27/05/2025

SPORTS TUESDAY | MAY 27, 2025 29 Paolini survives wobble Italian fourth-seed recovers to beat Yuan at French Open J ASMINE PAOLINI, last season’s beaten finalist, had to dig deep to battle past China’s Yuan Yue in the French Open first round yesterday before earning a nerve-wracking 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory. found a way back into the match and rattled off the next four games to book her second-round spot. “It was tough,” Paolini said. “I won quite easy the first set but then she started to play better. A bit of emotions came out. beginning his campaign with the firm intention of winning the title.

Nadal touched by presence of great rivals

RAFA NADAL said the presence of his friends and rivals Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray during a celebration of his glorious career at the French Open made an emotional Sunday evening all the more special. Thousands of fans including defending men’s and women’s champions Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek wore brick-red “Merci Rafa” shirts before 14-times Roland Garros champion Nadal was immortalised on Court Philippe Chatrier with a plaque. The loudest cheers, however, came when Federer, Djokovic and Murray stepped onto the hallowed clay court to share a few words and laughs with Nadal after the Spaniard had welled up watching a video of his greatest moments. “I didn’t know, but I imagined they would come. The agendas of people sometimes are difficult. But of course, they knew that they were going to make the day very special,” Nadal told a packed press conference.

“Novak is playing here, so it’s easier. But Andy and Roger coming meant a lot to me because they represent a very important part of my tennis career. In some ways we pushed each other to the limits. That’s the truth. “We were four of the best rivals. In some way when you’re only two, you can lose a bit the motivation because the other starts losing or gets injured. Here, you never had to imagine, because always one of the four was winning the tournament. “We achieved our dreams. And probably because of that kind of rivalry we raised the numbers of the history of tennis to the next level. That helps to the next generation to try to improve them. I’m sure that’s going to happen. “I don’t miss tennis much, because I feel that I gave it all that I had,” Nadal added. “I arrived today with the peace that I can’t be on court. My body don’t allow me to be on court. So that’s all. I am in peace.” – Reuters/AFP

The eighth-seeded Musetti, the only player to reach the last four of all three Masters events on clay this season, huffed and puffed through the opening set on court Philippe Chatrier before easing to a straightforward win. Peppering the court with winners and unforced errors in equal measure, Musetti managed to break decisively for 6-5 in the first set, which he wrapped up on serve with a delicate volley. It was then plain sailing for the Tuscan, who read his opponent’s serve perfectly to break repeatedly and used his elegant single-handed backhand to perfection to set up a clash with wildcard Valentin Royer or lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan. While he has never made it past the last 16 at the French Open, Musetti believes he has what it takes to prevail on the Parisian clay. “I think after this clay swing, I feel ready to try to go for the trophy.” – Reuters

The Italian fourth-seed got off to a sizzling start, powering through the first set in 25 minutes and punishing the Chinese with a barrage of deep ground strokes. Paolini, who last week became the first Italian woman in four decades to claim the Italian Open title, gave Yuan, who littered the court with 14 unforced errors in the first set, no chance. But as Yuan gradually adapted to the diminutive Italian’s game, Paolini’s own errors started to pile up and she found herself 4-2 down before the Chinese held serve to draw level. Paolini, who also reached last year’s Wimbledon final, was broken again by Yuan early in the third set when the Chinese fired a sensational backhand down the line to go 3-2 up. But the 29-year-old late bloomer

“I was then 3-2 down with a break but I did it. Hopefully I will play better then next round. We will see.” Former US Open winner Emma Raducanu made a winning return to Roland Garros yesterday as she beat Wang Xinyu in three sets to set up a second round clash with reigning champion Iga Swiatek, after the Pole swept through 6-3, 6-3 against Slovakian Rebecca Sramkova. The 22-year-old Briton overcame her Chinese opponent 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in her first appearance at the French Open since 2022. On the men’s side, Italian Lorenzo Musetti found his touch after a tight first set to reach the second round with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-0 victory over German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann,

Three things for Alonso to ponder at Madrid XABI ALONSO is returning to Real Madrid with the former midfielder taking over as coach from Carlo Ancelotti and leading the team at the upcoming Club World Cup. Here’s a look at three areas the 43-year-old Spaniard will have to think about in the weeks and months ahead as he tries to plot a course back towards major trophies, with Los Blancos ending this season empty-handed. RESTORE THE BALANCE Alonso’s predecessor Ancelotti spent much of the last season complaining his team was unbalanced and also lacked “collective commitment”. In short, the squad had too many attackers he felt he had to cram onto the field, while injuries left the defence in tatters and Madrid did not sign someone to replace midfielder Toni Kroos, who retired last summer. French superstar Kylian Mbappe’s arrival at the end of his Paris Saint-Germain contract in 2024 was the big change for a Madrid side that won a Champions League and La Liga double. Alonso has to work out a way for Mbappe and Vinicius Junior to work in tandem while still pressing effectively and making sure Madrid are not outnumbered when on the back foot. Veteran midfielder Luka Modric’s departure after the Club World Cup means Alonso will be losing yet more poise, technique and wisdom from the midfield. The former Bayer Leverkusen coach has largely used a 3-4-3 formation which could suit Madrid’s squad, particularly with the expected arrival of Trent Alexander Arnold from Liverpool. HANDLE THE SUPERSTARS If there was one particular task Ancelotti excelled at, it was keeping a dressing room full of big names and big egos happy. Ancelotti managed to get the best out of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale in his first spell at the Santiago Bernabeu and then helped turn Vinicius into a superstar in his second. Alonso has an aura about him which could help in the same way it did for Zinedine Zidane, another former Madrid player who thrived at the helm. STOPPING RAMPANT BARCA One of the nails in Ancelotti’s coffin at Madrid was the way his team collapsed against their arch-rivals in all four Clasicos this season. Ancelotti’s side could not cope with Hansi Flick’s high defensive line and relentless pressing, and Alonso will already be studying the German’s set-up to make sure Madrid fare far better next season in the crunch clashes. AFP

after dragging his boyhood club up from near the relegation spots following his second return in November. A Europa League place is still some achievement for Roma given where they were when Ranieri arrived, especially with local rivals Lazio not having any European football next season after losing 1-0 at home to Lecce, who stay up. Lazio dropped out of the European places with defeat at the Stadio Olimpico and Fiorentina beating Udinese 3-2 to claim the UEFA Conference League spot. Venezia meanwhile join bottom club Monza and Empoli, 2-1 losers at home to relegation rivals Verona, in Serie B. – AFP Barca sign off in style LA LIGA champions Barcelona celebrated a successful season with a 3-0 win at Athletic Bilbao yesterday in their final match, with Robert Lewandowski netting twice to pass his 100 goal milestone for the club. The veteran Polish forward, 36, reached 27 league goals for the season, although he finished behind Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe on 31. Barcelona wrapped up a domestic treble with Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cups wins, while fourth-place Athletic also had a fine season and returned to the Champions League for the first time in 11 years. Athletic defender Oscar de Marcos made his 570th and final appearance for the club, behind only Jose Angel Iribar, a goalkeeper who played 614 times in the 1960s and 70s, in the club’s history. Even Iribar might not have saved Lewandowski’s opener after the striker was fed by Fermin Lopez, brilliantly scooping over current Bilbao goalkeeper Unai Simon to put Barca ahead and rack up the Catalans’ 100th league goal of the season. It also brought up a century of goals for Lewandowski in a Barcelona shirt since joining in 2022 from Bayern Munich, and another was soon to follow. Three minutes later Lewandowski nodded in at the back post after a corner was flicked into his path. “I am very happy, very proud to be part of this team, this club, it’s been something amazing,” Lewandowski told Barca One . “I try to do my best, not only with goals but my attitude on and off the pitch – and there are so many young players we have to take care of them. “We did something great (this season) but we know we can still do a lot (more) things.” – AFP

Barcelona’s Eric Garcia (left) in action with Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams. – REUTERSPIC

Juve pip Roma to secure Champions League spot JUVENTUS qualified for the Champions League yesterday after beating relegated Venezia 3-2 to pip Roma, 2-0 winners at Torino, to Serie A’s final spot by a single point. hope of survival nine minutes after the break and put Roma briefly fourth. Claudio Ranieri’s Roma were two goals ahead at that point through a Leandro Paredes penalty in the 18th minute and Alexis Saelemaekers’ header seven minutes after the break, with fans of the capital club hoping Venezia would hold out.

Manuel Locatelli’s penalty in the 73rd minute won an exciting contest on the Venice Lagoon and secured Juve fourth place on the final day of an eventful season. Juve looked set for a straightforward win when quickfire goals from Kenan Yildiz and Randal Kolo Muani put the away side ahead on the half-hour mark, after falling behind to Daniel Fila’s strike in the second minute. But Ridgeciano Haps gave Venezia, who had to win to have any chance of staying up,

However, Locatelli calmly stroked Juve back into the lead and Europe’s top club competition after Francisco Conceicao was clumsily brought down in the penalty area by Hans Nicolussi Caviglia. Ranieri ended his coaching career just missing out on giving Roma their first Champions League qualification since 2018,