Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.
Tennis-Alcaraz beats Cilic in late-night thriller to set up Sinner clash
Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz defeated 2014 champion Marin Cilic 6-4 3-6 6-4 4-6 6-3 in one of the latest ever finishes at the U.S. Open on Monday to set up a next-generation quarter-final clash against Jannik Sinner. After battling for three hours and 53 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the roof was closed due to rain, Alcaraz, 19, dropped to his knees in jubilation after sealing the contest on his first match point when Cilic’s return hit the net.
Golf-LIV recruit Smith among nominees for PGA Tour Player of the Year
British Open champion Cameron Smith, who joined the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series last week, has been nominated for the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year award along with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. The 29-year-old Australian won his first major at St Andrew’s in July and also claimed the Players Championship and rose to world number two, before becoming the highest-ranked player to switch to LIV Golf.
Olympics-50 years on, Germany asks for forgiveness over 1972 Munich Games attacks
Germany’s president asked for forgiveness on Monday for his country’s failure to protect Israeli athletes and team members who were murdered 50 years ago at the 1972 Munich Olympics. “We cannot make right what happened,” Frank-Walter Steinmeier told a gathering including relatives of the dead and Israeli officials during commemorations at the airfield where a failed rescue attempt took place.
Tennis-Tiafoe no longer under the radar after stunning Nadal
Frances Tiafoe said his days of flying under the radar were over after his stunning fourth-round upset of Rafa Nadal at the U.S. Open on Monday. “That’s over, man. There’s no dark horse anymore,” American Tiafoe told reporters with a laugh after his 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3 win over the 36-year-old Spaniard.
Tennis-Sabalenka overcomes crowd and Collins to reach U.S. Open quarters
Aryna Sabalenka overcame a partisan New York crowd and an in-form Danielle Collins to secure a 3-6 6-3 6-2 win on Monday and set up a U.S. Open quarter-final against familiar foe Karolina Pliskova. American Collins came out firing to take the first set but the tide turned in the second when sixth seed Sabalenka won a marathon service game to lead 4-3.
Surfing-Toledo looks to extend Brazilian men’s dominance at WSL Finals
Filipe Toledo heads into the World Surf League Finals as favorite to win what would be a popular first world title and one which would extend the dominance of the “Brazilian Storm” in men’s surfing. Toledo won two legs of the 10-stop World Championship Tour this year, qualifying first for the second edition of the winner-takes-all Finals for the top five surfers on the circuit.
Two officials at Tokyo 2020 sponsor arrested in the bribery investigation
Japanese prosecutors arrested two officials at a sponsor of the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday as part of a bribery investigation that media said involved a former member of the Tokyo 2020 board. The Nikkei newspaper reported that the publisher Kadokawa Corp paid 70 million yen ($498,000) to a company linked to the then Tokyo 2020 board member Haruyuki Takahashi, who prosecutors suspect helped the company become a sponsor of the Tokyo Olympics.
Tennis-Swiatek survives surprise test from Niemeier to reach U.S. Open quarters
Iga Swiatek was given a mighty scare by little-known Jule Niemeier on Monday before the Polish top seed finally handed the 108th-ranked German a 2-6 6-4 6-0 reality check in the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Swiatek, who collected her second Roland Garros title amid a 37-match winning streak earlier this year, barely looked like the world’s best player as she sprayed the court with errors to surrender the opening set.
Tennis-Sinner survives Ivashka scare to secure place in US Open quarters
Jannik Sinner rallied from 3-1 down in the fifth set to beat Ilya Ivashka 6-1 5-7 6-2 4-6 6-3 and reach the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open on Monday. Sinner’s sublime drop-shot winner broke world No. 73 Ivashka for a 4-3 lead in the decider and the Italian went on to seal the victory when the Belarusian’s forehand sailed long on match point.
Cricket-Australia board appoints culture review author as ethics boss
Cricket Australia (CA) has appointed Simon Longstaff as its inaugural ethics commissioner, four years after he led a scathing review of the board’s culture in the wake of the Newlands ball-tampering scandal. The first recommendation of Longstaff’s 2018 review was for CA to set up an ethics commission to hold administrators, players and staff accountable to the “ethical foundations for the game as played in Australia”.
(With inputs from agencies.)