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20 MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017 DT Sports Roger Federer takes part in a training session at Wimbledon tennis club in southwest London on Saturday prior to the start of the tournament on July 3 Federer poised for record Wimbledon triumph • AFP, London Twelve months after shutting down his season in the wake of a devastating semi-final defeat, Roger Federer returns to Wimbledon as favourite to capture a record-breaking eighth title and become the tournament’s oldest champion. The evergreen Swiss, who turns 36 in August, has stunned the critics who wrote him off as yesterday’s man when he went down to Milos Raonic in five gruelling sets on Centre Court in 2016. The loss forced him off tour for the remainder of the year to rest a knee injury, leaving his Grand Slam title count on 17 where it had been since 2012. Fast forward a year and Federer is poised to break the tie for seven Wimbledon titles he shares with Pete Sampras and take his career tally at the majors to 19. With eternal rivals Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in slumps of varying degrees, and Rafael Nadal fretting over whether or not his knees will bear the stress of grass courts, it is Federer once again in the box seat. Federer, who captured a fifth Australian Open in January, will go into Wimbledon buoyed by a ninth title on the grass of Halle and refreshed by skipping the claycourt season. However, he will not write off his three major rivals with whom he has shared all the Wimbledon titles since his maiden triumph in 2003. AFP “If Andy is anything close to 100% physically, I consider him one of the big favourites to win. It’s that simple. It’s the same for Novak and the same for Rafa,” said Federer who will start his Wimbledon campaign against Alexander Dolgopolov of Ukraine. “I think it’s very even when we put it all out on the line. Everybody has their own little story right now.” For tennis storylines of 2017, Federer shares top billing with Nadal after the Spaniard defied the doubters to win a 10th French Open. • Wimbledon braced for new women’s shock • AFP, London With Serena Williams preparing for the birth of her first child and Maria Sharapova sidelined by a thigh injury, the race to be crowned Wimbledon champion is the most wide-open in a generation. Having stepped away from the court as she waits to become a mother in September, Williams, who won Wimbledon in 2015 and 2016, has created a power vacuum at the top that Sharapova was expected to fill when the Russian returned from her doping suspension. Instead, Sharapova lasted just three tournaments before a muscle injury in Rome forced the five-time major winner to withdraw from the Wimbledon qualifying tournament. In the absence of American great Williams, who has 23 Grand Slam titles on her CV, and the headline-grabbing Sharapova, women’s tennis has an undeniable lack of star power heading into Wimbledon, which gets underway on Monday. But the flip-side is the opportunity for the sport’s less heralded names to seize the spotlight, as Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko showed with her unexpected breakthrough triumph at the French Open. “Of course, it’s different if Serena is not here. Everything is possible, in two weeks especially,” world number one Angelique Kerber said. “There are so many good players right now, they can win the big tournaments.” Ostapenko, 20, shot up to 13th in the world from 47th after coming from a set and 3-0 down to defeat Simona Halep in the Roland Garros final. Now she has to prove that stunning success was more than a flash in the pan. A junior Wimbledon champion in 2014, Ostapenko’s game is well suited for the low-bouncing lawns of the All England Club, now that she has learned to enjoy a surface she once thought was only “for soccer”. While Ostapenko, who faces Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the first round, arrived in London on a wave of post-Paris euphoria, second seed Halep is still struggling to come to terms with her failure to win her first Grand Slam. Three games away from the title and the world number one ranking, Halep crumbled to her second major final defeat -- the other coming at the 2014 French Open. Murray fit for Wimbledon title defence • AFP, London Andy Murray insisted he is fit enough to start the defence of his Wimbledon title on Monday despite his recent struggles with a hip injury. Murray sparked concerns he might have to withdraw from Wimbledon after cancelling two scheduled exhibition matches this week due to his sore hip. The world number one was seen limping while practising at Wimbledon over the weekend, but he is convinced he can make it through two weeks of the grass court Grand Slam. “I’ll be fine to play the event and play seven matches,” Murray told reporters at Wimbledon on Sunday. Murray, a two-time Wimbledon champion, will play the first match on Centre Court on Monday against Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik. That will be a huge lift for Murray, who admitted he had been worried the hip pain wouldn’t ease off in time for Wimbledon. “You never know. I haven’t been in that sort of position too often, only a few days before a Slam and not felt good at all,” he said. “Obviously this is an extremely important tournament, so you worry a little bit. It’s a little bit stressful if you can’t practise for a few days. “You really want to be preparing, training as much as you can to get ready and make you feel better, especially when you hadn’t had any matches. “I just tried to think positively. I tried to make the best decisions along with my team to give myself the best chance to feel good on Monday. I feel like I’ve done that.” Facing world number 134 Bublik should be a gentle introduction to the tournament for Murray, who is desperately short of match practice on grass after a shock Queen’s Club first-round loss against unheralded Australian Jordan Thompson. • The 25-year-old Romanian, who has never been past the semi-finals at Wimbledon, opens her campaign against Marina Erakovic. Kerber, who starts against Irina Falconi, needs to improve dramatically after making unwanted history when her defeat against Ekaterina Makarova made her the first top-ranked woman in the Open era to fall in the opening round at Roland Garros. Beaten by Serena in the Wimbledon final 12 months ago, Kerber, who won the Australian and US Opens last year, has yet to claim a single WTA title in 2017. •
Sports 21 MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017 DT SCORECARD ZIMBABWE H. Masakadza c and b Gunaratne 41 S. Mire c Dickwella b Pradeep 0 C. Ervine c Dickwella b Sandakan 22 S. Williams c Pradeep b Gunathilaka 13 S. Raza c Pradeep b Sandakan 8 R. Burl b Sandakan 9 M. Waller b Hasaranga 38 P. Moor b Sandakan 11 A. Cremer not out 1 D. Tiripano lbw b Hasaranga 0 T. Chatara b Hasaranga 0 Extras (b1, lb5, w4, nb2) 12 Total (33.4 overs) 155 Fall of wickets 1-11, 2-67, 3-74, 4-91, 5-102, 6-119, 7-147, 8-155, 9-155 Bowling Malinga 3-1-17-0 (1nb), Pradeep 7-0-18- 1 Chameera 5-0-23-0 (2w), Sandakan 10-0-52-4 (1nb, 2w), Gunaratne 5-0-15- 1, Gunathilaka 1-0-9-1, Hasaranga 2.4-0-15-3 SRI LANKA N. Dickwella c and b Cremer 35 M. Gunathilaka b Chatara 8 B. Mendis c Moor b Chatara 0 U. Tharanga not out 75 A. Mathews not out 28 Extras (b2, lb2, w6, nb2) 12 Total (3 wickets; 30.1 overs) 158 Fall of wickets 1-9, 2-10, 3-77 Bowling Chatara 5-0-33-2 (2nb, 2w), Raza 10-0-34- 0, Tiripano 1-0-6-0, Cremer 9.1-0-46-1(1w), Williams 3-0-20-0 (2w), Burl 2-0-15-0 Sri Lanka won toss and put Zimbabwe in to bat. Sri Lanka win by seven wickets Japan’s Sugita lifts first title in Turkey • AFP, Antalya Japan’s Yuichi Sugita lifted his first ATP title after winning the grasscourt tournament at Antalya on Saturday. The 66th-ranked Sugita battled past France’s Adrian Mannarino, ranked four places above him, 6-1, 7-6 (7/4). The 28-year-old from Sendai had earned a berth in his first final after Marcos Baghdatis retired in Friday’s semi-final with heat exhaustion. Sugita had been leading 6-3, 6-7 (7/9), 4-1 when the Cypriot player retired. Mannarino, 29, was playing the third final of his career after Bogota and Auckland in 2015, as he searches for his maiden title. • DAY’S WATCH TENNIS STAR SPORTS SELECT 1 6:00PM Wimbledon Championships CRICKET SONY SIX 2:00PM Asian Premier League Final Teen Hasaranga bags debut hat-trick as SL crush Zimbabwe • AFP, Galle, Sri Lanka Teenager Wanidu Hasaranga took a hat-trick on his international debut as Sri Lanka took revenge on Zimbabwe with a seven wicket drubbing in their second one day international on Sunday. Fellow-spinner Lakshan Sandakan also took four wickets, to earn the man-of-the-match award, as Sri Lanka hit back at their critics with a confident performance in Galle. Sri Lanka bowled out Zimbabwe for 155 and then reached 158-3 in 30.1 overs. Upul Tharanga ended unbeaten on 75. The win relieved pressure on Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews after the squad was accused of being unfit by the country’s sports minister. “I wouldn’t call it a clinical performance,” he said. “We still dropped catches.” But Mathews said Sri Lanka’s “attitude and intensity was superb. We just need to regroup, and it was great effort from the boys.” The captain hailed Sandakan and Hasaranga, two of the three Horn stuns Pacquiao to win WBO welterweight world title • Reuters Australia’s Jeff Horn stunned Filipino Manny Pacquiao in a bloody Brisbane battle to claim a unanimous 12-round decision and win the WBO world welterweight title in front of 50,000 fans at Lang Park on Sunday. The unheralded 29-year-old former schoolteacher, who improved his record to 17-0-1, was awarded the win over the eight-division world champion by scores of 117- 111, 115-113 and 115-113. “I’m so happy, I can’t explain my feelings,” Horn said at ringside, before welcoming the prospect of a rematch. “I’ve just believed since I was very young that I could do this.” Pacquiao, one of the finest boxers of his generation, paid the price for a slow start and his inability to end the fight with a knockout. The 38-year-old was knocked off his stride by the aggression of the taller and heavier Australian in the early rounds but looked to have weathered the storm as the fight wore on and Horn tired. With blood pouring from both sides of his forehead after accidental butts, the southpaw launched a fierce assault on Horn which nearly changes made after Zimbabwe tore apart the Sri Lanka bowlers in their six wicket win on Friday. “Sandakan was brilliant, so was Wanidu. Credit should go to the selectors to pick him. I, honestly, haven’t seem him much,” Mathews said of the newcomer. Nineteen-year-old all-rounder Hasaranga bowled only 16 balls but tore through Zimbabwe’s tail. Malcolm Waller hit Hasaranga for four but was bowled the next ball going for another big hit. The teenager then snapped up Donald Tiripano and Tendai Chatara with googlies. Mathews won the toss and put Zimbabwe into bat. Hasaranga replaced Lahiru Madushanka with fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera and Sandakan coming in for Amila Aponso and Akila Dananjaya. Zimbabwe looked rocky from the start. Solomon Mire, who scored his maiden one-day century in Friday’s win, was out for zero after facing just five balls. Hamilton Masakadza scored a patient 41 and Waller hit out for his late 38. But Zimbabwe never got to grips with Sri Lanka’s spinners. • Manny Pacquiao (R) of the Philippines fight Jeff Horn (L) of Australia during the World Boxing Organisation match at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane yesterday AFP Sri Lanka’s Wanidu Hasaranga (L) celebrates after he dismissed Zimbabwe’s Donald Tiripano (R) during their second ODI in Galle yesterday AFP ended the contest in round nine. “Show me something in this round, or I’m going to stop the fight,” the referee warned the Australian. Horn, who was cut above his right eye in round two, said he had been exhausted and rattled by the Filipino’s punches. “It was hard, hard getting through that round, hard getting hit, getting caught with a shot and then continue on,” Horn said. “(But) I was like ‘settle down everyone, I’m fine’. I was recovering pretty quickly.” The Australian showed remarkable powers of recuperation as he battled gamely on through the final three rounds with Pacquiao, who earned the last of his 38 knockouts in 2009, unable to capitalise on his dominance. The bout ended with the fighters in a clinch on the ropes and although Pacquiao gave a little shuffle and a grin to show he had plenty left in the tank, his fate was in the hands of the judges. • Saul extends Atletico deal until 2026 • AFP, Madrid Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez on Saturday signed a contract extension that will keep him at the La Liga outfit for another nine years. The 22-year-old joined Atletico’s academy in 2007, and extended his stay in the capital by a further five seasons, despite reported interest from other European clubs. “I am very happy because at Atleti we are a family and there is no better place to be,” Saul said in a statement on the club’s website. “I will work my full potential on the field as always to pay back the trust that the club is giving to me. I’d like to thank all my teammates and the coaching staff for their help day by day so that I can be the player I am today.” Saul has scored 22 goals in 148 appearances for the Atletico senior team, helping them reach the Champions League final in 2016. The Spaniard has also been capped three times at full international level, and won the golden boot with five goals as Spain reached the final of the European Under-21 Championship, before losing 1-0 to Germany on Friday. •
Page 1 and 2: SECOND EDITION MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017
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Page 13 and 14: Opinion 13 DT MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017
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Page 17 and 18: Feature 17 MONDAY, JULY 3 , 2017 DT
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