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Indian chess ace Viswanathan Anand defeated world champion Magnus Carlsen in round seven of the blitz event of the Norway Chess on way to a fourth-place finish. The former world champion, however, suffered defeats to Anish Giri (the Netherlands) and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) in the fourth and ninth round, respectively to finish with 5 points in the 10-player blitz event early on Tuesday.
PARIS: Novak Djokovic renews his 16-year rivalry with Rafael Nadal at the French Open on Tuesday with a semifinal spot at stake and where victory for the world number one could end the 13-time champion’s Roland Garros career. Nadal, who turns 36 on Friday, puts his record of 109 wins and just three losses in Paris since his title-winning debut in 2005 on the line against the defending champion. The Spaniard was taken to five sets for only the third time at the tournament by 21-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime in the fourth round. In the immediate aftermath of that victory, Nadal admitted that not only was this year’s French Open at stake but possibly his entire playing future. “I know my situation, and I accept it,” said Nadal, who arrived in Paris unsure if he would be able to take part after suffering a recurrence of a chronic foot injury which has plagued him for most of his career. “I am just enjoying the fact that I am here for one more year. And being honest, every match that I play here, I don’t know if it’s going to be my last at Roland Garros.” Overall, Djokovic leads Nadal 30-28 since their first career meeting at the 2006 French Open. Nadal has a 19-8 edge on clay and has won seven of the pair’s nine meetings in Paris. Djokovic, however, came out on top in the semifinals at Roland Garros in 2021 on his way to a second title.
World number one Iga Swiatek survived a scare at the hands of injured Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen on Monday, dropping the first set in their French Open last-16 clash before going on to make the quarter-finals with a 32nd successive win. Swiatek prevailed 6-7 (5/7), 6-0, 6-2 to equal the third best winning streak this century set by Justine Henin 14 years ago. In an 82-minute opening set, 74th-ranked Zheng saved five set points, had two of her own and then clawed her way back from 2/5 down in the tiebreak to stun the top seed.
MIAMI: Somewhere, Gregg Popovich must be pleased. Ime Udoka and Steve Kerr both played for Popovich with of the San Antonio Spurs, both served as assistant coaches under him, and neither makes any effort to hide the affinity they have for the NBA’s career victory leader. And now, Udoka and Kerr are about to go head-to-head — in the NBA Finals.
Real Madrid's France star Karim Benezema deserves to win the Ballon d'Or, according to seven-time laureate Lionel Messi. Benzema was crucial in Madrid's Champions League victory this season, culminating with a 1-0 win over Liverpool in Paris on Saturday. Although he did not score in the final, Benzema's back-to-back hat-tricks in the knock-out rounds, starting with a 17-minute treble against Messi's Paris Saint-Germain to overturn a 2-0 aggregate deficit, were crucial to generating the momentum that swept the Spaniards to the title. "There's no doubt, it's very clear that Benzema has had a spectacular year and has ended it by winning the Champions League," Messi told Argentine channel TyC Sports.
World number two Daniil Medvedev and fourth-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed out of the French Open in the fourth round on Monday as women's top seed Iga Swiatek took her winning streak to 32 matches after surviving a huge scare. US Open champion Medvedev was beaten by 20th seed Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in just 1hr 45 min on Court Philippe Chatrier. Tsitsipas, the 2021 runner-up to Novak Djokovic, was defeated by Danish teenager Holger Rune 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 earlier in the day. Cilic will face Russia's Andrey Rublev in his third career Roland Garros quarter-final.
chess ace Viswanathan Anand defeated world champion Magnus Carlsen in round seven of the blitz event of the Norway Chess on way to a fourth-place finish. The former world champion, however, suffered defeats to Anish Giri (the Netherlands) and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) in the fourth and ninth round respectively to finish with 5 points in the 10-player blitz event early on Tuesday. The Indian GM started with a win over Aryan Tari (Norway) in the blitz before drawing with So in round two. He posted a victory over veteran Veselin Topalov in the third round before sharing the point with Teimur Radjabov. After a loss to Giri and a draw with Hao Wang (China), Anand scored over Carlsen. However, the draw against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov followed by the loss to Vachier-Lagrave put paid to his chances of a high finish after having started with 2.5 points from the first three rounds.
Marin Cilic did not put a foot wrong as he crushed Russia's world number two Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in a lopsided contest on Monday to return to the French Open quarter-finals after a gap of four years. The 2014 U.S. Open champion, seeded 20th, dominated proceedings from the start and finished off the contest in an hour and 45 minutes to reach the last eight stage on the Parisian clay for the third time in his career. Medvedev came into the match having won all three previous meetings against the 33-year-old Croatian but cut a sorry figure under the lights on Court Philippe Chatrier in their first contest on clay. "It was absolutely a fantastic match from the first point to the last," Cilic said in his interview on court.