15/05/2025

SPORTS THURSDAY | MAY 15, 2025

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J ANNIK SINNER came through the first true test of his comeback from a doping ban with yesterday’s straight sets win over Francisco Cerundolo which took the world No. 1 into the Italian Open quarter-finals. Italian Sinner bested 17th seed Cerundolo 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 in a match which was delayed by a couple of hours due to a torrential downpour. Cerundolo knocked out Sinner in the last 16 the last time he played here in 2023, but that was before the 23-year-old had became the tournament-winning machine he is today. Sinner is finding his feet in Rome, his first tournament since the end of a three month suspension accepted in February from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) following two positive tests for traces of clostebol in March last year. His true target is the French Open which follows his home event and he showed some signs of rediscovering the form which has won him three Grand Slams and last year’s ATP Finals. “I’ve gone through a lot mentally, and not only today, so it’s really important that I rest psychologically tomorrow, not think about tennis,” said Sinner. “Let’s see how well I can manage all this, but I’m pleased.” Sinner had to battle through the first set against spirited Cerundolo but once he prevailed in the tie-break he built up an unassailable lead by winning four games in a row in the second. The packed centre court stands hailed their hero after he took the win at the fourth time of asking and continue his bid for a first Rome title. The rain which delayed Sinner’s match had a much bigger impact on his compatriot Lorenzo Musetti, who reached the last eight after having to wait nearly three hours at match point before he could Howe’s men and shot themselves in the foot when Jackson thrust his elbow into defender Sven Botman’s face as the pair challenged for a high ball and, after a VAR review, was dismissed. To their credit the Londoners, who will now have to do without the frontman for the remainder of the campaign, were much improved after a halftime reshuffle which saw Reece James take over from Moises Caicedo at right-back, allowing the Ecuador international to return to his more accustomed midfield role. Cucurella and Enzo Fernandez both tested goalkeeper Nick Pope as Chelsea pushed for an equaliser, and it was not until Bruno Guimaraes’ deflected 90th-minute shot looped over Robert Sanchez and into the net that the Magpies cemented a priceless win. “We are disappointed. We know it was an important game and we lost. We are upset,” the Spanish defender added. “Now is the moment to show character. Everything we have been building towards, we need to show now. “We need to forget this game, take the positives, we need to be proud of our effort when we played with 10 men, and we should be happy with our effort. “We played very well at points and we were in the game until the end and we created chances. Now we need to forget this game because we have an important game on Friday.” – The Independent

finish off his victory over Daniil Medvedev. Musetti held his nerve to win on the first point after the long break and made sure that his first week in the top 10 of the world rankings would bring another solid run in a big tournament, after he reached the final in Monte Carlo and the last four in Madrid. Organisers later said that Musetti would have to pull out of his doubles campaign alongside Lorenzo Sonego due to an injury to his right arm. Fellow Italian Jasmine Paolini was playing on centre court at the same time as the first part of Musetti’s match but managed to complete her comeback from a set down to beat Diana Shnaider 6-7 (1 7), 6-4, 6-2 just before the worst of the weather hit. Paolini is the first Italian woman to reach the Rome semifinals since 2014, when her doubles partner Sara Errani got to the final only to be soundly beaten by Serena Williams. Approaching 1am local time Peyton Stearns rounded out the delayed day’s play, edging Ukrainian 16th seed Elina Svitolina 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) to secure her place in the semifinals. Much earlier Carlos Alcaraz beat Karen Khachanov 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in a hugely entertaining opening match of the day on centre court. Third seed Alcaraz had never lost a set in his previous four meetings with Khachanov but was forced to fight to get past Russia’s Khachanov. The Spaniard took his 12th clay-court win of the year to set up a clash in the last eight with fifth seed Jack Draper, a winner over France’s Corentin Moutet. “It was tiring. You know the match was really tough. I had to run. I had to run a lot,” said Alcaraz. “I didn’t play well. I just fought and I’m just really happy about it.” – AFP Lula says Brazil has ‘capable’ coaches BRAZIL doesn’t need foreigners to coach its national football team, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said yesterday following the appointment of Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti to head the Selecao . Italian Ancelotti on Monday became the first non-Brazilian since 1965 to take the reins of Brazil’s national team, which he is hoping to lead to World Cup glory next year. “Honestly, I have nothing against him being a foreigner… What I think is that we have coaches in Brazil capable of leading the Selecao ,“ Lula told journalists in China, according to a video circulated in Brazilian media. A football enthusiast, Lula had expressed skepticism in the past about the potential appointment of Ancelotti, which had been on the cards for years. “He has never been Italy’s national coach… Why does he not resolve the problems of Italy, which did not even qualify for the 2022 World Cup?” the president said in 2023. On Tuesday, he described Ancelotti as a “great technician” and said he hoped the Italian “can help the Brazilian team, first to qualify for the World Cup, and then, if possible, to win it.” The Selecao is placed fourth in the qualifying phase for the 2026 World Cup that will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. It has 21 points from 14 matches, less than Ecuador, Uruguay and world champions Argentina. The top six Latin American teams will qualify for the 2026 event. – AFP

Sinner moves through the gears

World No. 1 books Italian Open quarters spot with straight-sets win

Italy’s Jannik Sinner in action during his round of 16 match against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo (not pictured). – REUTERSPIC

Vowles vows no more team orders confusion at Williams

Cucurella urges Chelsea to handle the heat

Ű BY DAMIAN SPELLMAN

WILLIAMS have made changes to avoid repeating the situation in Miami where Carlos Sainz mistakenly thought Alex Albon had ignored orders not to pass, team boss James Vowles said yesterday. Sainz complained after the May 4 Formula One race that he had been made to “feel stupid” after being informed Albon would hold position behind only for the Thai to then overtake. “That is not how I go racing. I don’t care. I’ve lost a lot of confidence here, on everything,“ the Spaniard, who joined from Ferrari in January, said over the team radio. Vowles told reporters at the team factory that the matter had been resolved in about two minutes once he sat down with the drivers after the race. Albon ended up fifth with Sainz ninth in Williams’ best result in six races so far this season. The team are fifth in the standings going into this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in Imola. Vowles said Miami was the first time Williams had to do serious team orders since he took charge and it was down to a cooling issue on Albon’s car that meant he needed to overtake or fall back by more than a second to get air into the

radiator.

The problem triggered a lengthy discussion between engineers about what to do and one of them assured Sainz that “Alex won’t attack” while the other was still debating the best course of action. Sainz, who joined from Ferrari in January, has formed a strong pairing with Albon at the resurgent former champions and the incident was the first apparent flare-up between them. “I can give you a guarantee it won’t happen again with what we’ve changed,” said Vowles. “Race engineers, actually for a lot of it, are parrots. So if you give them a long winded thing, they have to start thinking through and break it up,” he added when asked what had been done. “If you explain an instruction – ‘do not overtake’ – I guarantee you that will go to the cars and the cars won’t overtake. “That’s not what we did. It was a long discussion of all that was going wrong, what corner it was going wrong and how to mitigate against it with an instruction embedded in there. “It just needs to be short, concise, to the point with the right person communicating to the right people, in the right moment, that’s it.” – Reuters

MARC CUCURELLA has told his Chelsea teammates they need to handle the pressure of the fight for Champions League qualification if they are to edge across the finishing line. The Blues’ hopes of securing a top-five finish were dealt a blow on Sunday when they went down 2-0 at fellow contenders Newcastle to leave themselves in fifth place, but level on points with Aston Villa and just one ahead of final-day opponents Nottingham Forest. Enzo Maresca’s men host Manchester United on Friday (Saturday 3.15am Malaysian time) before the trip to the City Ground with their fate still in their own hands, but needing to hold their nerve after a bruising game on Tyneside. Cucurella told the club’s official website: “Every game in this League is tough and the table shows it’s still tight. This is one of the best Leagues in the world. “We are preparing for this and we need to show we can play under pressure if we want to achieve our objectives. “We need to play the game that we planned and show we are ready to play in these types of games.” Chelsea – or more accurately striker Nicolas Jackson – did not handle that pressure at St James’ Park in a first half which left them with a mountain to climb. Already trailing to Sandro Tonali’s second-minute goal, the visitors struggled to make an impression against Eddie