Roger Federer opens grass season with a bang

Sharapova makes a winning return from injury

Roger Federer began his run-up to Wimbledon with a win as he beat Australian John Millman in straight sets to reach the second round of the ATP tournament here on Tuesday.

Federer won his first grass-court game of the season 7-6(1), 6-3 on a muggy evening in Halle to set up a second-round meeting with French veteran Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Good start

“It is always important to win your first game on grass, because otherwise the grass season can be very short,” said Federer. Tsonga, 34, said it would be “something special” to face Federer after he beat compatriot Benoit Paire 6-4, 7-5 on Tuesday.

Maria Sharapova made a winning return from injury on Tuesday by beating Viktoria Kuzmova 7-6(8), 6-0 to reach the second round of the Mallorca Open.

The five-time Grand Slam champion has not played since the end of January after taking time out to recover from a shoulder injury, but edged a tight opening set against Kuzmova before strolling through the second.

Victory on the grass will come as a timely boost to morale for Sharapova, with the start of Wimbledon now less than two weeks away.

“It’s my first win in about three or four months,” Sharapova said afterwards.

Angelique Kerber now awaits Sharapova in round two after the top-seeded German defeated Belgium's Ysaline Bonaventure 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.

Important results:

At Halle: Second round: Karen Khachanov bt Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; David Goffin bt Radu Albot 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

First round: Roger Federer bt John Millman 7-6(1), 6-3; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Benoit Paire 6-4, 7-5; Borna Coric bt Jaume Munar 7-6(2), 6-3; David Goffin bt Guido Pella 6-1, 6-1; Richard Gasquet bt Peter Gojowczyk 6-3, 6-4; Jan-Lennard Struff bt Laslo Djere 6-4, 6-4.

Doubles: First round: Oliver Marach & Jurgen Melzer bt Marcelo Demoliner & Divij Sharan 7-5, 7-6(5).

At Mallorca: First round: Maria Sharapova bt Viktoria Kuzmova 7-6(8), 6-0; Paula Badosa bt Alison Riske 6-7(2), 7-5, 7-5; Caroline Garcia bt Victoria Azarenka 1-6, 6-4, 7-5; Samantha Stosur bt Saisai Zheng 6-4, 7-5; Angelique Kerber bt Ysaline Bonaventure 7-5, 4-6, 6-2; Alize Cornet bt Sara Sorribes 6-0, 6-1.

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India mauls Fiji, makes semifinals

Gurjit Kaur slams in four goals in a lop-sided encounter

Gurjit Kaur slammed four goals as India thrashed lowly Fiji 11-0 to storm into the semifinals of the FIH Women’s Series Finals here on Tuesday.

Gurjit struck in the 15th, 19th, 21st and 22nd minutes, while Monika (11th, 33rd) scored a brace for India in a lop-sided Pool A match.

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2019 Cricket World Cup: Kohli on cusp of becoming fastest to 20,000 international runs

India skipper Virat Kohli will have the chance to add another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest batsman to score 20,000 international runs when he takes strike against Afghanistan in their World Cup tie at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Saturday.

Kohli currently has 19, 896 runs to his name and is just 104 runs short of the record that legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar holds together with West Indies great Brian Lara.

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Spain’s Fernando Torres announces retirement

Torres currently plays for Japanese side Sagan Tosu.

Fernando Torres, the former Atletico Madrid, Liverpool and Chelsea forward who won the World Cup with Spain, announced on Friday he was retiring.

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Barcelona coach renews contract, says he feels comfortable at club

Barcelona's coach Ernesto Valverde has discussed his good relationship with the Catalan club's management after he renewed his contract with the team for another season and added the possibility of an extension for another season until 2021.

Valverde signed the new contract at Camp Nou's Presidential Suite ahead of the first team's afternoon training session, reports Efe news.

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India registers maiden Test series win in Australia

The Virat Kohli-led Indian team registered its name in history books after winning their first-ever Test series in Australia here on Monday.

After the visiting team won the Adelaide and Melbourne Test of the series, the fifth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) here ended in a draw as no play was possible on the last day due to continuous downpour and India clinched the series 2-1.

Opting to bat in the final Test, India took a commanding position as Cheteswar Pujara and stumper Rishabh Pant’s scintillating 193 and 159-run respective knock guided India to a massive 622/7 in their first innings. 

India then rode chinaman Kuldeep Yadav’s fifer to bundle out the home side on 300 runs before enforcing a follow-on.

Australia were six for no loss in their second innings and play wasn’t possible on the final day of the Test, thanks to the continuous rains as the contest ended in draw.

Earlier, wet conditions had forced an early finish on day three and allowed less than two hours play on day four, before completely washing out the final day on Monday.

Pujara was one of the main reason behind India’s historic series win as the Saurashtra batsman accumulated 328 runs from three games, averaging 54.67. Meanwhile, Pujara also slammed three tons in the crucial Border-Gavaskar series. Kohli also effectively supported with 259 runs from three games.

In the bowling department, pacer Jasprit Bumrah turned out to be the most effective bowler for the visitors after bagging 21 wickets from four games while his partner Mohammed Shami also scalped 16 wickets.

Brief Score: India 622/7 d (Cheteshwar Pujara 193, Rishabh Pant 159 not out; Nathan Lyon 4/178) draw vs Australia 300 all out and 6/0 (Usman Khawaja 4 not out, Marcus Harris 2 not out)

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