There were plenty of reasons for Arnaud Clement to lose to Andy Murray on Sunday: a much slower top serve (216kph to 196kph), fewer aces (9-1) and fewer total winners (22-20).
Plus, Murray was trying to impress his new coach, Brad Gilbert, former mentor to Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick.
If Clement's play was less spectacular, it was far steadier, especially once Murray developed two blisters on his racket hand. Clement erased an early deficit and put together a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic final for his second title of the year.
The 11th-seeded Frenchman mainly worked to extend points, keeping the ball in play until No. 8 Murray erred. And Murray made repeated mistakes, finishing with 31 unforced errors to Clement's 20, often looking at his painful right hand after flubbing shots.
"He missed too much," said Clement, who won 14 of 16 points during a stretch in the second set to take complete command.
Murray, at his first tournament with Gilbert, said one blister broke open during the first set, probably because he was sweating so much with the temperature in the 30s Celsius. Murray winced as a trainer treated a blister on his right middle finger after the second game of the second set, during Clement's run to a 4-0 lead.
"You can still play, but it's just not very comfortable," Murray said. "You try not to think about it. It's just a little bit of a distraction."
He said he'd never had a hand blister before and he didn't want to tape them, because he's not used to playing with his fingers wrapped.
"It doesn't matter who you are -- it's a problem," Gilbert said.
Neither Gilbert nor Murray blamed the setback on the blisters, crediting Clement with turning things around after falling behind 3-1 in the first set. Murray was somewhat his own undoing, though, double-faulting twice and missing a forehand wide to allow Clement to break to 3-3.
"After that," Gilbert said, "Clement outplayed him."
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
BRING THE NOISE: Brazil’s Fonseca attracted a boisterous crowd that brought such dominant soccer-style energy the referee switched to Portuguese to ask for quiet Australia’s Alex de Minaur on Monday put an end to Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca’s challenge at the Miami Open, outlasting the 18-year-old 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in an enthralling contest. Attendance on stadium court had been sparse throughout the day, but the Hard Rock Stadium turned into a mini-Maracana Stadium for Fonseca’s match, complete with Brazilian flags and soccer-style chanting. Fonseca brought his energetic brand of ultra-attacking tennis, but De Minaur was up to the challenge, coping with blistering forehands and a partisan crowd. Such was the dominance of Fonseca’s raucous support that the referee switched to Portuguese for his appeals for quiet. However, De
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
RSS