Category sport-news

With a 7-5, 6-4 defeat of Jasmine Paolini, Iga Swiatek won the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open for the first time, adding to her long-awaited career tennis puzzle.

The Polish champion converted on six of her break opportunities while Paolini struggled to make the most of her break opportunities. The final, which lasted less than two hours, featured 16 break-point chances.

With her 11th career victory at the WTA 1000 level, the six-time Grand Slam champion is only a short of Serena Williams’ 13-time winning streak. Without conceding a set, Skiatek won the Cincinnati.

After her first victory in Cincinnati, Swiatek remarked to the Tennis Channel, “It’s always tough in Cincy.”

“This gives me a confidence boost,” I said. We’ve been doing a good job, and I’m pleased with it. I had to be persuaded to play in a different way by the team. After the match, everything feels even better, and I’m happy with that process. I’m pleased that my sets were straight.

The 24-year-old backed up her first Wimbledon title with the Midwest honors, and now heads to the US Open with a significant confidence boost following her 24th career title.

Beginning on Tuesday, Swiatek will compete against Norway’s Casper Ruud in the revamped mixed doubles competition.

READ MORE: [Iga Swiatek] From Wimbledon Champion to Queen of Clay.

On Flushing Meadows’ slower courts, the Pole claimed she enjoyed the challenge. I play well. She said, “I can play on any&nbsp surface.

“They&nbsp, are slowing down the courts&nbsp, kind of, so I’m not sure how it is now&nbsp, there. But tennis is all about “adjusting,” not “but”.

Swiatek also surpassed Aryna Sabalenka, the current WTA number one, by 500 points, with the top spot likely to be in play at Sunday’s Open.

Swiatek has only the Canadian tournament, where she hasn’t made the final at a 1000 event, after she had failed twice in the semi-finals of her previous two competitions.

We were both tight on both ends, but that happens in finals, Swiatek said. “Today was tough. In the end, I was pleased to close things out. Although not everything was perfect, I still had the best of my tennis skills. We engaged in a lot of mental exercise. I had a very composed and consistent approach to my game.

Swiatek started badly when she lost her serve and lost the game 0-3. The former number one immediately began her turnaround, though the situation was only temporary.

With two breakups of serve, the Pole took a 5-3 lead.

In the tenth game, Paolini saved a Swiatek set point to square the final at five-all before taking a break of sorts.

Paolini dropped serve for 5-6, giving her opponent the chance to turn a love game into a 7-5 victory after just under an hour of action on the court.

The pair twice exchanged break points before Swiatek saved a pair of break points to take the lead 5-3 before handing the match winner away two games later.

The Italian champions announced on Monday that Romelu Lukaku will miss Napoli’s opening game of their Serie A title defense because of a thigh injury that could keep the Belgium international out for months.

Lukaku had a “serious” tear in his left thigh during Thursday’s pre-season friendly against Olympiakos, according to a statement from Napoli, who will travel to promoted Sassuolo on Saturday.

Napoli provided no information regarding Lukaku’s potential suspension until November, but Italian media reported that the player might not play until November.

Also read: FIFA spokesman denies racism at German Cup games.

Lukaku, 32, may need surgery, according to Napoli’s suggestion.

Lukaku scored 10 Serie A goals in addition to the 14 that he had already scored under Antonio Conte, which helped Napoli win their fourth league title last year.

In a statement released on Monday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino blasted the alleged racial abuse that took place over the weekend during two German Cup games as “unacceptable.”

“I keep repeating myself,” he says. In the statement, Infantino said, “There is no place for racism in football.”

After winger Christopher Antwi-Adjei claimed he was racially abused by home spectators, a match between Lokomotive Leipzig and Schalke was postponed on Sunday.

Racist abuse was publicly announced on the stadium PA. The home support repeatedly booed the winger after the game ended, and Lokomotive apologized later on Sunday.

A Kaiserslautern player also alleges racial abuse from a crowd member at club RSV Eintracht on Sunday.

Infantino promised to work with the German FA (DFB) “in the fight against racism” and that FIFA would “continue to closely monitor these incidents.”

In Friday’s Premier League opener against Liverpool, Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo claimed he was attacked by a member of the crowd and that he was racially attacked.

Semenyo reported being abused by a member of the crowd during Liverpool’s 4-2 win, and Merseyside Police later made him a suspect for a racially aggravated public order offence.

Semenyo later added that the incident “would stay with him forever” and that “football showed its best side when it mattered most” in response to players and officials.

It is “absolutely unacceptable that racist abuse has occurred at football matches for the second time in recent days,” Infantino said on Monday, which was also published on Sunday following the Semenyo incident.

Sebastien Haller was confirmed as a permanent player by Borussia Dortmund on Monday.

Haller, who had already been given the opportunity to end his Dortmund contract a year early, reportedly signed for free.

The Ivory Coast international, 31, loaned out of Utrecht, the club he played for between 2015 and 2017, for the second half of last season.

There were a lot of interest from other clubs this summer, but FC Utrecht was the ideal choice, according to Haller in a statement posted on the club’s website.

Jota “Will Forever Be Part Of Football History,” declares Joao Felix.

Haller’s turbulent time at Dortmund is come to an end with the departure.

After receiving a 31 million euro ($36 million) deal from Ajax in 2022, Haller was diagnosed with testicular cancer and missed six months of treatment.

In a 2-2 home draw against Mainz, which earned Bayern Munich the Bundesliga title, he missed a penalty on the final day of the 2022-23 season.

In the Africa Cup of Nations final against Nigeria last year, the former West Ham and Eintracht Frankfurt forward scored the winning goal.

Diogo Jota, a close friend and Portugal team-mate, will “forever be a part of football history,” Joao Felix said on Monday, according to Jose Felix. Joao died at the age of 28.

When their Lamborghini in northern Spain went off the road on July 3rd, Jota and brother Andre Silva were killed.

The Portuguese forward had already wed Rute Cardoso, the father of his three children, just 11 days prior to the collision.

Over the weekend, Jota was remembered by the Premier League in a number of moving tributes.

Felix appeared visibly moved as he spoke about his close friend and international colleague, adding his voice to the outpouring of grief throughout the world of football.

“Diogo to me was one of my best friends in the national team, he was always a member of our mini group in the national team, those of us who were always together,” Felix, who was one of the mourners at the brothers’ funeral, said.

Read more about Chelsea’s blank draw at the Crystal Palace stalemate.

I was aware of his incredible family, especially his parents.

Felix, who is currently playing for his new team Al Nassr for this week’s Saudi Super Cup in Hong Kong, said: “I think he will forever be a part of football history. He will stay in the hearts of those who were already close to him.

Every time we play on the field after that day, we will remember him and play a part in his memory.

Late last month, Felix, a Portuguese attacker, and Cristiano Ronaldo moved from Chelsea to Saudi Arabia’s Al Nasr, where they reportedly spent up to 43.7 million pounds ($58 million).

Felix, who has also played for AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, and Benfica, is projected to make $10 million annually.

Arsenal’s shaky new forward line, which has been lavishly put together, drew a blank as they fought hard to win the Premier League title at Old Trafford on Sunday.

After United’s stand-in goalkeeper Altay Bayindir made a mistake, Riccardo Calafiori made the final score.

More to come soon…