Tiger targets quick return after problem knee needs surgery

TIGER WOODS is facing another lengthy injury lay-off after having surgery to repair cartilage damage to his left knee. In a statement, the Masters champion said he hoped to be playing again in six weeks. This is the fifth time the 43-year-old has needed surgery on his left knee. He has also had four back operations. This is the same knee where he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in 2008, and refused to have an operation until he had completed 91 holes to win the US Open, following a play-off against Rocco Mediate. Woods was injury free in his comeback season in 2018, following fusion surgery on his back, but has dealt with an assortment of ailments this year. In March he pulled RUSSIAN Andrey Rublev (right) used a stream of power from the baseline to upset eighth-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 6-7(5) 7-6(7) 7-5 yesterday and reach the second round of the US Open. World No 43 Rublev, who two weeks ago earned the biggest win of his career when he beat Roger Federer in the third round at Cincinnati, attacked Tsitsipas with a barrage of all-in forehands and broke his opponent five times in the match. Rublev displayed near flawless judgment as the Russian stuck to his gameplan to prevail in a battle that lasted four hours. Meanwhile, world No 1 Naomi Osaka was given a testing workout by Anna Blinkova DUTCH rider Fabio Jakobsen sprinted to victory to win stage four of the Vuelta a Espana yesterday and deny Irishman Sam Bennett a second successive stage victory, while Nicolas Roche retained the overall leader’s red jersey. The Deceuninck-QuickStep rider out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a neck strain and did not move well all summer following his triumph at Augusta, continually citing tightness in his back. He missed the cut at the US PGA Championship in May and The Open at Portrush last month, while he was never a factor at the US Open in June. He is due to play again in the inaugural Zozo Championship in Japan in October ‘I had the arthroscopic operation last week,’ Woods wrote on his website. ‘I’m walking now and hope to resume practice in the next few weeks. I look forward to playing in Japan in October.’ but the defending champion’s power ultimately proved too much for her opponent as she prevailed 6-4 6-7(5) 6-2. The unseeded Blinkova raced into a 4-1 lead but Osaka cut down her errors to win five straight games and take the opener. Blinkova took the second set but Osaka stayed composed in the third, breaking Blinkova to take a 3-1 lead before sealing the win with a blistering forehand winner that caught the line. edged out Bennett by a matter of millimetres in the flat finale. Bennett looked to be on course for a stunning repeat victory but his decision to take a right turn rather than left at a roundabout as the final kilometre approached saw him lose valuable time.