HEAVYWEIGHTS MEET
94-strong fleet. England’s raging hot Olympic gold medal favourite Ben Ainslie was the runaway winner. Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will clash for the 25th time in Rome Masters semifinals today while Rafael Nadal also progressed, ensuring the big three all made the last four of this crucial French Open warm-up. Defending champion Djokovic, the top seed, fought through the first set, before racing away in the second to beat French fifth seed Jo-wilfried Tsonga 7-5 6-1. Federer, fresh from his Madrid Masters triumph last weekend, followed the script with a 6-1 6-2 demolition of Italian Andreas Seppi in just 53 minutes, with the Swiss third seed winning 14 of the first 15 points. Second seed Nadal, meanwhile, got the better of Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych, grinding out a 6-4 7-5 win.
CALIFORNIAN MOUNTAIN LION
Sylvain Georges won the sixth stage of the Tour of California yesterday after a daring solo ride through the mountains.the Frenchman found himself out alone in front for the second half of the 186.3km stage from Palmdale to Big Bear Lake after leading a seven-man breakaway. Georges finished 28 seconds ahead of Slovakia’s sprint specialist Peter Sagan, who won each of the first four stages of the tour.
LIGHTS GO OUT
Australia’s Will Tomlinson successfully defended his IBO super featherweight title yesterday after a power failure forced an early end to his fight with Daniel Ruiz of Mexico. The 25-year-old Tomlinson, who was staging his first defence of the title he won in Perth, last November, was awarded a unanimous points victory despite the bout lasting just seven of a scheduled 12 rounds. In front of a capacity crowd of 2000, The Pavilion in Melbourne went dark at the end of the seventh round due to a blackout in the area, with Tomlinson well ahead after he knocked down Ruiz with a left jab in the opening round.