06/03/2025

THURSDAY | MAR 6, 2025

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SPORTS

Easy does it

BRIEFS ‘Positives’ for Australia despite exit

Alcaraz taking softly-softly approach in quest for third straight Indian Wells title

C ARLOS ALCARAZ will take a softly softly approach as he vies to become just the third man to win three straight titles at Indian Wells, where he could find a member of that exclusive club, Novak Djokovic, standing in his way in the quarterfinals. “I will try not to think about it,” Alcaraz said of his bid to match the treble feat achieved by Djokovic in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and Roger Federer in 2004, ‘05 and ‘06. “I will try just to enjoy it,” Alcaraz told reporters yesterday as he prepped for the elite ATP Masters 1000 tournament that starts overnight alongside a WTA 1000 tournament. “ T h i s

AUSTRALIA captain Steve Smith yesterday said his team’s inexperienced bowlers would be “better for the exposure” after slipping to a Champions Trophy semifinal defeat by India yesterday. Australia were without their frontline pace trio for the tournament, with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood sidelined by injuries and Mitchell Starc out due to personal reasons. All-rounder Cooper Connolly replaced Matthew Short, who missed the semifinal through injury, while leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha was brought into the team for just his fourth ODI appearance. “I think we’ve got pretty good records in big games in ICC events and I thought the guys turned up and did a really good job,” Smith told reporters. “It’s obviously a bit of inexperience in our team, particularly our bowling attack. Some new guys there who I thought did a really good job as well. They’re going to be better for the exposure to a big event and playing against world-class players like the ones we came up against today and throughout the tournament. So, plenty of positives to take from it.” Raducanu ‘couldn’t see ball through tears’ EMMA RADUCANU revealed yesterday she “couldn’t see the ball through the tears” after being targeted by a stalker during last month’s Dubai WTA 1000 tournament. The British tennis star was left distraught after a man later said to be displaying “fixated behavior” appeared at a courtside seat during her defeat to Karolina Muchova. Former US Open champion Raducanu, 22, is making her first tournament appearance since her troubled Dubai campaign at this week’s event in California. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Raducanu said she was determined not to let the incident derail her career. “There’s a part of you that thinks, ‘I’m not gonna let a middle-aged creep stop me doing what I love to do,’” Raducanu told The Athletic . “I think the allure of Indian Wells being my favourite tournament, I just couldn’t really step away from it.” Recounting the details of her Dubai ordeal, Raducanu said: “I saw him first game of the match, and I was like: ‘I don’t know how I’m going to finish’. I literally couldn’t see the ball through the tears, I could barely breathe. It was a very emotional time and after the match I did completely break down in tears.” Size does not matter for Gavaskar BATTING great Sunil Gavaskar backed India skipper Rohit Sharma after a fat shaming post by an Indian politician, saying cricket is about skill not “modelling”. Shama Mohamed, a spokeswoman for India’s opposition Congress party, posted on X : “Rohit Sharma is fat for a sportsman! Need to lose weight! And of course the most unimpressive Captain India has ever had!.” Shama came under fire for the post – later deleted – from media, pundits and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. “I have always said, if you want only slim guys, then you should go to a modelling competition and pick all the models. It’s not about that,”Gavaskar told India Today . Gavaskar spoke about how Indian batsman Sarfaraz Khan had also been “vilified” for his weight issues, but said it was performances that mattered. “I don’t think size has anything to do with it,” said Gavaskar. “It’s your mental strength, whether you can last the distance, that’s the most important thing. Bat well, bat for long, and score runs.”

players in the world (that) are playing here,” he said. “I think the draw is really open. I’m just focused on my things, on myself, and I try to play good tennis here.” All 32 seeded players receive a first-round bye, and Djokovic could face a tricky second round opener against Nick Kyrgios. The Australian, who fell to Djokovic in the 2022 Wimbledon final, will open against a qualifier. Top-seeded Zverev is chasing a first Indian Wells title while third-seeded American Taylor Fritz lifted the trophy in the California desert in 2022. Norway’s Casper Ruud is seeded fourth and Russian Daniil Medvedev – runner-up to Alcaraz the past two years – is seeded fifth. The first-round spotlight will be on wild card Joao Fonseca, the 18-year-old Brazilian who upset Andre Rublev at the Australian Open and lifted his first ATP title in Buenos Aires in February. Fonseca will open his campaign against Britain’s Jacob Fearnley, who has climbed from outside the top 500 in he world rankings this time last year to 81st. – AFP

to think about it, just flow and see how it’s going to be, the tournament. But it is something that for me would be great to achieve.” Alcaraz, coming off a quarterfinal defeat in the Qatar Open, is seeded second behind Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who finished runner-up at the Australian Open to Italian world No. 1 Jannik Sinner. Sinner last month accepted a belated three-month ban after testing positive a year ago for traces of banned Clostebol. Alcaraz said

Sinner’s absence doesn’t change his approach “at all”. “I mean, Jannik’s not playing, but there are a lot of the best

tournament, every time that I come here, I enjoy so much practicing, playing. Everything for me here is so easy. “So I will try not

Carlos Alcaraz. – AFPPIC

Keys tries to temper expectations

MADISON KEYS staying grounded in the wake of her breakthrough Grand Slam title at the Australian Open will be key to building on that success as she heads into the Indian Wells hard court tournament this week. “Coming into this tournament, I would be lying if I said that I don’t have more expectations after having the start of the year that I do,” Keys said yesterday as she prepared for her first tournament since Melbourne. The 30-year-old American thwarted Aryna Sabalenka’s bid for a third-straight Australian Open title in January, a triumph that was the culmination of a 15-year journey from teenage prodigy to major winner. Keys, the fourth-oldest first-time winner of a major since the Open Era began in 1968, said it was “really important for me and for my team to remember how we got there and what we were doing. “And I think kind of going back to that, and staying really grounded in that is going to be really important,” said Keys, adding that she would try to balance honesty in terms of expectations with “knowing that I don’t think anyone really thrives when you have such a dramatic mind shift so says

far as possible” in the California desert. Poland’s Swiatek could face a tricky second-round clash with Caroline Garcia if the French veteran wins her first-round match. – AFP

quickly after success.” Keys is the fifth seed in a WTA field headed by world No. 1 Sabalenka. Defending champion Iga Swiatek is seeded second ahead of Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula. Sabalenka, Swiatek and Gauff have won just one singles title among them this year – Sabalenka’s victory in Brisbane – and none has made a final since the Australian Open. They’ll be trying to reassert their dominance during the US hard court “Sunshine Double” of Indian Wells and Miami. Sabalenka says she’s moved on from her Australian Open disappointment and the

Belarusian is eager to put another disappointing February behind her after early exits in Doha and Dubai. “February is not my month, I believe,” said Sabalenka, adding that now that she’s rested she

really wans “to go as

Madison Keys. – AFPPIC

Virat leads India to Champions Trophy final VIRAT KOHLI produced a trademark innings with a polished 84 as India pulled off a tense chase to beat Australia by four wickets in the first semifinal of the Champions Trophy yesterday. Australia elected to bat and posted 264 all out after strong knocks from captain Steve Smith, who made 73, and Alex Carey, who hit 61.

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In reply India lost two early wickets before Virat and Shreyas Iyer, who made 45, put the chase back on track in their partnership of 91. “I take pride in doing what my team wants,” added the 36-year-old Virat. “Those things (individual records) don’t matter anymore for me. It’s just about stepping out and hopefully doing the job for the team.” Smith said of Virat: “He’s arguably the best chaser the game has seen. He’s done it numerous times against us. “He controls the tempo of the game really well, plays to his strengths and takes the game deep.” – AFP

Set 265 for victory, India lost the 36-year old Virat in the closing overs but KL Rahul’s unbeaten 42 steered the team home with 11 balls to spare at the Dubai International Stadium. “This game is all about pressure, especially in big games like semis and finals,” said player of the match Virat. “If you go deep into the innings and have wickets in hand, the opposition usually gives in and the game becomes easier. It is very important to control your impulses while the game is going on.”