CINCINNATI: Former world number one Victoria Azarenka and sixth-ranked defending men’s champion Marin Cilic withdrew on Friday from next week’s ATP and WTA Cincinnati hardcourt event, a key US Open tuneup.
The move came as TMZ Sports reported Azarenka will skip this year’s US Open because of a custody battle over eight-month-old son Leo following a split last month with the boy’s father, Billy McKeague.
The website said a judge in Los Angeles, where McKeague filed custody papers, will not allow the boy to leave California until the matter is settled, not expected until October.
That would prevent him from joining his mother in Cincinnati or at the US Open, which begins on Aug. 28 in New York.
Azarenka, a 28-year-old from Belarus, cited personal reasons for skipping Cincinnati.
“I am disappointed to have to pull out of the Western and Southern Open due to a family matter,” she said. “I look forward to coming back to Cincinnati and playing in front of its great fans for many years to come.”
Azarenka, ranked 203 after a layoff while pregnant and after her son’s birth, played last month at Wimbledon, reaching the round of 16 before losing to second-ranked Simona Halep.
Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion from Croatia, pulled out with an adductor injury that has sidelined him since Wimbledon, where he lost in the final to Roger Federer.
“I was really eager to play in Cincinnati, where I won my first career ATP Masters 1000 singles title last year and where I had one of the best performances during my career,” Cilic said.
“But I still don’t feel at 100 percent to compete at the top level and to defend my title there.”
Azarenka, Cilic withdraw from key US Open tuneup event
Azarenka, Cilic withdraw from key US Open tuneup event
Supersub strikes again as Sesko gives Man United win at Everton
- The defeat was a blow to Everton’s hopes of a place in next year’s European competitions and left it languishing in ninth, behind Brentford and Bournemouth
LIVERPOOL, England: Manchester United supersub Benjamin Sesko scored 13 minutes after entering the field to give his side a 1-0 win over Everton in the Premier League on Monday.
It was the third time in four games that Sesko has scored after coming off the bench and secured points for United.
“I believe in me and so do the other players as well,” Sesko told Sky Sports. “They know what they are going to get when I arrive in the game. It’s up to me to deliver of course.”
His goal with 19 minutes remaining finished off the slickest move of an otherwise stodgy game.
Bryan Mbeumo controlled Matheus Cunha’s superb long ball and played a perfectly weighted pass to the feet of Sesko, who steered the ball past Jordan Pickford with aplomb.
“It was a great finish,” United interim coach Michael Carrick said. “It was a ruthless finish. I liked the way he put it away with real confidence. It was great play from Cunha and Mbeumo to set it up and we are dangerous on the break.”
Until then defenses had been on top and the lack of attacking fluency was not helped by a heavy pitch that appeared to slow down both teams.
The result took fourth-placed United three points clear of Chelsea and Liverpool. United was three behind Aston Villa.
It also extended Carrick’s unbeaten run to six games since he replaced Ruben Amorim on Jan. 13.
The defeat was a blow to Everton’s hopes of a place in next year’s European competitions and left it languishing in ninth, behind Brentford and Bournemouth and eight points adrift of Chelsea and Liverpool.
David Moyes’ men have gone seven games without a win at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium.
“Generally we did very well in lots of bits,” Moyes said. “We got done on the counterattack and they ran away and got the goal that was there. We put in a great effort to get the goal but lacked the quality to make it count.”
