Tsitsipas upset by Struff at Cincinnati Masters
Fifth-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas’s Cincinnati Masters challenge ended in the second round on Wednesday as he was beaten 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6) by unseeded German Jan-Lennard Struff.
Struff, who has yet to win an ATP singles title in his decade-long career as a professional, was on top for most of the match against the 21-year-old Greek.
The German set up a last 16 meeting with ninth-seed Daniil Medvedev, who beat Frenchman Benoit Paire 7-6 (2), 6-1.
Canadian Denis Shapovalov lost a 6-4, 6-4 decision to Lucas Pouille.
Among the other surprises on Wednesday, world No. 5 Kei Nishikori was defeated 7-6 (2), 6-4 by Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and third seed Roger Federer advanced to the last 16 on Tuesday.
On the women’s side, top seeded Ash Barty overcame a slow start to defeat Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-1, while Simona Halep battled past Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
French Open champion Barty double faulted to give Sharapova a 2-1 lead in the first set and it looked like an upset could be brewing.
But an error-prone Sharapova bowed out after she produced six double faults and squandered six of her seven break point opportunities.
“Overall it was a pretty clean performance,” Barty said.
“It’s difficult to come out against a player like Maria. She’s an incredible champion, she knows how to fight and she makes you earn every single point.”
Barty will next face Anett Kontaveit.
Third seeded Karolina Pliskova crushed lucky loser Wang Yafan 6-1, 6-3 and Donna Vekic knocked out former champion Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 7-5 to set up a showdown with Venus Williams on Thursday.
The Washington Wizards named former NBA All-Star Antawn Jamison director of pro personnel on Wednesday.
“We are absolutely thrilled to bring Antawn back to the Wizards organization,” GM Tommy Sheppard said in a release.
Jamison, 43, spent the past two seasons as a scout for the Los Angeles Lakers. He will work with vice-president of pro personnel Johnny Rogers on the organization’s NBA and G League scouting.
Jamison played for the Wizards for six seasons (2004-10), posting averages of 20.8 points and 8.9 rebounds and earning two All-Star selections with Washington.
The 17-year veteran averaged 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 1,083 career games (864 starts) with Golden State, Dallas, Washington, Cleveland, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers.
Jamison played collegiately at North Carolina where he won the Wooden and Naismith Awards as the most outstanding college basketball player as a junior during the 1997-98 season. He was originally selected fourth overall by the Toronto Raptors in the 1998 NBA Draft.
Joseph Tsai plans to buy the remainder of the Brooklyn Nets from Mikhail Prokhorov and become sole owner of the NBA franchise, the New York Post reported Wednesday.
When Tsai purchased 49 per cent of the team last year for US$1
She’s an incredible champion, she knows how to fight and she makes you earn every single point.
billion, he locked in the right to buy the remaining 51 per cent before the 2021-22 season for $1.35 billion, according to the report.
The combined $2.35- billion transaction would be the highest price ever paid for a sports franchise in the United States.
David Tepper paid $2.2 billion for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers last year, the same amount Tilman Fertitta spent for the NBA’s Houston Rockets in 2017.
Tsai, 55, is the co-founder of the Chinese shopping website Alibaba. He also owns the WNBA’s New York Liberty.
The Post said the deal will be announced this week. Former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue is close to reaching an agreement to become the lead assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers, according to a New York Times report. Lue would likely possess the associate head coach label if the deal is consummated. He was an assistant under Clippers coach Doc Rivers twice previously.
The 42-year-old Lue helped Cleveland reach the NBA Finals on three occasions, winning the crown in 2016.