
Monday, 30 May 2016
BELLERIN TO GO TO THE EUROS.
Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin will go to Euro 2016 with Spain at the expense of Dani Carvajal after Real Madrid confirmed he has suffered a thigh tear.
The Arsenal's right full back whom impressed during the corse of the EPL season was formally snubbed by Del Bosque will now be on the plain to the euros due to injury suffered by Carvajal During the champions league final.
The Arsenal's right full back whom impressed during the corse of the EPL season was formally snubbed by Del Bosque will now be on the plain to the euros due to injury suffered by Carvajal During the champions league final.
Friday, 27 May 2016
Nadal withdraws from French open due to wrist injury.
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the French open due to wrist injury.
The Spaniard whom has not been favoured by injuries had been hit with another set back
The Spaniard, who reached the third round with an emphatic 6-3 6-0 6-3 victory over Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis, announced the news in a press conference on Friday afternoon.
This news has definitely increased the chances of the top wigs in the tournament.
The Spaniard whom has not been favoured by injuries had been hit with another set back
The Spaniard, who reached the third round with an emphatic 6-3 6-0 6-3 victory over Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis, announced the news in a press conference on Friday afternoon.
This news has definitely increased the chances of the top wigs in the tournament.
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