Augeraliassime advances at Miami Open
Felix Auger-aliassime is through to the second round of men's singles at the Miami Open.
Auger-aliassime, of Montreal, dispatched Australian qualifier Adam Walton 7-5, 6-4 in a first-round match Thursday. Auger-aliassime joins Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., in the second round. Shapovalov won his opening-round match on Wednesday.
The unseeded Auger-aliassime, No. 36 in the ATP rankings, will next face fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany on Friday. Meanwhile, Shapovalov is set to play against No. 10 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.
Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand, the second seeds, were to face China's Hanyu Guo and Norway's Ulrikke Eikeri in a women's doubles contest later Thursday.
Leylah Fernandez, of Laval, Que., will play her opening match in Miami on Friday against Emiliana Arango of Colombia.
The International Olympic Committee believes its president, Thomas Bach, fell prey to a prank telephone call amid rising tensions with Russia over restrictions on its athletes competing at the Paris Games.
The IOC on Thursday detailed a call from people claiming to be from the African Union — a similar trick to one played by Russian callers on Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni in September.
In Meloni's call, she acknowledged “fatigue” with the war in Ukraine, believing she was talking with officials of the African Union.
The IOC said it had calls with “a person pretending to be the chair of the African Union Commission” wanting to discuss a statement on the politicization of sport.
The IOC and Bach have publicly criticized the Russian state, including over plans to organize an international multi-sport event in September, weeks after the Paris Olympics close.
Russian athletes who pass vetting to compete in Paris also will not take part in the opening ceremony parade of boats on the River Seine, the IOC decided this week.
“There appears to have been a new incident in the Russian disinformation and defamation campaign against the International Olympic Committee and its president,” the Olympic body said in a statement.
Russia is on track to have about 35 athletes qualify for the Paris Olympics — about 10 per cent of its usual team for a Summer Games.
Legia Warsaw's season-long issues with fan incidents at Uefa-organized games, including a giant banner with an expletive, led to an order on Thursday to play its next European home game in an empty stadium.
The latest disciplinary case followed Legia fans unveiling the banner along the length of its stadium before a Europa Conference League game against Molde last month.