Latest news with #Major
San Francisco Chronicle
27 minutes ago
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Cruz Azul beats the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 for the CONCACAF Champions Cup title
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Ángel Sepúlveda scored twice and Cruz Azul routed the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 on Sunday to win its seventh CONCACAF Champions Cup. Sepúlveda finished with a tournament-best nine goals. Ignacio Rivero, Lorenzo Faravelli and Mateusz Bogusz also scored for Cruz Azul, which built a 4-0 lead by halftime. The Liga MX club tied crosstown rival Club America for most titles in the tournament. It was Cruz Azul's first title since 2013-14 when La Máquina beat Tijuana. The Whitecaps were looking to make history as the first Canadian team to win the tournament, and the first winner from Major League Soccer since the Seattle Sounders in 2022. Cruz Azul had four shots on goal in the first half and scored on all of them. La Máquina took advantage of a defensive lapse by the Whitecaps and Ignacio Rivero coolly finished with his left foot in the seventh minute in front of cheering home fans at Estadio Olímpico Universitario. Faravelli's goal came after a similar defensive lapse, struck from distance and went into the net after hitting the post. After Sepúlveda's sliding goal in the 37th, Bogusz added a goal in the 45th just before the teams went into the break. Sepúlveda added another goal on a header in the 50th. It was Cruz Azul goalkeeper Kevin Mier's fourth clean sheet of the tournament. The Whitecaps had no shots on goal during the match. Vancouver was without Sebastian Berhalter because of yellow card accumulation. He scored in both legs of the semifinal against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami. The Whitecaps had hoped that captain Ryan Gauld would return from a knee injury in time for the game but he was not available. Cruz Azul advanced with a two-legged victory over UANL Tigres.
Indian Express
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
French Open: How Iga Swiatek roared back from a nightmare start to keep her Roland Garros streak alive
It was a tense exchange on Friday in a press conference with Amelie Mauresmo, the tournament director of the French Open that opened a debate about whether Roland Garros had been unfair in their showcasing of women's tennis. No women's matches have been scheduled for the single-match night-session on the showpiece Court Philippe-Chatrier since 2023. Mauresmo defended the tournament's position resolutely, claiming it was not a case of discrimination but merely an attempt to give the spectators their money's worth with a longer match: with the men playing best-of-five sets as opposed to the women's best-of-three. It can be left to the opinions of a discerning French crowd, who have watched Grand Slam tennis for generations, over which is the superior entertainment product – Novak Djokovic's processional straight-sets win over Austria's Filip Misolic, played in the night session on Saturday, or the high-stakes, high-wire victory of three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek over 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, played on Sunday afternoon in front of a slow-filling crowd, that lasted longer and went to the wire. At any rate, the Parisian crowds that did make it into Chatrier early on Sunday were treated to two thrillers – Elina Svitolina beating last year's finalist Jasmine Paolini after saving two match points in the first match – and Swiatek's comeback triumph of 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 over Rybakina in the second. Not on my court! 🙅♀️🟠 Four-time champion Iga Swiatek survives a three-set thriller 🆚 Rybakina. Watch the best moments in our highlights, presented by @Emirates ✈️#RolandGarros #FlyBetter #Emirates — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 1, 2025 Nearly two-and-a-half hours of captivating tennis full of momentum shifts, Swiatek and Rybakina took turns to produce moments of sensational shotmaking as well as nervy errors. The two former Major champions played out a match worthy of a stage later than the fourth round, such has been their slide down the rankings despite their high ceiling levels. The intense contest was indicative of quite a few things in the larger context of this tournament and the rest of the season. Rybakina's steady level, big serve-and-return combination and clean groundstrokes can threaten the very best in the game, but her inability to get a hold of her nerves in tight moments may explain why her trophy cabinet contains only one Major so far. For Swiatek, the muscle memory of a champion who is now on an 18-match winning streak at the French Open and has won four titles in the last five years in Paris, did not fail. In faltering form and without confidence heading into this tournament, this match represented the kind of banana skin that a player with lesser resolve may have slipped on. But the Pole rode through and raised her level in the tough moments. Rybakina and Swiatek are producing some AMAZING tennis in this 3rd set 🧱#RolandGarros — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 1, 2025 Rybakina was in total control in the first set, racing into a 4-0 lead and seeing it out at 6-1. The Kazakh was in fine form, exploiting Swiatek's familiar weakness – the slightly longer switch she makes from serve to her extreme Western grip forehand – by rushing her returns and rattling her. She found the right moments to test Swiatek's resolve, throwing in the odd moonball. 0-2 down in the second set, with her crown at risk of slipping and the ignominy of a potential beatdown at a tournament in which she has not lost a match in four years, Swiatek rose to the challenge. Having struggled with her footwork, she made a few adjustments. With Rybakina veering towards her weaker backhand, she began taking bigger cuts of it and hitting gutsier shots. Most crucially, she stayed tough when Rybakina showed signs of cracking. The Kazakh netted an easy overhead to give her back a break, after which Swiatek was forced to save as many as seven break points to hold on in the second set, before she rolled with it and equalled scores. The momentum swung dramatically but Rybakina's level did not fall. A cat-and-mouse chase began in the high-intensity third set, with each player saving break points and then trading breaks. A potentially decisive momentum shift threatened at 4-4, when, up 15-40, Rybakina ostensibly hit a double fault to give Swiatek the advantage before the chair umpire overruled it. Rybakina returned with a few service bombs and held. But Swiatek had gotten too far for a moment such as this to allow her focus to waver. Not in her house. She held with force and rained down big returns to force a break and eventually served out the match; her superiority in the important moments making the decisive impact in this closely-fought contest, as is often the case with the very best players. This may be the kind of match that turns the four-time French Open champion's form around. A quarterfinal against Svitolina, and a potential semifinal against Zheng Qinwen, who beat her at Roland Garros at the Paris Olympics, or top seed Aryna Sabalenka lie in waiting too. But with performances such as this, she has given the rest of the field more reason to worry than how much they will worry her.
Canada Standard
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Canada Standard
(SP)CANADA-TORONTO-FOOTBALL-MLS-TORONTO FC VS CHARLOTTE FC
(250601) -- TORONTO, June 1, 2025 (Xinhua) -- Pep Biel of Charlotte FC reacts after missing a shot during the 2025 Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season football match between Toronto FC and Charlotte FC at BMO Field in Toronto, Canada, on May 31, 2025. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)
Straits Times
19 hours ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Sweden's Maja Stark grabs one-shot lead at US Women's Open
Leader Maja Stark of Sweden lining up a putt during the third round of the US Women's Open on May 31. PHOTO: AFP CHICAGO – Maja Stark fired three birdies in an impressively steady two-under 70 at an unforgiving Erin Hills on May 31 to seize a one-stroke lead over Julia Lopez Ramirez heading into the final round of the 80th US Women's Open. Sweden's Stark, a European Solheim Cup stalwart chasing her first Major title, kept her focus in a round that stretched nearly six hours as players wrestled with firm, fast greens on a breezy, sunny day in Wisconsin. Her seven-under total of 209 put her one stroke clear of Spanish qualifier Lopez Ramirez, whose four-under 68 was the best score of a day on which only nine players broke par. Japan's Mai Saigo, who started the day with a three-shot lead, carded a three-over 75 to share third, alongside compatriots Rio Takeda and Hinako Shibuno on five-under 211. World No. 1 Nelly Korda, who played alongside Saigo in the final group, finished strong in a one-over 73 that left her three adrift on four-under 212. Stark said the very difficulty of the course actually made her less anxious – a key for her as she tries to kick the habit of 'playing scared'. 'In normal tournaments, I kind of swing scared because I think it's a birdie competition, but here it's really not,' Stark said, adding that on June 1, she will just 'try to play freely'. Stark opened with a confidence-boosting birdie at the first hole. She bogeyed the third, but stuck her second shot at the 10th two feet from the pin for a birdie. Stark rattled in a 21-foot birdie at the par-three 16th to seize a share of the lead on seven-under, capping her round with a par at the par-five 18th and emerging with the solo lead as Saigo closed with back-to-back bogeys. The tough scoring made Lopez Ramirez's round look all the more impressive. The 22-year-old, who had to pause her LPGA rookie campaign in March after undergoing an appendectomy, eagled the par-five first and bounced back from a bogey at the third with a birdie at the seventh, where she got up and down from a greenside bunker. She added birdies at 12 and 16 to put herself in contention for a first major title. 'It was just mentally a strong day for me, keeping myself present and dealing with what's in front of me,' Lopez Ramirez added. On the PGA Tour, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler conjured a late birdie blitz to fire a four-under 68 and grab a one-shot lead after the third round of the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, on May 31. Scheffler, bidding to successfully defend his crown at Muirfield Village, rattled in four birdies in the final five holes to drop to eight under, one ahead of overnight leader Ben Griffin, who stumbled with an even-par 72. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Time of India
20 hours ago
- Sport
- Time of India
French Open 2025: 'Super' Jannik Sinner powers through to last-16
Italy's Jannik Sinner in action at the 2025 French Open. (AP) Paris: As the courtside clock closed in on an hour of match time, the capacity crowd at Suzanne Lenglen erupted into a joyous celebration. The French Open third-round clash was a dozen games old and spectators were showing appreciation generally reserved for the winner of a close contest. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner had pulled away to a dominant 6-0, 5-0 lead when Jiri Lehecka, the world No. 34, stopped his opponent's run of games and opened his account on the scoreboard. It was that kind of a performance from the three-time Major winner, clean as a whistle. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! 'It was like I was playing against myself, he was two times better than me in everything,' said Lehecka, who was left shaking his head for a good part of the match. The 23-year-old had nine unforced errors and 31 winners while going full throttle, coming through 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 in one hour and 35 minutes. That level of dominance against a fellow 23-year-old, who was ranked in the top-25 three months ago, should force organizers to think twice before scheduling the Italian for a night match. A 95-minute game wouldn't cut for the paying public, would it? The reason why men play most, if not all, the night matches at Roland Garros is because there's a chance women's matches could go quickly — too quickly. Sinner, who improved to 15-1 on the season, won 29 of 35 points on his first serve and 17 of 20 on the second serve as the skies went from cloudy to clear in the course of their time on court. Sinner, who returned earlier this month from a three-month ban for testing positive for Clostebol, may be short of matches but he's looking fresher at a time when players are already complaining of fatigue barely five months into the season. 'Sometimes in these kinds of matches (things) can change quickly, if you don't start well in one set the match can go long, and then you cannot control it. We saw that on occasions here,' Sinner said, perhaps alluding to Carlos Alcaraz's third-round clash against Damir Dzumhur. The Bosnian surprised the defending champion in the third set on Friday night and broke the world No. 2 in the second game of the fourth set, then taking a handy 3-1 lead. 'You have to focus and (have the) level always very, very high, because unexpected things can happen. Jiri is an amazing player. He has shown that throughout his career.' Sinner admitted to feeling good at practice this morning, but didn't think form necessarily transcribed to a match court — especially given the vagaries of the conditions players have been dealing with this past week. 'I try to control whatever I can, and today I did that,' he said. 'This morning I felt the ball very good, but conditions can change from one moment to another.' The 6ft 3in Italian will meet Russian Andrey Rublev in the fourth round on Monday. Sinner leads the head-to-head 6-3, having won four of their last five meetings. Rublev advanced to the fourth round after a walkover from home favourite Arthur Fils, who withdrew because of a stress fracture of the lower back.
