12/02/2026

SPORTS THURSDAY | FEB 12, 2026

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Battle-tested Cilic reaches 600 wins

BRIEFS De Zerbi leaves Marseille

FORMER US Open champion Marin Cilic said that joining an elite club of players with at least 600 match wins on the ATP Tour was proof of his dedication to the sport after battling through several injury-ravaged seasons. The 37-year-old, who has had two knee surgeries since 2023, downed American Learner Tien 7 5, 7-6(4) at the Dallas Open yester day to reach the milestone, put

and underwent surgery. That was followed by another in 2024 fol lowing difficulties in his recovery. The former world No. 3 bounced back on the biggest stage by reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon last year and the third round of the Australian Open last month. Cilic will face another American in Dallas with either Trevor Svajda or Ethan Quinn up next. – Reuters

have a fantastic career, is just a joy. “To get this milestone speaks volumes about my dedication to tennis, living in this sport for so many years. It’s given me so much joy and I love it. It’s fun to be out here still competing and I can’t be happier.” Cilic, who claimed his only Grand Slam trophy at Flushing Meadows in 2014, tore the lateral meniscus on his right knee in 2023

ting him second behind Novak Djokovic (1,168 wins) among active players. “It’s been so difficult these last couple of years, I was battling through many things,” said Cilic, who also went past Croatian com patriot Goran Ivanisevic’s career tally of 599 tour-level victories. “Just to get to this level, playing this well against guys like Learner, who’s an incredible player and can

OLYMPIQUE DEMARSEILLE coach Roberto De Zerbi has left his role by mutual consent with immediate effect, the Ligue 1 side said yesterday. De Zerbi’s departure comes after the team’s 5-0 thrashing by rivals Paris St Germain in the league on Sunday and their exit from the Champions League last month. “Olympique de Marseille and Roberto De Zerbi, coach of the first team, have announced the end of their collaboration by mutual agreement,” Marseille said in a statement. “Following discussions between all stakehold ers in the club’s management – the owner, president, director of football, and coach – it was decided to make a change at the helm of the first team. This was a difficult collective decision, taken after careful consideration in the best interests of the club, in order to respond to the sporting challenges of the end of the season.” De Zerbi, who joined Marseille in 2024 following his successful stint with Brighton and Hove Albion, guided the side to second in the league last season behind PSG. They sit fourth in the table this season after 21 games. Napoli out of Italian Cup COMO knocked Napoli out 7-6 on penalties after a 1-1 draw yesterday to reach the semifi nals of the Italian Cup for the first time in 40 years. Martin Baturina’s spot-kick put Como ahead before the break in Naples but Antonio Vergara raced in behind the defence to equal ise for the hosts moments into the second half. Romelu Lukaku stuck his effort wide for Napoli in the shootout and Como’s Maximo Perrone then had his kick saved by Vanja Milinkovic Savic as it went to sudden death. It was Napoli who eventually blinked first as Jean Butez plunged to his right to keep out Stanislav Lobotka’s attempt and send Como through to a semifinal clash with Inter Milan. Inter are set to host Como in the first leg in early March before the return fixture takes place in late April. Freiburg sink Hertha on penalties FREIBURG squeezed into the German Cup semifinals after a 5-4 penalty shootout win at Hertha Berlin yesterday, following a 1-1 draw after extra time. After a goalless 90 minutes, Yuito Suzuki finally broke the deadlock in extra time, only for Hertha captain Fabian Reese to equalise with a superb long-range strike. Freiburg goalkeeper Florian Muller then saved Pascal Klemens’ spot-kick in the shootout to send his side through, joining Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart in the last four. Hertha welcomed 2022 runners-up Freiburg to Berlin hoping to reach a German Cup final on home soil for the first time in their history. Bournemouth fight back to beat Everton BRAZILIAN TEENAGER Rayan continued his blistering start to life in the Premier League as Bournemouth came from behind to defeat 10 man Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium. After making a move from Vasco de Gama last month, Rayan scored for a second game in a row to cancel out Iliman Ndiaye’s first half pen alty, before Amine Adli put Bournemouth ahead less than four minutes later. A disastrous eight-minute period for Everton was com pounded when defender Jake O’Brien was sent off for a professional foul on Adli. “He showed his character,”Adli said of Rayan to TNT Sports . “He is a massive talent and we are very happy to have him. We are always behind every player that makes a mistake and today we showed that we are a strong team and we are behind each other in good and bad moments.” Victory extends Bournemouth’s unbeaten run to six Premier Legue games, whereas Everton are now winless in their last five home league matches.

Gauff dumped out of Qatar Open Swiatek, Rybakina through to last 16 in Doha

Coco Gauff hits a return against Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto (not pictured) during yesterday’s women’s singles match at the Qatar Open in Doha. – AFPPIC

C OCO GAUFF suffered a surprise sec ond-round exit from the WTA 1000 event in Doha yesterday, losing in straight sets to Italian lucky loser Elisabetta Cocciaretto. The fourth seed, who was beaten 6-4, 6-2, was followed out of the Qatar Open by sixth seed Jasmine Paolini and eighth-seeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova. There were no such problems for Iga Swiatek or Elena Rybakina, though, as the top seed and newly-crowned Australian Open champion both cruised into the last 16. American Gauff, who received a first-round bye, was also knocked out of the tournament in her opening match last year. Cocciaretto will face Ann Li in the next round after only the third victory of her career against a top-10 ranked opponent. The world No. 57 said she was inspired by her friend and skier Sofia Goggia, who took

Daria Kasatkina for a place in the quarterfinals. She has won her last six meetings with the Russian-born Australian without dropping a set. “She can come to the match feeling that she has nothing to lose,” said Swiatek of facing Kasatkina. “There are different ways the match can go, and I wouldn’t say that focusing on the last results gives a lot. I’d rather stay ready for the challenge and not really think about the previ ous ones.” Rybakina continued her fine form with a 6 2, 6-4 success against Wang Xinyu and will next face another Chinese player in Zheng Qinwen. World No. 3 Rybakina has not played Zheng since a group-stage loss at the 2024 WTA Finals. Australian Open semifinalist Elina Svitolina and rising Canadian star Victoria Mboko also reached the third round. – AFP by the Football League for breaches of financial regulations. Birmingham missed the chance to move into the playoff places after they were held to a 0-0 draw by West Bromwich Albion at St Andrew’s. New West Brom boss Eric Ramsay remains winless but claimed a second successive draw to help his side move two points above the relegation zone. Mohamed Toure hit a hattrick as Norwich made it five wins from their last six matches with a 3-0 victory at second-bottom Oxford. – AFP

bronze in the women’s downhill event at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics at the week end. “We always send messages and FaceTime to talk about our sports and how you manage some things,” she said of Goggia. “She gives me a lot of advice … “I love how they (skiers) approach the sport. They have fear of nothing. They’re focused a lot and they put themselves after everything.” Former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari saw off Paolini, also 6-4, 6-2, to set up a last-16 tie with Varvara Gracheva. Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko was another 6-4, 6-2 winner over Alexandrova. Swiatek dropped just eight points in the first set as she brushed aside Indonesia’s Janice Tjen 6-0, 6-3 in her first match since losing in the Australian Open last eight to Rybakina. The six-time Grand Slam winner will play

Southampton’s comeback leaves Leicester in turmoil SOUTHAMPTON made an incredible late comeback from three goals down to beat crisis club Leicester 4-3 in the Championship yester day. and Ryan Manning equalised five minutes later. Shea Charles struck six minutes into stop page time to snatch the points for Southampton in dramatic fashion, leaving King’s shell-shocked side without a win in six games.

Leicester interim manager Andy King looked set for his first victory since taking charge after first-half goals from Divine Mukasa, Patson Daka and Abdul Fatawu at the King Power Stadium. But Southampton substitute Ross Stewart reduced the deficit in the 61st minute to spark the astonishing revival. Leicester’s brittle confidence was exposed as Jack Stephens netted in the 82nd minute

Seven years after thrashing Southampton 9 0 at St Mary’s, Leicester hit a devastating low of their own against the Saints. Still searching for a permanent manager fol lowing Marti Cifuentes’ sacking, Leicester are outside the relegation zone only on goal differ ence. The Foxes were recently deducted six points