Page 22 - ARUBA TODAY

A22 SPORTS
Friday 16 March 2018
Dominant Daria: Kasatkina routs Kerber at Indian Wells

By BETH HARRIS night. ture, the seaside location,
AP Sports Writer Besides Stephens and Aus- and the food, with paella
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) tralian Open winner Wozni- and tapas her top choices.
— Daria Kasatkina kept her acki, Kasatkina has beaten And a little bit of wine, too,
focus for all of 58 minutes. the other current Grand even though she's not 21.
That's how long it took to Slam titleholders in the “In Europe it doesn’t mat-
dispatch former No. 1 An- past year: French Open ter,” she said. “With good
gelique Kerber 6-0, 6-2 in winner Jelena Ostapenko company, of course, you
the quarterfinals of the BNP and Wimbledon champion can have a glass or two.”
Paribas Open on Thursday. Garbine Muguruza. Kasatkina will play either
The 20-year-old Russian That's part of the reason No. 8 seed Venus Williams
hasn't dropped a set in four for her impressive rise in the or 27th-seeded Carla Su-
matches at Indian Wells, rankings over the last three arez Navarro of Spain in the
knocking out U.S. Open years, and she's guaran- semis.
champion Sloane Stephens teed to make her highest Regardless of the oppo-
and No. 2-ranked Caroline move yet as a result of her nent, she wants to play at
Wozniacki along the way. deep run in the desert. She night.
"Maybe, yeah, from the came into the tournament “I just want to be on the
side or with the score it at No. 19, two spots lower central court, prime time,”
looks like it was simple, but than her career-best. She she said, smiling. “In the
of course it's not," Kasatkina could move to 15th or 16th, evening, something special
said. "I knew that in one and has a shot at the top is coming from here, from
moment if I will lose focus Borna Coric, of Croatia, returns a shot against Kevin Anderson, 10 if she would win the title. the heart.”
just for a second, they will of South Africa, during the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open But that's more than she The other women’s semi-
tennis tournament, Thursday, March 15, 2018, in Indian Wells,
come back and then the Calif. cared to consider, espe- final is already set: No. 1
big battle, five hours again, Associated Press cially against Kerber. Simona Halep against Ja-
will start." "Actually, my head was pan’s Naomi Osaka, an-
No chance against Kerber. points. son 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) for his quite empty," she said, smil- other 20-year-old making
The German never man- "This one I will try to forget first win in four tries against ing. a huge run through the
aged a break point against as fast as possible," Kerber the South African. Whenever she can get draw. Osaka’s victims have
Kasatkina's serve. The Rus- said. Coric next faces either No. away, Kasatkina can be included Maria Sharapo-
sian connected on 82 In the men's quarterfinals, 1 Roger Federer or Chung found in Barcelona. Her fa- va, No. 31 Agnieszka Rad-
percent of her first serves, Borna Coric of Croatia up- Hyeon of South Korea, who vorite soccer team is there, wanska and No. 5 Karolina
winning 22 of 32 first-serve set No. 7 seed Kevin Ander- were to meet Thursday and she loves the architec- Pliskova.q
value of the Pelicans now the future of his clubs. In the meantime, the clubs
exceeds $1 billion. Benson made it known in will be run by Gayle Benson
NBA commissioner Adam January 2015 that he wants — who married Tom Ben-
Silver said he'd remem- his third wife, Gayle, to in- son in 2004 — and a trusted
bered Benson as big-heart- herit complete control of circle of long-time execu-
ed a gracious, and praised the Saints and Pelicans, tives including Dennis Laus-
the way he not only ran the and Greg Bensel, the senior cha, the president of busi-
Pelicans, but also hosted vice president of communi- ness operations for both
two All-Star weekends in cations for both clubs, said clubs, and Mickey Loomis,
New Orleans, the second the NFL and NBA have both an executive vice presi-
after it had been moved approved Benson's succes- dent overseeing football
from Charlotte following sion plan. and basketball operations,
state legislation deemed However, Benson's dis- and also serving as general
discriminatory by the NBA. owned daughter, Renee, manager for the Saints.
"He was a dear friend to and her two children, Rita With his heavy New Orleans
me and so many others in and Ryan LeBlanc — who accent and parasol danc-
This Dec. 19, 2009, file photo shows New Orleans Saints owner the sports world," Silver said. had long been in line to es along the sideline after
Tom Benson walking on the field before the NFL football game
against the Dallas Cowboys in New Orleans. "The loss of his authentic take over the Benson busi- victories, Benson cut quite
Associated Press and unique presence will ness empire — have vowed the figure among NFL own-
leave an enormous void." to prove their patriarch was ers when he first joined the
TOM BENSON bounty scandal and by ru- Benson also became a manipulated against them league.
Continued from Page 18 mors Benson did not want leading New Orleans phi- while in a mentally enfee- One of four children, Ben-
"Tom kept the Saints to- to bring the team back to lanthropist. He helped fun bled state. The estranged son grew up in the tough
gether through the tragedy New Orleans from San An- Tulane's on-campus foot- heirs, who still inherited hun- Ninth Ward of New Orleans.
of Hurricane Katrina, and tonio after Hurricane Ka- ball stadium and the can- dreds of millions of dollars In 1945, Benson served in
his decision to bring the trina devastated the city in cer treatment center at from irrevocable trusts set the U.S. Navy aboard the
team back to New Orleans 2005. Ochsner Medical Center. up before the family split, USS South Dakota. Then he
gave the entire region When the NBA took over The home of the NFL's Hall sued after their ouster from studied business and ac-
hope and confidence that the financially troubled of Fame game in Canton, family businesses to have counting at Loyola Universi-
they would recover." New Orleans Hornets in late Ohio, also was renamed for Benson declared men- ty in New Orleans and was
Benson's business acumen 2010 and spent more than Tom Benson after an $11 tally incompetent to run sent to San Antonio as a
helped turn the Saints from a year trying to find a suit- million gift, the largest in the his own affairs and have a 29-year-old in 1956 to man-
a perennial also-ran into a able, permanent owner, hall's history. receiver other than Gayle age a Chevrolet dealership
contender — and the 2009 Benson finally stepped in Benson's death comes on Benson appointed to over- as a junior partner. Six years
NFL champions. Yet his and bought the club, now the heels of an acrimonious see them. The heirs lost that later, he took full control of
ownership also was less flat- called the Pelicans, for family split that has caused case, but still could contest the company and estab-
teringly marked by the 2012 $338 million. The estimated some uncertainty about the will. lished his own dealership.q