World Sports News in Brief

Tsitsipas ends Medvedev run in Paris to book last four spot

Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat world number two Daniil Medvedev in straight sets on Tuesday (Jun 8) to advance to the French Open semi-finals for the second straight year and end the Russian's surprise run on the Parisian clay.

Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 8, 2021 Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates after winning his quarter final match against Russia's Daniil Medvedev. (Photo: Reuters)
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 8, 2021 Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates after winning his quarter final match against Russia's Daniil Medvedev. (Photo: Reuters)

The Greek got revenge for his Australian Open semi-final loss to the Russian this year and improved his Grand Slam quarter-final record to 4-0 with a 6-3 7-6(3) 7-5 win that teed up a last-four clash against Germany's Alexander Zverev.

* Alexander Zverev settled some early nerves before beating Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4 6-1 6-1 on Tuesday to reach the French Open semi-finals for the first time. Sixth seed Zverev, the first German to reach the last four at Roland Garros since Michael Stich in 1996, was simply too good for the world No. 46, who managed to hold serve only three times in his first appearance on Court Philippe Chatrier.

* Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova finally reached a Grand Slam semifinal at the 52nd time of asking as she beat Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina 6-7(2) 6-2 9-7 at the French Open on Tuesday. Pavlyuchenkova will face fellow semi-final debutant Tamara Zidansek for a place in Saturday's final after the Slovenian also came through a long battle, against Paula Badosa.

* Unseeded Tamara Zidansek became the first Slovenian woman to reach a Grand Slam semi-final as she beat Spain's Paula Badosa 7-5 4-6 8-6 in a gripping French Open battle on Tuesday.

* France substitute Olivier Giroud made the most of his time on the pitch with a double as the world champions beat Bulgaria 3-0 in their final Euro 2020 warm-up game after fellow forward Karim Benzema came off with a possible knee injury on Tuesday.

* There are likely to be more COVID-19 cases in the Spain squad, the Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales said on Tuesday after captain Sergio Busquets returned a positive test. The squad and coaching staff immediately went into isolation following Busquets' positive test on Sunday, meaning their under-21 team and coach stepped in to face Lithuania on Tuesday, claiming a 4-0 victory in a friendly.

* Two days after Sifan Hassan smashed the world 10,000 metres record in Hengelo, Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey – competing on the same track in the Dutch city – improved the mark by another five seconds to win the Ethiopian Trials on Tuesday. Dutchwoman Hassan had run 29:06.82 to slice almost 10 seconds off the record set by Almaz Ayana at the 2016 Olympics but Gidey, who last year claimed the world 5,000m record, demolished that new mark to finish in 29:01.03, more than a minute ahead of Tuesday's runner-up Tsigie Gebreselama.

* DPR Korea's qualification places for next month's Tokyo Olympics were reallocated on Tuesday after it decided not to attend the Games, the International Olympic Committee said.

* Two ultra-distance runners pushed themselves to the limit as they smashed the world record by completing more than 300 miles in loops of a 4.2-mile track in Suffolk, England. Matt Blackburn and John Stocker have beem competing in the Suffolk Backyard Ultra event since Saturday and organisers said they broke the record on reaching 316 miles on the 76th hour.

* Hungary drew a blank in their Euro 2020 dress rehearsal at home against Ireland on Tuesday as the two sides played out an entertaining 0-0 draw in front of thousands of fans on a balmy night in Budapest.

* A massive Paris 2024 flag was unfurled at the top of the Eiffel Tower on Tuesday as the French capital stepped up its preparations for the handover ceremony at the end of the Tokyo Olympics. The official handover of the Olympic flag will be one of the highlights of the Games' closing ceremony, which will take place at Tokyo's Olympic Stadium on Aug. 8.

* The African Athletics Championships have been cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Confederation of African Athletics said in a major blow to those hoping to use the event to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. The event was scheduled for Lagos later this month after Nigeria had stepped in at the last moment to replace Algeria as hosts.

* Former England striker Jermain Defoe has signed a new one-year contract with Rangers for the 2021-22 season as he moves into a player-coach role under Steven Gerrard, the Scottish champions said on Tuesday. Defoe has scored 32 goals in 72 appearances for Rangers since joining them in January 2019 and played an influential role on and off the pitch during their Premiership title triumph last season.

* Sweden midfielder Dejan Kulusevski has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the opening game of Euro 2020 against Spain, the Swedish Football Association said on Tuesday. Sweden left the Juventus player in Stockholm when they travelled to Gothenburg for the final part of their build-up to the tournament.

* Men's world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev and Veronika Kudermetova, the highest-ranked Russian woman, will lead their tennis teams at the Tokyo Olympics, a Russian sports official said on Tuesday.

* Juventus Women have named former Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro as their new head coach, the Serie A club announced on Tuesday. Montemurro confirmed his departure from Arsenal in March and left the club in May after leading them to a third-placed finish in the 2020-21 Women's Super League season.

* An expanded refugee team of 29 athletes competing across 12 sports at next month's Tokyo Games will provide hope and inspiration to the world, the International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday. The team, which will compete under the Olympic flag and include people from countries including Syria, South Sudan, Eritrea, Afghanistan and Iran, is almost three times as big as the inaugural team at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics.

* La Liga side Osasuna on Monday announced that midfielder Jon Moncayola has signed a new 10-year deal with the club. The 23-year-old, who came through the club's youth setup, made 41 appearances for Osasuna last season and also featured in all three of Spain's Under-21 group stage fixtures at the European Championship in March.

* Midfielder Donny van de Beek has had to pull out of the Netherlands squad for the European Championship because of injury, the Dutch football association KNVB said on Tuesday.

* English Football Association appointed on Tuesday Restaurant Group's Debbie Hewitt as its first woman chair, with effect from January 2022.

Reuters