Page 22 - ARUBA TODAY

A22 SPORTS
Thursday 2 November 2017
Nadal beats Chung to guarantee ending the year as No. 1

By JEROME PUGMIRE Cilic, who had 13 aces,
AP Sports Writer will next play 14th-seed-
PARIS (AP) — Rafael Nadal ed Roberto Bautista Agut
will finish the year as the of Spain. He eased past
top-ranked player for the Frenchman Jeremy Char-
fourth time, surprising even dy 6-4, 6-1.
the fiercest of competitors No. 4 Alexander Zverev lost
after a wrist injury and a to Robin Haase 3-6, 6-2,
lack of form severely dent- 6-2, and No. 9 John Isner
ed his steely confidence. beat Diego Schwartzman
The 31-year-old Spaniard 7-6 (2), 6-7 (11), 6-3.
assured himself the No. 1 Haase next plays No. 13
ranking by beating Hyeon Juan Martin del Potro, who
Chung 7-5, 6-3 Wednesday eased past Joao Sousa of
in the second round of the Portugal 6-2, 6-2. The big-
Paris Masters. serving Argentine needs
The 16-time Grand Slam to win in Paris to have a
winner had not finished the chance of reaching the Fi-
year at the top since 2013, nals in London.
with Novak Djokovic and Isner, who lost last year’s
Andy Murray doing so after final to Murray, faces No.
that. 6 Grigor Dimitrov. He beat
“One year ago, for sure I Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates after defeating Hyeon Chung of South Korea during the Paris Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4.
never dreamed about be- Masters tennis tournament at the Bercy Arena in Paris, France, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. Frenchman Lucas Pouille
ing No. 1 again at the end Associated Press kept alive his slim chances
of the season,” said Nadal, years,” said Nadal, who happen ... not everybody ing Chung to love.Chung of qualifying for London
who missed large parts of also finished as No. 1 in ‘08 is able to do it.”The only saved four break points in with a 6-3, 6-4 win against
2016 because of a trouble- and ‘10. “It means a lot. downside this season has a fourth game of the sec- Feliciano Lopez, but No. 12
some wrist. “It has been an After almost 10 years since been always losing to Fe- ond set lasting 12 minutes, Kevin Anderson’s chances
amazing year.” the first time.”Nadal is also derer, who leads the ATP holding for 2-2. But Nadal took a blow after a 5-7, 6-4,
Nadal’s comeback has the oldest year-ending No. Tour with seven titles. accelerated after that and 7-5 loss to Fernando Ver-
been truly remarkable, 1, testimony to his relentless Federer has beaten Nadal served out the victory on dasco.No. 11 Jo-Wilfried
even by his lofty standards. determination.“It’s about four consecutive times — his second match point. Tsonga’s bid to reach Lon-
He reached three Grand the passion for what you not dropping a set in three Nadal, who is tied for a re- don is over following a 2-6,
Slam finals this year, losing are doing. It’s about the of them — and the 19-time cord 30 Masters titles with 7-6 (4), 6-2 loss to Julien
to Roger Federer at the mentality of waking up ev- Grand Slam champion was Djokovic, has never won Benneteau in an all-French
Australian Open and win- ery morning with the right in outside contention for the tournament in Paris. He match.Benneteau plays
ning a 10th French Open motivation to go on court the No. 1 ranking before will next face Pablo Cue- No. 7 David Goffin of Bel-
title before clinching the and improve something. pulling out of Paris to focus vas of Uruguay, who beat gium, who won 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
U.S. Open for the third time. That’s the winning mental- on the season-ending ATP 15th-seeded Albert Ramos- against Adrian Mannarino.
“It was impossible for me ity, no?” he replied, when Finals in London next week. Vinolas of Spain 6-7 (5), 7-6 Also, No. 16 Jack Sock of
to think about (being No. asked what drives him. The 21-year-old Chung (1), 6-2. the United States had 14
1) coming back from a “The passion to improve broke Nadal in the ninth Third-seeded Marin Cilic aces in a 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5)
tough period without play- something and practice game of the first set and won 6-4, 6-3 against Borna win against Kyle Edmund
ing, and with so many in- every day with the right at- held for 5-5. But Nadal took Coric in an all-Croatian and faces Pouille in Thurs-
juries in the last couple of titude to try to make that the first set after break- match. day’s third round.q

Olympic flame arrives in South Korea for 2018 Winter Games

By KIM TONG-HYUNG most popular sports person- Moon Jae-in, who has
Associated Press alities, joined South Korean urged the North to partici-
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Prime Minster Lee Nak-yon pate in next year’s Olym-
The Olympic flame arrived in igniting the flame to a pics, said in a speech to
in South Korea on Wednes- ceremonial cauldron at lawmakers on Wednes-
day where it will be passed the airport to mark the start day that the games are a
throughout the country by of the Olympic torch relay. “golden opportunity” to
thousands of torchbearers The Olympic flame last strengthen peace on the
on a 100-day journey to touched the country 30 Korean Peninsula.
the opening ceremony of years ago when the 1988 “Ensuring the success of
the 2018 Winter Olympics Summer Olympics were the Pyeongchang Winter
in Pyeongchang. held in the capital Seoul. Olympics and Paralympics
South Korean figure skat- Preparations for the Feb. that are 100 days away is a
ing prospect You Young 9-25 games are being held national task,” Moon said.
will kick off the 2,018-kilo- amid tension over North Although a North Korean
meter (1,253-mile) trip from Korea’s nuclear weapons figure skating pair has
Incheon on Wednesday. South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, right, and former and missile tests. qualified for the Games,
Pyeongchang’s organiz- South Korean Olympic figure skating champion Yuna Kim, light There are also concerns it’s uncertain whether
ers have designated 7,500 the cauldron with the Olympic Flame during the Olympic Flame over the huge costs for Pyongyang would allow
torchbearers to carry the Arrival ceremony at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, hosting the games and the skaters to compete in
Olympic flame, which ar- South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017 maintaining facilities that Pyeongchang, a ski resort
rived at the Incheon In- Associated Press may have little use once town just 80 kilometers (50
ternational Airport after Athens on Tuesday. ing champion Kim Yuna, the party leaves town. miles) south of the heavily-
a handover ceremony in Retired Olympic figure skat- who is one of the country’s South Korean President armed inter-Korean border.