MEDVEDEV LIMPS TO 3RD-ROUND WIN
Daniil Medvedev could barely walk, much less run. He could still serve, though.
The top-ranked Medvedev held his final two service games despite being hobbled by cramps and beat Alexei Popyrin 7-6 (3), 6-7 (7), 6-4 in the third round at the Miami Open.
Medvedev said the victory brought a special sort of satisfaction.
“Winning a Grand Slam final in straight sets doesn’t feel the way I felt after the match point today,” he said with a grin. “A match to remember for sure.“
Medvedev failed to convert three match points in the second set after taking a 5-2 lead. An hour later the Russian was still playing, and on a humid afternoon with temperatures in the mid 80s, he paid a price.
He broke in the final set for a 4-3 lead, but by then he was limping around the court.
Also advancing was No. 18-seeded John Isner, the only former Miami champion in the men’s field. On the women’s side, No. 2 Naomi Osaka advanced with a walkover, but No. 4 Sofia Kenin lost to No. 27 Ons Jabeur 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
Osaka will next face No. 16 Elise Mertens, who won a seesaw match against No. 22 Anett Kontaveit, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2. No. 29 Jessica Pegula defeated No. 6 Karolina Pliskova for the third time this year, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
Olympics
Many fans living outside
Japan who bought Tokyo Olympic tickets from brokers — so-called Authorized Ticket Resellers — will not get full refunds. And they may have a long wait to get any refunds at all.
The question of refunds came into play a week ago when local organizers and the Japanese government decided to bar most fans from abroad because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
CoSport, the Authorized Tickets Resellers for the United States and other territories and countries, said in a letter over the weekend to ticket holders that it would not refund the handling fee. It said it would refund the face value of the ticket and the shipping fees.
Locally
Christian Gutierrez chested home a free kick 41 seconds into sudden-death overtime, as the San Diego Sockers prevailed over the Tacoma Stars 6-5 in a Ron Newman Cup playoff opening-round match at Ontario. San Diego won the best-ofthree series 2-0.
• The San Diego Legion earned their first rugby win of the 2021 season with a comefrom-behind win of 14-11 over the Austin Gilgronis.
The Legion trailed at halftime 3-0, then 11-0 late in the match but rallied with trys in the 62nd and 72nd minutes for the win.
• The San Diego Gulls improved to 13-10-0-0 with a 2-1 win over the Tucson Roadrunners on Saturday night in Irvine.
• The San Diego State men’s soccer team (1-4-2, 14-2 Pac-12) shut out No. 4 Washington (8-2-0, 5-2-0) 2-0 at home.
• The SDSU women’s soccer team (6-1-0) attempted 19 shots with three finding the back of the net and the Aztecs cruised to a 3-0 win over the San Jose State Spartans at home.
Soccer
The U.S. broke out a 3-4-3 formation with wingbacks, a new weapon in the team’s arsenal under coach Gregg Berhalter that opened space for Christian Pulisic. The result was the Americans’ first win at a European opponent in six years.
Gio Reyna scored on a deflected shot off a pass from Pulisic in the 30th minute, Pulisic doubled the lead with a penalty kick in the 59th and the United States beat Northern Ireland 2-1 in an exhibition at Belfast.
• Defending champion France collected its first win in World Cup qualifying by beating Kazakhstan 2-0 to move top of Group D, with Ukraine and Finland two points behind after drawing 1-1.
• If captain Harry Kane is the first name on England’s team sheet, then blossoming midfielder Mason Mount isn’t too far behind. Both players highlighted their importance to the national team by scoring the goals in England’s 2-0 win over Albania in World Cup qualifying, which added to the 5-0 victory over San Marino in midweek that opened the Group I campaign.
• Germany stayed on course to qualify for next year’s World Cup with ease after Serge Gnabry scored the only goal in a 1-0 away win over Romania.
• Denmark changed all 10 outfield players to face Moldova and still enjoyed a national-best 8-0 win in a World
Cup qualifying game.
• A perfect 10 wins in 10 matches in European Championship qualifying and now two for two in World Cup qualifying. Italy has clearly bounced back from its devastating failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. The Azzurri won 2-0 in Bulgaria with goals from Andrea Belotti and Manuel Locatelli to follow up on a victory over Northern Ireland three days earlier.
• Spain needed a late goal to salvage its first victory in World Cup qualifying, while Sweden kept on winning with Zlatan Ibrahimovic again contributing with assists. Substitute Dani Olmo scored with a long-range shot two minutes into second-half stoppage time as Spain came from behind to beat Georgia 2-1, while Ibrahimovic set up two goals in Sweden’s 3-0 win at Kosovo.
• Canada’s World Cup qualifier against the Cayman Islands at the IMG Academy was postponed by a day until today due to COVID-19 protocols.