Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka was among the earliest arrivals into Melbourne on one of the 15 charter flights bringing players and officials into the city for the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year.
And she wanted everyone to know she was pleased to be in Australia despite all the COVID-19 restrictions around the world and a tournament-enforced 14-day quarantine period in Melbourne.
Azarenka, who won the tournament in 2012 and 2013, tweeted Friday: “Made it to Melbourne! Thank you everyone so much for making it happen. I can only imagine how many hours of work and compromise it took for us to be here! Thank you.”
She included what appeared to be a selfie next to a window with downtown city views.
The Australian Open is set to start Feb. 8.
Stan Wawrinka, who won the Australian Open in 2014, also posted a photo of himself and two other players, all wearing masks, from what appeared to be the business class section of one of the charters. Elina Svitolina, a two-time quarterfinalist at Melbourne Park, posted a video of her spacious Melbourne hotel suite.
The charters and the early arrivals are all part of Tennis Australia’s attempt to have the tournament happen despite a ban on international arrivals into the country. To do so, they are having players undergo COVID-19 tests before they board their charter flights, again after they arrive and frequently during the quarantine period.
The first of about 1,200 players, coaches, entourage and officials landed late Thursday. The players were met by airport staff and biosecurity officials wearing personal protective equipment including masks and face shields, before being taken to hotel quarantine.
The virus news wasn’t so good for five-time finalist Andy Murray, whose status for the Australian Open was put in doubt after he tested positive for COVID-19 only days before his planned flight to Melbourne. The tournament says that the three-time Grand Slam champion, who was given a wild card for Melbourne, is isolating at home.
Tennis Australia said Murray will miss the charter flights and won’t be able “to go through the quarantine period with the other players.” His chances of appearing at the tournament appear to be in serious doubt.
Also Americans Madison Keys and Tennys Sandgren returned positive tests, but Sandgren was given permission to fly.
“I unfortunately tested positive for (COVID-19) before I was supposed to fly to Australia,” Keys said on social media. “I’m very disappointed to not be able to play in the coming weeks after training hard in the off-season . . . I am self-isolating at home and will continue to follow all the necessary health precautions. I look forward to being back on tour next month.”
Sandgren originally tested positive in November, with Victorian state health authorities in Australia determining he was no longer contagious though still shedding viral particles.
“My two tests were less than 8 weeks apart. I was sick in November, totally healthy now,” Sandgren tweeted. “There’s not a single documented case where I would be contagious at this point. Totally recovered!”
The Australian Open has already been delayed three weeks because restrictions in place for the COVID-19 pandemic. And because of the Australian restrictions, the men’s and women’s qualifying tournaments — in Doha, Qatar and in Dubai — were held outside of Australia for the first time.
The charter flights were restricted to 25 percent capacity, and were set to arrive over a 36-hour period ending early Saturday.
Once a negative result has been returned, players can train within a strictly supervised environment for five hours per day.
The Australian Open draw will be held on Feb. 4, four days ahead of the start of the main tournament, which ends Feb. 21 with the men’s singles final.
Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams will be among a group of players involved in an exhibition event in Adelaide, South Australia state, on Jan. 29. Those players flew straight to Adelaide to begin their hotel quarantine period.
All other tournaments will be in Melbourne, including the 12-team ATP Cup starting Feb. 1 and two WTA events in the week leading into the Australian Open.
Arriving players for Australian Open go straight into quarantine
https://arab.news/yz86q
Arriving players for Australian Open go straight into quarantine
- The Australian Open is set to start February 8
- The first of about 1,200 players, coaches, entourage and officials landed late Thursday
Mbappe stars in win over Lorient but PSG’s title party delayed by Monaco victory
- Defending champion PSG can clinch their record-extending 12th French league title at home on Saturday against Le Havre
- Marseille’s European hopes took a hit after a 2-2 draw with fifth-place Nice
LORIENT, France: Paris Saint-Germain will have to wait at least a few more days to try to clinch the French league title.
Kylian Mbappe scored twice and provided an assist in a 4-1 win over Lorient on Wednesday, but there were no celebrations because second-place Monaco beat Lille 1-0 later in the evening.
The lead atop the standings is 11 points with four games remaining. Defending champion PSG can clinch their record-extending 12th French league title at home on Saturday against Le Havre.
PSG remain on course for a treble of trophies in Mbappe’s final season with the club, as they will play Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semifinals and face Lyon in the French Cup final next month.
In a match between the most prolific attack and the most porous defense in the league, PSG winger Ousmane Dembele opened the scoring in the 19th minute in Lorient, a sleepy seaport in Brittany.
Mbappe doubled the lead by nonchalantly flicking a cross from Nuno Mendes into the far corner in the 22nd.
The France forward set up the third goal by dribbling past Nathaniel Adjei to square the ball back to Dembele, who tapped into an empty net.
Mbappe sealed the win in the 90th with a curler into the far corner to solidify his spot as the top scorer in the league by raising his tally to 26 goals.
“We had a good game, we were serious, we deserve the three points,” Dembele told Amazon Prime. “Now we must finish the job to be champions as quickly as possible.”
Relegation-threatened Lorient scored a consolation goal with a powerful header from Mohamed Bamba off a cross from Benjamin Mendy in the 73rd.
Gianluigi Donnarumma prevented a nervy finish by saving a low strike from Lorient substitute Panos Katseris in the 80th.
PSG coach Luis Enrique fielded a makeshift team that included academy players Senny Mayulu and Yoram Zague. Managing his players’ minutes, Luis Enrique even left Marquinhos, Achraf Hakimi, Vitinha, Bradley Barcola and Warren Zaire-Emery out of the matchday squad.
PSG have only lost one league game this season, and that was in September.
Monaco won a fourth straight game to go six points clear of fourth-place Lille and move closer to an automatic Champions League spot.
France midfielder Youssouf Fofana won the ball in midfield and scored the lone goal with a low drive from the edge of the box in the 61st.
Lille trail third-place Brest by a point and still occupies the spot for the third qualifying round of the Champions League.
Also Wednesday, Marseille’s European hopes took a hit after a 2-2 draw with fifth-place Nice.
Nigeria forward Terem Moffi put Nice ahead in the 13th after goalkeeper Pau Lopez came off his line and missed the ball.
Marseille right back Jonathan Clauss leveled the game with a powerful strike from the edge of the box in the 31st.
Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave Marseille the lead with a penalty in the 56th after Mohamed-Ali Cho had fouled Leonardo Balerdi.
But Nice left back Melvin Bard equalized with a low diagonal shot in the 72nd.
Marseille leapfrogged Lyon into eighth place, five points off the last European spot.
Those three games were rescheduled to help PSG, Marseille and Lille prepare for European games.
Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes hit by 2-0 loss to Everton. Man United survives another scare
Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes hit by 2-0 loss to Everton. Man United survives another scare
- Man. United came from behind twice to beat last-place Sheffield United 4-2.
- Crystal Palace ensured top flight safety after 2-0 win against Newcastle
LIVERPOOL, England: Jurgen Klopp’s hopes of a dream send-off were left in tatters after a 2-0 loss at Everton dealt a major blow to Liverpool’s Premier League title bid on Wednesday.
Goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Goodison Park meant Klopp tasted a bitter defeat in his last Merseyside derby before standing down at the end of the season.
The loss keeps Liverpool three points behind league leader Arsenal in second place and one ahead of defending champion Manchester City, which is in third and has two games in hand on both of its rivals.
Klopp had spoken last week of needing perfection to win his second title at the club. But this was the latest setback for his team, which has lost two of its last three games in the league.
While the result hurt Liverpool’s title chances, it delivered a boost to Everton’s survival bid, with the win moving Sean Dyche’s team eight points above the relegation zone.
That fact seemed to be of less concern to the home fans, who were too busy reveling in the damage caused to Liverpool’s season.
“You lost the league at Goodison Park,” they chanted as the final whistle approached and the majority of the 39,000 crowd remained inside the stadium to drink in the atmosphere as the players celebrated on the field.
Klopp had dominated this fixture since taking over at Anfield in 2015, winning nine of the past 16 derbies before Wednesday’s match.
Statistics showed Everton won 75 percent of all duels in the opening half hour, a league record for any top flight team this season.
After just six minutes, Liverpool was grateful for VAR as it escaped an early penalty when Alisson brought down Calvert-Lewin in the box and referee Andrew Madley pointed to the spot. The decision was overturned because of an offside in the build up.
That pressure was made to count when Everton took the lead in in the 27th. Liverpool’s defenders repeatedly failed to clear the danger from a free kick and Branthwaite’s shot squirmed through the hands of Alisson and off the post before crossing the line.
Again there was an agonizing wait for a VAR check, but on this occasion there was no reprieve for Liverpool.
Luis Diaz had the chance to level before the break, but was denied by the legs of Jordan Pickford from close range.
Liverpool came out with more intent for the second half without forcing Pickford into serious action before conceding a second goal.
Again the visitors failed to deal with a set piece when Dwight McNeil swung a deep corner to the far post and Calvert-Lewin rose unmarked to head home.
Liverpool came close to pulling one back in the 69th, but Diaz’s effort came back off the post.
United scare
Manchester United survived another scare — twice coming from behind to beat last-place Sheffield United 4-2.
Having been taken to the wire by second-tier Coventry in the FA Cup semifinals on Sunday, Erik ten Hag’s team looked in danger of dropping points in its bid qualify for Europe.
Sheffield United led 1-0 and then 2-1 through goals from Jayden Bogle and Ben Brereton in each half at Old Trafford. But Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes from the penalty spot leveled on each occasion.
Fernandes put United ahead in the 81st and and Rasmus Hojlund sealed the points four minutes later.
United is up to sixth in the standings, 13 points behind fourth-place Aston Villa.
Palace safe
Crystal Palace ensured top flight safety after Jean-Philippe Mateta struck twice in a 2-0 win against Newcastle.
Palace is on 39 points — 14 clear of 18th-place Luton, which can only pick up a maximum of 37 if it wins its last four games of the season.
It was Palace’s third-straight win to erase fears of being relegated. Defeat saw Newcastle drop to seventh.
Bournemouth beat Wolves 1-0 at Molineux through Antoine Semenyo’s first-half strike.
Riyadh Season to host Crawford-Madrimov world title clash in Los Angeles
RIYADH: Riyadh Season will hold the first boxing event outside Saudi Arabia as Terence Crawford challenges Israil Madrimov for the WBA and WBO interim World Super-Welterweight title.
The event will take place at Los Angeles’ BMO Stadium on Aug. 3, 2024, the Kingdom’s entertainment authority said on Wednesday.
Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Entertainment Authority, announced that Visit Saudi, MDL Beast and Red Sea Global will be the sponsors of the event.
Promotion will be handled by Riyadh Season Card, Sela, League 1 and Matchroom Boxing in association with World Of Boxing, TGB Promotions, Golden Boy, Goldstar, Queensberry, Salita Promotions and Warriors Boxing Promotions.
“We are delighted for Riyadh Season to host its first overseas event in Los Angeles and this fight in the United States is a special one to mark this moment,” Alalshikh said.
“We want to give people around the world the opportunity to enjoy their own Riyadh Season experience and this is exactly what we hope to achieve by staging this and also future events around the world.”
Crawford (40-0 31 KOs) is gunning to become a Four-Weight World champion as he moves up to 154lbs after conquering the Welterweight division with a stunning KO win over Errol Spence to be crowned the undisputed champion at 147lbs in Las Vegas in July.
The Omaha star has already ruled the roost at Super-Lightweight and Lightweight, and now the pound-for-pound great is arrowing in on cementing greatness by claiming honors at a fourth weight.
Madrimov (10-0-1 7 KOs) is the man that stands in Crawford’s way, and the Uzbek champion makes his first defense of his title against the toughest opposition possible after winning the belt in spectacular fashion in his last outing in Saudi Arabia.
The 29 year old took on Magomed Kurbanov for the vacant title in Riyadh in March, and stopped the Russian in five rounds with a dominant performance to continue his impressive unbeaten run in the paid ranks, following a glittering amateur career.
British boxing promotor Eddie Hearn said: “This is a fantastic fight between a pound-for-pound great and one of the best World champions in the sport.”
“Terence is a pound-for-pound great and continues to strive to be the very best, but in Israil, he meets a hungry champion that has no intention of relinquishing his title in his first defense - this promises to be one of the fights of the year.”
“I cannot wait to get back in the ring in my fourth weight class and remind the world why I’m the best pound for pound fighter in the world,” said Terence Crawford. “Israil Madrimov is a tremendous and entertaining fighter, but on August 3, he will be my next victim. This is the Terence Crawford era.”
“Terence Crawford is one of my favorite boxers and one of the best boxers in the world,” said Israil Madrimov. “I am very excited to get this opportunity to make a statement, and I will Inshallah.”
The main event is complemented by an undercard that is set to captivate fight fans.
Recently crowned WBA Super-Lightweight champion Isaac Cruz defends his title for the first time against United States southpaw Jose Valenzuela.
Two of the United States’ most fearsome boxing Heavyweights will do battle with former unified Heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz returning to the ring for the first time since a unanimous decision win against Luis Ortiz in September 2022, to face Jarrell Miller, who will be going all out to produce a winning outcome after losing his undefeated record in Riyadh in December last year.
Former Super-Welterweight world champion Tim Tszyu awaits Vergil Ortiz Jr, subject to the outcome of his fight against Thomas Dulorme this weekend, while David Morrell of Cuba will seek to preserve his unbeaten record in a Light Heavyweight contest against US fighter Radivoje Kalajdzic.
Andy Cruz, the Olympic Lightweight gold medalist, continues his Lightweight campaign when he takes on Mexico’s Antonio Moran.
Saudi Arabia’s Joud Bukhari wins bronze at Asian 9Ball Ladies & Girls Tournament
RIYADH: Saudi billiards national team player Joud Bukhari won the bronze medal at the Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports 9Ball Ladies and Girls Tournament 2024 currently held in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
As Saudi Arabia marks its first official participation in the tournament, Bukhari became the first Arab, gulf, and Saudi woman to win a medal during the championship.
Separately, eight Saudi male and female officials completed a course held on the sidelines of the Asian tournament, enabling them to officiate international billiards and snooker matches.
Xavi to remain Barcelona coach: club to AFP
- The 44-year-old decided on his dramatic change of mind after a day of meetings
BARCELONA: Xavi will remain as coach of Barcelona, the Spanish giants told AFP on Wednesday, despite having announced in January that he planned to quit at the end of the season.
Spanish media reported that the 44-year-old, who had signed a contract extension until 2025 last autumn, decided on his dramatic change of mind after a day of meetings with club president Joan Laporta and sporting director Deco.
