RIYADH: Carlos Alcaraz admitted Wednesday it will be a “difficult moment” facing “idol” Rafael Nadal on Thursday as the Spanish superstars clash for the final time.
Nadal, the winner of 22 Grand Slam titles, announced last week that he will retire from tennis after the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga next month.
On Thursday, however, the 38-year-old will take on Alcaraz for a place in the final of the “6 Kings Slam” exhibition event in Riyadh.
“Since I started to play tennis, I’m watching his matches. I look up to him and I grew up watching him. He was my idol, he is still my idol,” Alcaraz said on court after defeating Holger Rune 6-4, 6-2 to set-up an emotional meeting with Nadal.
“A really important person for my life, for my career and he was one of the reasons that I wanted to become a professional tennis player. Knowing he is going to retire is pretty tough for everyone, for me.”
Alcaraz, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, added: “I will try to enjoy sharing the court with him once again, but I think it is really difficult for everyone.”
Nadal and Alcaraz have met three times on the main ATP Tour with the soon-to-be retired veteran holding a 2-1 advantage.
The Spanish pair played doubles together at the Paris Olympics this year and they are expected to team-up again at the Davis Cup Finals.
Nadal also made his last singles appearance at the Games on the same Roland Garros courts where he won 14 French Open titles.
His Olympic singles campaign was ended by old rival Novak Djokovic in the second round.
Thursday’s other semifinal in Riyadh sees Djokovic tackle Australian Open and US Open champion Jannik Sinner.
World number one Sinner eased past Daniil Medvedev 6-0, 6-3 on Wednesday.
Alcaraz will face ‘difficult’ clash with ‘idol’ Nadal
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Alcaraz will face ‘difficult’ clash with ‘idol’ Nadal
’The comeback is on.’ Britannia score first points of America’s Cup final, trail New Zealand 4-2
- The British have never won the America’s Cup in its 173-year history and are in their first final in six decades
- As reigning champion, New Zealand had a guaranteed spot in America’s Cup finals, in addition to picking the venue and the rules
BARCELONA: INEOS Britannia got back into the America’s Cup final after scoring their first two wins over Emirates Team New Zealand, cutting the deficit in the first-to-seven series to 4-2 on Wednesday.
The British capitalized on uncharacteristic mistakes by the Kiwis, who gifted their rivals a huge lead before Race 5 even started and then suffered another slip that hurt their chances of catching Britannia on a close Race 6.
“There is still a long way to go, but the comeback is on,” Britannia skipper Ben Ainslie said from his cockpit.
Later, he added on shore: “It’s a massive day for our team to really believe we can get back in this, and now the trick is to ride that momentum all the way.”
The British have never won the America’s Cup in its 173-year history and are in their first final in six decades. New Zealand is trying to win the Auld Mug, the oldest trophy in international sport, for a third straight time and fifth overall.
New Zealand had sailed flawlessly to sweep the first four races held in view of the Barcelona beachfront. But the defenders couldn’t handle the low winds and high waves and made their first error of the series when their yacht fell off its foils during a turn in the pre-start buildup.
The Taihoro was left flailing while Britannia buzzed it twice before taking off to build a huge advantage. When Britannia crossed the line New Zealand were almost 1,200 meters behind.
“It was a dream scenario for a start to have one boat off the foils and be able to get away with a clean start,” said Britannia trimmer Bleddyn Mon.
The British followed that up with a second victory that will surely be a bigger boost to their confidence. The Kiwis were closing when a dip of the hull into the water cost them valuable time in a contest that was decided by just seven seconds.
“You make a few little mistakes and you lose races,” New Zealand skipper Peter Burling said. “That’s what we love about sport, and we also have a battle on our hands.”
Ainslie said that practicing on Tuesday in similarly choppy waves, while New Zealand stayed at base, helped prepare his team for similar waters once the racing resumed. That and a Britannia hull design suited for wavier water, compared to the New Zealand boat which he said appeared to perform better in flat seas.
As reigning champion, New Zealand had a guaranteed spot in America’s Cup finals, in addition to picking the venue and the rules. The Taihoro hadn’t raced for a month until the finals started on Saturday as it sat out the playoff rounds.
Britannia came in with more real racing practice and counts on the backing of the engineering expertise of the Mercedes Formula 1 team. New Zealand, for its part, relies on an in-house design team that produced the revolutionary design for the 75-foot AC75s.
Races 7 and 8 are scheduled for Friday, giving New Zealand one day to figure out what went wrong.
“We didn’t really executed our best today, so we let ourselves down,” ETNZ helmsman Nathan Outteridge said. “We will go and review that tonight and come back in better shape.”
Lavreysen wins record-equalling 14th world cycling track title
- The 27-year-old, a five-time Olympic champion, will have several opportunities between now and the end of the championships in Denmark to claim the record for himself
- In the women’s team event, Britain dominated the sprint, defeating the Netherlands with Australia claiming the bronze
BALLERUP, Denmark: Dutch cyclist Harrie Lavreysen on Wednesday won his 14th world championship track title with victory in the team sprint event, equalling the all-time record of Frenchman Arnaud Tournant.
The 27-year-old, a five-time Olympic champion, will have several opportunities between now and the end of the championships in Denmark to claim the record for himself.
On Thursday, he races in the keirin, competes in the time-trial on Friday and then the individual sprint event on Sunday.
With Jeffrey Hoogland and Roy van den Berg, the Dutch team dominated Australia in Wednesday’s final while Japan beat Britain in the bronze medal match.
Lavreysen now has six team sprint titles, five individual and three keirin titles.
Tournant won nine world titles in team sprint, one in the individual event and four in the time-trial between 1997 and 2008.
Lavreysen has built an incredible track record in five years, including a hat-trick (individual and team sprint, keirin) at the Paris Olympics in August, to become the most successful Dutch athlete in the history of the Summer Games.
In the women’s event, Britain dominated the sprint, defeating the Netherlands with Australia claiming the bronze.
Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes, who arrived at the championships with 22 wins in 2024, claimed her first world title in the scratch.
Wiebes defeated Jennifer Valente of the US with New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston taking home the bronze.
Pogba ‘willing to give up money’ to stay at Juventus
- Pogba: I’m willing to give up money to be able to play again with Juve, I want to come back with this club
- Pogba’s contract with the Italian giants expires in June 2026 and is currently worth €8 million($8.684 million) a year
ROME: Paul Pogba is adamant that he wishes to return from his reduced doping ban with Juventus even if it means accepting a pay cut, the French World Cup winner told La Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview Wednesday.
“I’m willing to give up money to be able to play again with Juve, I want to come back with this club,” said Pogba in an interview published on the Italian sports daily’s website.
“The reality is that I am a Juve player and I am preparing to play for Juve.”
Pogba’s contract with the Italian giants expires in June 2026 and is currently worth €8 million($8.684 million) a year.
During his ongoing suspension, the midfielder receives only the minimum salary stipulated in the Serie A collective agreement — just over €2,000 a month.
However, since Pogba’s ban was reduced, Italian press have reported that Juventus are nonetheless seeking to terminate his contract.
“It will be a new Pogba, a hungrier, wiser and stronger one... I just want to play football,” added the former Manchester United star.
“I want to be ready to train and play for Juve, I’m a Juve player, in my mind, that’s all there is at the moment.”
Pogba had his four-year ban for doping reduced to 18 months earlier in October by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and can return to action from March 11 next year, four days before his 32nd birthday.
Pogba tested positive for testosterone in August 2023 after a match between Juventus and Udinese in Italy.
He was provisionally suspended in September of the same year, and then banned for four years by the Italian National Anti-Doping Tribunal the following February.
Pogba’s representatives said the testosterone came from a food supplement prescribed by a doctor he consulted in the US.
Barca hit nine in Women’s Champions League, Bayern overcome Juve
PARIS: Barcelona bounced back from an opening-day defeat to thrash Hammarby 9-0 in the Women’s Champions League on Wednesday, while Bayern Munich fought to a 2-0 win at Juventus.
Holders Barca routed their Swedish opponents in Catalonia, putting down a marker after slumping to a shock loss to Manchester City last week.
Goals by Caroline Graham Hansen, Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas put the hosts in charge by half-time.
Mapi Leon added a fourth and Pina and Graham then doubled their tallies either side of an Ewa Pajor strike, before Esmee Brugts and Fridolina Rolfo completed the rout.
Graham opened the scoring after 10 minutes and Pina struck on 24 minutes, before Putellas was left free in the box to glance in Barca’s third just before the interval.
Leon headed in on 53 minutes as the second-half floodgates opened with four goals coming in the space of 22 minutes.
A 90th-minute penalty by Sweden’s Rolfo meant Barcelona equalled their 9-0 Champions League thumping of Benfica in 2022.
Man City came from behind to beat St. Poelten 3-2 in a topsy-turvy encounter in Vienna thanks to goals from Alanna Kennedy, Aoba Fujino and Mary Fowler.
Kennedy sent City 1-0 up on five minutes with a fierce drive from 35 yards that veered away from the goalkeeper’s lunge on its way into the net via the post.
The hosts struck back as City failed to deal with a corner and Melanie Brunnthaler pounced in the 40th minute.
The Austrians then took a surprise lead eight minutes after half-time when Kamila Dubcova volleyed into the top corner.
But Japanese forward Fujino opened her account for the visitors just four minutes later and then with 10 minutes remaining, Fowler rose highest to head the winner and send City top of Group D on six points.
Goals either side of the break from Linda Dallmann and Pernille Harder earned Bayern Munich a narrow win in north-eastern Italy.
With two wins from two, German champions Bayern sit top of Group C, three points clear of Arsenal in second spot.
“We have started very well, but the work is not done. We’ve played Arsenal and Juventus, two strong teams, but there’s still a long way to go,” said Bayern coach Alexander Straus.
Bayern broke Juventus resistance in the 18th minute when Dallmann managed to hack the ball over the goal-line from close range after it had ricocheted around the box following a corner.
In the second half, Juventus went forward in search of an equalizer with Bayern seeking to stifle the opposition and see out the match.
However, Juve’s defensive set-piece woes allowed the away team to seal victory in the 73rd minute as Harder fired in her fourth goal of the campaign from a corner.
Arsenal got their campaign back on track after losing to Bayern first time out as they beat Valerenga 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium, in their first match since the departure of coach Jonas Eidevall.
Emily Fox gave Arsenal the perfect start after barely 61 seconds when she swept home from inside the six-yard box.
The hosts doubled their lead on 29 minutes through Caitlin Foord, before Olaug Tvedten halved the deficit 10 minutes before half-time but Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo struck late to make safe Arsenal’s first win of the campaign.
On Thursday, Wolfsburg host Lyon in a clash of two multiple past winners of the tournament and English champions Chelsea travel to Twente.
Jannik Sinner eliminates Daniil Medvedev at Six Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia
- Carlos Alcaraz was scheduled to play Holger Rune in Wednesday’s other match at the Six Kings Slam
- Nadal, 38, owns 22 Grand Slam titles; Djokovic, 37, has won 24, a record for the Open era
RIYADH: Jannik Sinner beat Daniil Medvedev 6-0, 6-3 on Wednesday at the Six Kings Slam, an exhibition event for a half-dozen men that awards money but no ATP ranking points and is Saudi Arabia’s latest foray into tennis.
Riyadh will host the WTA Finals next month to open a three-year deal as the kingdom continues to invest in various sports.
Carlos Alcaraz was scheduled to play Holger Rune in Wednesday’s other match at the Six Kings Slam.
On Thursday, the top-ranked Sinner — who was cleared in a doping case shortly before winning the US Open last month, although the World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed that exoneration — will take on Novak Djokovic, and Alcaraz or Rune will face Rafael Nadal.
That will be the first match for Nadal since his exit at the Paris Olympics in July — and his first match since he announced last week that he would be retiring after playing for Spain in the Davis Cup next month.
He is an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation.
After a day off for everyone on Friday, the winners of Thursday’s two matches will meet in the event’s final on Saturday.
Nadal, 38, owns 22 Grand Slam titles; Djokovic, 37, has won 24, a record for the Open era. They were given byes into the semifinals in Riyadh.
Sinner won his first two Grand Slam trophies in 2024, and Alcaraz collected the two other men’s majors this season to raise his career total to four. Medvedev won the 2021 US Open.
Rune is the only member of the six-player field without a major championship and the only one who hasn’t been ranked No. 1.
