Recovering Nadal draws Thiem in Finals
LONDON: Six-time champion Roger Federer was paired in the same group as German debutant Alexander Zverev for next week’s ATP Tour Finals. World number one Rafael Nadal, who is hoping to recover from a knee injury, heads the other group and will face Belgian David Goffin, Bulgarian debutant Grigor Dimitrov and Austrian Dominic Thiem.
Also in the Pete Sampras group with Federer is Croatian Marin Cilic, the man he beat in this year’s Wimbledon final, and American Jack Sock who crept into the tournament after winning the Paris Masters.
Zverev is one of three firsttimers with Dimitrov finally qualifying after being long-predicted to become a regular member of the men’s elite. Sock is the first American to qualify since Mardy Fish did so in 2011. Goffin has qualified for the first time also, although last year he played a match as an alternate.
Several big names are missing this year through injury including 2016 winner Andy Murray, four-times London winner Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka.
MURRAY FOR BRISBANE
MELBOURNE: Andy Murray is targeting a return to competitive tennis at the Brisbane International in January in the lead-up to the Australian Open. The 30-year-old Scot has been sidelined with a hip problem since Wimbledon but returned to the court for a charity event in Glasgow, losing a three-set match to a kilt-wearing Roger Federer on Tuesday.
“My hip felt pretty good, not perfect yet but it’s going in the right direction,” Murray said after the relaxed one-hour, 40-minute hit with Federer.
AVOID SPAIN IN WC
BUENOS AIRES: Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi says the worst possible draw for his Argentina side at next year’s World Cup would be Spain in the first round. “The worst that could happen to us would be to draw Spain at the group stages,” Messi told TYC Sports Wednesday. “I would prefer to avoid them, they’d be tough opponents.”
INDIA END WITH WIN
DAMMAM: India blanked Turkmenistan 3-0 in the last Group D match to end their campaign in the AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers on a rousing note. Skipper Amarjit Singh opened the scoring in the 74th minute, Abhishek Halder doubled the lead in the 80th and Edmund completed the tally with a strike in the 92nd as India dominated the proceedings for the better part of the game. India started with a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of hosts Saudi Arabia and then drew Yemen goalless in their second match.