Sports

MIAMI — Poland’s Iga Swiatek clinched becoming the new World No. 1 in women’s tennis on Friday by defeating Swiss player Viktorija Golubic 6-2, 6-0 at the WTA Miami Open.

Swiatek will move into the top spot vacated by Australian Ashleigh Barty after the three-time Grand Slam champion announced her retirement earlier this week.

“Pretty surreal,” Swiatek said. “On one hand, these are the most special moments that you’re going to remember for the rest of your life, but on the other hand, that match was just another match.”

The 20-year-old Warsaw-born star had to win her second-round match at the South Florida hardcourt tournament to ensure she would replace Barty in the next rankings next month.

After the victory, there was a brief on-court ceremony where Swiatek was cheered and honoured by tournament director James Blake and former WTA No. 1 Lindsay Davenport.

“I never really imagined that moment because, truth to be told, I was working day-by-day and playing tennis well, but I never had the strong belief that it can actually happen,” Swiatek said. “So it’s even more surreal for me.”

She didn’t feel slighted by the manner of it all, coming suddenly after Barty’s shock farewell.

“I loved every moment of it,” Swiatek said. “It doesn’t matter for me if there were fireworks. The crowd was really supportive. They were really excited. I’m just soaking everything in because I didn’t have any expectations.”

Swiatek will be the first Polish woman to reach the rankings summit, eclipsing the old mark for players from her homeland she shared with former World No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska.

Poland’s first Grand Slam singles title was won by Swiatek at the 2020 French Open.

Swiatek has enjoyed a blistering start to the season, winning WTA titles at Doha and Indian Wells, and is now on a career-best 12-match win streak.

She’s also the first player since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2009 to win five or more titles before turning 21.

Paula Badosa could have taken over as No. 1 had Swiatek lost, but the Spaniard would have needed to win the Miami Open title to do it.

Swiatek becomes the 28th woman to reach the WTA pinnacle and the youngest since Wozniacki in 2010, but she doesn’t expect much to change for her with the climb to the top.

“I think it’s going to be a little bit different. Maybe the hype is going to be a little bit bigger, but I’m ready for it. And honestly, it’s part of the job,” Swiatek said.

“From my perspective, I don’t think anything will change. Maybe I’ve got to watch if I’m wearing clean clothes and representing tennis well. So I’m going to be careful with that. But honestly, I’m the same person.”

PARIS — Reigning European champion Italy will miss a second straight World Cup after losing to a dramatic stoppage-time goal against North Macedonia on Thursday, but Portugal, Wales and Sweden all made it through to qualifying play-off deciders.

Four-time World Cup winner Italy was stunned in Palermo as Aleksandar Trajkovski — who used to play club football in the Sicilian city — fired past Gianluigi Donnarumma in the second minute of injury time to give North Macedonia an incredible 1-0 victory.

Italy will again be absent from the World Cup in Qatar after also failing to qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia when they lost in a play-off to Sweden.

That was a traumatic experience for a nation that had previously been to every tournament since 1958, and this failure is all the more remarkable given that they were crowned European champions less than nine months ago.

That success for Roberto Mancini’s side came during a world record 37-game unbeaten run, but four draws in its last five qualifiers last autumn saw finish second in the group to Switzerland, exposing it to the dangers of the play-offs again.

“It’s hard to explain, it’s such a huge disappointment,” captain Giorgio Chiellini said to RAI.

“We’ve made mistakes since September and we’ve paid for them. We’re distraught.”

North Macedonia, the Balkan nation of just 2 million people, held Italy to a draw in Turin in 2018 World Cup qualifying and beat Germany away in this campaign before appearing at its debut European Championship last year.

“We won the Italian way against the Italians, a goal from just two shots,” said their coach, Blagoja Milevski.

Penalty miss costs Turkey

They will now go to Porto to face Portugal next Tuesday, after the Euro 2016 winners defeated Turkey 3-1 at the Estadio do Dragao, albeit only after Burak Yilmaz missed a crucial late penalty for the visitors.

The home side was cruising thanks to first-half goals by Brazilian-born midfielder Otavio and Liverpool forward Diogo Jota.

But Turkey’s veteran skipper Yilmaz pulled a goal back in the 65th minute, setting up a tense finish.

Turkey was then awarded a late penalty when a foul on Enes Unal was detected following a VAR review, but Yilmaz put the spot-kick over the bar and Matheus Nunes secured Portugal’s victory in stoppage time.

Turkey has not appeared at the World Cup since coming third in Japan and South Korea in 2002.

Portugal has not missed out on the tournament since 1998 and, at 37, Cristiano Ronaldo’s dream of World Cup glory remains alive.

Bale brilliance

Meanwhile, Gareth Bale was in inspirational form as his brace secured a 2-1 win for Wales against Austria in Cardiff.

Bale has only played five times for his club Real Madrid this season, and just twice since August, but the Wales captain started at the Cardiff City Stadium and opened the scoring from a stunning 25th-minute free-kick.

He then struck again, with a superb hit across goalkeeper Heinz Lindner into the far corner, to double the lead six minutes after half-time.

Wales, bidding to qualify for their first World Cup since 1958, then held on after Austria reduced the deficit in the 64th minute when Marcel Sabitzer’s shot deflected in off Ben Davies.

“I’ll run myself into the ground for this country, we all did tonight,” Bale, who came off right at the end with cramp, told Sky Sports.

Robert Page’s team will be at home in the play-off final but must wait until at least June for that, with the ongoing war in Ukraine meaning its tie away to Scotland remains on hold for now.

Sweden set up a play-off final against Poland after an extra-time strike by Robin Quaison gave them a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic in Solna.

Quarter-finalists in 2018, Sweden got its winner in the 110th minute as Saudi Arabia-based Quaison finished after a one-two with Alexander Isak.

Poland received a bye to the play-off final after would-be opponent Russia was suspended from all international competition until further notice following the invasion of Ukraine.

Scotland and Poland drew 1-1 in a friendly in Glasgow, with Kieran Tierney giving the home side the lead only for Krzysztof Piatek to level with a stoppage-time penalty.

JOHANNESBURG — Egypt captain Mohamed Salah has vowed to avenge an Africa Cup of Nations final loss last month to Sadio Mane-inspired Senegal when they clash again on Friday in a 2022 World Cup play-off.

Failure in the continental final was particularly bitter for prolific Liverpool scorer Salah as he was also part of the Egyptian team that lost the 2017 Cup of Nations final against Cameroon.

Liverpool teammate Mane played a pivotal role in the first Cup of Nations triumph of Senegal — atoning for a penalty miss in regular time by converting the spot-kick that won the shoot-out. 

Egypt host the first leg on Friday and Senegal have home advantage next Tuesday with the aggregate winners filling one of five places reserved for Africa at the 32-nation finals in Qatar. 

Cameroon seeks a record-extending eighth appearance by an African nation at the World Cup and Mali hoping to reach the finals for the first time.

Egypt versus Senegal

Senegal coach Aliou Cisse says the Cup of Nations triumph is history and all that matters is securing a second straight World Cup appearance.

“Winning the Cup of Nations is not an end in itself because we share a common goal of playing at the World Cup again,” he told reporters. 

With a ‘spine’ comprising Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, PSG midfielder Idrissa Gueye and Mane, Senegal are well equipped to succeed.

Egypt welcome back star goalkeeper Mohamed el Shenawy, who missed the Cup of Nations final through injury, but they were the second best side in the African title decider and start as underdogs.

Ghana versus Nigeria

Nigeria are favoured, but tradition suggests a close affair with each nation winning twice in previous World Cup qualifiers and four other meetings drawn.

Both fared poorly at the Cup of Nations with Ghana shock first-round casualties after losing to minnows Comoros and Nigeria making a timid last-16 departure against Tunisia.

Nigeria boast a stronger squad than they had in Cameroon with forwards Emmanuel Dennis, Odion Ighalo and Victor Osimhen now available, but injured midfielder Wilfred Ndidi misses out.

Ghana fired Serb coach Milovan Rajevac after the Cup of Nations debacle and brought in Otto Addo with former Newcastle and Brighton boss Chris Hughton lending assistance.

Cameroon versus Algeria

Hosts Cameroon fired Portuguese Toni Conceicao after finishing third at the Cup of Nations and hired legend Rigobert Song on the orders of President Paul Biya.

Song has chosen most of the team eliminated by Egypt in the semi-finals and there will be much interest in how he treats Bayern Munich forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.

Choupo-Moting was furious at the not making the starting line-up against the Pharaohs and teaming up with captain and leading Cup of Nations scorer Vincent Aboubakar and Karl Toko Ekambi.

Algeria suffered a disastrous Cup of Nations title defence; going out after the first round, and coach Djamel Belmadi has dumped 11 of the squad he took to Cameroon in January.

DR Congo versus Morocco

The Democratic Republic of Congo are alone among the 10 contenders in not having the benefit of match practice at the Cup of Nations — they came third in a qualifying group and missed out.

It could be advantageous, though, as Morocco will not have recent footage of the Leopards, whose only previous World Cup appearance was in 1974 when the country was called Zaire.

However, it is no secret that Dieumerci Mbokani is the man Morocco must shackle after the 36-year-old scored four goals in qualifiers having been recalled after several years in the wilderness.

Cup of Nations quarter-finalists Morocco boast a star full-back in Ashraf Hakimi, but Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech will be absent due to a fall-out with coach Vahid Halilhodzic. 

Mali versus Tunisia

Mali and Tunisia met at the Cup of Nations in Cameroon and a tale of two penalties ended with the Eagles from west Africa winning 1-0 after Ibrahima Kone scored and Wahbi Khazri missed.

More close encounters are likely with Mali hoping to create history, and deny Tunisia a sixth World Cup appearance.

A boost for Mali is the belated decision of France-born Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure to represent the country of his parents.

Tunisia, who fell to Burkina Faso in the Cup of Nations quarter-finals, have recalled forward Taha Yassine Khenissi after he completed a six-month doping ban.

LOS ANGELES — Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from injury to score 25 points as the Milwaukee Bucks crushed the Chicago Bulls 126-98 on Tuesday.

Antetokounmpo, who missed the Bucks’ 138-119 mauling by Minnesota on Saturday after complaining of knee soreness, came back with a vengeance as the Bucks pounded the Bulls line-up.

The Greek star hauled in 17 rebounds and added five assists, while Jrue Holiday also posted a big game with 27 points. Seven Milwaukee players finished the night in double figures.

The Bucks, who led from midway through the first quarter, surging 35 points clear late in the game, improved their season record to 45-27 to stand second in the Eastern Conference.

In Florida, German rookie Franz Wagner scored 18 points as the Orlando Magic sent the Golden State Warriors sliding to a third straight defeat on Tuesday.

Wagner, chosen with the eighth overall pick in last year’s draft, also chipped in with three assists, two steals and a block as the Warriors slumped to an upset 94-90 defeat.

The Warriors fell to 47-25 to remain third in the Western Conference while Orlando, already eliminated from play-off contention, are one off the bottom of the Eastern Conference at 20-53.

Wagner was backed with 19 points from Wendell Carter Jr, while Cole Anthony added 14.

The Warriors, missing the injured Stephen Curry, were led with 26 points from Jordan Poole while Klay Thompson finished with 15.

Orlando had roared into an early lead after outscoring the Warriors 25-17 before taking a 46-38 lead into the half-time break.

But Golden State exploded for 36 points in the third quarter to build a 74-65 lead thanks to a 12-point burst of scoring from Poole.

Yet, the momentum flipped back to Orlando in the final quarter, with the home side taking the period 29-16 to complete an unexpected victory.

“I thought we were scattered in the fourth quarter a little bit,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the loss. 

“I thought we were a lot out of whack... just a really disappointing fourth quarter.

“But give them credit. They were hyped. They’ve had a long difficult year and they got after us and did a great job. 

“They earned the win and the right to feel good about that game tonight. But we’ve got to do better.”

In New York, Trae Young delivered a 45-point masterpiece as the Atlanta Hawks downed the New York Knicks 117-111 at Madison Square Garden.

Young made seven-of-15 from three-point range with eight assists while Bogdan Bogdanovic added 32 for the Hawks, who improved to 36-36 to remain 10th in the Eastern Conference and firmly on course for a place in the postseason play-in tournament.

“It’s a fun atmosphere to play in but any night you’re allowed to play basketball is fun, so I try to enjoy it,” Young said afterwards. 

“We’ve just got to stay locked in and try and finish off the season strong and see where it leads us at the end.”

R.J. Barrett led the Knicks scoring with 30 points. The Knicks remain 12th in the East.

LOS ANGELES — Canada coach John Herdman believes calmness will be crucial as his team attempts to clinch a first World Cup place in 36 years with victory over Costa Rica on Thursday.

The unbeaten Canadians have been the revelation of the CONCACAF region’s qualifying tournament, surging four points clear at the top of the standings with 25 points from 11 games heading into this week’s final round of three fixtures.

After taking a maximum nine points from three games in the last window, with wins over Honduras, the United States and El Salvador, Herdman’s side need only two points from their remaining three games to be certain of qualifying for the World Cup.

That means a win over Costa Rica at Estadio Nacional in San Jose on Thursday would secure Canada’s first World Cup appearance since the 1986 finals in Mexico. 

A draw could even be enough to qualify if Panama, currently fourth in the rankings with 17 points from 11 games, fail to beat Honduras.

Herdman said he has prepared his squad for this week’s final round of fixtures by encouraging his players to have the “humility to start again”.

“There’s a lot of things we can gain in this window and a lot of things we can lose, and ultimately that opportunity to go to Qatar,” Herdman told Canada Football. 

“So it’s an intense focus on that one game against Costa Rica as a starting point. That’s our opportunity to finally put this team into a World Cup where it belongs.”

Herdman, however, has every confidence in his team’s ability to prevail. Canada’s away form has been a cornerstone of their qualifying campaign to date.

“In every game, we’ve adapted to the climate, the altitude, the crowd, the conditions, the suspensions, the players not there through Covid,” he said. “The mentality is to win every match. To push this team to new levels. But do it in a way that respects the conditions.

‘Tough enviroment’

“This will be a tough environment and this game will be one of our toughest tests.”

Although it would require a freak sequence of results to deny Canada a World Cup berth, Herdman says there will be no drop-off in intensity this week despite his team’s comfortable points advantage.

“You have to show that being one point away is as important as a team that’s maybe seven points away. It doesn’t change our mentality coming in,” he said 

“They’re in our way. We want to get to Qatar. That one team stands in our way from doing it. And we’ll be bringing a passion and an intensity to that match like all of our matches.

“We’ve got to bring that fight and that passion and be adaptable like we’ve been, but just be calm. 

“It’s a big moment but it’s one we can handle if we stay together and remain calm.”

Sealing a World Cup place would complete a remarkable transformation for Canada that began when Herdman was appointed to take over the men’s team in 2018 after a successful spell in charge of the Canadian women’s team.

At the start of the 46-year-old Englishman’s reign, Canada was languishing in 94th place in the FIFA World Rankings. 

Four years later, the team had climbed to 33rd in the rankings — Canada’s highest ever rankings position.

After a raucous home win over the United States in January, Herdman said Canada’s success marked the “first time I felt I was living in a football country”, uniting the country’s diverse population behind the team.

“This is what we’ve dreamed of — to get people excited,” Herdman said. 

“The Canadian people who’ve always had to wear an Italian shirt or a Serbian shirt or a Greek shirt. 

“They can put them down and pull on a Canadian jersey now and be proud of us as a football country.”

While Canada closes in on a landmark qualification, the situation is less certain for the United States and Mexico. 

The two heavyweights from the Central America, North America and Caribbean zone meet at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on Thursday with their fates in the balance.

With 21 points each, a win for either side would leave the victor within touching distance of qualification. Defeat however could plunge the loser into a potential battle to avoid an intercontinental play-off.

After Thurday’s assignment in Mexico City — where no USA team has ever won in qualifying — the Americans face a home against Panama on Sunday before a potentially awkward final trip on the road against Costa Rica.

Gregg Berhalter’s side will be without Weston McKennie, Brenden Aaronson, Matt Turner and Sergino Dest for the final round of qualifying.