De Minaur wins Sydney for first career title
SYDNEY— Australian teenager Alex de Minaur won two matches in a day to claim his first career ATP title at the Sydney International on Saturday.
de Minaur, 19 and ranked 29, conquered the fresher Italian Andreas
Seppi 7-5, 7-6 (5) in the final after overcoming Frenchman Gilles Simon in a rain-postponed semifinal earlier in the day.
de Minaur’s triumph made him the youngest winner of the Sydney tournament since his mentor Lleyton Hewitt claimed it as a19-year-old in 2001.
Sydney-born de Minaur is the first Australian champion at the 134-year tournament since Bernard Tomic in 2013. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova beat Ashleigh Barty 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 in the women’s singles final. Barty led the deciding set 3-0 before Kvitova began a comeback to win her 26th WTA title. Barty beat No. 1 Simona
Halep, No.9 Kiki Bertens and No.12 Elise Mertens on her way to the final.
Kvitova apologized to Barty and the crowd for spoiling the Australian’s Sydney party.
“Not to win at home, I’m sorry,” Kvitova said. “You know, one day you’re going to make it for sure.”
Kenin claims first crown
American Sofia Kenin won her first WTA title at the Hobart International in Australia after beating Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-4, 6-0. Playing her first toplevel singles final, the 20-year-old Kenin took the first set with a break before running away with the match in 71 minutes.
Kenin, ranked 56th, didn’t drop a set for the tournament and beat top-seeded Caroline Garcia and former Hobart champion Alize Cornet in her run to the title. She joined compatriot
Tennys Sandgren, who won his first ATP Tour singles title Saturday, beating Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the ASB Classic across the Tasman Sea at Auckland, New Zealand, as a firsttime tour winner.
BASEBALL Tigers have deal with Castellanos
The Detroit Tigers avoided arbitration with Nicholas Castellanos, agreeing on a $9.95 million deal with the outfielder for 2019.
Detroit also reached agreements with lefthanders Matthew Boyd ($2.6 million), Daniel Norris ($1,275,000) and Blaine
Hardy ($1.3 million). Righthander Michael
Fulmer is the Tigers’ only arbitration-eligible player without a deal. He asked for $3.4 million and was offered $2.8 million.
The 26-year-old Castellanos hit .298 last year with 23 home runs and 89 RBIs, when he made $6,075,000. He’s considered a candidate to be traded, with the Tigers rebuilding after consecutive 98-loss seasons.
Fulmer, the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year, went 3-12 with a 4.69 ERA last season, when he dealt with oblique and knee problems.
Boyd and Norris were acquired in the 2015 trade that sent David Price to Toronto. Boyd went 9-13 with a 4.39 ERA in 2018. In other news:
• Wil Myers says he’s moving back to the Padres’ crowded outfield, indicating that San Diego probably is still in the market for a third baseman.
Myers played outfield in 2015. He then played first base for two seasons before making way for Eric
Hosmer last year. San Diego obtained infielder Ian Kinsler last month.
GOLF Kuchar leads at Sony Open
Matt Kuchar kept another clean card and shot a 4-under 66 to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Sony Open at Honolulu as he goes for his second victory this season on the PGA Tour.
He has made only one bogey through 54 holes at Waialae Country Club, and his 18-under 192 was the lowest 54-hole score of his career. Andrew Putnam was two shots behind after a 67.
SWIMMING Ledecky takes 4 at Swim Series
Katie Ledecky won the 1,500-meter freestyle for her fourth individual title of the week in a TYR Pro Swim Series meet.
Ledecky finished in 15 minutes, 45.59 seconds. The five-time Olympic gold medalist also won the 200 freestyle, 400 individual medley and 400 freestyle.