MADRID: Valencia Basket’s Euroleague game against Maccabi Tel Aviv will take place in front of spectators at the Roig Arena on Thursday, marking the first game against an Israeli team in Spain this season with fans in attendance.
The police had recommended the game should be played behind closed doors for security reasons amid ongoing tensions between Israel and Palestine.
Although other Spanish teams, including Real Madrid, Barça, Baskonia, Baxi Manresa, and La Laguna Tenerife, have opted to play fixtures against Israeli teams in empty arenas this season, Valencia Basket decided otherwise after weeks of discussions with the government.
“The club will redouble its efforts at all levels and will take all necessary measures so that those who wish to do so can enjoy the game under normal conditions,” Valencia said in a statement on Wednesday.
The main considerations were safeguarding the rights of season ticket holders and avoiding a competitive imbalance created by empty stands, particularly as Israeli clubs have been hosting matches recently with full crowds in hostile atmospheres.
“The Club encourages all its season ticket holders to once again become the ‘sixth player’ for the game, giving the team the necessary boost to compete, and demonstrating at every level that it is possible to enjoy a sporting event without incidents. This will help make playing under these conditions the norm and put an end to a situation that only harms the competition and Spanish teams,” Valencia said.
Only Valencia Basket’s 11,500 season ticket holders will be permitted entry to the venue.
Valencia to allow fans for Euroleague game against Maccabi Tel Aviv
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Valencia to allow fans for Euroleague game against Maccabi Tel Aviv
- The police had recommended the game should be played behind closed doors for security reasons amid ongoing tensions between Israel and Palestine
- “The club will redouble its efforts at all levels and will take all necessary measures,” Valencia said
Siniakova ends Andreeva Indian Wells defense in third round
- Siniakova, a former doubles number one, will face either Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina or American Ashlyn Krueger for a place in the quarter-finals
INDIAN WELLS, United States: Unseeded Katerina Siniakova ended a frustrated Mirra Andreeva’s Indian Wells title defense on Monday, rallying for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the eighth-ranked Russian.
The 18-year-old Andreeva had opened her repeat bid with an imperious 6-0, 6-0 demolition of Solana Sierra.
But she was in trouble early and often against 44th-ranked Siniakova in a rollercoaster contest that featured seven service breaks for each player and 43 break chances between them.
When she sailed a swinging volley long to surrender the second set, Andreeva threw her racquet in disgust.
She regrouped to break Siniakova for a 3-2 lead in the third, but Siniakova won the next four games.
The Czech saved a pair of break points in the final game before sealing the match with a shot that struck the net cord and dribbled over as Andreeva could only watch, disappointment sparking another outburst from the Russian as she departed the court.
Siniakova, a former doubles number one, will face either Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina or American Ashlyn Krueger for a place in the quarter-finals.
In other early matches, fifth-seeded American Jessica Pegula shook off a slow start to beat Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Pegula, coming off her fourth career WTA 1000 title at Dubai last month, fired 11 aces with just one double fault as she rallied for the win.
“I think today I had to kind of snap myself back and kind of lock in to not let that get away from me,” said Pegula, who said she was in danger of letting negativity and frustration get the better of her.
“I didn’t think I was playing bad. It was just letting a couple chances, couple breaks here and there (get away), maybe a couple shots that I could have been more aggressive on.”
Later on Stadium Court, world number two Iga Swiatek took on Greece’s Maria Sakkari — the woman she beat in the Indian Wells finals in 2022 and 2024.
Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, who lifted the Indian wells Trophy in 2023, played Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final match of the night.
