Wozniacki, Kerber upset
WUHAN:WORLD No 2 Caroline Wozniacki and Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber were stunned at the Wuhan Open in China on Wednesday,bothsufferingshock defeats at the hands of less fancied opponents.
Olympic champion Monica Puig gave herself an early birthday gift, beating Wozniacki 7-6(10), 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals. She was joined in the last eight by in-form Ashleigh Barty, who upset world number three Kerber 7-5, 6-1.
The 51st-ranked Puig was more than a match for Australian Open champion Wozniacki, who missed an opportunity to narrow the gap at the top after world No 1 Simona Halep was knocked out on Monday.
Germany’s Kerber was downed 7-5, 6-1 by Australia’s Barty, last year’s runner-up here in Wuhan.
WILD CARDS FOR ARGENTINA, BRITAIN
Paris:argentina and Britain have been awarded wild cards into the 2019 Davis Cup, the first to be played under a radically changed format, organisers announced Wednesday.
Under a format proposed by the Kosmos group, and adopted by the International Tennis Federation in August, the competition will bring together 18 nations in one place for a week at the end of the tennis season.
The four 2018 semi-finalists — France, Croatia, Spain and the United States — qualify directly. Twelve more places will be decided in qualifiers on Feb 1-2. That two wild cards, selected by the organisers, were given to Argentina and Britain.
KOEPKA NAMED PGA PLAYER OF THE YEAR
NEWYORK:BROOKS Koepka added a further accolade to a stellar campaign when he was named the PGA of America Player of the Year on Wednesday, while Dustin Johnson won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average.
Koepka won a second consecutive US Open championship in June and then triumphed at the PGA Championship in August.
Justin Thomas, who picked up the award last year, finished second to Koepka. BRIEF SCORES
Rohit Sharma XI 190 (Vedant Gadia 100, Karan Suraiya 34; Aman Manihar 4/30, Adhiraj Singh 3/23) & 57 for 1 vs Sachin Tendulkar XI 282/9 decl (Suryansh Shedge 112; Arjun Dani 3/25).
Dilip Vengsarkar XI 95 (Ayush Jethwa 46; Yash Kripal 5/43, Parikshit Dhanak 4/21) and 140/2 (Harsh Rane 61, Ayush Jethwa 46*) vs Sunil Gavaskar XI 220 (Ayush Singh 41, Musheerahmed Khan 70; Shubham Kharat 6/51).
STEPHEN NETS BRACE
Merwin Stephen struck twice in Dadar outfit St Paul’s 2-1 win over St Peter’s, Vasai in the Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana’s 31st Inter-parish five-a-side rink football tournament.