Halep ousts Davis in marathon encounter

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) - World number one Simona Halep saved three match points and overcame throbbing ankle pain to get past Lauren Davis 4-6 6-4 15-13 in a marathon third round encounter at the Australian Open yesterday.

In a remarkable display of grit, a courageous Halep came back from the brink at 11-10 in the deciding set before finally prevailing over the determined American after three hours and 44 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.

Angelique Kerber later ended Maria Sharapova’s quest for a title-winning return at the Melbourne park event, winning the battle of the only remaining former champions 6-1 6-3.

The meeting had the feel of a showpiece final but Sharapova failed to fire while German Kerber came out with all guns blazing and claimed the victory in 64 minutes.

Roger Federer marched into the second week with a 6-2 7-5 6-4 win over Richard Gasquet in just under two hours to stay on track for a 20th grand slam title. The 36year-old defending champion has now reached the fourth round at Melbourne for the 16th time.

The Swiss was joined in the next round by Novak Djokovic, who overcame a muscle strain in his lower back but still had enough in the tank to ease past Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2 6-3 63.

Up next for six-times Australian Open champion Djokovic is South Korean Chung Hyeon, who outlasted fourth seed and fellow young gun Alexander Zverev 5-7 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3 6-0.

Tomas Berdych overpowered Juan Martin del Potro 6-3 6-3 6-2 to reach the fourth round for the 10th time and set up a clash with Italy’s Fabio Fognini, who (Reuters) Paul George scored 36 points, Carmelo Anthony added a season-high 29 points with 10 rebounds, and Russell Westbrook recorded a season-best 20 assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder throttled the Cleveland Cavaliers 148-124 yesterday at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Thunder led wire-to-wire in extending their winning streak to four games. Paul teamed with Steven Adams (25 points, 10 rebounds) to score the first 20 points for Oklahoma City, and when Westbrook added two free throws at the 6:45 mark of the first quarter, the Thunder lead 22-12.

Isaiah Thomas tallied 24 points for the Cavaliers, who’ve lost nine of 12 games. LeBron James finished with 18 points, leaving him seven shy of becoming the seventh player in league history with 30,000 career points. James added seven assists and finished minus-33 over 38 minutes.

Cleveland was a defensive sieve from the opening tip, allowing Adams easy access to the rim on deep post-ups and offensive rebounds while also surrendering open perimeter looks to George. The Thunder posted a season-high 43 points in

The extent of the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) support for the ‘the Caribbean will be known later this week, President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), Steve Ninvalle said yesterday.

Ninvalle met with amateur boxing’s world governing body interim President Franco Falcinelli during the Executive Committee meeting in Rome, Italy last week and downed French journeyman Benneteau 3-6 6-2 6-1 4-6 6-3.

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei beat an ailing Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 7-5 in the third round. Radwanska, who called for the trainer after the first set and sported strapping on her left knee, fought bravely in the second set but the twice Melbourne semifinalist could not find a way to stop Hsieh.

Six-times Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic extended his winning streak to 14 matches against lefthanders at grand slams, beating Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2 6-3 6-3 in the thirdround.

Czech Barbora Strycova reached the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the third consecutive year with a 6-2 6-2 win over American Bernarda Pera.

Strycova will next face compatriot Karolina Pliskova, who she accused of stealing her coach Tomas Krupa last year.

Big-serving Czech Tomas Berdych fired 20 aces in a 6-3 6-3 6-2 victory over Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the third round. the first quarter, shooting 63 percent (17for-27), including 5-of-9 on 3s, as George and Adams combined for 23 points on 9of-11 shooting.

The Thunder led by as many as 20 points in the first quarter. Cleveland fashioned a token rally behind its bench to open the second, cutting the deficit to nine points before Oklahoma City reclaimed momentum when its starters returned to action. George, Anthony and Westbrook scored the final 30 points of the half for the Thunder, and combined for 55 points at the break.

Oklahoma City led 76-60 at the break. Not only was Cleveland porous defensively, but the Cavaliers made just 2-of-16 3pointers prior to the intermission. Cavaliers forward Kevin Love played just three minutes for Cleveland, departing early in the first quarter with an undisclosed illness.

Westbrook finished with 23 points and nine rebounds. Jae Crowder scored 17 points for the Cavaliers. The point total represented a season-high for the Thunder, eclipsing the 133 points scored against the Lakers on Jan. 3. confirmed that the organization’s head will be dealing with the ‘Year of the Caribbean’ during his report to an Extraordinary Congress set for this week in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The Caribbean has been identified to benefit from AIBA’s Year of Legacy projects this year.

Ninvalle told Stabroek Sport yesterday that the Caribbean is fine tuning its proposal to send to Julien Falcinelli and also the president of AMBC, Osvaldo Bisbal.

He added that “We expect a lot for the Year of the Caribbean and we expect it to be better than the year of Africa (2017). We didn’t hear much of what happened in Africa but rest assured the Caribbean will have a year that is full of activities.”

Ninvalle disclosed that the two-day event for Dubai starts on Thursday.