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CINCINNATI: French qualifier Terence Atmane toppled another top-10 player in Holger Rune on Thursday to line up a semi-final showdown with world number one Jannik Sinner at the Cincinnati Open.

Atmane followed up his victory over fourth-ranked Taylor Fritz with a 6-2, 6-3 win over ninth-ranked Rune.

The 23-year-old will now face the ultimate test against defending champion Sinner, who said he “felt great” as he thrashed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-0, 6-2.

“I don’t think any words can describe how I feel right now,” the 136th-ranked Atmane said after blasting 22 winners past Rune, 14 of them off his powerful lefty forehand.

“It’s pretty insane to be honest,” added Atmane, who will move inside the top 100 in the rankings for the first time.

“I cannot believe it. Being here in the semi-finals of a Masters 1000, breaking into the top 100. It means a lot to me.”

He will face a formidable challenge in Wimbledon champion Sinner, who powered through a rapid-fire opening set and bounced back quickly after dropping serve to open the second.

Sinner prevailed in a brief 71 minutes as he claimed an eighth victory in a row at this event and his 30th match win this season.

“I felt great on the court today, you could see that,” said the Italian, who turns 24 on Saturday. “But every day can be different. Let’s see what I can do in the semis.”

Sinner took advantage of Auger-Aliassime’s serving troubles to take the first set in less than 30 minutes, the Canadian delivering three double-faults in the final game.

After going down a quick break in the second Sinner broke back to level at 2-2 and advanced as Auger-Aliassime coughed up his eighth double-fault on match point.

“I served well today, that was the key for me,” Sinner said. “I had a small drop in the second set and I’m happy that I broke back. He moves and serves well, he’s difficult to play.”

The Italian became only the fifth man this century to record 25 consecutive victories on the surface alongside Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray.

In the day’s only other men’s match, fifth-seeded Ben Shelton — coming off a title in Toronto — posted a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Jiri Lehecka to book a quarter-final clash with third-seeded Alexander Zverev.

“I’m hungry. I’m in a good rhythm,” Shelton said. “I’m playing good tennis and my body feels good.

“I think the confidence along with not being satisfied, wanting to prove myself over and over every time that I’m out on the court, and having things that I want to get better at is a huge motivation for me and it pushes me every match.”

GAUFF SETS UP PAOLINI CLASH

In the women’s draw, French Open champion Coco Gauff, the women’s second seed, booked her quarter-final berth with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Lucia Bronzetti.

“I could have maybe made some more first serves in that second set, but overall I had a lot of aces and unreturnables,” said Gauff, the 2023 Cincinnati champion who went on to win the US Open title that year.

“I’m happy considering where (my serve) was last week.”

The American next takes on seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, who crushed 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-1, 6-2.

Krejcikova had treatment on her left foot in the second set and her movement was clearly hampered.

“She’s a great player and can do anything she wants with the ball,” Paolini, a finalist at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2024, said. “But I don’t think she was at 100 per cent today.”

France’s Varvara Gracheva rallied to beat Germany’s Ella Seidel 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 in an error-strewn battle of qualifiers.

“I made her play her best game,” Grac­heva said. “She was so hot at the end of the first set that I could barely see a ball.

“I had to go back to basics, I had so many mistakes. I was doubting myself but I stuck with it.”

She will face Veronika Kudermetova, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Poland’s Magda Linette.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2025

CHORZW (Poland): Ukr­a­­ine’s Olympic and wor­ld champion Yaroslava Mahu­c­hikh notched up her 22nd Diamond League victory in a high jump shoot-out with Australian Nicola Olysla­gers in Katowice on Friday.

The women’s high jump was one of three disciplines along with the women’s shot put and women’s pole vault that were held in the main square of the southwestern Polish city.

The main Silesia Diam­ond League meet will be held in neighbouring Chor­zow on Saturday, when Oly­m­pic champion Noah Lyles goes head-to-head with Jamaica’s Kishane Thom­pson in a much-anticipated re-match of last year’s Paris Games 100m final.

The high jump predictably turned into a battle bet­w­een the two clear favourites.

Mahuchikh cleared 2.00 metres at her second atte­mpt to heap the pressure on her Australian rival, the two-time defending indoor champion who won silver med­als at the last two Olympics.

But it proved to be too much and Olyslagers had to be content with second place in 1.97m behind the world record holder who has now bagged three wins on the circuit this season.

Germany’s Imke Onnen was a distant third with a best of 1.91m.

Only three other jumpers of the 10-strong field made the 1.88m mark in blistering heat and in front of a big crowd packed into temporary stands.

Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands wrapped up victory in the women’s shot put with a best of 19.66m on her fifth of six attempts.

The two-time European champion saw off competition from Germany’s reigning Olympic champion Ye­m­­isi Ogunleye (19.50m), with American Maggie Ew­en rounding out the pod­i­um, a further centimetre adrift.

Victory in the pole vault went to France’s Marie-Julie Bonnin, who managed a best of 4.70m. She failed three times at what would have been a new personal best of 4.77m.

Hungary’s Hanga Klek­ner took second with 4.60m on countback from Amer­icans Brynn King and Hana Moll.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2025

LONDON: Coach Thomas Frank hopes Totte­nham Hotspur fans will give Mathys Tel a “really big cheer” in Saturday’s Premier League campaign opener after the forward faced racial abuse on social media for missing a penalty in Wednesday’s UEFA Super Cup loss to Paris St Germain.

Frank said no real Spurs fan would have done that to the 20-year-old.

“I think it’s terrible what happened to Mathys… there’s no real Tottenham supporter that will ever do that,” Frank told reporters on Friday ahead of their home game against Burnley.

“The real Tottenham supporters that we’ll see tomorrow at the stadium, they’ll back him, and I expect them to… in tough times we step up together, and I expect the fans to give him a really, really, really big cheer tomorrow.

Frank said he wanted to focus on the game ahead, with the Europa League winners hopeful of a winning start after finishing 17th in the Premier League last season.

Yves Bissouma, who was left out of the squad on Wednesday for being late several times, will be in the squad for the Burnley game, the Danish coach added.

The Mali midfielder has entered the final year of his contract, and his future could still be away from Tottenham as the club remain active in the transfer window.

Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze and Manchester City attacker Savinho are reportedly targets, but Frank refused to be drawn on specific names.

“In many ways, I’m very happy with the squad. I think there’s a lot of good players,” he said. “Of course, we want as strong and competitive a squad as possible.”

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2025

LONDON: Australian batting great Steve Smith is raring to go against England in the home Ashes later this year.

The former skipper, who has the third-highest Test runs against England after Sir Don Bradman and Allan Border, believes England’s aggressive style of play is likely to produce an exciting contest Down Under.

“I watched a lot of the series against India and it was one of the best Test series I’ve seen in a long time,” he said in an interview released by Sky Sports on Friday. “The cricket that was played by both teams was outstanding.

Smith, however, doubted England’s approach would work as efficiently as in the UK in the Australian conditions.

“Coming down to Australia, particularly for their batters, it’s going to be a big challenge,” he added. “The pitches here over the last few years have been quite difficult. But we’ve got a very experienced bowling line-up that’s enjoyed long-term success. I’m really looking forward to it — it should be a fantastic series.”

The 35-year-old also praised Joe Root’s remarkable form, especially after the England batter surpassed greats such as Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting to become the second-highest run-scorer in Test cricket.

“Over the past couple of years, he’s been incredible,” Smith remarked. “He used to get stuck between 50 and 100, but now he’s consistently converting starts into big scores. Although, he hasn’t scored a hundred in Australia yet—and I’m sure that’s something he’s looking to tick off his bucket list.”

Root, who has been a key figure in England’s resurgence under the Bazball philosophy, recently became the first batter to reach 6,000 runs in the ICC World Test Championship.

Asked whether Australia would resort to traditional sledging tactics against Root in the Ashes, Smith said the team is more focused on execution than mind games.

“The way we’ve approached our cricket in recent years is to let our skills do the talking,” he said. “We’ve been consistent in Test cricket, playing in two consecutive World Test Championship finals. We’re doing a lot right.”

OLYMPIC AMBITION

Apart from the Ashes, another goal on Smith’s radar is representing Australia at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where cricket is set to return to the Games after more than a century.

“I’ve watched a lot of Olympics since I was a kid and always loved seeing Australian athletes compete,” he said. “When I heard cricket was being included, I thought it would be really cool to be part of it.”

Smith, who has featured in multiple World Cups and marquee bilateral series, views the Olympic Games as a fresh and unique opportunity.

“It’s still some time away, but representing your country on the Olympic stage would be an incredible honour. I’d love to be involved in that,” he concluded.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2025

MUNICH: Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman is close to joining Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr, with talks in the final stages, the German champions said on Friday ahead of Saturday’s German SuperCup at VfB Stuttgart.

They said, however, there was no development in the ongoing transfer saga of Stuttgart forward Nick Woltemade.

The 29-year-old Coman, a 2022 World Cup finalist with France, has been at Bayern for a decade, having won a slew of domestic and international titles, including the Champions League and the Club World Cup.

“There are still final talks pending, so it is not a done deal just yet,” Bayern sports director Christoph Freund told a press conference. “But should it go ahead, then he was here 10 years, he won many titles, and was a super person.”

For coach Vincent Kompany, Coman’s imminent departure may be emotional, coming shortly after club talisman Thomas Muller’s move to the Major League Soccer (MLS) side Vancouver Whitecaps after 25 years at Bayern, but his team was focused on the season start.

“I think that King [Coman] showed over the years at Bayern what player he was. When such a successful player leaves the club, it is always emotional,” Kompany said.

“I think for me it is important to look ahead, show respect for Kingsley Coman and for what he achieved for the club. But my feeling is the lads who are here are the priority, and they have to work towards success.”

There was no change, however, in the status of 23-year-old Germany international Woltemade with Stuttgart having rejected the latest Bayern bid for the talented forward, who wants to join the German champions.

“There has been so much talk about it, about deadlines, figures and so on,” Freund said. “We have never commented on the matter. There is nothing new. On Satiurday he is playing for Stuttgart where he is under contract and it does not make sense to restart any speculation.”

The Bundesliga season starts next Friday with Bayern hosting RB Leipzig.

LEIPZIG SIGN STRIKER ROMULO

Meanwhile on Friday, Leipzig announced the signing of Brazilian striker Romulo from Turkish side Goztepe to replace Benjamin Sesko, who has left for Manchester United.

Romulo, 23, has signed until 2030 for a reported fee of 25 million euros ($29.2 million) including bonuses.

Leipzig badly needed a forward after Sesko’s big-money move to United.

The Slovenian, 22, reportedly cost United 85 million euros.

Romulo scored 13 times and laid on nine assists in 29 league matches last campaign.

Leipzig finished seventh last season, missing out on European football for the first time in the Bundesliga top flight, and have undergone a rebuild in Jurgen Klopp’s first off-season as Red Bull’s global head of football.

The club have signed several promising youngsters ahead of next weekend’s Bundesliga kickoff, including winger Johan Bakayoko and midfielder Arthur Verme­eren. They also have a new manager, Ole Werner.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2025