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1. Djokovic, Serena and Sharapova Qualify into Wimbledon Last 16
Defending champion Novak Djokovic, top seed Serena Williams and 2004 winner Maria Sharapova swept into the Wimbledon fourth round as controversial Australian Nick Kyrgios bolstered his reputation as the next generation’s brightest star.
Top seed Djokovic made the last 16 for the seventh successive year by routing Bernard Tomic of Australia 6-3, 6- 3, 6-3 on the back of 15 aces and 38 winners.
Serena Williams continues her bid for a sixth Wimbledon and 21st major title by taking out Heather Watson 6-2 4-6 7-5 in a hard fought match.
Fourth seeded Sharapova made the last 16 with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu and next faces either Germany’s 14th seed Andrea Petkovic or unseeded Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Kyrgios, who famously defeated Rafael Nadal in 2014 when he was ranked 144 in the world, avenged his quarter-final loss of 12 months ago to seventh seed Milos Raonic with a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 victory.
2. Bopanna, Sania Through, Bhupathi Sent Packing
India’s Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea battled past Thomas Bellucci and Guillermo Duran in straight sets to progress to the pre-quarterfinals of the Wimbledon men’s doubles event.
In a closely fought second round contest, the ninth seeded Indo-Romanian pair prevailed 7-5 7-6(5) 7-6 (5) against the Brazil-Argentine combination after fighting hard for two hours and 10 minutes.
In the mixed doubles draw, Bopanna along with Spanish partner Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez opened their campaign with a 7-6(9) 5-7 7-5 win over American Eric Butorac and his Hungarian partner Katalin Marosi.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Alla Kudryavtseva were beaten in the first round itself by Nicholas Monroe and Madison Brengle. The scoreline read 5-7 6-3 6-2.
In women’s doubles , Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis beat Japan’s Kimiko Date-Krumm and Italy’s Francesca Schiavone 6-0 6-1 in the second round.
3. India Thrashed 4-0 by Belgium in FIH World League Semifinals
India were outclassed 4-0 by Belgium in a lopsided semifinal clash, with Florent Van Aubel leading the way with a hat-trick for the hosts in the FIH Hockey World League Semifinals fixture.
Opening Belgium’s account in the second minute on a defensive lapse at the top of the Indian circle, van Aubel went on to score two goals in the second half on penalty corner rebound to dash India’s hopes of a comeback.
The other goal for the home team, backed by vociferous support from the galleries, came from Tanguy Cosyns.
In the final on Sunday, Belgium will play the winner of the second semifinal between World champions Australia and Great Britain, while India will go into the bronze medal contest.
Recent contests between India and Belgium have always been close, but today the early soft goals we conceded built enormous pressure. They were expected to come out strongly looking for early goals, but we erred in giving away two soft goals at the start.
– Sardar Singh, Indian Captain
4. Messi & Argentina Shining Together, Set for Copa America Title Clash
Lionel Messi is a step closer to finally breaking through with Argentina.
The Barcelona star heads into the Copa America final with a chance to end his nation’s 22-year title drought, and prove that he can replicate his club-level success with the national team.
Messi thrived in leading Argentina to a 6-1 rout of Paraguay in the semifinals on Tuesday, setting up a final against host Chile on Saturday. It is Messi’s and Argentina’s second chance in a year to lift a trophy, and the first since the World Cup final in Brazil.
“We really want to win this one, we are very hopeful,” the 28-year-old playmaker said through a translator. Argentina hasn’t won a significant trophy since the 1993 Copa America, when Messi was aged six. He lost the 2007 final to Brazil in Venezuela, and was eliminated in the 2011 quarterfinals at home by Uruguay.
Victory on Saturday would give Argentina its 15th Copa America title, tying Uruguay as the tournament’s most successful team.
5. Mumbai Name Anelka Marquee Player-cum-Manager
Mumbai City FC today named prolific French striker Nicolas Anelka as their marquee player-cum-manager for the second season of the Indian Super League football tournament.
Anelka’s first stint in a dual role of marquee player-cum-manager was in 2012 with Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua for a year.
Ready to take on the dual responsibility, Nicolas Anelka said, “I would like to say thank you to the Mumbai City FC staff for giving me the opportunity to coach the club. We are all very excited to start this new season. I’m personally very eager to take on this new role for the club and put a strong competitive team on the pitch! See you very soon.”
Anelka, whose career is packed with 69 international matches and nearly 500 club appearances at the top level, will continue to enrich ISL’s Mumbai Franchise with his wealth of experience.
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