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Rybakina rallies past Badosa, Potapova upsets Gauff in Miami – ARN News Centre
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Elena Rybakina kept her “Sunshine Double” hopes alive as she battled from the brink to beat Paul Badosa in the Miami Open third round on Saturday, while Russian Anastasia Potapova upset Coco Gauff in three sets.
Wimbledon champion Rybakina, fresh off her Indian Wells triumph last week, calmly saved a match point on serve in the second set and fired 60 winners, including a dozen aces, as she earned a gutsy 3-6 7-5 6-3 win.
Rybakina, who also had to go the distance in her opening match against Anna Kalinskaya, struggled to find her rhythm on serve in the opening set but wrestled back momentum in the second.
After being broken four times in the first set, Rybakina held her serve in all but one game in the remainder of the contest and confidently closed out victory in two hours and 31 minutes.
“It didn’t start well in the first set but in the end I just found some energy,” Rybakina said. “I was trying to push more on the serve and started to move better on the court. It was a really tough battle.
“I was trying to focus on every point because the first set didn’t go my way. But it was just a few mistakes here and there. Overall, I played well. Paula was serving well. Just happy that I was able to manage in three sets.”
Russian 27th seed Potapova produced some of her best tennis to see off world number six Gauff in a 6-7(8) 7-5 6-2 win and set up a meeting with China’s Zheng Qinwen.
Potapova mounted a stout defense to fend off 10 of 13 break points and grinned widely as she fired down an unreturnable serve to secure the win.
Up 5-2 in the first set, it looked as though it might be an easy day for Potapova. But Gauff turned the tables when she converted break point chances in the ninth and 11th games and closed the tiebreak with a lethal backhand.
Potapova regained her composure in the second set and pummeled her opponent with her mighty forehand as she broke serve in the penultimate game and dropped only one first-serve point as she won the final five games.
On the men’s side, Indian Wells runner-up Daniil Medvedev breezed past Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour to reach the third round, where he will face Alex Molcan of Slovakia.
In his first match since Carlos Alcaraz snapped his 19-match winning run, Medvedev barely broke a sweat as he hit 18 winners to Carballes Baena’s five in a dominant victory.
Canadian fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime unleashed a dozen aces to edge out Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 7-6(5) 7-6(8) and set up a third-round meeting with last year’s semi-finalist Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina.
“That’s the longest I’ve ever played two sets, definitely,” Auger-Aliassime said after the two hour, 40 minute match. “He made me work for it.”
Greek second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, runner-up at this year’s Australian Open, reached the third round after opponent Richard Gasquet of France withdrew with an ankle injury. Tsitsipas will next face Chile’s Christian Garin.
World number three Jessica Pegula made quick work of her fellow American Danielle Collins 6-1 7-6(0). She will meet Polish 20th seed Magda Linette for a place in the quarter-finals.
Earlier, the home fans leapt to their feet as 55th-ranked American Mackenzie McDonald survived a barrage of aces to upset Italian 19th seed Matteo Berrettini 7-6(8) 7-6(5). He will next face France’s Quentin Halys.
AFP / Anne-Christine Poujoulat
Fourth seed Elena Rybakina pulled out of the French Open ahead of her third-round match with Sara Sorribes Tormo due to a viral illness as the Roland Garros tournament lost one of its main contenders for the women’s title.
The Wimbledon champion said she had been unwell for the last two days and was out of breath during the warm-up before her match against Sorribes Tormo on Court Philippe Chatrier.
“I wasn’t feeling good yesterday and the day before, so I didn’t sleep two nights and had some fever,” Rybakina, who has battled pollen allergies in the past, told reporters.
“Today, I really tried during the warm-up, but I feel that the right decision is to withdraw because it’s really tough to play in this condition.
“I saw the doctor, and they said that, actually, it’s all a virus here in Paris. I guess with my allergy, my immune system just went down, and I picked up something.”
Kazakhstan’s Rybakina, 23, was among the title favourites alongside holder Iga Swiatek and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka after winning the Rome title in the build-up to the claycourt Grand Slam.
“I’m really upset not be able to play, but I guess that’s life,” Rybakina added. “There is a lot of ups and downs. Today I just wanted to give 100%, and obviously, I’m far from being 100%.
“I was actually coming positive here, but you never know how you’re going to feel. It was unlucky for me. I’ll try to recover and do my best to be prepared for the grass season already.”
Moscow-born Rybakina said she hoped to be fully fit for the European grasscourt swing ahead of her Wimbledon title defence.
“Well, for now, the focus for sure is to get better. But the plan was to play Berlin, Eastbourne and Wimbledon,” she said.
“There are not many tournaments on grass, but it’s most important to get healthy again. That’s the plan.”
Spain’s Sorribes Tormo moves into the fourth round, where she will take on 23rd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova or 14th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.
JULIEN DE ROSA/ AFP
Belarusian tennis star Aryna Sabalenka skipped her post-match press conference at the French Open on Friday citing mental health reasons.
The tournament organisers instead released an interview with the world number two conducted by a hand-picked group of reporters in which she said she had not felt safe at her previous press conference.
At Wednesday’s event Sabalenka was asked about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and her country’s role as a staging ground for Russian troops and weapons.
Sabalenka said that her choice not to take part in Friday’s press conference was supported by the French Open organisers.
“After my match (on Wednesday) I spoke with the media like I normally do. I know they still expect some questions that are more about the politics and not so much about my tennis,” she said.
“For many months now I have answered these questions at tournaments and been very clear in my feelings and my thoughts. These questions do not bother me after my matches.
“I know that I have to provide answers to the media on things not related to my tennis or my matches, but on Wednesday I did not feel safe in the press conference,” she said.
A French tennis federation spokesperson told Reuters Sabalenka would not be fined.
“It was to protect her,” the spokesperson said, adding that whether she attends other press conferences would be her decision.
Sabalenka will play either American Sloane Stephens or Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in the next round.
In 2021, former world number one Naomi Osaka of Japan was fined $15,000 for skipping a post-match press conference at the French Open and threatened with tough sanctions by the board of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
She subsequently withdrew from the tournament citing mental health concerns and later said she had been battling depression and anxiety for years.
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VLADIMIR SIMICEK/ AFP
Europa League thoroughbreds Sevilla worked their magic yet again to beat AS Roma 4-1 on penalties and lift the trophy for a record-extending seventh time, handing Roma boss Jose Mourinho his first defeat in six European finals.
After an unspectacular match ended 1-1 after extra time, Sevilla ruthlessly punished the Italians in the shootout, with Gonzalo Montiel firing home the winning spot kick, just as he did for Argentina in the World Cup final against France.
The defender had missed his first effort but was handed a reprieve when Roma keeper Rui Patricio was adjudged to have come off the line too early and he made no mistake with his second, sparking jubilant celebrations.
Sevilla keeper Yassine Bounou was their hero in the shootout, saving penalties from Gianluca Mancini and Roger Ibanez while the Spaniards were flawless in their own execution, scoring their first four.
Sevilla, the undisputed kings of the Europa League, have now won all seven of the finals they have played in the competition, and are well-versed in the drama of the occasion, having seen their opponents score first in the last four finals.
It was a tense and ill-tempered affair from the start on Wednesday, with Roma defending deep with a five-man backline against Sevilla, who had almost 65 per cent possession but were kept mostly outside the Italian’s crowded box.
The match was tetchy with referee Anthony Taylor dishing out 14 yellow cards, the most ever in a Europa League game, and playing almost 30 minutes of stoppage time in total.
Paulo Dybala gave Roma the lead from a counter-attack in the 35th minute but Sevilla then took control of the game and found the equaliser thanks to an own-goal by Mancini in the 55th minute.
Sevilla dominated the match after that but Roma had the better chances from counter-attacks and set-pieces, including a Chris Smalling header that hit the crossbar in the 10th minute of added time in extra time.
It was the third consecutive Europa League final that ended in a penalty shootout.
The win means Sevilla will compete in next season’s Champions League despite finishing outside the top four in the La Liga.
Mourinho had never lost a European final before Wednesday, having last year led Roma to the inaugural Europa Conference League title, becoming the first coach to win all the European trophies.
Losing was clearly a painful experience for the Portuguese who handed his runners-up medal to a fan in the stand after the presentation.
“That’s what I did, I don’t want silver medals. I don’t keep silver medals, so I gave it away,” he told Movistar.
It was written in the stars. β¨
7οΈβ£ times, @EuropaLeague πͺπ―π¨π΄π·π°πΆπ΅πΊ. βͺοΈπ΄πππππππ pic.twitter.com/WrotFkE8eq
β Sevilla FC (@SevillaFC_ENG) May 31, 2023
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Rybakina pulls out of French Open due to illness – ARN News Centre
