Month: August 2023

Stefanos Tsitsipas refused to blame his new coaching team after his miserable record at the US Open continued on Wednesday with a second-round exit to Swiss qualifier Dominic Stricker.
Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece reacts after a point against Dominic Stephan Stricker of Switzerland(Getty Images via AFP)
Seventh seed Tsitsipas, who has never been beyond the third round at Flushing Meadows, slumped to a 7-5, 6-7 (2/7), 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 defeat in 4hr 4min against his 128th-ranked opponent.
It was another disappointing New York campaign for Tsitsipas, who shook up his coaching set-up earlier this month, bringing back Australian Mark Philippoussis while giving his father Apostolos a “break” from coaching duties.
However, the 25-year-old from Athens said the coaching changes had little to do with his second round loss, stating the responsibility for defeat was his alone.
“By no means I’m supposed to put any blame on any people or any members of my team,” Tsitsipas said.
“Everything on court is under my control and under my talents, and the way I can play this sport are shown out on the court.
“If I’m not able to deliver, then I’m not supposed to be doing well,” Tsitsipas added, praising the performance of Stricker.
“His serve was a big weapon that served him really well,” Tsitsipas said.
“He’s very loose on the serve. If he gets in the zone, he can hit some really good serves.”
Leading by two sets to one in the fourth, Tsitsipas had served for the match at 5-3.
But he suffered a service break before Stricker forced a tie-break which he won to send it to a decisive fifth set, ultimately winning the match.
Tsitsipas said he believed it was the first time he’d been broken while serving for the match.
“It hasn’t happened to me before,” he said. “Usually I’m much tougher mentally, and I have shown it by coming back…today was not the case. I was not able to bounce back after it.”
The 21-year-old Stricker will now face France’s Benjamin Bonzi, who beat American Christopher Eubanks 7-6 (8/6), 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (9/7).

World No.5 Casper Ruud crashed out of the US Open after losing his men’s singles second-round match to China’s Zhizhen Zhang on Thursday. Ruud lost to the 67th-ranked Chinese 4-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-0, 2-6 in a five-setter that lasted 3 hours and 19 minutes.
Zhizhen Zhang of China returns a shot(Getty Images via AFP)
Zhang created tennis history by becoming the first male from China to beat a top-five player. The 26-year-old landed the first blow by taking the first set 6-4 and although Ruud made a comeback by winning the hard-fought second set 7-5, Zhang did not let go of his lead in the match by taking the third set 6-2.
When Ruud hit back with a 6-0 win in the fourth set, it looked like the man from Norway had got the much-needed momentum to drive home the advantage in the fifth set. As it so often happens in Grand Slams, the higher-ranked player rarely lets go of the momentum towards the latter half of the match despite a poor start.
But Zhang had other ideas. He came back with his best tennis in the deciding set to give fifth-seeded Ruud no chance. Before the start of the set, Zhang left the court for several minutes to take a toilet break and change clothes in a move that clearly disrupted Ruud’s momentum.
The Norwegian was broken immediately in the first game of the final set, and a frustrated Ruud complained angrily at the chair umpire, accusing him of failing to enforce time limits.
With Ruud unravelling, Zhang rammed home his advantage. He broke again in the fifth game to take a 4-1 lead and then held for a 5-1 lead.
Ruud held serve to close the gap to 5-2, but Zhang would not be denied, producing a superb backhand volley on match point to seal victory.
The serve winners were the difference between the two. Zhang’s win percentage on his first serve was a whopping 75%, six more than Ruud. In the second serve, the Chinese did even better with a win percentage of 57 while Ruud’s was only 47.
Zhang will face Australia’s Rinky Hijikata in the third round on Friday, bidding to reach the last 16 of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Ruud was the second top-10 player to go down in the second round of US Open 2023. Earlier, it was seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost to the 128th-ranked Swiss qualifier Dominic Strick. The Greek lost 7-5, 6-7 (2/7), 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 in 4 hours and 4 minutes.

Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah is currently spending some time away from the game ahead of India’s participation at the Asia Cup 2023. In a video uploaded on Instagram, Bumrah was seen enjoying a game of FIFA with his wife, Sanjana Ganesan. The video has left his fans elated. In the video, Bumrah is wearing a green t-shirt and a dark blue short. After scoring a goal, he can be seen taunting his wife over the same by asking her to clap.
To this, Sanjana could be heard as saying: “What a weirdo”.
The video has now gone viral on social media.
“Just another day in the Bumrah household,” Bumrah captioned the video on Instagram.
The video garnered a lot of interesting comments from fans.
“I was nervous everytime you streched your back,” a fan wrote.
“Bhai semi pro me khelo, ungli injury na ho jaaye,” another user posted.
“Bhai araam se khelo..angoothe me moch aa jayegi,” a user commented.
The return of Bumrah has been the biggest news in Indian cricket in recent times. The ace pacer, once the bowling spearhead of team team, had been out of action by lower back injury and subsequent rehabilitation for the last 11 months.
However, his comeback against Ireland in the T20I series had Indian cricket fans going gaga over his return. A big test awaits for him in the form of Asia Cup and the World Cup.
However, India head coach Rahul Dravid hinted that Bumrah will be slowed eased into full action.
“It’s great to have them (Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna) back and see them bowling well. Jasprit is someone we have missed a lot in the past two years he hasn’t played much. We will ease him into it slowly. Ireland was a good opportunity to ease him in. Now we have a whole month to build that up before the World Cup. The duo’s return gives us more options in the pace bowling department,” he said.

The cricket world is waiting with baited breath for the mega India vs Pakistan coach at the Asia Cup 2023 in Sri Lanka on Saturday. The match will be a closely watched affair as will be the individual performance Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma ahead of the Cricket World Cup. The performance in the Asia Cup 2023 will be a great indicator of where the form of the players lie ahead of the Cricket World Cup. Brad Hogg, former Cricket World Cup-winning Australian leg spinner, believes the contest between Shaheen Shah Afridi and the Indian cricket team top order will decide the fate of the marquee India vs Pakistan clash.
India will play their opening match against Pakistan on September 2 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy. Hogg said that he would be watching the star-studded clash and the contest could be decided between India’s experienced batters and Pakistan’s fast-bowling prowess.
“I definitely will be watching it. It is one of the biggest contests that we can have. Look, politics gets in the way of sports everywhere. It’s here in Australia, England everywhere. We are just missing the rivalry between the two countries on the cricket field. It will be better for Pakistan as well because they will get the exposure. We want those contests to happen. India has a more dominant batting. Pakistan with their pace attack has a slight advantage, especially with left arm Shaheen Afridi. He is a quality bowler. When you have a left-arm fast bowler who swings the ball with pace and gets them to come in for the right-handers it does make it difficult,” said Hogg on Backstage with Boria.
On being asked to comment on the battle between Shaheen Shah Afridi and Rohit Sharma, Hogg said, “I think Shaheen will have a chance with the deliveries that come in against right-handers. If Pakistan can expose Virat Kohli early in the contest against the new ball in front of Shaheen Afridi. The contest between Shaheen against the Indian top three will be decisive. So, for me, that’s going to be where the game will be won and lost between India and Pakistan.”

Despite making it to the squad for the Asia Cup, India batter KL Rahul will miss the first two games of the tournament, confirmed head coach Rahul Dravid ahead of the start of the continental event. Rahul, who has been out of action since May 2023 due to a calf injury, has suffered a fresh niggle. Dravid confirmed that Rahul will not travel to Sri Lanka with the rest of the team and will miss both group games, against Pakistan and Nepal.
However, former India batter Mohammed Kaif has said that there is no guarantee that wicket-keeping batter KL Rahul will be fit for any matches in the 2023 Asia Cup.
“This means KL Rahul’s injury could aggravate. If he is unfit now, there is no guarantee that he will be fit after two games. The news is not good for Indian fans because Rahul plays very well at No. 5 in ODIs. His stats are very good,” Kaif said on Star Sports.
Kaif said that Rahul’s absence will be a huge miss for India as he provides a finishing touch while batting in the middle order.
“He knows how to shift gears, is able to play big shots, and knows how to stabilize innings. You won’t get a replacement even if you play Ishan Kishan. Apart from wicket-keeping, Rahul also provides a finishing touch,” the former India batter added.
India begin their campaign in Pallekele against Pakistan on September 2, before squaring off against Nepal at the same venue on September 4.

Manchester City are close to finalising a deal for Matheus Nunes after verbally agreeing a 55 million ($60m) fee for the Wolves midfielder, sources have told ESPN.
And in a separate and unrelated deal, the two clubs have agreed a loan move for City youngster Tommy Doyle. Wolves have the option of a permanent £5m transfer, with City negotiating a 50% of any future deal, for the 21-year-old midfielder who has previously spent time on loan at Cardiff City, Hamburg and Sheffield United.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
Despite Wolves manager Gary O’Neil saying this week that he expected Nunes to remain at Molineux, an agreement has now been struck between the clubs for the Portugal international.
City have been searching for midfield reinforcements since Kevin De Bruyne signed was ruled out for up to six months with a hamstring injury sustained on the opening day of the season in the win at Burnley.
Nunes, a £38m signing from Sporting in 2022, is now expected to complete a move to City before Friday’s transfer deadline.

Barcelona are hoping to be able to unlock a deal to bring Joao Cancelo to the club on Thursday after seeing plans to land the Portugal international delayed.
The Catalans are said to have an agreement to sign the defender on loan from Manchester City but havent been able to complete the transfer for financial reasons.
COPE are now reporting that Barca are optimistic they can make progress tomorrow and finally get the deal over the line.
Cancelo had been due to fly to Barcelona earlier this week but saw his travel plans hit as the club had not received an expected payment from German firm Libero, according to The Athletic.
The report adds that Joan Laporta and club treasurer Ferran Olive are willing to sign a bank guarantee in a bid to get the Cancelo deal done.
The guarantee would inject funds of 20 million into the club and also allow Inaki Pena and Inigo Martinez to be registered.
Barcelonas finances will also be helped by the expected departures on loan of Clement Lenglet and Ansu Fati.
The exit of the duo may free up enough space for Barca to sign Joao Felix from Atletico on loan too.

Pakistan dominated Nepal with a commanding victory by 238 runs in the opening match of the Asia Cup 2023 in Multan on Wednesday. World No.1 batsman Babar Azam (151) and Iftikhar Ahmed (109*) delivered outstanding performances, both scoring sensational centuries; while skipper Babar’s 151 off 131 balls marked his 19th ODI hundred, Ahmed smashed his maiden ton, propelling Pakistan to a formidable total of 342/6 in 50 overs. The home team’s bowlers, then, continued the onslaught, bundling out Nepal for a mere 104 in 23.4 overs, with leg-spinner Shadab Khan claiming 4/27, and pace bowlers Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi securing 2 wickets each.
Ashwin reacted to Mohammad Rizwan’s run-out vs Nepal
The hosts, however, faced a shaky start after they opted to bat first as it endured a swift loss of wickets, with both Fakhar Zaman (14) and Imam ul Haq (5) departing early. After the initial setbacks, a partnership between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan seemed to be gaining momentum as they approached their 40s; however, an unexpected and rather unconventional run-out brought an untimely end to Rizwan’s innings.
As Rizwan chased a single in the 24th over of the game, his seemingly casual running between the wickets brought upon his downfall. The Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter failed to ground the bat in time as a direct hit from Nepal fielder Dipendra Singh Airee sent Rizwan packing. Even Babar couldn’t hide his disappointment at the dismissal, as he threw his cap in frustration the moment the third umpire confirmed the wicket on the big screen.
While the commentators and fans alike were stunned at the dismissal, India’s star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was also surprised by Rizwan’s seeming lack of attention while reaching the crease. Ashwin questioned why the Pakistan keeper didn’t attempt a dive.
“The height of the throw made it harder to evade for Rizwan but for someone who generally dives to make his ground all the time while running between the wickets, this is a rare instance of him ducking for cover and the only reason is that he isnt wearing his helmet.
He loves sweeping against spin and no helmet makes it even more bizarre. #PAKvsNEP, he wrote.
Rizwan’s dismissal triggered another wicket a few overs later with Agha Salman also departing cheaply. However, Iftikhar, alongside Babar, forged a brilliant 214-run stand to bail the hosts out of trouble and putting the game far from reach for Nepal batters.
India next
With a winning start to the Asia Cup and the momentum on their side, Pakistan will take on arch-rivals India in a blockbuster Group A clash on Saturday. With a win, Babar Azam’s men will seal a berth in the Super Fours of the tournament. Team India landed in Sri Lanka on Wednesday and will play all of its matches in the island nation, meaning Pakistan will travel to the country on Thursday to prepare for the big game.