Tsonga ousts eighth-ranked Khachanov at Washington ATP

WASHINGTON: France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated his first top-10 rival in nearly two years, ousting Russian second seed Karen Khachanov 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 on Tuesday at the ATP Washington Open. The 34-year-old Frenchman, ranked 70th in the world, outlasted eighth-ranked Khachanov after one hour and 58 minutes, turning back the clock to reach the third round of the US Open hardcourt tuneup event.

“I played very good tennis,” Tsonga said. “Everything went OK. Just very happy to go through. It’s good to see some results for all the hard work.” Tsonga, who lost his only Grand Slam final to Novak Djokovic at the 2008 Australian Open, had dropped six matches in a row against top-10 rivals since beating fifth-ranked German Alexander Zverev in October 2017 in a Vienna quarter-final.

There’s a revitalized spark in Tsonga, who won his 17th ATP title in February at Montpellier as a 210th-rated wildcard. He fired 13 aces and won 80 percent of his first-serve points. “When you play so long, sometimes you don’t feel like yourself,” Tsonga said. “Sometimes you lose your personality. I try to keep it and bring it back on court. When you are like this, it’s a lot better.” Tsonga advanced to a third-round match against British 13th seed Kyle Edmund, who defeated South Africa’s Lloyd Harris 6-1, 6-4.

Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev reached the third round by ousting US wildcard Bjorn Fratangelo 6-3, 6-4. The world number 10 might face an injured rival in the third round as 40thranked hometown favorite Frances Tiafoe beat Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) then quickly departed with a foot injury. “I’m very happy to return home with a win,” 16th seed Tiafoe said in a statement. “Unfortunately at the end of my match I felt a tweak in my foot. In the interest of making sure I can play my next match to the fullest, I will be getting my foot checked out.”

Australia’s Bernard Tomic wasn’t so lucky, withdrawing from his first-round match with a finger injury. German lucky loser Peter Gojowczyk replaced him and outlasted Russian Andrey Rublev 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 7-6 (7/2). Khachanov, who earlier this month became the first Russian in the top 10 since Mikhail Youzhny in 2011, is coached by Vedran Martic but has worked the past couple weeks with former world number three Nikolay Davydenko.

“We started to train in Moscow, so that’s the preparation I’ve had with him, for 10-11 days, and then I asked him to come here as well,” Khachanov said. “We just started with him. I don’t want to make any official announcement yet. But he started to help me two weeks ago. Hopefully he can join the team.” Together with Medvedev, Khachanov has signaled a new rise in Russian tennis. “It’s great for the country and great for us to be higher, slowly reaching new goals,” Khachanov said. “Hopefully we’re moving up slowly a long ways.” —AFP

Will India dump Shastri? Moody among challengers

NEW DELHI: India’s hunt for a new coach has attracted top international names, including Australian Tom Moody, despite skipper Virat Kohli backing Ravi Shastri to get a new deal, reports yesterday. The deadline for applications ended Tuesday as the Indian side

set off for a tour of the West Indies with pressure mounting on Shastri after the team were upset by New Zealand in the World Cup semi-final.

According to media reports, Moody, former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson, Sri Lanka stalwart Mahela Jayawardene, ex-India player Robin Singh and former India manager and current Zimbabwe coach Lalchand Rajput are all in contention with Shastri. It was also widely reported that former Test player Pravin Amre

applied for a batting coach post, while South Africa’s Jonty Rhodes is eyeing the fielding position.

While Shastri remains favorite and has an automatic entry in the process, Singh told The Hindu newspaper that after losing in the semi-finals in two straight World Cups and the world T20 championship “a change could be good for the side”. Shastri’s contract ended with the World Cup but he and his support staff have been given a 45-day extension for the West Indies tour that

starts Saturday.

The post will be picked by the national board’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev, former head coach Anshuman Gaekwad and ex-women’s team captain Shantha Rangaswamy. Kohli had made his choice clear before leaving for the West Indies, saying the team has a “great camaraderie” with the former India all-rounder and will be “happy” if he continues. —AFP