TENNIS
Hsieh Su-wei advances
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic defeated sisters Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching at the Madrid Open yesterday. Hsieh and Strycova won 1-6, 6-2, 10-3 against their Taiwanese opponents, setting up a round-of-16 match on Wednesday against Indonesia’s Aldila Sutjiadi and Miyu Kato of Japan, who advanced after Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australian Ellen Perez retired with the score at 6-2, 4-1. In the women’s singles, world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka booked her place in the fourth round with an entertaining 6-4, 7-5 win over Camila Osorio. Sabalenka, who beat Osorio comfortably at Wimbledon in 2021 in their only other meeting, struggled early, but regained her composure to take the first set and the match.
BASEBALL
Giants manager gets lost
San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler got lost on the way to training in Mexico City on Friday ahead of their two-day series against the San Diego Padres. He took the subway from the team’s hotel in the Polanco, an upscale part of Mexico City, to Alfredo Harp Helu Stadium ahead of the series opener, but got lost on the way. He had some tacos and coffee at about 2pm, then got directions to the ballpark from his iPad, he said. “Obviously there [were] no other English speakers on the train, but there’s some sort of notification and everybody spilled off the train like six stops before I needed to get off,” Kapler said. Apparently, subway maintenance meant the rail service stopped there. “I figured that that was some sort of normal procedure, but I wasn’t ready for it. So I kind of followed the herd and then ended up in a line for buses. And then I ended up on a bus,” Kapler said. He was the last member of the Giants to arrive to the stadium.
CYCLING
Trek-Segafredo cut Tiberi
The Trek-Segafredo team have “parted ways” with Italian Antonio Tiberi a couple of months after suspending the former junior world champion for allegedly killing his neighbor’s cat by shooting it with an air rifle. The team suspended Tiberi in February for 20 days over the incident and on Friday they cut ties with the 21-year-old altogether. “Trek-Segafredo and Antonio Tiberi have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately, after the rider’s actions during his suspension did not meet our criteria for a return to competition,” the team said in a statement. The cat had belonged Federico Pedini Amati, a minister in the San Marino government and a former head of state. Tiberi last month apologized for the incident in an Instagram post.
SOCCER
Dortmund’s hopes dented
Borussia Dortmund’s Bundesliga title hopes were dealt a blow on Friday against VfL Bochum 1848 after a 1-1 draw. Bochum goalkeeper Manuel Riemann helped gain his team an important point in their battle against relegation, but Dortmund missed the chance to build a four-point lead before Bayern Munich play today. Bayern can reclaim the lead with four games remaining if they beat last-placed Hertha BSC in Munich.
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday poured in 35 points as the Thunder grabbed a bounce-back 118-108 victory in Portland to push their NBA-best record to 37-8. The Thunder, surprised by the short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, fended off a late surge from the Trail Blazers to snap their four-game winning streak. Jalen Williams scored 24 points and Isaiah Joe added 16 off the bench. Center Isaiah Hartenstein, back after a five-game absence with a calf injury, added 14 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a big block. The Western Conference leaders were under pressure late as Portland, trailing by 15 heading
Sumo is walking a “tightrope” as it prepares to stage events outside Japan for the first time in 20 years while also trying to preserve its ancient traditions, experts say. The sport is to hold exhibition tournaments in London in October and in Paris in June next year, the first time the Japan Sumo Association has been abroad since Las Vegas in 2005. Sports such as soccer, baseball and football play domestic games overseas in a bid to gain new fans in emerging markets. John Gunning, a former amateur sumo wrestler who commentates on the sport in English on Japanese television, says its
Cole Perfetti on Friday scored three goals for his first NHL hat-trick as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Utah Hockey Club 5-2. Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and two assists to reach 500 points for his career, while David Gustafsson also scored for Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck had 17 saves. Barrett Hayton and Nick Schmaltz scored for Utah, while Connor Ingram stopped 25 shots. Perfetti gave Winnipeg a 3-2 lead when he lifted the puck over a fallen Ingram on a pass from Vladislav Namestnikov 5 minutes, 51 seconds into the third period. Ehlers stole the puck at his own blue line and raced down
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