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BARCELONA: Carlos Alcaraz brushed aside Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets on Sunday to claim a second successive Barcelona title and hammer home his status as likely successor to Rafael Nadal as French Open champion. The 19-year-old world number two won 6-3, 6-4 to bag his third trophy of 2023, after winning in Buenos Aires and Indian Wells, and the ninth of his career. With 14-time French Open champion Nadal sidelined since January with a hip injury and world number one and two-time Roland Garros winner Novak Djokovic struggling with an elbow problem, Alcaraz reinforced his credentials as a major contender to add the clay-court Grand Slam title to the US Open he captured last year. On Sunday, his only blip was dropping serve in the third game of the match. From that point on, Alcaraz powered to a 79-minute triumph against the world number five, his fourth win in four meetings with the Greek. Tsitsipas has now lost three finals in Barcelona after losing t...

Ferran Torres’ strike propelled Barcelona to recover from a recent slump to edge Atletico Madrid 1-0, moving them closer to winning their first La Liga title since 2019. Earlier, having contested two straight goalless matches, Barca saw the defending champions Real Madrid cut into their lead with a victory over Celta Vigo . However, a first-half strike from Torres sealed the deal for the home side. Torres’s brilliant low strike brought Barca back on the winning track and also restored their advantage to 11 points with eight games remaining. Diego Simeone’s Atletico, being in red-hot form, failed to keep the home side silent as Torres stroked home from the edge of the box in the 44th minute to secure victory for Xavi Hernandez’s side. Both sides then had multiple golden opportunities to score in the second half but Barcelona held on to their lead to script Atletico Madrid’s first defeat since the two teams clashed in January. The hosts produced their 23rd clean sheet of the season ...

KARACHI: Pakistan fast bowler Rumman Raees has spoken highly of fellow pacer Mohammad Amir for his outstanding spell during the Champions Trophy 2017 Final against India, calling it the ‘best spell’ witnessed by him in life.  Left-arm quick Amir wreaked havoc on India’s top order in that memorable encounter with arch-rivals, dismissing the star-studded trio of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli, to help Pakistan achieve one of the most glorious feats in history. Rumman, who was part of Pakistan’s 2017 Champions Trophy squad, recalled that magical opening bowling from Amir and expressed his admiration for then teammate by rating it above all the other spells he had seen in his life. “Mohammad Amir’s spell is the best spell I’ve witnessed in my life,” he said in an interview with Youtuber Nadir Ali. “Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan were all in their top forms but the way he bowled against them was simply exceptional. In fact, I forgot my grief for not being...

Legendary Pakistan captain Imran Khan heaped praises on the national team’s current skipper Babar Azam, saying the star batter ‘has the potential to surpass’ everyone.  Speaking on an Eid special show on a YouTube channel, World Cup-winning captain and former Prime Minister, Khan, said he had not seen a better as outstanding as Babar for long. “Our captain [Babar Azam] is an outstanding batter. I have seen a batter of such quality after a very long time.” he said “I have analysed him in every way. Since I analyse batter through a bowler’s lens, his technique, talent and temperament are all brilliant. It is very rare to find all three of these things in one batter, but he has them all.” added the legendary fast bowler. “He has the potential to surpass everyone,” he remarked. It must be noted here that Pakistan’s all-format skipper Babar has registered a number of batting records since his debut in 2015. He has bagged ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year two times in a row. Besides he ...

MADRID: Marco Asensio and Eder Militao netted goals to steer Real Madrid to a 2-0 win against Celta at Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday and bring down Barcelona’s lead to eight points at the top of LaLiga. Leader Barcelona have a chance to solidify their claim on the title with a game in hand as they host Atletico Madrid on Sunday. In-form Atletico are flying high on an unbeaten 13-game streak and have won their last six encounters in LaLiga. They sit third on the table with 13 points behind Barca and five from Real. With eight games left in the season, defending champions Real maintained their hopes by moving to 65 points. Celta are 12th in the standings with 36 points. After a steady start, Real started to apply pressure midway through the first half and took the lead in the 42nd minute through Asensio. The Spanish international finished with a fine touch from the middle of the box after Vinicius passed him a low cross running from the left. Defender Militao doubled the lead right ...

MADRID: World number one Novak Djokovic pulled out of the Madrid Masters on Saturday according to the competition’s organisers. “Novak Djokovic is unable to compete at the Madrid Open,” the organisers wrote on Instagram ahead of the tournament which starts April 26. Djokovic’s withdrawal, thought to be related to an elbow problem he has been suffering from, is a blow to his preparations for the French Open, which starts at the end of May. The Serb, 35, suffered a straight-set defeat by compatriot Dusan Lajovic in the quarter-finals at Banja Luka in Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday. Djokovic was beaten by underdog Lorenzo Musetti at the Monte Carlo Masters earlier in April and said ahead of the Srpska Open that his elbow was “not in an ideal condition”. Neither Djokovic or Rafael Nadal, joint record 22-time Grand Slam champions, will take part in Madrid, a key part of the preparation for Roland Garros. Djokovic missed tournaments earlier this year at Indian Wells and Miami, over his r...

Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam finally shared his most-awaited Eid pictures on the account of the Eid-ul-Fitr 2023. Taking to Twitter, the star batter shared his Eid looks as he spent the religious festival at his childhood residence. “Time flying over my head. This year got a chance to celebrate #EidAlFitr at my childhood home. What a rush of memories,” wrote Babar. Time flying over my head. This year got a chance to celebrate #EidAlFitr at my childhood home. What a rush of memories. #EidMubarak everyone pic.twitter.com/cQ9rbw1N55 — Babar Azam (@babarazam258) April 22, 2023   Pakistan are currently hosting New Zealand for a five-match each T20I and ODI series under the leadership of Babar. The fourth PAK vs NZ T20I was abandoned due to a persistent hailstorm in Rawalpindi. New Zealand – being sent to bat first – were 164/5 in 18.5 overs when the game was brought to a halt.  Mark Chapman and opener Chad Bowes were standout players with the bat as they...