Kerber suffers injury setback ahead of year’s first Grand Slam
ADELAIDE: Angelique Kerber’s preparations for the opening Grand Slam were dealt a blow on Wednesday when she was forced to retire from the Adelaide International with back pain.
The German former world No 1 player , who won the Australian Open in 2016, pulled out when behind 6-3, 2-0 in her secondround clash with Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska.
Kerber began showing serious signs of the back problem early in the second set then stopped after two points in the third game on her own serve, calling for the trainer. A medical evaluation on court ended with the 31-year-old world No 18 calling it quits.
FARAH FAILS DRUG TEST, PULLS OUT OF AUS OPEN
BOGOTA: Men’s doubles world No 1 Robert Farah has withdrawn from the upcoming Australian Open after failing a dope test.
“The Tennis Anti-doping Programme can confirm that Robert Farah provided an Out-of-competition sample on October 17, 2019, which returned a positive finding for Boldenone,” International Tennis Federation (ITF) said in a tweet.
NADAL, OSAKA, MURRAY NOMINEES FOR LAUREUS
BERLIN: Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka along with teen sensation Coco Gauf are competing for this year’s Laureus Awards after being nominated in different categories on Wednesday.
Nadal is in contention for the ‘World Sportsman of the Year’ award alongside Formula 1 World champion Lewis Hamilton, six-time World Motogp champion Marc Marquez and sixtime FIFA World Footballer of the Year Lionel Messi.
LOPEZ DOUBLES UP TO OUST FOGNINI
AUCKLAND: Feliciano Lopez, playing his second match of the day, knocked top seed and world No 12 Fabio Fognini out of the ATP Auckland Classic to advance to the quarter-finals. He began the day beating Pablo Andujar 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 and after a three-hour rest, he beat Fognini 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
SHARAN, SITAK MOVE TO AUCKLAND QUARTERS
AUCKLAND:DIVIJ Sharan and partner Artem Sitak beat John Peers and Michael Venus 7-6(4), 7-6(3) to move to the quarter-finals of the ATP ASB Classic.