Sinner sends Gasquet into retirement, Djokovic marches on

Sinner sends Gasquet into retirement, Djokovic marches on
Italy’s Jannik Sinner, left, poses with France’s Richard Gasquet who attends a ceremony honoring his career after his last match during the French Open in Paris on Thursday. (AFP)
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Updated 30 May 2025
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Sinner sends Gasquet into retirement, Djokovic marches on

Sinner sends Gasquet into retirement, Djokovic marches on
  • Zverev, Gauff make swift progress into third round
  • Fatigued De Minaur crashes, Fonseca continues run

PARIS: French Open veteran Richard Gasquet’s career ended in defeat by Jannik Sinner while seasoned campaigner Novak Djokovic continued his bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title by battling into the Roland Garros third round on Thursday.

Third seed Alexander Zverev, teenager Mirra Andreeva and American title contenders Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys all won on a windy afternoon but former champion Barbora Krejcikova and ninth seed Alex De Minaur crashed out.

Top seed Sinner brought the curtain down on Gasquet’s long professional journey, hammering the 38-year-old 6-3 6-0 6-4 for his second win over the local favorite in as many editions of Roland Garros and then led the tributes.

“We’re different generations, but it’s your moment. You played in such an incredible era of tennis and everyone will recognize you, even after retirement,” said Sinner, before a touching video tribute featuring Gasquet’s peers.

Gasquet’s compatriot Gael Monfils, also 38, lit up the evening session on Court Philippe Chatrier as he pushed fifth seeded Briton Jack Draper in a sensational match that had a partisan crowd screaming for more.

Draper eventually won 6-3 4-6 6-3 7-5 but had to battle back from 5-2 down in the fourth set to avoid a decider.

“My brain was fried out here. I’m not sure if I am going to go to sleep tonight because my brain is just all over the place with what he was doing out here,” Draper said of the man he described as a magician.

While Sinner and Gasquet showcased clean hitting in their match, third seed Alexander Zverev had to chase down dozens of drop shots from Dutchman Jesper de Jong before securing a 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-3 victory.

Surprise 2024 semifinalist Andreeva took apart the powerful Ashlyn Krueger 6-3 6-4 with her inventive approach and confirmed her caliber on the sport’s slowest surface after runs to the Madrid and Rome quarterfinals this season.

“This match wasn’t easy, I’d lost to her at the US Open,” Andreeva said, reflecting on her second-round defeat by Krueger in New York last August.

“She’s a powerful and aggressive player. I knew I had to play well ... I suffered and struggled with my serve, but I’m happy I found a way to stay calm.”

Pegula, Krueger’s frequent doubles partner this season and the third seed, had to battle against fellow American Ann Li but found her best level when it mattered to prevail 6-3 7-6(3).

Up next for the 2024 US Open runner-up is former Paris finalist Marketa Vondrousova, after the Czech sent 25th seed Magdalena Frech packing 6-0 4-6 6-3.

Gauff cruises

Gauff moved ahead by beating unseeded Czech Tereza Valentova 6-2 6-4 while fellow Grand Slam champion Keys overcame Briton Katie Boulter 6-1 6-3 but it was the end of the road for 2021 champion Krejcikova who fell 6-3 6-3 to Veronika Kudermetova.

Three-time French Open champion Djokovic had to work but the 38-year-old continued his quest for more history after his 100th title in Geneva last week as he beat Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-3 6-2 7-6(1).

The Serbian’s sixth victory in a row marked his longest winning streak since his run to the Paris Olympics gold at the same venue last year.

“Mentally you have to be concentrated throughout such a match. Corentin is very quick, he is a fighter, especially in the third set,” said Djokovic, who came close to losing the third set.

“He had set point. At that moment anything could happen but I stayed in the set. At the right time I found a good serve.”

Teen sensation Joao Fonseca beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6(4) 7-6(4) 6-4 in a clash where French and Brazilian fans competed for vocal superiority at a packed Court 14.

Up next for Fonseca is a mouth-watering clash with Draper.

Czech Jakub Mensik, who at 19 is a year older than Fonseca but equally talented as confirmed by his Miami triumph, failed to conjure up any magic and fell 2-6 1-6 6-4 6-3 6-3 against Henrique Rocha of Portugal.

Local crowds had reason to cheer despite Gasquet, Moutet and Herbert falling, however, as 14th seed Arthur Fils rallied for a 7-6(3) 7-6(4) 2-6 0-6 6-4 win over Spaniard Jaume Munar.

“In the fifth set, I thought about Gael Monfils, who has flipped millions of matches,” said Fils, referring to his 38-year-old compatriot who earned his 12th five-set win at the French Open on Tuesday.

Jiri Lehecka earlier took out Spanish 26th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-2 and Kazakh showman Alexander Bublik awoke from his

slumber to upset Australian ninth seed Alex De Minaur 2-6 2-6 6-4 6-3 6-2.

De Minaur put down his own problems in the match down to fatigue amid a gruelling season and called for changes to the calendar to prevent players from burning out.


Egyptian club Al Ahly ban star striker Abou Ali from training camp

Updated 29 sec ago
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Egyptian club Al Ahly ban star striker Abou Ali from training camp

Egyptian club Al Ahly ban star striker Abou Ali from training camp

JOHANNESBURG: Star striker Wessam Abou Ali from Egyptian club Al Ahly has shunned pre-season medical checks and skipped training in a row reportedly linked to his desire for a transfer from the Cairo club.
In other African football news, Brazil-born Mamelodi Sundowns striker Lucas Ribeiro has been nominated for several end-of-season South African awards.
A rift has developed between Abou Ali, one of only two scorers of a hat-trick at the 2025 Club World Cup, and record 12-time African champions Al Ahly.
It has led to recently appointed Spanish coach Jose Riveiro excluding the Denmark-born Palestine international from a pre-season camp in Tunisia.
While Abou Ali wants to leave the Red Devils, no interested club has matched the reported selling price of $12 million (EUR10.3 mn) set by the record 12-time African champions.
Ribeiro is among three nominees for the footballer of the season and players’ player of the season awards in South Africa, with the winners to be named on July 29.
His rivals in both categories are two other forward, Relebohile Mofokeng of Orlando Pirates and Keletso Makgalwa from Sekhukhune United.
Ribeiro, 26, joined champions Sundowns from Belgian club Beveren in 2023 and scored an outstanding goal against Borussia Dortmund at the recent Club World Cup in the United States.
Five-time African champions TP Mazembe have successfully appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the premature conclusion of the Democratic Republic of Congo national league season.
League officials in the central African country declared the campaign over after 16 of the scheduled 22 matchdays, with Eagles topping the table, five points ahead of fifth-placed Mazembe.
The CAS decision means the remaining six rounds must be played — renewing the chances of Mazembe securing a top-two finish and qualification for the lucrative CAF Champions League.
Al Merrikh edged Al Amal Atbara 1-0 and Al Hilal hammered Al Merrikh Obeid 5-0 to remain first and second respectively with one round left in the Sudan Elite League play-offs.
The mini-league, in which each club plays seven others, is being staged in the northeast of a country where the national army have been battling a paramilitary force in a civil war since 2023.
Merrikh hold a one-point lead over record 30-time Sudanese champions Hilal, who are above Al Ahly Madani and Al Zamala Ruwaba on goal difference.
Veteran former Wydad Casablanca midfielder Yahya Jabrane has rejoined the club after one season with Kuwait Sports Club.
The 34-year-old was a key figure when the Casablanca outfit won a third CAF Champions League title by defeating Al Ahly in the 2021/22 final.
Wydad finished third behind Renaissance Berkane and FAR Rabat in the Moroccan league. Only the top two finishers go into the CAF Champions League so Wydad will compete in the second-tier Confederation Cup.
 


Usyk knocks out Dubois to become undisputed world heavyweight champion

Usyk knocks out Dubois to become undisputed world heavyweight champion
Updated 30 min 43 sec ago
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Usyk knocks out Dubois to become undisputed world heavyweight champion

Usyk knocks out Dubois to become undisputed world heavyweight champion

LONDON: Oleksandr Usyk cemented his status as the outstanding heavyweight of his generation with an emphatic fifth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois in their undisputed world title bout at London’s Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
Victory saw Ukraine’s Usyk extend his unbeaten professional record to 24 fights as the WBA, WBC and WBO champion added his British opponent’s IBF belt to his collection.
Usyk dominated the opening four rounds and early in the fifth he dropped Dubois to the canvas.
Moments later he finished the fight in decisive fashion after a trademark left hook left his British rival unable to beat the count one minute and 52 seconds into the round.
It was the second time Usyk, at 38 some 11 years older than his opponent, had defeated Dubois following a ninth-round stoppage success in Krakow, Poland, in 2023, where the Briton was ruled to have landed an illegal low blow in the fifth round.
Lennox Lewis, the last British boxer to be undisputed world champion in 1999, forecast before Saturday’s fight that Usyk would face a vastly-improved Dubois, saying: “Dubois was a baby in the sport and now he’s a man...You’re not going to see the same Daniel Dubois from 18 months ago.”
But after Usyk was roared into the ring by a huge contingent of supporters, many of them waving Ukraine national flags in a 90,000 capacity crowd at Wembley, best known as the London base of England’s national football team, it was largely one-way traffic as their hero conducted a ruthless masterclass against local favorite Dubois.
“38 is a young guy, remember!,” Usyk told DAZN in the ring after dropping to his knees in celebration. “38 is only start!
“I want to say thank you to Jesus Christ. I want to say thank you to my team and Wembley, thank you so much! It’s for the people.
“Nothing is next. It’s enough, next, I don’t know. I want to rest. My family, my wife, my children, I want to rest now. Two or three months, I want to just rest.”
Asked about his next opponent Usyk, who has already twice beaten former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, added: “Maybe it’s Tyson Fury. Maybe we have three choices, Derek Chisora and Anthony Joshua. Maybe Joseph Parker. Listen, I cannot now say because I want to go back home.”
Dubois insisted he would return to the ring, saying: “I have to commend him (Usyk) on the performance, I gave everything I had. Take no credit away from that man, I’ll be back.”
 


Saudi Motorsport accelerates as 2nd Round of Hill Climb Championship concludes in Taif

Saudi Motorsport accelerates as 2nd Round of Hill Climb Championship concludes in Taif
Updated 19 July 2025
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Saudi Motorsport accelerates as 2nd Round of Hill Climb Championship concludes in Taif

Saudi Motorsport accelerates as 2nd Round of Hill Climb Championship concludes in Taif
  • Faisal Al-Qabbani overall clocked the fastest time of 1 minute, 43.116 seconds
  • The event was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Sport, and organized by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation

TAIF: Saudi driver Faisal Al-Qabbani secured first place in the second round of the Saudi Toyota Championship Hill Climb that concluded on Saturday in Aqabat Al Muhammadiyah, Al Shafa.

Al-Qabbani overall clocked the fastest time of 1 minute, 43.116 seconds, meanwhile Maamoun Al-Qabbani came in second with a time of 1 minute, 43.962 seconds, said a media statement.

Jean Lahoud claimed third place with a time of 1 minute, 45.681 seconds.

The event was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Sport, and organized by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF), in collaboration with official partner Jameel Motorsport and the Saudi Motorsport Marshals Club.

The second round was marked by a high standard of organization and notable participation, reflecting the rapid progress of motorsport in the Kingdom and the growing stature of the championship across the regional motorsport landscape.

Mohammed Madani, Executive Vice President for Strategic Management and Business Development at the SAMF, expressed his satisfaction with the successful conclusion of the second round. He conveyed his pride in the outstanding level of organization and the spirit of competition, both of which reflect the ongoing development of motorsport in the Kingdom.

“This championship reflects the commitment of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation to advancing motorsport and providing high-quality competitive platforms that support the discovery and development of young Saudi talent. It also reflects the Federation’s vision to build a sustainable and professional motorsport ecosystem,” Madani said.

In Class 1, Faisal Al-Qabbani also took first place with his leading time of 1:43.116, ahead of Maamoun Al-Qabbani in second, and Mahmoud Abed in third.

In Class 2a, Jean Lahoud topped the leaderboard with a time of 1:45.681, followed by Ahmed Al-Qaidi in second and Ahmed Bajunaid in third. Meanwhile, Class 2b was won by Rabih Al-Aawar with a time of 1:50.820, with Abdullah Al-Qabbani and Mohammed Al-Sharyan securing second and third respectively.

In Class 3a, Ibrahim Al-Shouraida led with a time of 1:52.508, followed by Sultan Hamdi and Hazem Al-Dabbagh in second and third. Class 3b saw Hamza Bakhashab take first place with a time of 1:58.785, ahead of Riyadh Batal in second and Abdullah Khoja in third.

In Class 4a, Abdullah Al-Khuriji secured the top spot with a time of 1:59.538, followed by Hisham Al-Badea and Bandar Al-Sulami. In Class 4b, Ali Al-Khadhair took first with a time of 2:04.960, while Abi Wael Zafar and Khaled Baghdadi placed second and third respectively.

In Class 5a, Abdulaziz Al-Fadhili claimed first place with a time of 2:09.574, followed by female driver Enas Abtini in second and Mohammed Abdelghaffar in third. Class 5b was won by Hatem Al-Hazmi, who clocked a time of 2:10.043, ahead of Mohammed Habbal and Saeed Al-Ghamdi in second and third positions.

As for the additional competition categories, Abdulaziz Al-Rumaih won Category 2 SS with a time of 1:52.767. In Category 2 SC, Saeed Al-Mouri came first with a time of 1:54.291, followed by Abdullah Al-Omari in second and Talal Al-Asimi in third.

It is worth noting that the third and final round of the Saudi Toyota Championship Hill Climb will take place from 7 to 9 August.

The final round is expected to play a pivotal role in further embedding motorsport culture within the Kingdom and inspiring the next generation of Saudi talent to pursue a future in this thrilling sport.


Australia winger Irankunda completes Watford switch from Bayern Munich

Australia winger Irankunda completes Watford switch from Bayern Munich
Updated 19 July 2025
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Australia winger Irankunda completes Watford switch from Bayern Munich

Australia winger Irankunda completes Watford switch from Bayern Munich
  • The highly-rated 19-year-old made the switch for an undisclosed transfer fee
  • “Nestory can be a very special player and we believe he can realize his potential here, with us,” said Watford sporting director Gian Luca Nani

LONDON: Australia international Nestory Irankunda has joined Watford on a five-year deal from Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, the English Championship club announced on Friday.

The highly-rated 19-year-old, who made his debut for the Socceroos last June, made the switch for an undisclosed transfer fee.

“Nestory can be a very special player and we believe he can realize his potential here, with us,” said Watford sporting director Gian Luca Nani.


“Nestory was extremely sought-after and thanks to our established scouting network and connections we were able to be ahead of others in the race to sign players of this potential.”

Irankunda made his professional debut as a 15-year-old for Adelaide United during the 2021/22 season and came to prominence with an eye-catching performance playing for an A-League select side against Barcelona.

Born in Tanzania to parents from Burundi who moved to Australia when he was three months old, Irankunda chose to represent Australia at international level and was given his first cap by former coach Graham Arnold in June 2024.

He scored his first goal for the country later that month against Palestine in his second appearance for the Socceroos before completing a move to Bayern Munich in an A-League record deal.

He made his fifth appearance for Australia in a 3-1 win over China in October last year during Asia’s World Cup preliminaries but has not been selected since by current coach Tony Popovic.


New-look Pakistan and Bangladesh face off in T20 series

New-look Pakistan and Bangladesh face off in T20 series
Updated 19 July 2025
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New-look Pakistan and Bangladesh face off in T20 series

New-look Pakistan and Bangladesh face off in T20 series
  • Pakistan skipper says squad shaping up well for next World Cup despite missing key players
  • Bangladesh will enter the series on Sunday after securing a 2-1 T20 win in Sri Lanka last week

DHAKA: Pakistan captain Salman Agha is confident his new-look side is shaping up well toward next year’s World Cup as they take on Bangladesh in a Twenty20 series starting in Dhaka from Sunday.

Agha has been leading the short format side with star batsmen Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan out since last year.

Pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi has been rested for the three-match series and seam bowlers Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Wasim are also missing because of injuries.

Agha said the missing players could still be considered for the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next year.

“We have changed the way we want to play but we are confident of our build-up and direction,” said Agha on Saturday.

“We are going for this series with ample preparations as Bangladesh can be a challenging team in their home conditions.”

New Zealander Mike Hesson is Pakistan’s new white-ball coach. His first assignment was a 3-0 series win at home against Bangladesh 3-0 last month.

With leg-spinner Shadab Khan also injured, Pakistan have picked two uncapped fast bowlers in Salman Mirza and Ahmed Daniyal.

Bangladesh won a T20 series 2-1 in Sri Lanka last week.

“What happened in Sri Lanka is in the past,” said captain Litton Das.

“We have to face a new challenge starting tomorrow. We are ready for this challenge.

“We have the mentality to beat any team, but we have to play well on the particular day and not entirely bank on home conditions.”

Bangladesh have kept the same squad that went to Sri Lanka

The second and third matches are on Tuesday and Thursday, also in Dhaka.