MIAMI GARDENS, United States: Philippines sensation Alexandra Eala’s remarkable run at the Miami Open came to a brave end with a three-set loss to Jessica Pegula in the semifinals on Thursday.
In an enthralling battle over 2hrs 24mins, fourth-seeded American Pegula emerged with a 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-3 win to seal a place in Saturday’s final against world number one Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka blasted her way into the final with a 6-2, 6-2 demolition of Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.
The 19-year-old Eala, ranked 140th in the world, had only two WTA main draw victories to her name before arriving in Miami.
She proceeded to beat three Grand Slam winners in Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and world number two Iga Swiatek.
The lowest-ranked semifinalist in the tournament’s history, Eala seriously threatened to go one step further with another accomplished and effervescent display.
The tide looked to have turned against her when Pegula broke to go 3-1 up in the second set, but Eala broke back and her fist pump and look of determination was a sign of things to come.
Eala broke Pegula three times in the set and was broken twice herself but crucially was able to hold when serving for the set at 6-5.
Both players protected their serve better in the deciding set but Eala’s forehand let her down when the American broke to go 5-3 up and she served out for a victory that brought her visible relief.
“Of course there is disappointment right after the match,” said Eala.
“But there are just so many times in tennis where you have to dig through the dirt to look for the positive and I’m just enjoying because there is so much positive around me and I don’t know how many times that happens,” she added.
Playing with a strapped thigh from the outset, Eala turned her ankle mid-way through the second set but said she had not been impacted by the injury.
“I literally gave everything I had, I’m half tape, I’m like a mummy. I did everything and I have no regrets,” she said.
“To have a week like this, the stars need to align and they did this week, and hopefully I can keep that up — that is my goal now, to keep this up,” she added.
Pegula said it had been difficult to play an opponent like Eala.
“I let her back in the match at 3-1 up (second set) and she just started ripping her balls, going for her shots and you just have to weather the storm with people like that. She competes really well,” said the American.
Sabalenka needed just 71 minutes to wrap up her win against the sixth seed Paolini.
The Belarusian, beaten in the Indian Wells final earlier this month by Mirra Andreeva, will appear in the Miami final for the first time in her career.
“I’m super happy with the level I played today. Of course super happy to be in my first Miami Open final,” said Sabalenka.
Sabalenka was never behind against Paolini. She served six aces and broke the Italian’s serve four times.
“I definitely would say that this was one of the best matches in the season so far. I don’t know. I was just so focused on myself, on the things I had to do today,” she said.
“It felt like everything was just going smoothly my way.”
Sabalenka will be keen to banish the memory of defeat in the Indian Wells final and in the Australian Open final, where she lost to Keys.
“The lessons (of those defeats) was I believe focus on myself, not on what’s going on the other side,” she said.
“I think in those finals I was more focusing on my opponents than on myself. I think I just have to bring the same attitude, the same mindset that I had today, I think I have to bring it in the finals,” she said.
“I really feel this time I’m going to do better than I did in the last two finals,” added the 26-year-old.
She is only the sixth woman to reach the finals of both stops on the American ‘Sunshine Swing’ in the same season.
Jessica Pegula ends Alexandra Eala’s fairytale run, sets up final with Aryna Sabalenka
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Jessica Pegula ends Alexandra Eala’s fairytale run, sets up final with Aryna Sabalenka
- The 19-year-old Eala, ranked 140th in the world, had only two WTA main draw victories to her name before arriving in Miami
- Filipina phenom proceeded to beat three Grand Slam winners in Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and world number two Iga Swiatek
Gündogan has two goals, Haaland scores as Man City routs Al Ain 6-0 at the Club World Cup
- Man City produced a dominating performance that sent both the English club and Italian squad Juventus to the Round of 16
ATLANTA: lkay Gündogan had a pair of goals, Erling Haaland scored on a penalty and Manchester City locked up its spot in the knockout round of the Club World Cup with a 6-0 rout of Al Ain on Sunday night.
Claudio Echeverri, Oscar Bobb and Rayan Cherki also scored for City, which is trying to put an encouraging capper on a disappointing season.
The English powerhouse finished third in the Premier League after four straight championships and went down to Real Madrid in the knockout playoff of the UEFA Champions League.
With an entirely new lineup after a 2-0 win over Morocco’s Wydad in the group opener, Man City produced a dominating performance in Atlanta against an overmatched club from the United Arab Emirates.
The time of possession was a staggering 74 percent in favor of the English side, which outshot Al Ain 21-5.
Haaland buried the penalty for his 32nd goal of the season across all competitions after a video review found that Rami Rabia took down City’s Manuel Akanji in the area on a corner kick. Cherki, one of City’s high-profile signings, scored his first goal for his new club in the waning minutes.
The expected result sent Man City and Italian club Juventus (both 2-0-0) to the Round of 16 from Group G. Al Ain has been blown out twice, losing 5-0 to Juventus in its opener.
Manchester City is the reigning club champion, winning the title in 2023 under the former seven-team format.
Key moment
After Gündogan flicked in an early goal over the head of keeper Khalid Eisa, Echeverri assured this would be an easy night for City in the 27th minute. With a free kick from just outside the area, he curled a shot over the wall that left Eisa frozen on one knee while the ball ripped the back of the net.
Takeaways
Man City will face Juventus on Thursday in Orlando to determine which team claims the top spot in the group. Then the real work begins.
They said it
“We played a little bit better than the first game, especially in the second half, but still there are a few things you have to improve.” — Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola.
“We know where our level is, but you cannot be happy ... because against this team, you must be disciplined from the first until the last second of the game.” — Al Ain coach Vladimir Ivić.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 29 points and Thunder beat Pacers 103-91 for NBA title
- The Pacers without star guard Tyrese Haliburton, who suffered an Achilles tendon injury about seven minutes into the game
- It’s the 2nd championship for the franchise, which first won the NBA title in 1979 when it was still the Seattle SuperSonics
OKLAHOMA CITY: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished off his MVP season with 29 points and 12 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA championship, pulling away in the second half to beat the Indiana Pacers 103-91 on Sunday night.
Jalen Williams scored 20 and Chet Holmgren had 18 for the Thunder, who were pushed to a Game 7 brink in the NBA Finals — but finished off a season for the ages. Oklahoma City won 84 games between the regular season and the playoffs, tying the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls for third-most in any season.
Only Golden State (88 in 2016-17) and the Bulls (87 in 2015-16) won more.
It’s the second championship for the franchise. The Seattle SuperSonics won the NBA title in 1979; the team was moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. There’s nothing in the rafters in Oklahoma City to commemorate that title.
Next October, a championship banner is finally coming. A Thunder banner.
It was not easy to secure.
The Pacers led 48-47 at the half even after losing star guard Tyrese Haliburton to what his father said was an Achilles tendon injury about seven minutes into the game. But they were outscored 34-20 in the third quarter as the Thunder built a 13-point lead and began to run away.
Bennedict Mathurin had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, which still is waiting for its first NBA title. The Pacers — who were 10-15 after 25 games and were bidding to be the first team in NBA history to turn that bad of a start into a championship — had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the series, but they simply didn’t have enough in the end.
Home teams are now 16-4 in NBA Finals Game 7s. And the Thunder became the seventh champion in the last seven seasons, a run of parity like none other in NBA history.
Pacers forward Pascal Siakam was part of the Toronto team that won in 2019, Thunder guard Alex Caruso was part of the Los Angeles Lakers team that won in the pandemic “bubble” in 2020, Milwaukee won in 2021, Golden State in 2022, Pacers forward Thomas Bryant and Denver prevailed in 2023, and Boston won last year’s title.
The Thunder are the ninth franchise to win a title in NBA Commissioner Adam Silver 12 seasons leading the league. His predecessor, David Stern, saw eight franchises win titles in his 30 seasons as commissioner.
Gold Cup: Saudi Arabia tie Trinidad, advance out of Group D
- Firas Al-Buraikan found the all-important equalizer for Saudi Arabia to notch a 1-1 draw with Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday
Firas Al-Buraikan found the all-important equalizer for Saudi Arabia to notch a 1-1 draw with Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday in Las Vegas, ensuring the CONCACAF’s guests would advance to the knockout stage of the Gold Cup.
While the United States won Group D with a perfect 3-0-0 record, Saudi Arabia finished 1-1-1 (4 points) to place second. Trinidad and Tobago (0-1-2, 2 points) would have leapfrogged Saudi Arabia for second with a victory.
Justin Garcia nearly put Trinidad ahead in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, but his point-blank shot from the center of the box caromed off the crossbar.
Al-Buraikan’s tying goal also involved the woodwork. Saleh Al-Shehri received a pass down the center lane, dribbled around one defender and watched his ensuing shot hit the crossbar and stay out of the net. Al-Buraikan ran in to collect the ball and tap it behind goalkeeper Marvin Phillip (two saves).
Dante Sealy staked Trinidad to a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute on a left-footed rocket from outside the box.
Nawaf Al-Aqidi made two saves for Saudi Arabia.
RB Salzburg, Al-Hilal tussle to 0-0 draw at Club World Cup
- Al-Hilal will play Pachuca in Nashville on Thursday
RB Salzburg and Al-Hilal played to a scoreless draw in a Group H match of the Club World Cup on Sunday in Washington.
Salzburg (1-0-1, 4 points), a 17-time Austrian Bundesliga champion, had an opportunity to become the first from Group H to advance to the quarterfinals but instead is second to Real Madrid (1-0-1, 4 points) on goal differential, which favors the Spanish club by one. They face each other in the final group match in Philadelphia on Thursday.
Al-Hilal (0-0-2, 2 points) of the Saudi Pro League, where they have won 19 titles, play Pachuca (0-2-0, 0 points), which has been eliminated, in Nashville on Thursday.
Yassine Bounou made five saves for Al-Hilal. His counterpart, Christian Zawieschitzky, had four.
The match was played with pace despite a real-feel temperature of 99 degrees.
Al-Hilal came close to a breakthrough in the 81st minute when Sergej Milinkovic-Savic earmarked a shot for the bottom left corner from outside the box, but Zawieschitzky covered the post for the save.
While Al-Hilal finished with a 19-13 advantage in attempts, it was a frustrating afternoon for each side with numerous missed chances.
Al-Hilal had 10 of the 15 shot attempts in the scoreless first half. The problem was that Zawieschitzky needed to make just one save.
It did help him that defender Jacob Rasmussen blocked a right-footed shot from Marcos Leonardo and cleared it from near the goal line in the 21st minute. Otherwise the lone Al-Hilal shot on target was by Salem Al-Dawsari in the fifth minute.
Salzburg put three of its five shots on target in the first half, including an opportunity in the ninth minute. Frans Kratzig sent a long overhead ball to Karim Onisiwo in the center of the box and he deftly flicked the ball toward keeper Yassine Bounou with the outside of his right foot.
Bounou was better tested in the 48th minute when he stood tall to deny John Mellberg staring at him from the 6-yard box.
Real Madrid beats Pachuca 3-1 in Club World Cup while playing most of the match with 10 men
- It hardly mattered as Madrid dominated the Mexican club rest of the way to give Xabi Alonso his first win as coach of the Spanish power
CHARLOTTE, N.C.: Jude Bellingham and Arda Güler scored first-half goals and short-handed Real Madrid bounced back from a disappointing performance in its Club World Cup opener to beat Pachuca 3-1 on Sunday in front of 70,248 spectators at Bank of America Stadium.
Seven minutes in, defender Raul Asencio received a red card, forcing Real Madrid to play the remainder of the match with 10 men.
It hardly mattered as Madrid dominated the Mexican club rest of the way to give Xabi Alonso his first win as coach of the Spanish power.
Bellingham got Madrid on the board in the 35th minute when he took a pass from Fran Garcia just inside the box and belted a perfectly placed left-footed shot past goalkeeper Carlos Moreno into the right corner.
Eight minutes later, Güler made it 2-0 when he delivered a right-footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom left corner off an assist from Gonzalo García. Federico Valverde put the final touches on the win in the second half with a sliding right-footed shot off an assist from Brahim Díaz.
Goalkeeper Thabaut Courtois was on form with five saves in the first half. He turned away two point-blank shots in the early going and finished with 10 saves.
Elías Montiel ended Courtois’ bid for a shutout when he scored in the 80th minute for Pachuca, which fell to 0-2 in group play.
Kylian Mbappé has missed both Club World Cup starts after being hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis. He did not travel to Charlotte, but the team remains hopeful that he’ll be ready to play on Thursday night against Salzburg.
Key moment
There were some uneasy minutes early in the match for Madrid when Asencio pulled down Pacheco’s Agustin Palavecino as he was entering the box following a breakaway, forcing Aurelein Tchouameni to move to center back. But Madrid stayed on the attack and Bellingham had the breakthrough goal.
Takeaways
Madrid looked very much out of sync on Wednesday, playing Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal to a 1-1 draw in Alonso’s first game when Federico Valverde’s stoppage-time penalty was saved. That changed on Sunday as the talented roster began to mesh, with precise passing leading to both first-half goals.
Noteworthy
The game was played on a temporary grass field. The stadium is home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, who play on an artificial surface. ... With temperatures in the low 90s Fahrenheit (low 30s Celsius), players were given a water breaks midway through each half.
What they said
“We stayed together really well. It’s impressive how the team comes together to win the game. I’m really happy with the team today.” — Bellingham.
“I’m here to win. That is my way. I want to make a statement. We played well on some occasions but I can’t settle for just that.” — Pachuca coach Jaime Lozano.
