08/07/2025

TUESDAY | JULY 8, 2025

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SPORTS

Alcaraz tames red-hot Rublev Spaniard eyes third successive Wimbledon title after hard-fought win

WORLD NO. 1 Aryna Sabalenka marched into the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Sunday as her former doubles partner Elise Mertens fell short of upsetting the US Open champion. Sabalenka has never reached a final at the All England Club but is the player to beat as the only one of the top six seeds in the women’s draw still standing. The 27-year-old missed last year’s Wimbledon due to injury and was banned in 2022 as part of a blanket suspension on Russian and Belarusian athletes due to the invasion of Ukraine. Sabalenka looks determined to make up for lost time and, just like in her third-round victory over Emma Raducanu, had to overcome a tough test from Mertens to progress 6-4, 7-6 (7 4). The pair won the 2019 US Open and 2021 Australian Open together as a doubles partner ship, but Sabalenka has now won their last 10 meetings against each other in singles. “It’s tough to play against someone you know quite close, it’s tricky facing her,” said Sabalenka. Sabalenka powers into quarters

INDIA captain Shubman Gill said he was happy “to lead by example” after his stunning run-spree in a series-levelling win against England in the second Test at Edgbaston. Shubman, for all he has long been regarded as an exceptional talent, arrived in England with a modest Test batting average of under 36. There were also doubts about how Shubman would impose his authority after being thrust into the captaincy following Rohit Sharma’s retirement from Test cricket in May. And the new skipper also had to occupy the No. 4 position of childhood hero Virat Kohli after he too called time on his Test career. Yet at Edgbaston, Shubman became the first batsman in Test history to score 250 and 150 in the same match thanks to superb innings of 269 and 161 as India thrashed England by 336 runs. Victory, the first by an C ARLOS ALCARAZ came through a ferocious fourth-round firefight against a red-hot Andrey Rublev to win 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Centre Court and keep his bid for a third successive Wimbledon title on track yesterday. The Spanish second seed stuttered in his opening three rounds but found his best form to eventually subdue an inspired opponent who once again came up short against the very best. Rublev rocked Alcaraz by roaring into a 4-1 lead only to be pegged back but the Russian produced some astonishing tennis to snatch the tiebreak and move ahead. Alcaraz never looked ruffled though and levelled the match after Rublev double-faulted on a break point. Rublev continued throwing everything in his arsenal at the champion in the third set but paid for not taking some early break points as Alcaraz found another gear. Alcaraz looked impregnable in the fourth set and a single break of serve was enough to seal a 22nd successive match win and set up a last eight clash with Britain’s Cameron Norrie. “Andrey is one of the most powerful players we have on Tour and is so aggressive with the ball. “It’s really difficult to face him, he forces you to the limit on each point,” Alcaraz, bidding to become only the fourth man to win back-to back French Open and Wimbledon titles multiple times, said on court. “I think I played intelligent and smart today against him, tactically,” said the 22-year-old. “A really good match, which I’m really proud about.” The five-time Grand Slam champion said he always believes in himself, even when facing adversity. “One point can change the match completely, turn everything around. “In tennis, you have to stay there all the time. Being strong mentally, to stay there. I knew that I was going to play better.” With so many seeds having fallen early, this was the first match between top-20 players in the men’s singles this year and it did not disappoint as the quality scaled rare heights. Rublev, 27, has barely been outside of the top 10 since 2022 but has never got close to winning a Grand Slam, losing all 10 quarterfinals that he has contested. The 14th seed must have sighed when he

saw Alcaraz in his way in the fourth round, but he came out in positive fashion, off-loading rockets at the five-time Grand Slam champion. With the roof closed after earlier thunderstorms the noise of the ball striking strings sounded like rifle shots. The turning point came at 3-3 in the third set when Rublev, attempting to save a break point, sent Alcaraz sliding from side to side with a barrage of power only for the Spaniard to

whip a forehand cross court winner, before cupping his ear to the crowd who rose as one to salute the moment of genius. Speaking after his defeat, Rublev said: “I’m learning to be more kind to myself. That’s why I was able today to be super positive, to fight until the end w i t h o u t saying a word.

“I know how smart she is, I know she is going to fight until the very end. She really challenged me today and I’m super happy with the win.” Sabalenka faces Germany’s Laura Siegemund in the last eight today. “It’s such a beautiful tourna ment. I always dreamed of winning it,” she added of potentially claiming a first Wimbledon title. “I’m just trying to give my

“Definitely the level is there. Now it’s more about some details. “In the last week and a half since I came to

best and r e a l l y hope for the best.” – AFP

Wimbledon, I don’t remember myself on this kind of level (for a while). If I will be able to keep it, then for sure something will happen.” – AFP/Agencies Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in action during his round of 16 match against Russia’s Andrey Rublev (not pictured) yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka celebrates after defeating Belgium’s Elise Mertens (not pictured) in the last 16 match on Sunday. – REUTERSPIC

SHORTS

Shubman lead by example as India level series

human judges this year. Tournament officials later said the problem had been caused by operator error and that the umpire had followed the correct protocols. Australia beat Windies to clinch series AUSTRALIA defeated the West Indies by 133 runs before tea on the fourth day of the second Test in Grenada yesterday. Set the daunting target of 277 in a low-scoring match on a two-paced pitch which made free strokeplay almost impossible, the home side side were bundled out for 143 off 34.3 overs for the visitors to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead and extend their 20-year hold on the Frank Worrell Trophy. Australia now have the chance to complete a clean sweep of the three-match series when the final Test, a day/night fixture, gets underway on Saturday in Kingston, Jamaica. Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon led the rout with three wickets each, the left-arm fast bowler lifting his overall Test tally to 394 to fuel the tantalising prospect of reaching the 400-wicket mark in his 100th Test in the series finale. West Indies captain Roston Chase top scored with 34 while Shamar Joseph carved his way to 24 when the writing was already on the wall. Joseph had taken two of the final three Australian second innings wickets to fall at the start of the day to finish with four for 66 as the visitors were dismissed for 243.

Line-calling system under fire WIMBLEDON’S automated line-calling technology came under fire yesterday after an embarrassing malfunction robbed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of a point during her last 16 victory over Britain’s Sonay Kartal on Centre Court. Russian Pavlyuchenkova had reached game point at 4-4 in the opening set when Kartal hit a shot that looked clearly long but there was no call and Pavlyuchenkova stopped play. An automated voice call of “Stop Stop” rang out and confusion reigned as umpire Nico Helwerth sought advice from tournament organisers via telephone. Television replays showed that Kartal's shot was clearly out, yet Helwerth ruled that because the Hawk-Eye technology had not tracked the ball, the point needed to be replayed. Pavlyuchenkova went on to drop serve and was fuming at the changeover, telling the umpire: “Because she is local, they can say whatever. You took the game away from me. They stole the game from me. You stole the game from me”. The 34-year-old quickly recovered and showed the resilience that has marked her long career by reaching the quarterfinals with a 7-6(3), 6-4 win. But the main talking point was Wimbledon's automated line-calling system that has replaced

at Edgbaston. “That’s what I wanted to do in this match. If a good ball gets me out, it gets me out. But as long as I am there, I want to play as long as possible,” he added. India’s first win in their nine Tests at Edgbaston also owed much to a superb display by Akash Deep. Given the daunting task of replacing spearhead quick Jasprit Bumrah, rested at

Edgbaston, he responded with a career-best match return of 10 147. “He bowled with so much heart and skilfully with his lengths,” said Shubman. “He moved it in both directions, which was tough to do. He was magnificent for us.” – AFP

India side in their nine Tests at Edgbaston, levelled the five-match

series at 1-1 heading into Thursday’s encounter with England at Lord’s.

“When you are the captain, I think you need to lead by example, so whenever there is another player in that situation, you can tell that player, this is what the team requires right now,” Shubman told reporters after India won before tea on the final day

India’s Shubman Gill plays a shot on day four against England. – AFPPIC