FEDERER WILL PLAY IN FRENCH OPEN
Roger Federer announced Sunday he will play at the French Open, and the Swiss star is preparing for it on home clay at a tournament in Geneva next month.
The 20time Grand Slam champion revealed his plans on his official Twitter page.
“Happy to let you know that I will play Geneva and Paris. Until then I will use the time to train. Can’t wait to play in Switzerland again,” Federer wrote.
Federer will aim for his 104th career title at the Geneva Open, which takes place May 16-22 — shortly before Roland Garros begins in Paris on May 30. The 39-year-old Federer won his only French Open in 2009 and lost to 13-time champion Rafael Nadal in the semifinals two years ago.
He did not play there last year.
Federer had a repeat operation on his right knee after a first procedure in February 2020. When that bothersome knee kept swelling up after bike rides or walks with his four children, he announced in June that he had had a second surgery.
The seventh-ranked Federer made his comeback from a 13-month injury layoff at the Qatar Open last month, beating Dan Evans in three sets and then losing in three to Nikoloz Basilashvili.
More tennis
Stefanos Tsitsipas won the Monte Carlo Masters at Monaco without dropping a set, beating Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-3 for his first title this year and sixth overall.
Locally
Del Norte junior pole vaulter Allison Leigh,
whose previous best was 12-111⁄2, cleared 13-7 at Torrey Pines High on Saturday to set the CIF San Diego Section record. Her mark was an inch better than Rancho Bernardo’s Ashley Callahan (2019) and Westview’s Kortney Ross (2010).
• Jay Leng Jr. of Torrey Pines High scored a fourshot win over Shea Lague in the boys 15- to 18-year-old division of Tiffany Joh Junior Championship at Pala Mesa Resort. Anna Davis,
15, who attends Steele Canyon High, shot a 3-underpar score for a three-shot win over Jasmine Leovao in the girls 15-18 division.
• The San Diego Gulls dropped a 5-1 AHL decision to the Bakersfield Condors at Mechanics Bank Arena in the second of a four-game road swing on Saturday night.
Local colleges
The San Diego State softball team (20-12, 5-7 Mountain West) scored nine runs in the first inning and never looked back in a 14-3, five-inning victory over visiting San Jose State (5-18, 1-8).
• The SDSU women’s soccer team (8-3-0) found the equalizer with four seconds to play to send its Mountain West Championship match to overtime at New Mexico, but the Lobos (10-1-0) got the golden goal in the 96th minute to bring an end to the Aztecs’ season, 3-2, on Saturday night.
Also
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Fred Arbanas , a key member of their first two Super Bowl teams in the 1960s and ’70s who later had a long career in county politics, died. He was 82.
• Trainer Richard Mandella’s Tizamagician
($3.20) took charge at the quarter pole as he romped to a massive 9-length win in the Grade III, $100,000 Tokyo City Cup at Santa Anita.
• Robert Whittaker outclassed Kelvin Gastelum
and scored a UFC middleweight unanimous decision, winning by a count of 50-45 on all three cards Saturday night at Apex in Las Vegas.
• Wout van Aert beat Tom Pidcock in a photo finish at the Amstel Gold Race in Valkenburg, Netherlands, while Marianne Vos accelerated away from Demi Vollering and Annemiek van Vleuten from a reduced bunch to win the women’s edition.