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SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, July 8, 2017
Wimbledon
To appreciate Nadal, watch what Murray endured
By HOWARD FENDRICH
Associated Press
LONDON
—
To
appreciate fully just how
outstanding Rafael Nadal is at
the moment — 28 consecutive
completed sets won in Grand
Slam play — consider what
Andy Murray went through at
Wimbledon on Friday.
Murray’s title defense
appeared to be on shaky
ground in the third round,
particularly through a stressful
stretch at Centre Court
against Fabio Fognini, the
28th-seeded Italian who won
their most recent encounter
and had five set points to
force this one to a fifth.
No telling whether the
No. 1-ranked Murray, or his
vocal backers, could have
handled that test. Didn’t need
to find out, because Murray
was steady enough to grab
the last five games and beat
Fognini 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 as
the sunlight faded.
“The end of the match was
tense,” Murray said, in his
typically understated way.
“It was a very up-and-down
AP Photo/Alastair Grant
Britain’s Andy Murray celebrates after winning against Italy’s Fabio Fognini after
their Men’s Singles Match on day five at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in
London Friday, July 7, 2017.
match. I didn’t feel like it was
the best tennis at times.”
The set he did drop was
the first ceded so far this week
by the Big 4: Roger Federer,
Novak Djokovic, Nadal and
Murray. That all-conquering
quartet combined to win the
past 14 Wimbledon champi-
onships — half by Federer,
three by Djokovic, two
apiece by Murray and Nadal.
Ah, yes, Nadal.
He is coming off a record
10th French Open title,
claiming all 19 full sets he
contested in Paris with as over-
powering a performance as can
be (one opponent quit because
of injury in the middle of the
second set). Tack on the nine
collected at the All England
Club, including a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6
(3) victory over 30th-seeded
Karen Khachanov on Friday,
and Nadal’s set streak in
majors equals the third-longest
of the Open era.
“I mean, if you don’t hit
hard and fast, he’s going to
destroy you,” the 21-year-old
Khachanov said. “If he has
time, he’s dominating with
his forehand. And he can
play all the angles.”
With his friend Sergio
Garcia seated in the Royal
Box, wearing the green jacket
earned as Masters champion,
Nadal put on quite a show. He
whipped that big forehand of
his; managed to dull serves
that topped 130 mph (210
kph) enough to earn 15 break
points, converting four; and
played skillfully at the net,
winning the point on 17 of 21
approaches, 4 for 4 when he
decided to serve-and-volley.
The closest Nadal has
come to conceding a set over
his past 10 matches came in
the third. Facing a set point
while down 6-5 and serving
at 30-40, Nadal produced a
brilliant
power-and-touch
combination,
hitting
a
122 mph (197 kph) serve
followed by a well-disguised
drop shot winner.
In Monday’s fourth round,
Nadal faces No. 16 Gilles
Muller, who beat Aljaz
Bedene 7-6 (4), 7-5, 6-4,
while Murray meets unseeded
Benoit Paire, a 6-2, 7-6 (3),
6-3 winner against Jerzy
Janowicz. Other matchups:
2014 U.S. Open champion
Marin Cilic against No. 18
Roberto Bautista Agut, and
unseeded Kevin Anderson vs.
No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or
No. 24 Sam Querrey, whose
match was suspended Friday
night in the fifth set because
of darkness.
At 37, Venus Williams tops one teen, faces a second in next round
By HOWARD FENDRICH
Associated Press
LONDON — Venus
Williams
beat
one
19-year-old opponent at
Wimbledon on Friday. She’ll
face another on Monday.
Both of those players were
born months after Williams
made her debut at the All
England Club.
Think about that for a
minute.
Williams’ 7-6 (3), 6-4
victory over Naomi Osaka of
Japan made the 37-year-old
American the oldest woman
to reach the fourth round at
Wimbledon since Martina
Navratilova was that age
when she was the tourna-
ment’s runner-up in 1994.
“I’ve had to step it up.
I imagine that’s going to
continue,” Williams said. “All
I can do is try to be my best.”
This is the 20th appear-
ance at the grass-court major
for Williams, who has won
the championship five times
since her first match at the All
England Club in 1997. Next
up for Williams on Monday,
with a quarterfinal berth at
stake, is another foe not yet
20: Ana Konjuh of Croatia.
Osaka
spoke
about
growing
up
admiring
Williams and her younger
sister, Serena.
She also acknowledged
that these sorts of important
rounds at important tourna-
ments are much newer to
her. That sort of thing can
make a difference at crucial
moments, such as the opening
tiebreaker Friday. Osaka led it
3-0, before Williams claimed
the next seven points.
“I actually feel like
it’s better that she beat
me, because I can learn
more from her, and there’s
something more I can look
forward to,” the 59th-ranked
Osaka said. “There’s more
of a goal for me to practice
every day and stuff.”
As for all of the chatter
about gaps in, um, experi-
ence?
Williams said she didn’t
focus on that at all when it
came to Friday’s match.
Venus Wil-
liams of the
United States
returns to Ja-
pan’s Naomi
Osaka during
their Wom-
en’s Singles
Match on day
five at the
Wimbledon
Tennis Cham-
pionships
in London
Friday, July 7,
2017.
AP Photo/Kirsty
Wigglesworth
“It’s interesting, for sure.
But I guess when you walk on
the court, I don’t think either of
us is thinking about the age,”
she said. “You’re thinking
about: How do I win?”
The 10th-seeded Williams
is playing in her first tour-
nament since a two-car
crash in Florida on June 9.
A 78-year-old man in the
other vehicle died about two
weeks later and his estate
has sued filed a lawsuit
against Williams. On Friday,
police said video shows that
Williams legally entered an
intersection seconds before
she drove into the path of the
other car.
When asked about the acci-
dent after her first-round match
this week, Williams teared up
during her news conference
and was given time by the
moderator to leave the room
and compose herself. The topic
was not raised Friday after the
victory over Osaka.
With Serena off the tour
because she is pregnant, and
Maria Sharapova recovering
from a leg injury, Williams
was one of only two past
Wimbledon winners in the
women’s field when the
tournament began. After a
second-round loss by Petra
Kvitova, Williams is the lone
champ standing.
The 27th-seeded Konjuh
had never been past the third
round until upsetting 2014
Australian Open runner-up
Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 (3),
3-6, 6-4 on Friday.
Also advancing were
French Open champion
Jelena Ostapenko, No.
2-seeded Simona Halep,
No. 4 Elina Svitolina, No. 6
Johanna Konta, No. 21 Caro-
line Garcia and two-time
Australian Open champion
and former No. 1 Victoria
Azarenka.
The matchups Monday:
Halep vs. Azarenka, Ostapenko
vs. Svitolina, Konta vs. Garcia.
Azarenka has played only
five matches since returning
to the tour after a hiatus to
have her first baby.
Tour de France
Kittel ties German record for stage wins; Froome overall leader
By ANDREW DAMPF &
JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press
N U I T S - S A I N T-
GEORGES, France —
Another day, another victory
for Marcel Kittel in the Tour
de France.
Only this time, the
German made his move
nearly too late and edged
Edvald Boasson Hagen of
Norway only in a photo finish
to win his third stage — and
second in two days — in the
race on Friday.
Provisional
results
awarded Kittel the victory
but the photo of the finish left
room for questions.
Kittel seemed sure he
won, holding up three fingers
to celebrate his three stage
wins.
“It was super, super close,”
Kittel said. “When there’s a
photo finish, you have your
doubts. I was lucky.”
Three-time
champion
Chris Froome will wear the
AP Photo/Christophe Ena
Germany’s sprinter Marcel Kittel, second left, crosses
the finish line with a fraction of a second difference
ahead of Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen, right, to
win the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling
race over 213.5 kilometers (132.7 miles) with start in
Troyes and finish in Nuits-Saint-Georges, France, Fri-
day, July 7, 2017.
yellow jersey into the moun-
tains this weekend.
“Nothing really big
happened today,” Froome
said. “The GC (general clas-
sification) riders are thinking
of the mountains coming this
weekend.”
It was Kittel’s 12th career
win in the Tour, tying him
with Erik Zabel for the
German record.
Kittel clocked slightly
more than five hours over the
mostly flat 213.5-kilometer
(132-mile) leg from Troyes
in champagne country to
Nuits-Saint-Georges in the
heart of the Burgundy wine-
making region.
Michael Matthews of
Australia crossed third.
Boasson Hagen took over
the leadership duties at Team
Dimension Data after Mark
Cavendish abandoned the
race with a broken shoulder
this week. World champion
Peter Sagan was disqualified
from the Tour for causing
Cavendish’s high-speed crash.
The victory helped Kittel
take the green points jersey
from French national cham-
pion Arnaud Demare, who
finished 11th.
Kittel is aiming to wear
green all the way to the finish
in Paris on July 23.
Sagan won the green
jersey in the past five Tours.
Froome
remained
12
seconds ahead of Sky teammate
Geraint Thomas and 14 seconds
ahead of Fabio Aru of Italy.
Days like this look easy
but are stressful, Froome said.
“Every kilometer you
think about what can happen
that could change the race,”
Froome said. “If you turn left
or right or if there is wind. It
was a day for staying in front.”
The southeasterly route
passed by the mustard capital
of Dijon then concluded with
a circuit through picturesque
vineyards of Burgundy.
Like in the other three
sprinting stages, an early break-
away — this one featuring
Manuele Mori, Yohann Gene,
Dylan van Baarle and Maxime
Bouet — was caught shortly
before the finish.
Stage 8 from Dole on
Saturday finishes at the
Rousses ski station in the Jura
Range, close to the border
with Switzerland. Three
climbs on the 187.5-kilometer
(116-mile) route will serve as
a warm-up for the extremely
tough Stage 9 on Sunday,
which has seven climbs,
including three with the “hors
categorie” or beyond rating.
Froome said, “It should be
a big weekend of racing.”
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Busch earns Kentucky pole with track speed record
By GARY B. GRAVES
Associated Press
SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle
Busch set a track record to earn
his first Kentucky Speedway
pole before thunderstorms
shortened NASCAR Cup
Series qualifying on Friday.
Busch, a two-time winner
of Saturday night’s 400-mile
race, clocked 190.282 mph in
the No. 18 Toyota for his third
pole this season and 22nd of
his career. Third in points, the
Joe Gibbs Racing driver seeks
his first Cup victory since last
summer at Indianapolis.
Martin Truex Jr. will start
second with Busch’s JGR
teammate Matt Kenseth
third as Toyotas claimed four
of the top five spots in the
40-car field. Jamie McMurray
(189.713) starts fourth in a
Chevy with JGR’s Denny
Hamlin (189.687) next.
The pole was the second of
two Busch claimed on Friday;
he also earned the top spot for
the Xfinity Series race.
Busch was preparing for
the third and final round of
qualifying before NASCAR
officials abruptly cancelled the
segment and postponed the
Xfinity Series race to Saturday
at noon because of the
threatening weather system.
He smiled as he climbed out
of his car to a suddenly-free
evening, rest that will certainly
be needed to handle a double-
duty Saturday for the second
weekend in a row.
The good news is he’ll have
a prime starting spot for both
events in the latest chapter of
his Kentucky dominance.
“The guys have done
an amazing job this year at
building faster race cars as
we’ve gone on this year,”
Busch said of his JGR team.
“We started out a little behind.
Just right there, so close
having an opportunity to win
each and every week, we just
need to bust through and get it
to happen.”
Contrasting Kyle Busch’s
good day was one that series
points leader Kyle Larson
would like to forget.
After having one of the
fastest cars during both rounds
of practice, Larson didn’t
get to prove it in qualifying
after his No. 42 Chevy failed
inspection. He didn’t know
what the issue was and is left
to prepare to start last in 40th.
“We will be fine from
the back,” Larson said.
“Obviously, it will be hard to
pass, but we also thought the
same thing at Texas and we
didn’t get to qualify there and
I cruised right to the front no
problem. So, we will see.”
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