Familiar results at French Open as Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek advance
Paris, Jun 5: Iga Swiatek closed out her latest French Open victory and raised a triumphant right fist. Rafael Nadal won less than half an hour later and celebrated with a left uppercut.
The two defending champions make for a potent one-two combination at Roland Garros. Both won going away Saturday to reach the fourth round.
Swiatek rallied from a break down in the opening set to beat Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (4), 6-0. Nadal wasn't fazed to lose serve twice in a row in the second set and he eliminated Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Nadal, 35, advanced to the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 50th time, and he'll next play teenager Jannik Sinner.
The Spanish superstar is trying to add to his record 13 French Open crowns and seeks his 21st major title, which would break the men's record he shares with Roger Federer.
Federer and Novak Djokovic are the only other men to have reached the fourth round at 50 major events.
Swiatek, 20, has won 20 consecutive sets at Roland Garros, and that streak was in jeopardy when she trailed Kontaveit 4-2. The title holder dominated from there and lost only 12 points in the second set.
The eighth-seeded Swiatek next faces 18-year-old Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who has reached the round of 16 at a major event for the first time.
Sofia Kenin advanced to the fourth round for the third consecutive year by winning a seesaw all-American match against Jessica Pegula, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Kenin is the highest-seeded player left in the women's draw at No. 4, and she has shaken a slump with her return to Roland Garros, where she was the runner-up to Swiatek in October.
"This whole year hasn't been so great in terms of my tennis," Kenin said.
"I've had some early round exits. I'm just happy that I'm finally finding my rhythm and playing some good tennis again."
Top-seeded Djokovic didn't face a break point en route to a 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 victory over unseeded Ricardas Berankis. Two Italian 19-year-olds also advanced Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti.
Kenin blew a 3-0 lead in the opening set against the No. 28-seeded Pegula, but then began stepping into the court to take charge of rallies, especially with a backhand that produced two dozen winners. She hit 48 winners overall to 18 for Pegula.
Kenin had 10 double faults and was broken five times but held her final four service games to close out the win. The 2020 Australian Open champion, who was sidelined by an appendectomy in February, improved to 10-8 this year.
"I'm happy it's clicking during the French Open," the 22-year-old Kenin said.
"I love the court, I love the clay. It's a good surface for me. My game is not where it was at the Australian Open in 2020 but we're getting there."
American Sloane Stephens, who is ranked 59th and out of the top 50 for the first time since 2017, advanced by beating 18th-seeded Karolina Muchova 6-3, 7-5. Stephens, the runner-up in 2018, will next face Barbora Krejcikova, who upset fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-2.
Djokovic advanced to the round of 16 at the French Open for the 12th consecutive year and said he made necessary adjustments on a cool, cloudy afternoon.
"Maybe for those watching it looked simple, but it wasn't," he told the crowd in French.
"The conditions were different. How do you say in French ... the bounce was lower. I think I coped well."
Djokovic next faces Musetti, who is playing in his first Grand Slam event.
"He is a big challenge to me," Djokovic said.
"He will not have much to lose. I'm sure he's going to come trying to play the tennis of his life."
Musetti rallied to win an all-Italian matchup against Marco Cecchinato 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Sinner, seeded 18th, beat Mikael Ymer 6-1, 7-5, 6-3.
Jan-Lennard Struff, a 31-year-old German, matched his best Grand Slam effort by advancing to the fourth round when he beat 18-year-old qualifier Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
IPL likely to resume on May 16 or 17, final could be moved out of Kolkata
New Delhi, May 11 (PTI): Suspended due to the India-Pakistan military conflict, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to resume either on May 16 or 17 with the possibility of the final being moved out of Kolkata.
The announcement of ceasefire on Saturday paved the way for resumption of the league that was suspended on May 9 for one week.
The IPL Governing Council members and the BCCI officials discussed the resumption plan on Sunday.
BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla said the board is still working on creating a suitable schedule.
"As of now there is no decision on IPL. BCCI officials are working out on the solutions. BCCI secretary, IPL Chairman are in talks with franchises and everyone, so very soon we will know about the decision, efforts are being made to resume the tournament early," said Shukla.
An IPL source said the league will resume with the match between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Lucknow -- the game which was supposed to be played on May 9.
"All the teams have been asked to call back their players, the tournament will resume either on May 16 or 17 in Lucknow. The final schedule will be shared tomorrow (Monday)," a source told PTI.
"Most likely the matches will be held at four venues and Delhi and Dharamsala won't get to host more matches. All the equipment has already been removed from these venues," added the source.
The source also said that there won't be any change in the venue for Qualifier I and Eliminator that Hyderabad was supposed to host but Kolkata may miss out on hosting the final, most likely on June 1, due to rain forecast on that day in the city.
"As of now there is no change in venues for the play-off stage but it seems rain can affect the final in Kolkata. In that case the final could be played in Ahmedabad," said the source.
Speaking to PTI, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia added: "In the next few days, we will begin consultations with the franchises, broadcasters, sponsors and the state associations slated to host the remaining matches before crystallizating to a decision on the league's resumption.
"Given that the importance of IPL at this juncture, it will also be prudent and necessary to take the nod of the Government of India before finalising the time for its restart."
The abandoned game between PBKS and DC
It is possible that the two teams will be awarded a point each. Punjab Kings had raced to 122 for 1 in 10.1 overs when the game in Dharamsala had to be stopped due to heightened tension between India and Pakistan.
The players were ferried in bus to Jalandhar in Punjab from where they travelled to Delhi by train.
If only four venues are chosen to host the remaining 16 games then Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians will miss out on their home games.
It means the remainder of the tournament will be restricted to Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Lucknow.
CSK, RR and SRH are already out of the reckoning and the battle for sealing the four play-offs spots is among seven teams.
Gujarat Titans as of now are leading the table with 16 points and superior NRR of 0.793, followed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (16 points, 0.482), Punjab Kings (15), Mumbai Indians (14), Delhi Capitals (13), Kolkata Knight Riders (11) and Lucknow Super Giants (10).
