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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2020
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Sports
PARIS (AFP) - A tearful Naomi Osa-
ka followed up her Australian Open
disappointment with another sur-
prise defeat on Friday night when
she was beaten 60, 63 by world
number 78 Sara Sorribes Tormo in
the Fed Cup.
Spain took an unexpected lead
over Japan in the tie in Cartagena
after Sorribes Tormo capitalised on
a careless performance from Osa-
ka, who made an astonishing 50
unforced errors in the 15 games.
Carla Suarez Navarro then made
it 20 to the hosts after she eased
past Misaki Doi 63, 64.
Sorribes Tormo enjoyed the
backing of a sizeable home
crowd at La Manga Club and her
consistency proved too much for
Osaka, who has never played her
best on clay.
“We knew that Sara had the
game to make it very uncomfort-
able for Naomi,” Spain captain Ana-
bel Medina Garrigues said. “She
stuck to the game plan perfectly.”
The winners of the eight quali-
fying ties will join four automatic
entries, holders France, Australia,
Czech Republic and hosts Hungary,
in the inaugural Fed Cup Finals in
Budapest in April.
Osaka, a two-time Grand Slam
champion, has endured a shaky
start to the year after being knocked
out by 15-year-old American sensa-
tion Coco Gau last month in Mel-
bourne, where she had lifted the
trophy in 2019.
Since claiming her second con-
secutive major triumph, Osaka has
dipped, failing to go past the fourth
round in any of the four Grand
Slams since.
The22-year-old,whohasdropped
to number 10 in the world, surren-
dered the irst set to Sorribes Tormo
in a swift 27 minutes before putting
up more of a ight in the second.
But after Osaka led 20, Sor-
ribes Tormo came back and a break
midway through proved decisive,
with a clearly disappointed Osaka
struggling to contain her emotions
at the inish.
Sorribes Tormo’s second ca-
reer singles win in Fed Cup gave
Spain the perfect start, which was
extended by Suarez Navarro’s com-
fortable victory over Doi.
Osaka will now have to beat Su-
arez Navarro in the reverse singles
to prevent Spain booking their
place in the inals in Budapest.
The United States were well on
their way to an appearance in the
inals after victories for 23-time
Grand Slam winner Serena Williams
and newly minted Australian Open
champion Soia Kenin.
Kenin got the ball rolling for the
Americans in Everett, Washington,
with a 62, 62 victory over Anas-
tasija Sevastova and Williams fol-
lowed with a hard-fought 76 (7/4),
76 (7/3) win over former French
Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.
“I was obviously a little nervous
coming in after Australia,” said
Kenin, who needed just 68 min-
utes to subdue Sevastova. “I felt
tired, but I tried to get that out of
my mind and just represent and do
what I do best.”
Williams had a tougher time with
Ostapenko, but beneitted from the
Latvian’s two double faults in the
irst-set tiebreaker and another
double fault to give Williams match
point in the second-set decider.
Ostapenko also double-faulted
to hand Williams a break for a 65
lead in the second set. The US vet-
eran couldn’t close out the match
however, dropping her own serve
and the irst two points of the en-
suing tiebreaker before storming
back with ive straight points.
“I’m really proud of being able to
get the win for the team,” said Wil-
liams, who took her perfect record
in Fed Cup singles play to 140.
Elsewhere, world number ive
Belinda Bencic thrashed Gabriela
Dabrowski 61, 62 to give Swit-
zerland a commanding 20 ad-
vantage over Canada, Germany
grabbed a 20 lead over Brazil and
Slovakia took a 20 lead over Brit-
ain in Bratislava.
CAPE TOWN (AFP) - Roger Feder-
er and Rafael Nadal attracted
what organisers said was a world
record crowd for a tennis match
when they played an exhibition
event in the Cape Town Stadium
on Friday night.
The organisers said an audited
attendance of 51,954 beat the 42,517
who watched Federer play Alexan-
der Zverev of Germany in Mexico
City last November.
They also announced that the
‘Match in Africa’ raised USD3.5-
million for the Roger Federer Foun-
dation, which supports educational
and athletic programmes for chil-
dren in Africa.
“To have 51,954 people in at-
tendance at a tennis match, I never
thought I’d be apart of something
like that,” said Federer. “It’s not
something you dream about.
Federer, who was accompanied
by his South Africanmother, Lynette,
said his irst appearance in South Af-
rica was a special occasion.
“The irst time here in Cape Town,
in South Africa, means so much
more than just tennis,” he said.
Federer won 64 36 63 in a
match in which the players had to
contend with cool, windy conditions
in the stadium that was built for the
2010 football World Cup.
The arena was packed with eager
fans who sang, clapped and did the
wave throughout the match.
“It’s an amazing crowd, an amaz-
ing stadium,” said Nadal, who was
making his irst appearance in South
Africa since playing in the country
as a junior.
“It’s an unforgettable evening.
We will probably never play again
in an atmosphere such as this one,”
said Nadal. “I can’t thank enough
the people here in Cape Town. They
came here and created an unforget-
table atmosphere.”
Earlier in the day, Federer and his
doubles partner billionaire Bill Gates
beat Nadal and South-African born
comedian Trevor Noah in a match
with more lexible rules.
The ceremonial coin toss was
performed by World Cup-winning
Springbok rugby captain Siya Koli-
si, who presented Federer with a
Springbok jersey. The coin used was
a commemorative 20 Swiss Francs
piece minted with Federer’s face. He
gave it to Kolisi.
Other high-proile South African
sports stars in attendance included
former Springbok captains John
Smit and Jean de Villiers as well as
Olympic swimmer Ryk Neethling.
The match is the sixth edition of
the event organised by the Roger
Federer Foundation and is the irst
to take place in Africa.
“There’s so much anticipation
that goes into it that the match itself
almost gets forgotten,” said Federer
before the match.
Osaka shocked as Spain seize Fed Cup lead
over Japan, USA 2-0 up on Latvia
Japan’s Naomi Osaka returns the ball to Spain´s Sara Sorribes
during their Fed Cup Quali iers irst round match. PHOTO: AFP
United States’ Serena Williams returns a shot from Latvia’s Jelena
Ostapenko during their Fed Cup qualifying tennis match. PHOTO: AP
SAN FRANCISCO LIBRE, NICA-
RAGUA (AFP) - Australian Jason
Day and defending champion
Phil Mickelson were on the
heels of Nick Taylor yesterday
as the Canadian maintained a
two-shot lead in the US PGA
Tour Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Taylor, chasing his second
US tour title, ired a six-under
par 66 at Pebble Beach Golf
Links - one of three courses in
use for the tournament along
with the par-72 Spyglass Hill
and par-71 Monterey Peninsula
Shore Course.
After his 63 at Monterey
Peninsula on Thursday, Taylor
had a 14-under par total of 129.
Former world number one
Day ired an eight-under par
64 at Pebble Beach for a 12-
under total of 131, while Mick-
elson, a ive-time winner of the
event, carded a seven-under
64 at Monterey Peninsula for
an 11-under total of 132.
“I hit some really good
shots coming in and made all
the putts,” said Taylor.
“It was nice to get o to a
really good start - I was three-
under through six.”
Federer, Nadal play to
record crowd in Cape Town
Photos show Roger Federer playing a return to Rafael Nadal (below) during
the The Match in Africa at the Cape Town Stadium. PHOTOS: AFP
Day, Mickelson
chasing Taylor
at Pebble Beach