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sports Diaranson 11 Mei 2022

Djokovic wins opener at Italian Open with vintage scrambling

(AP) — Still attempting to ported from Australia ahead
get his nearly unbeatable “You always hope you can of the year’s first Grand Slam.
form back following his play some exciting and attrac-
time away from the tour, tive points and come out as a Still seeking his first title of
Novak Djokovic took an- winner of those points and 2022, Djokovic lost the fi-
other step in the right di- celebrate with the crowd,” nal in his home Serbia Open
rection with a 6-3, 6-2 win Djokovic said. “That’s what to Andrey Rublev then was
over Aslan Karatsev in his the crowd is looking for — beaten by 19-year-old Carlos
opening match at the Ital- they’re looking for energy, Alcaraz in the Madrid Open
ian Open on Tuesday. excitement, fight and they semifinals last weekend.
want to see some good ten-
The top-ranked Djokovic, nis. Djokovic will next face ei-
who is bidding for a sixth ther three-time Grand Slam
Rome title, showed off some “We had some nice points to- champion Stan Wawrinka or
vintage scrambling abilities day. It’s always great to play in compatriot Laslo Djere.
late in the first set when he the colosseum of tennis,” the
ran down one shot near the 20-time Grand Slam cham- Also on the red clay courts of ly won a clay-court title in American qualifiers Madi-
net post then sprinted back pion added. the Foro Italico, big-serving Estoril, Portugal, extended son Brengle and Lauren Da-
across the net to dig out a low John Isner eliminated Mi- his winning streak to eight vis both advanced in straight
backhand volley winner. It was a fairly clean perfor- ami Open semifinalist Fran- matches with a 6-3, 6-7 (7), sets. Brengle beat fellow
mance for Djokovic, who cisco Cerundolo 6-4, 6-3 and 6-2 victory over fellow quali- qualifier Marta Kostyuk 6-4,
It was the type of point that had only 10 unforced errors will next face 10-time Rome fier Tallon Griekspoor. Baez 6-3 and Davis defeated 2017
Djokovic pulled off day after to Karatsev’s 36. champion Rafael Nadal. next plays Alexander Zverev. French Open champion Jele-
day last year when he came na Ostapenko 6-2, 6-3.
within one match of com- Djokovic needs to reach the Diego Schwartzman, a final- In the women’s tourna-
pleting a calendar-year Grand semifinals in Rome to stay ist in Rome two years ago, ment, there was a first-round Amanda Anisimova, another
Slam — sweeping all four No. 1. Otherwise, Daniil saved two match points be- matchup later between two American and a French Open
major titles in the same year. Medvedev will take the top fore eliminating Miomir Ke- U.S. Open winners — reign- semifinalist in 2019, held off
spot and the top seed at the cmanovic 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (3). ing champion Emma Radu- Czech qualifier Tereza Mar-
Playing on a court that is one French Open, which starts in canu and Bianca Andreescu, tincova 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 and will
of his favorites, Djokovic cel- 12 days. Grigor Dimitrov beat Ameri- who raised the trophy in next play Olympic gold med-
ebrated the point by making can qualifier Brandon Na- 2019. alist Belinda Bencic.
a gesture with his hands that Djokovic missed several key kashima 6-3, 6-4 and will
urged the Campo Centrale tournaments earlier this year next face fourth-seeded Ste- Also, Madrid Open runner- Sloane Stephens, the 2017
crowd to applaud even loud- because he was not vaccinat- fanos Tsitsipas. up Jessica Pegula rallied past U.S. Open champion, was
er — bringing many fans to ed against the coronavirus — Liudmila Samsonova 4-6, beaten 6-1, 6-2 by Ekaterina
their feet. which led to him being de- Sebastian Baez, who recent- 6-3, 6-4. Alexandrova.

Kämna wins Giro 4th stage up Etna, López moves into pink

(AP) — German cyclist crossed the line just ahead of Yates was involved in one of
Lennard Kämna won the López, who banged his han- “It was a super hard day, es- “I tried to go on the hard- them and needed brief treat-
fourth stage of the Giro dlebars in frustration. pecially the last climb. It est part because there I can ment but was able to con-
d’Italia on the slopes of was really long and really make the difference. I tried tinue.
Mount Etna while Juan Both of them had been part hard,” Kämna said. “I almost but Kämna took me in the
Pedro López moved into of an early breakaway, as was thought I lost it when López last 2 or 3 kilometers and we The stage sparked into life on
the overall lead on Tues- Rein Taaramäe, who finished had more than 30 seconds fought for the sprint. I tried the approach to Etna, one of
day as the Italian grand third at the end of the 172-ki- and I just made it to bridge. to fight for the victory but it the world’s most active vol-
tour returned to home lometer (107-mile) route Then I tried to recover a was so difficult. But I have canoes.
soil. from Avola that culminated little bit for the sprint and it the jersey and I’m so happy
on the steep climb up the worked out really well.” now.” Stefano Oldani set off on a
Kämna, who rides for Bora- volcano, as the riders faced long solo attack but he was
Hansgrohe, had time to raise their first serious test of this It was a second grand tour Most of the overall contend- passed by López with just
his arms over his head as he year’s race. stage win for the 25-year-old ers crossed the line togeth- over 10 kilometers remain-
Kämna, who won a stage on er although Miguel Angel ing. Kämna made the catch
the Tour de France two years López — one of the favorites with 2.5 kilometers to go and
ago. for the stage win and overall the duo worked together be-
victory — pulled out of the fore the chase to the line.
López will be able to console Giro after struggling in the
himself by taking over the hilly opening kilometers of López made a mistake in the
leader’s pink jersey from Ma- the route with a left hip in- final corner but Kämna ad-
thieu van der Poel, who had jury that he sustained earlier mitted that, with the Span-
worn it since winning the in the race. iard guaranteed the maglia
opening stage in Hungary. rosa, it was almost as if they
Tom Dumoulin’s chances of “had a silent agreement.”
The 24-year-old Spanish winning a second Giro are all
rider is 39 seconds ahead of but over. The 2017 champion The Giro stays in Sicily for
Kämna and 58 ahead of Ta- was dropped on the climb, as Wednesday’s fifth stage, a
aramäe. was home favorite and two- 174-kilometer (108-mile) leg
time winner Vincenzo Niba- from Messina to Catania that
“I’m so happy today for tak- li, and the Dutch cyclist lost features a category two climb
ing the jersey. I don’t believe more than six minutes to his shortly before the halfway
this moment so I need to en- rivals. point.
joy tomorrow, today, and ev-
ery moment with the jersey,” There was more drama earli- The Giro finishes on May 29
said López, who rides for er in the day as well, as there in Verona.
Trek–Segafredo. were two crashes. Simon