TENNIS
Coco Gauff and Jil Teichmann advanced to the Adelaide International semifinals on Thursday by earning three-set wins.
The 16-year-old Gauff beat Shelby Rogers, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, and Teichmann defeated Anastasija Sevastova, 6-4 ,6-7 (8), 7-5.
Gauff has won five straight matches in Adelaide, including two in qualifying, since her second-round loss to fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina at the Australian Open. Gauff next faces second-seeded Belinda Bencic, who beat Storm Sanders, 6-2, 6-4.
Teichmann had five match points in the second-set tiebreaker against Sevastova but was unable to close it out. The 23-year-old Swiss player was then forced to save two match points while trailing 5-4 in the third.
French Open champion Iga Swiatek advanced to the semifinals when American opponent Danielle Collins retired because of an undisclosed injury while trailing 6-3, 3-0.
NADAL WITHDRAWS: Rafael Nadal pulled out of next week’s hard-court tournament at Rotterdam, Netherlands, because of the bad back that bothered him during the Australian Open.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion wrote in a series of posts on Twitter that he “found a temporary solution that allowed me to play without pain in the second week” of the Australian Open, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets. But, one of Nadal’s tweets said, “Once I got back to Spain I visited my doctor and together with my team they’ve advised not to play this upcoming week.”
The second-ranked Nadal would have been seeded No. 1 in Rotterdam. Instead, third-ranked Daniil Medvedev, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, will take the top spot in the seedings. If Medvedev reaches the final in Rotterdam, he would replace Nadal at No. 2 in the rankings, according to the ATP Tour. That would make Medvedev the first man other than Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Andy Murray to be ranked in the top two since Lleyton Hewitt was second to Federer in July 2005.
TRACK AND FIELD
SEMENYA SEEKS APPEAL: Caster Semenya is going to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge “discriminatory” rules that prohibit her from competing in certain track events because of her high natural testosterone, her lawyers said.
The two-time Olympic champion in the 800 meters has already lost two legal appeals against World Athletics’ regulations that force her to medically lower her natural testosterone level if she wants to run in women’s races from 400 meters to the mile.
The South African’s lawyers said there’s been a “violation of her rights” and wants the human rights court to examine the rules.
Semenya has one of a number of conditions known as differences of sex development. Although she has never publicly released details of her condition, World Athletics has controversially referred to her as “biologically male” in previous legal proceedings, a description that angered Semenya.
Semenya has the typical male XY chromosome pattern and levels of testosterone that are much higher then the typical female range, World Athletics says. The track and field body says that gives her and other athletes like her an unfair advantage over other female runners.
Semenya, 30, was legally identified as female at birth and has identified as female her whole life. She says her testosterone is merely a genetic gift.
SOCCER
MLS: Thierry Henry resigned as coach of Montreal in Major League Soccer after one season.
“It is with a heavy heart that I’ve decided to take this decision,” Henry said in a statement. “The last year has been an extremely difficult one for me personally. Due to the worldwide pandemic, I was unable to see my children. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing restrictions and the fact that we will have to relocate to the U.S. again for several months, (this year) will be no different. The separation is too much of a strain for me and my kids. Therefore, it is with much sadness that I must take the decision to return to London.”
The 43-year-old former World Cup champion with France became Montreal’s coach in November 2019. His team had eight wins, 13 losses and two draws in the pandemic-shortened season, finishing in ninth place in the Eastern Conference.
Montreal lost to New England 2-1 in the postseason play-in round, its first playoff appearance since 2016. Montreal players report Monday for a seven-day quarantine period, medical tests and COVID-19 testing prior to the start of training March 8. The season starts April 17.
ITALY: Torino’s Serie A match against Sassuolo on Friday was postponed because of a rising number of coronavirus cases in the club.
Seven Torino players have tested positive for COVID-19, as well as two members of staff. The more contagious variant that emerged in England has been identified in some cases.
Three Torino players tested positive in the buildup to last Friday’s match at Cagliari. Amid reports of more possible cases, the local health authority ordered the temporary closure of the club’s training ground in Turin on Tuesday and instructed all the players and coaching staff to self-isolate at their homes and await further tests.
Torino is next due to fly to Rome for a match at Lazio on Tuesday.
RUGBY
SIX NATIONS: The match between France and Scotland on Sunday will be postponed, organizers said, after an 11th French player tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Six Nations testing oversight group unanimously recommended the match in Paris be postponed and “this will be ratified later today by the Six Nations council,” it said in a statement. “We will be working on the rescheduling of this fixture and will communicate the date in due course.”
The game was given the go-ahead on Wednesday despite 10 France players – including captain Charles Ollivon and star scrumhalf Antoine Dupont – testing positive for COVID-19 in checks over the past week. Coach Fabien Galthie tested positive soon after the win against Ireland in Dublin on Feb. 14. An 11th player, as yet unnamed, then tested positive following another round of checks late Wednesday, prompting training to be suspended on Thursday and the French squad to go back into isolation.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.