San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
DJOKOVIC, NADAL TO MEET AGAIN
Maybe the new generation of tennis players isn’t quite so ready to end the eras of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Titles for Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev
in the Monte Carlo Masters and Madrid Open, respectively, raised speculation again that the Big Three — including 39-year-old Roger Federer — was expiring. Well, again, not yet. Djokovic, who turns 34 in a week, and Nadal, who turns 35 next month, won a total of three matches over younger players on Saturday and will renew their record-setting rivalry in the Italian Open final at Rome today — exactly two weeks before Roland Garros starts.
“Rafa and I had a little laugh today in the locker room after I won against Tsitsipas,” Djokovic said. “We kind of joked around about, you know, that the old guys are still not giving up.
“(Nadal) said somewhere a few days ago that Roger, him and I are old. But I disagree with him. We’re showing some different, fresh energy.”
Djokovic regained his cool after throwing his racket off the court to beat Tsitsipas 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in a grueling, rain-delayed quarterfinal that began on Friday.
Then the top-ranked Serb returned a few hours later against local favorite
Lorenzo Sonego and wasted a late break and two match points in the second set of a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory in his second match of the day.
Locally
The San Diego Legion ended their three-match losing streak with a 43-17 home win over the Nola Gold. This was their first home venue in 2021 played at the Chula Vista Elite Training Center. The Legion improved their season record to 3-6. The Legion scored 29 straight points in the match.
• The American Hockey League announced the San Diego Gulls will face the Bakersfield Condors in the first round of the Pacific Division Playoff semifinals beginning on Friday. The Gulls (26-171-0) scored a 3-2 overtime win at Colorado on Saturday in the regular-season finale.
• The San Diego State baseball team’s hope of a Mountain West title took a major hit with a doubleheader loss at UNLV. The Rebels won the first game 14-4 by run rule in seven innings. The Aztecs (25-14, 1712) overcame a six-run deficit in the second game but UNLV scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth for a walk-off 11-10 win.
• For a second weekend in a row, the UC San Diego baseball team (17-26, 14-17 Big West) won both ends of a doubleheader. The Tritons won 8-3 and 18-3 by run rule in seven innings.
Soccer
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez continued his early-season rampage with his Major League Soccerleading seventh goal, leading the LA Galaxy (4-1-0) to a 2-0 victory over MLS expansion visiting Austin FC.
• Youri Tielemans was preparing for the FA Cup final when he received a text message with a clear instruction: Aim for the top corner. When the ball landed at the Leicester midfielder’s feet, 63 minutes into the 140th final, a powerful shot from 30 meters was aimed just where he had been advised. It was a sensational way to win the FA Cup for the first time in Leicester’s 137year history, 1-0 against Champions League finalist Chelsea.
• Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss the upcoming European Championship because of a knee injury, the Swedish soccer federation said.
• Juventus kept alive its Champions League qualification hopes by winning at Serie A champion Inter Milan 3-2, when Atalanta clinched a place in Europe’s premier competition. Atalanta consolidated second place in the Italian league by beating Genoa 4-3 and can no longer finish outside the top four.
• Rangers completed an unbeaten Scottish Premiership campaign after the champion defeated Aberdeen 4-0 at an empty Ibrox on Saturday.
Also
Breanna Stewart had 28 points and 13 rebounds, Jewell Loyd added 22 points and the host Seattle Storm opened defense of their WNBA title with a 97-83 victory over the Las Vegas Aces.
• French cyclist Victor Lafay won the eighth stage of the Giro d’italia for the first victory of his professional career and Attila Valter kept the pink jersey.