The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Three-in-a-row for Sharapova in Stuttgart Posted: 27 Apr 2014 08:23 AM PDT Having won the 2012 and 2013 titles here, the 27-year-old Sharapova was made to work hard for her 13th consecutive win on Stuttgart's clay-courts in the 51st final of her career before over-powering Ivanovic to claim a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory in just over two hours. It is the Russian's first clay-court tournament in her build-up to the French Open, having lost to Serena Williams in last year's final. Having been taken to three sets by the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova in her first-round match, Russia's Sharapova had swept into the final with straight set wins over compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, top-seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, then Italian clay-court specialist Sara Errani in the semi-finals. But Ivanovic, the ninth seed, made the statuesque Russian dig deep and the 26-year-old wasted no time asserting herself over Sharapova, racing into a a 4-0 lead in the first set before the defending champion responded, but the Serbian held her serve to take the first set. Having won her previous tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, last month, Ivanovic went 3-1 up in the second but the match's momentum turned against her when Sharapova broke her, then fought her way back to take the set. Ivanovic had been chasing her first win over the Russian since the 2007 French Open semi-final, when Ivanovic went onto lose to Justine Henin in the final, but the Serbian ran out of steam and sixth seed Sharapova dominated the third set. – AFP, April 27, 2014. |
| Chelsea close on leaders Liverpool Posted: 27 Apr 2014 08:14 AM PDT Victory saw Jose Mourinho's men close to within two points of top spot in the Premier League with two games to play. However, third-placed Manchester City will be just three points off the summit, with a game in hand on both Liverpool and Chelsea, if they win away to Crystal Palace later on Sunday. Senegal striker Demba Ba put Chelsea ahead in first-half stoppage-time when a slip by Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard allowed him to charge through and beat Reds goalkeeper Simon Mignolet in a one-on-one. Chelsea put the result beyond doubt in added-on time at the end of the match when, with the hosts pressing for an equaliser, former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres led a counter-attack before squaring the ball to substitute Willian for a simple finish. Chelsea face Atletico Madrid in the second leg of a Champions League semi-final at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday after a goalless initial encounter in Spain. Yesterday saw Ryan Giggs launch his reign as interim Manchester United following the sacking of David Moyes with a 4-0 thrashing of Norwich at Old Trafford, Wayne Rooney and substitute Juan Mata scoring two goals apiece. Everton missed the chance to go above Arsenal in the race for fourth position, and a place in next season's Champions League, after two own-goals condemned them to a 2-0 loss at Southampton. Arsenal will move four points in front of Everton with two games to play if they beat Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow. – AFP, April 27, 2014. |
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