11/05/2026

SPORTS MONDAY | MAY 11, 2026

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No sweat for Sinner … but Sabalenka suffers shock early exit in Rome J ANNIK SINNER got his Italian Open campaign underway yesterday by swatting aside Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-4 to Foro Italico since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago, and with Carlos Alcaraz out of action, Sinner is expected to go one better than last year when he lost the final to his great rival. Such was Sinner’s dominance and now let’s see what’s coming also in the next round.” Fourth seed Felix Auger

SHORTS Iraola lauds Bournemouth ‘soul’ MANAGER Andoni Iraola believes soul was the key to Bournemouth’s 1-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage as his team made it 16 Premier League games unbeaten to strengthen their grip on a European place. The second half was played 10 against 10 after red cards for Ryan Christie and Joachim Andersen and that helped open up a stale affair, from which the visitors profited to move to within two victories of Europa League qualifica tion. Rayan struck the winner in the 53rd minute, rifling in his fifth goal for the club since arriving in January, as Fulham’s own European hopes were all but extinguished. “We spoke at half-time, the second half was about the soul of the team because it was 10 against 10, spaces everywhere, one against one duels,” said Iraola. “There were tired legs for sure at the end. You need the soul when you are running out of energy. We’ve shown this. Luckily for us we fin ished the job. “Considering we were playing 10 against 10, it’s more open, we were quite compact,” said Iraola. “The big chance they had comes from a long throw. Overall, I think we’ve been very solid.” Edwards planning clearout at Wolves after Brighton beating WOLVES BOSS Rob Edwards is intent on having a summer clearout after accusing some of his players of failing to follow instructions and showing a lack of interest during a woeful 3-0 defeat at Brighton. The Premier League’s bottom club, whose relegation to the Championship was confirmed last month, fell behind inside 35 seconds at the Amex Stadium to a Jack Hinshelwood header. Albion captain Lewis Dunk escaped the marking of Joao Gomes to nod home from a corner with just five minutes played before Yankuba Minteh completed the scoring late on. “It’s incredibly frustrating, it looked like we were still in our nice hotel for the first five min utes,” said Edwards. “The start of the game was atrocious. We find ourselves 1-0 down before we’ve really had a kick and then the defending for the corner was horrible. A couple of people not doing their jobs. “Two-nil down after five minutes against a team that’s already better than you, you’ve got slim to no chance.” Asked if he has given up on some members of his squad, Edwards replied: “Yeah, definitely. Some of them have got to go, we’re bottom of the League. It’s been embarrassing. They’ve got to go.” Saints hold Middlesbrough in playoff semi after spygate row SOUTHAMPTON ignored the controversy over their alleged spying on Middlesbrough to earn a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their Championship playoff semifinal on Saturday. The Saints have been charged with a breach of English Football League regulations after Middlesbrough accused them of spying on a training session this week. The allegations of unauthorised filming by someone connected to Southampton came two days before the clash at the Riverside Stadium. Middlesbrough flew out the blocks fuelled by a sense of injustice, with Tommy Conway going close on three occasions as Kim Hellberg’s team amassed 17 shots in the first half alone. Southampton were beaten 4-0 on Teesside earlier this season, but they improved after the break to nullify Middlesbrough’s threat. Tonda Eckert’s side came close to snatching victory, with Taylor Harwood-Bellis seeing a six yard header crash back off the crossbar in the closing stages. Binoculars and branches were among the props brought by Middlesbrough fans to the game in a joking dig at Southampton’s espio nage. Saints fans chanted“we’ll spy when we want” throughout the game.

shoulders slumped during an uncharacteristically sloppy display. “I feel like I didn’t play well from the beginning till the end. I started really well, but then I kind of dropped the level,” said Sabalenka. “Felt like my body was limiting me from performing on the highest level.” Jasmine Paolini’s defence of her Italian Open title came to an early end after the home favourite was knocked out by Elise Mertens, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. French Open champion Coco Gauff is still in the hunt after taking over two hours to beat Argentina’s Solana Sierra 5-7, 6-0, 6-4. – AFP

Aliassime suffered a shock second round defeat at the hands of Argentina’s Mariano Navone, the Canadian losing to his 44th-ranked opponent in straight sets 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5). Women’s world No. 1 and favourite for overall victory, Aryna Sabalenka followed men’s tennis icon Novak Djokovic in going out early following a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 loss to Sorana Cirstea.

start his bid to extend a record breaking run of five straight Masters 1000 tournament victories. The world No. 1 delighted fans in the packed centre court stands with a predictably dominant dis play which left Austria’s Ofner little room to breathe, even in the breezy atmosphere of Rome. Sinner won his 24th consecutive match in one hour and 40 minutes, the 24-year-old barely breaking a sweat to set up a clash with Alexei Popyrin or Jakub Mensik in the third round. No Italian man has won at the

that he had time to break into a smile when the match was stopped twice in the second set for spectator illnesses. “I’m very happy to be back here, it’s always been a very special tour nament for me,” said Sinner. “I’m trying to get into a

Sabalenka was visibly frustrated with her per formance on centre court, muttering to herself with her

good match rhythm again even though I’ve played a lot in the last couple of months... I’m very happy

Rashid bowls Titans to win over Royals

RASHID KHAN took four wickets for 33 runs as Gujarat Titans bowled out Rajasthan Royals for a 77-run win in the IPL yesterday. Kagiso Rabada also took two wick ets and Jason Holder polished off the tail with three as Gujarat dismissed Rajasthan for 152 runs, after wonder kid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scored 36 off 16 balls. Earlier, skipper Shubman Gill hit 84 and Sai Sudharsan made 55 as Gujarat notched up 229-4 batting first. Rajasthan’s reply started in a quick fire manner as Sooryavanshi hit three fours and three sixes. After his dis missal, the hosts folded against Rashid’s guile. Gujarat climbed to second in the points’ table with their sixth win in 11 games. Rajasthan slipped to fifth after their fifth loss and their net run-rate took a huge hit. Shubman’s fourth half-century of the season came off 30 balls, and he put on 118 runs with Sudharsan for the first wicket. “They batted really well,” said Rajasthan captain Yashasvi Jaiswal. “There are days when you cannot bowl how you want to.” In reply, Sooryavanshi put Rajasthan on course initially with 38 runs off only 17 balls. The turning point came in the third over when the 15-year-old holed out off Mohammed Siraj. Afghanistan veteran spinner Rashid was nearly unplayable, running through the middle order, as Rajasthan slipped to 136-7 in 13.5 overs. “I tried to hit the right lengths in this game. Modern day cricket requires many variations,” said Rashid. – AFP

Alex Fitzpatrick lines up a putt on the seventh hole during the third round of the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday. – AFPPIC

Fitzpatrick storms into Truist lead ENGLAND’S Alex Fitzpatrick stormed into a one-shot lead at the Truist Championship yesterday, firing a 7-under 64 in the latest impressive display of his fledgling PGA Tour career. pretty pleased. I’m just trying to enjoy every moment. This is all new for me.”

“Another 18 holes tomorrow. It’s a new day and I don’t know what’s going to happen, just going to let golf be golf and then just go with the flow,” she said. France’s Celine Boutier is Jeeno’s nearest chal lenger. The 32-year-old from suburban Paris shot a 5-under 67 to finish the day on 8-under. South Korea’s Choi Hye-jin is alone in third on 7-under after a 6-under 66, one shot clear of China’s Yin Ruoning, Australia’s Green and Allisen Corpuz of the United States, who are tied for fourth on 6-under. – AFP The 27-year-old from Sheffield thrust himself into contention yesterday with an electrifying birdie spree on the front nine, picking up five birdies to move to 12-under and two shots clear at the turn. Fitzpatrick kept it rolling down the stretch, picking up a birdie on the 12th and just missing an 11-foot birdie putt on 14 that curled around the cup before lipping out. He narrowly missed a putt for eagle at the 15th, but tapped in for birdie to remain in control. There was a slight stumble on the the 16th, when he could only bogey after driv ing his second shot into a greenside bunker, but he responded instantly with a bogey on the 17th to edge clear of Reitan again. While Reitan is one behind, in-form Cameron Young signalled he is ready to make a charge after posting a sensational 8 under 63 that might have been better had it not been for a bogey on the 18th. – AFP

Fitzpatrick drained eight birdies and one bogey to finish the third round on 14-under at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina, one shot clear of fellow rookie Kristoffer Reitan of Norway, who also shot a 64. Fitzpatrick only earned his PGA Tour card after partnering elder brother Matt to vic tory at the Zurich Classic pairs tournament a fortnight ago, and followed that up with a respectable top-10 finish at the Cadillac Championship in Florida the previous week. Fitzpatrick, who played Quail Hollow regularly while at college at nearby Wake Forest University, admitted he was excited by the possibility of claiming a first solo PGA title in only his third start on tour. “It will be super cool, I get goosebumps kind of thinking about it,” Fitzpatrick said. “It would be amazing to do it by myself. “The first two weeks have been OK, so I’m

Defending champ Jeeno retains lead at Americas Open DEFENDING CHAMPION Jeeno Thitikul fired a 2-under 70 to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the LPGA Tour’s Mizuho Americas Open yesterday. early bogey and a blistering start from Australia’s Hannah Green who was 5-under for the round after her first eight holes.

But Jeeno steadied the ship, and as Green faded down the stretch with two bogeys on the back nine, the Thai star is now in position to retain her title after finishing the day on 10 under. Jeeno though said she is not getting ahead of herself as she looks to the final round. “It’s just golf - just another day, another tournament,” she said.

The world No. 2 from Thailand, who had opened up a three-shot cushion after Friday’s second round, recovered from an early bogey to rattle in three birdies at Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell, New Jersey. With yesterday’s third round tee-times brought forward due to the forecast of poor weather, Jeeno saw her lead evaporate after her