World Sports News in Brief

Djokovic beats Tsitsipas to win French Open title

Novak Djokovic fought back from two sets down to beat Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 to win the French Open title for the second time on Sunday.

Novak Djokovic celebrates with the trophy after winning the French Open against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Paris on Sunday. (Photo: Reuters)
Novak Djokovic celebrates with the trophy after winning the French Open against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Paris on Sunday. (Photo: Reuters)

In moving just one behind the record of 20 shared by Nadal and Roger Federer, Djokovic became the first player in the professional era to win each Grand Slam title at least twice.

* Brazil opened the 2021 Copa America with a 3-0 win over a depleted Venezuela on Sunday, dominating their inexperienced opponents from start to finish in a one-sided match.

* Former Uruguay international striker Sebastian Abreu has retired from the game at the age of 44, having represented 31 different clubs since making his senior debut in 1994-95. Abreu has played club soccer in 11 countries - Uruguay, Argentina, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Israel, Greece, Paraguay, Ecuador, Chile and El Salvador.

* Son Heung-min scored from the penalty spot in the 66th minute to earn the Republic of Korea a 2-1 win over Lebanon on Sunday, thus guaranteeing Paulo Bento's side top spot in their qualifying group for the 2022 World Cup. The result means Lebanon finish second in the standings on 10 points and will now have to wait for the outcome of the remaining matches in the second round to see if they qualify as one of the five best runners-up.

* Teenager Kaylee McKeown smashed the women's 100m backstroke world record on Sunday (Jun 13), touching in 57.45 seconds at the Australian Olympic trials in Adelaide. The 19-year-old swam a sensational race to sweep past American rival Regan Smith's all-time mark of 57.57, set at the 2019 world championships.

* Portugal defender Joao Cancelo has been ruled out of Euro 2020 after testing positive for COVID-19 and will be replaced by Diogo Dalot ahead of their tournament opener against Hungary on Tuesday, the European champions said on Sunday.

* French Open organisers defended their handling of the Naomi Osaka situation on Sunday (Jun 13) but accepted that the governing bodies need to do better on mental health issues following the Japanese player's exit from the Grand Slam over her media boycott.

* Tadej Pogacar warmed up for the defence of his Tour de France title by winning the Tour of Slovenia on Sunday (Jun 13) as German Phil Bauhaus won the fifth and final stage into Novo Mesto. Pogacar, who finished 1min 23.31sec ahead of Italian team-mate Diego Ulisse, had ridden his home tour three times before finishing fifth in 2017 and fourth in both 2018 and 2019.

Reuters, CNA