Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 1-29-19

Sports
Rose Pads Lead At
Naomi Osaka Becomes
World No. 1 In Women's
Singles Tennis Rankings
Naomi Osaka became the world’s No. 1 women’s singles player on Monday in the wake of her victory in Sat- urday’s Australian Open final.
The 21-year-old from Japan, who has won the last two Grand Slams, is the first singles player from Asia to top the tennis rankings on ei- ther the men’s or women’s tour.
Osaka, who earned her first Grand Slam title last September at the U.S. Open, went into the season-opening Grand Slam in Melbourne as world No. 4. She moved up to top the rankings after beating Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the final.
“I’m beyond excited to be- come the new WTA World No. 1,” Osaka was quoted as saying on the WTA website. “I’ve always dreamt of being
NAOMI OSAKA
in this position and I am hon- ored to be part of the elite group of players who have reached the No. 1 ranking.”
Osaka is the 26th woman to hold the top ranking and the youngest to become No. 1 since Caroline Wozniacki, who reached the top spot in 2010 at the age of 20 years and 92 days, according to the WTA.
Warriors Skip The White House, Meet With Former President Barack Obama Instead
THE GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS WITH BARACK OBAMA
The Golden State War- riors knew they would not be visiting the White House to celebrate their 2018 NBA title on their annual trip to Wash- ington this week.
They hadn’t done so last year in recognition of their 2017 championship, with Stephen Curry saying he wouldn’t have met with Pres- ident Trump even if invited
and Trump then withdraw- ing any invitation that may or may not have existed.
Instead, the Warriors this week met with the White House’s previous resident, on Thursday paying a visit to for- mer president Barack Obama at his Washington office ahead of their game that night against the Wiz- ards.
BEAUTY UNLIMITED
BROOKE
In the Beauty Unlimited this week, is the lovely Brooke, a brand new refreshing face. This young lady doesn’t miss a step when it comes to capturing the attention of people around her. This young lady also manages to keep herself prepared at all times for that next opportunity, and has dedicated her life to reach the goal of com- plete success. Congratulations to Brooke as this week’s Beauty Un- limited feature.
World No. 1; Tiger
Rises To 12th
Top-ranked
Justin Rose
strengthened his lead in the Official World Ranking fol- lowing his vic- tory at the Farmers Insur- ance Open.
Rose became the first world No. 1 to win a Tour event at Torrey Pines since Tiger Woods in 2008.
Even though he padded his advantage over No. 2 Brooks Koepka, there could be a sce- nario this week in which the top spot is back up for grabs. Both Rose and Koepka are playing in the European Tour’s Saudi International, which features four of the top five players in the world.
Tiger Woods also moved up a spot, to No. 12, after his tie for 20th at Torrey Pines in his 2019 debut.
Keith Thurman Targets Manny Pacquiao After Retaining WBA Welterweight Title
KEITH THURMAN (RIGHT) AND JOSESITO LOPEZ
Keith Thurman came back from a 22-month layoff to beat Josesito Lopez via ma- jority decision on Saturday night to retain his welterweight title and set his sights on a showdown with Manny Pac- quiao.
Thurman got off to a fast start with a second-round knockdown, withstood a big seventh round from Lopez, and regained control to im- prove to 29-0. It was the WBA champion’s first fight since 4 March 2017, before he was side- lined first by right elbow sur- gery and then an injured left hand.
He’d likely need a better one against the 40-year-old Pac- quiao, who showed he has plenty left with an easy victory over Adrien Broner last week.
Both looked back to normal inside Brooklyn’s Barclays Cen- ter and so did Thurman’s legs, as he moved well to mostly stay out of trouble against Lopez, who kept coming forward throughout the fight but often got caught with uppercuts and combinations for his efforts.
JUSTIN ROSE
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 15