Tennis

Roberto Bautista Agut advanced to the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final for the second time on Friday, winning 6-3, 6-3 over third-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev in 74 minutes to stretch his winning streak in Doha to nine tournaments. On Saturday, he will play Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili in the Doha final for a chance to win his 10th ATP Tour title. After overcoming American Taylor Fritz in two pairs (7/6 and 6/1) in the second semi-final match, Georgian player Nikoloz Basilashvili qualified for Qatar's final

Roger Federer has pulled out of an upcoming tennis tournament in Dubai after returning to action following a 13-month injury layoff. The 20-time grand slam champion hadn't played competitively in over a year after undergoing two knee surgeries in 2020 but won his comeback match against Dan Evans at the Qatar Open on Wednesday. The 39-year-old was then beaten by Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili -- 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 -- in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Federer was due to continue his comeback at the Dubai

The 20-times Grand Slam champion had match point in the third set but Basilashvili held on for a deserved victory Roger Federer’s hopes of a fairytale title on his return from injury were cut down by the big-hitting Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili as the world No 42 came from behind to beat the 20-times Grand Slam champion 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the quarter-finals of the ATP event in Doha on Thursday. The 39-year-old, who played superbly to beat British world No 28 Dan Evans

Roger Federer is targeting a third Olympic medal at the Tokyo Games this year after missing out in 2016 due to injury as he looks to gain momentum when he returns to the court this week after 13 months on the sidelines with a knee problem. Federer, 39, is making his long-awaited comeback at the Qatar Open - where he plays Britain's Dan Evans in the second round on Wednesday (March 10) - after two knee surgeries ended his season last year. The

Isaiah Wilson had a rookie season that he’d like to forget as a member of the Tennessee Titans. Now, Wilson, the No. 29 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, appears to be getting a fresh start in South Beach. The Titans shipped Wilson and a 2022 7th round pick to the Miami Dolphins to exchange for a 2021 7th-rounder on Monday night, according to multiple reports. Wilson only played four snaps for the Titans in 2020 and was eventually placed on the NFL reserve/nonfootball list on Dec. 9,

The main round of Qatar ExxonMobil Open, organized by the Qatar Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federation, kicked off today at Khalifa International Complex, with the participation of a large number of the world's top ranked players. The organizing committee said the top four players: Austrian Dominic Thiem, Swiss Roger Federer, Russian Andrei Rublev and Canadian Denis Shapopalov will not compete in the first main round, which will be held over two days, and that they will start their career from the second round,

Novak Djokovic says it has taken "a lot of blood, sweat and tears" to break Roger Federer's record of 310 weeks ranked as world number one. The 33-year-old Serb set the record on Monday for most weeks at number one in the 48-year history of the ATP rankings. "My family have supported me for day one," Djokovic won his 18th Grand Slam singles title and his ninth Australian Open crown in Melbourne last month. Djokovic, whose longest continuous run at the top was

The early exits of Saina Nehwal, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen did them no favours as they fight to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. It is not so much the prize money available at relatively lower level tournaments like the just-concluded Swiss Open Super 300 (which offered a pot of $140,000) that is of importance to most of the top-25 international Badminton players as the points that are up for grabs, and which could determine qualification for the quadrennial Olympic Games. Players poised tantalisingly

Novak Djokovic equalled Roger Federer’s all-time record for most weeks as ATP world No 1 on Monday. He has now held the top spot for the 310 weeks. Djokovic’s ninth Australian Open title last month guaranteed that he will surpass Federer’s record on 8 March. Having reached another milestone in his illustrious career, Djokovic has said he will adjust his playing calendar and make overhauling Federer and Rafael Nadal’s joint-record of 20 men’s grand slam titles his top priority. “Now, after achieving the historic No 1

Victoria Azarenka has withdrawn from her Qatar Total Open semifinal against Garbine Muguruza due to a back injury. The Belarusian, a two-time champion in Doha in 2012 and 2013 as well as runner-up to Lucie Safarova in 2015, sustained the injury during her quarterfinal win over No.1 seed Elina Svitolina. Azarenka said in a press statement: "Unfortunately, the pain in my back that I experienced during yesterday's match has not gone away enough in order for me to be able to compete tonight.

The top two seeded players at the Qatar Open were eliminated in the quarterfinals as Victoria Azarenka played through pain to win against Elina Svitolina and Jessica Pegula defeated Karolina Pliskova on Thursday. Azarenka held off a late comeback from top-seeded Svitolina, her doubles partner this week, to seal a 6-2, 6-4 win on her third match point. Azarenka managed an apparent lower back problem with stretches and help from a physiotherapist. "In the warm-up, I just felt a very sharp pain and

No.4 seed Petra Kvitova came through a stellar hard-hitting clash 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 over Anett Kontaveit to reach her third Qatar Total Open semifinal in one hour and 46 minutes. In the last four, the 2018 champion will face qualifier Jessica Pegula, who needed just 57 minutes to upset No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-1. WTA's official website said that Both players have been in top form this week, reaching the quarterfinals without dropping more than five games in any match, and were

Sania Mirza, a former world number one in doubles, said she felt fine on the court on Wednesday. Sania and her Slovenian partner Andreja Klepac defeated Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Anna Blinkova of Russia 6-2, 6-0 in the Qatar Total Open doubles' semifinals Wednesday. The two 34-year-olds also advanced to the six-day tournament's semifinals. Sania claimed that she is no longer infected with COVID-19, which kept her isolated for two months. Sania said she had only light preparation when the COVID-19 pandemic

DOHA: India's Sania Mirza said the elusive dream of winning a medal at her fourth Olympics in Tokyo this year motivated her to return to the WTA circuit after a year-long gap. Mirza, paired with Slovenian Andreja Klepac, reached the semi-finals in the women's doubles at the Qatar Open on Wednesday (Mar 3), her first tournament since Feb 2020 when she played at the same Doha event. The 34-year-old, who recovered from COVID-19 in January, said she wanted to avenge the defeat she

The Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA) and Iran's national table tennis organization entered into a partnership yesterday. The contract was signed on the sidelines of the WTT Middle East Center, which is taking place at Lusail Sports Hall. At a signing ceremony witnessed by other representatives from the two organizations, QTTA President Khalil Al Mohannadi joined Mehrdad Ali Gardashi, President of the Iranian Table Tennis Federation. Al Mohannadi shared his pleasure at Gardashi's and the Iran team's participation at the WTT Middle East

Alexander Bublik continued his impressive start to 2021 on Saturday, as he defeated Radu Albot 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the Singapore Tennis Open. Bublik claimed 87 per cent of his service points in the decider (20/23) and struck 12 aces to reach his second final of the year. The Kazakhstani, who retired from last month’s Antalya Open final with a right ankle injury, now owns a 9-3 record in 2021. “[Radu] won three points in the third set on my serve, which means I served great,” said Bublik. After

The WTA 500 tournament organizers reported on Tuesday that World number three Tennis player Simona Halep has been excluded from the Qatar Open in Doha next week.  Halep lost to Serena Williams in the Australian Open quarter-finals last week in straight sets, did not clarify why she was yanking out from the tournament on March 1-6. "Unfortunately, I have made the decision to withdraw from the Qatar Total Open," Halep said in a statement released by the tournament organizers. "It's always one of

SINGAPORE: Japan's Taro Daniel defeated India's Ramkumar Ramanathan on Monday (Feb 22) in a three-set fight to set up a second-round clash with Croatia's Marin Cilic at the Singapore Tennis Open. Daniel won the first set 6-3, but Ramanathan came back to take the second 6-7, prevailing in the tie-breaker. But the Japanese player won the third set 6-3, sealing his victory with a solid forehand volley. "In tennis, you'll always have a chance to have that big break - I think I'm

Arsenal are paying for their poor transfer business, Pickford is showing his worth to Everton and Manchester United are making life hard for themselves. 1) Arsenal’s bright future held back by bad buys As Arsenal edged their way back into the game against Manchester City, there was plenty for Mikel Arteta to take heart from. Yet for all their grit and assurance, the possibility that the hosts might actually steal any points from an uncharacteristically sloppy City side remained painfully distant. With the

Second Australian Open – and fourth major – will not be the last shiny trophy engraved with her name. As a coral sun set behind the Melbourne skyline, Naomi Osaka walked to her mark, danced lightly on the balls of her feet, rapped her left thigh with her left fist two times and crouched, ready to receive Jennifer Brady’s serve. She did this over and over: jig, tap, dip; jig, tap, dip. It was a meditation that secured a second Australian Open title and a