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MIAMI — World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty retained her Miami Open title on Saturday as Bianca Andreescu’s injury curse struck again.

Australia’s Barty completed a 6-3, 4-0 victory after Andreescu was forced to retire in tears with an injury to her right ankle in the second set at the Hard Rock Stadium.

Barty had dominated the Canadian World No. 9 throughout the contest behind a powerful service game and accurate forehand.

The end came soon after the third game of the second set, when Andreescu collapsed to the court after rolling her right ankle during her service game.

Barty broke for a 3-0 lead as Andreescu, clearly struggling to move properly battled on. Despite being heavily strapped on her ankle, Andreescu retired soon afterwards, unable to continue.

It was a bitterly disappointing end for Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion who missed the first few months of the 2020 season with a knee injury before last year’s pandemic shutdown.

“Definitely not the way I wanted to end the tournament, but I’m super-grateful nonetheless,” Andreescu, 20, said in comments on court after her defeat.

“I got to the final in one of my first tournaments in a while and I couldn’t be more happy.” 

Andreescu revealed that she had initially wanted to play through the pain until being told to retire by her trainer.

“I really didn’t want to stop but my fitness trainer, he basically saved me from myself,” Andreescu said.

“I have been through that, just continuously pushing myself to the point where I’d make it worse. I trusted him. I knew it was the best decision.”

Barty, meanwhile, was left to reflect on a clinical victory in what was her first overseas appearance since the WTA Tour resumed after the shutdown.

‘Perfect start’

“It’s been the perfect start for us,” said Barty, who arrived in Florida last month after a gruelling 50-hour journey from Australia.

“I did say to my coach when we got here ‘It can only get better from here.’ The fact that we’ve had a really successful couple of weeks, I felt like with each match I got better and better. And to have a title at the end of it is a bonus.

“Hopefully, it’s going to be a long and successful season. It’s a brilliant start,” added Barty, who now heads to next week’s Charleston event as she prepares for the clay court season. 

The 24-year-old from Queensland controlled the game from the outset, moving Andreescu around the court relentlessly with accurate first serves and heavy groundstrokes.

After opening with a convincing hold of serve, Barty broke Andreescu in the second game, taking a 2-0 lead with a bludgeoning forehand that gave the Canadian no chance.

Another hold of serve put Barty 3-0 up, and although Andreescu took advantage of an erratic service game from the Australian to break back and close the deficit to 3-2, it was only a temporary reprieve. 

Barty broke back immediately to go 4-2 ahead and then held easily for a 5-2 lead. Andreescu held for 5-3 but was unable to find a way through Barty’s serve as the World No. 1 took the first set in the next game.

Andreescu was soon under pressure in the second set, suffering an early break to go 2-0 down.

She then appeared to roll an ankle while serving in the third game and crumpled to the court. She managed to continue but Barty broke again for 3-0 lead and the end followed soon afterwards when the youngster retired.

AMMAN — Jazira take on Jordan Professional Football League (Pro League) champs Wihdat on Sunday in the 38th Jordan Super Cup, the second title up for grabs in the 2021 football season.

Traditionally played between the league and Jordan Cup champs, the match will see league runner-up Jazira face the league winners as the Jordan Cup was not played last season.

Wihdat will be looking for their 14th Super Cup while Jazira won only once in 1985. However, the latter has been close to the league title in the past three seasons and lost momentum in the final weeks.

Last week, a newcomer to the Pro League, relatively unknown Jalil, overcame Wihdat to win the 34th Jordan Football Association Shield — the first of the season competitions. Jalil eliminated Wihdat 6-5 on penalties after the match ended 1-1 to take home JD15,000 in prize money leaving the runner-up with JD10,000. On their way to the final, Wihdat beat Faisali while Jalil ousted Jazira.

Since it kicked off in 1981, the Super Cup has been won by Faisali a record 17 times out of 25 final appearances, Wihdat have won 13 times, Ramtha and Shabab Urdun won twice each while Jazira, Hussein and Ahli won once each.

Last season, Wihdat won their 17th Pro League title as well as their 10th JFA Shield. In other competitions, Faisali overcame Jazira to win their 17th Jordan Super Cup as the Jordan Cup was scrapped from the agenda for the first time since the competition kicked off in 1980.

Jalil and Baqa’a joined the 12-club Pro League this season as Sarih dropped alongside veterans Ahli after a disappointing season.

With the Pro League, as well as, regional competitions ahead players are back to their club line-ups after the national team ended their training camp abroad in preparation for 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers. Jordan held Oman 0-0, beat Lebanon 1-0 and Bahrain 2-1 in three friendlies in Dubai and Manama. 

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has set the date and location of qualifiers to be played in Kuwait June 7-15.

Regionally, the season will see Wihdat playing in the preliminary round of the Asian Champions League. They are scheduled to play in Group D against Saudi Arabia’s Nassr, Qatar’s Sadd, and a third qualifier from Iran or UAE  on April 14-29 in Saudi Arabia.

Faisali and Salt are set to play in the AFC Cup. Last season, reigning league champs Faisali played alongside Jazira in the AFC Cup, which was later scrapped with the COVID-19 pandemic halting regional and international sporting agendas.

MIAMI — Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev crashed out of the Miami Open Wednesday on a day of upsets that also saw Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka ousted from the quarter-finals.

Seventh-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut beat Medvedev 6-4, 6-2, for his third win in as many meetings with the Russian who was runner-up to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open and ascended to No. 2 in the world with his victory at Marseille in March.

Women's world No. 2 Osaka — seeded second behind top-ranked Ashleigh Barty in the prestigious ATP Masters and WTA hardcourt tournament — had bowed out hours earlier, the Japanese star's 23-match winning streak coming to a crashing halt with a 6-0, 6-4 loss to Greece's Maria Sakkari.

Bautista booked a semifinal showdown with 19-year-old Italian Jannick Sinner, the world No. 31 who beat Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

Sakkari will face eighth-seeded Canadian Bianca Andreescu for a place in the women's final.

Andreescu, ranked ninth in the world, clawed out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over tenacious 58th-ranked Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo.

Osaka, playing her first tournament since lifting her fourth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, won just eight points in the first set as she failed to muster a single winner.

Osaka broke in the second game of the second set and seized a 3-0 lead before Sakkari roared back for a victory that ended Osaka's chance of overtaking Australia's Barty — who had already booked her semi-final spot — atop the world rankings this week.

Osaka acknowledged that the rankings race may have affected her against Greece's 25th-ranked Sakkari.

"The last time I was in this [press conference] seat, I wasn't really thinking at all about rankings, but someone asked me that question, so then I did start to ponder about it a lot.

"So maybe unwillingly that put pressure on myself. But I feel like even if it did, I should be able to rise above that," Osaka said.

Osaka hadn't dropped a set at love since her last defeat, which came in February 2020 in a Fed Cup match.

"She has the most wins so far this year so she's in great form — it meant a lot to me," said Sakkari, who let loose a scream of delight after the final point.

"To be deadly honest, I got a little tight in the first two games of the second set," said Sakkari, who had saved six match points in her fourth-round win over American Jessica Pegula.

"I stayed within myself and started fighting back, hitting a few more balls and winning a few points against her."

Andreescu outlasts Sorribes

Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion trying to work her way back this year after a 15-month injury absence, broke Sorribes in the final game of the opening set, launching a run of eight straight service breaks.

Andreescu was irked by a time violation early in the second set, in which Sorribes held serve for the only time in the set for a 5-3 lead — enough of an edge to level the match.

Up a break at 3-2 in the third, Andreescu saved three break points to hold, broke Sorribes again only to drop her own serve but finally sealed it with a stinging backhand down the line on her second match point.

"She's an incredible fighter," Andreescu said. "I have no idea how I pushed through, but I fought as hard as I could and I'm super happy."

Bautista went into his clash with Medvedev with the confidence of two prior victories over the Russian, and once again he had the winning formula.

"I want to give Daniil all the credit, I know he is one of the best players in the world," Bautista said. "He's been winning a lot of matches, he's No. 2 in the world, so I'm very happy and proud about how I played today. I think I showed a great level on the court."

The Spaniard gained the first break of a tense opening set for a 5-4 lead, then saved a break point to pocket the set on his second opportunity.

He broke Medvedev to open the second set, and the Russian never found a way back in, unable to convert two break points before dropping his serve again to trail 4-1.

Bautista served out the match in no-nonsense style, with a love game after one hour and 32 minutes.

Against Sinner, he'll be looking to avenge a three-set defeat in the third round at Dubai.

Sinner handled everything Bublik could throw at him on Wednesday — from a 170 kilometres per hour forehand return to an underhand serve.

In the end the Italian's 28 forehand winners were plenty to book a semifinal berth in just his third Masters 1000 appearance.

MIAMI — World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty advanced to the semifinals of the Miami Open on Tuesday as Russian top seed Daniil Medvedev booked his place in the quarter-finals of the men’s tournament.

Barty battled through her third three-setter of the fortnight to oust seventh seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in 2hr 16min on the Grandstand Court.

The Australian will face Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the semifinals following her gruelling 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 win. 

Fifth seed Svitolina advanced to the last four after defeating Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-2 later Tuesday.

After taking a close first set, Barty appeared to be on the brink of victory after grabbing a 3-1 lead in the second set tie-break.

Sabalenka staged a superb recovery however to snatch the tie-break 7-5, forcing a decisive third set.

Barty regrouped in the third though and with Sabalenka clearly in pain clutching her stomach, rammed home her advantage to complete a deserved win.

The victory leaves Barty one semifinal win away from retaining her World No. 1 ranking, though the Australian insisted she was not preoccupied with holding on to top spot.

“It’s an amazing thing to be No. 1 in the world at the moment, but I promise you that’s not what makes me happy,” Barty said afterwards.

“It’s a focus of course. I want to try to do the best that I can, but it’s not a distraction or a pressure in any way.”

Medvedev downs Tiafoe

Medvedev meanwhile had an easier ride in the men’s tournament, easing past Frances Tiafoe of the United States in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

Medvedev hammered down 11 aces in the win, breaking Tiafoe three times en route to victory.

Medvedev will face Roberto Bautista Agut in the last eight after the Spaniard eliminated John Isner in three sets to avenge his 2019 quarter-final loss in Miami.

Bautista Agut saved a match point at 5-6 down in the third set tie-break to claim a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) win.

“I think I played a brilliant set the first set, and then with John you feel always under pressure,” Bautista Agut said. “It was a really tough fight until the last point.”

The biggest upset of the day saw World No. 87 Sebastian Korda continue his giant-killing run by knocking out Argentina’s fifth seed Diego Schwartzman, winning 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

“I played an incredible match today,” said Korda, the Florida-born son of former Australian Open champion Petre Korda.

“I think mentally I was great out there. I stayed calm. Even when in the tight situations I believed in myself and I went for it,” the 20-year-old added.

Korda will face Russia’s fourth-seeded Andrey Rublev in the last eight. Rublev reached the quarters with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Marin Cilic.

In other last 16 matches on Tuesday, Italy’s 21st-seeded Jannik Sinner downed Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the last eight.

It is the first time the 19-year-old has reached the quarter-finals of an ATP Masters event.

“For me it means a lot,” Sinner said. “The first goal is always trying to improve day after day, going on practice courts and then when you have sometimes good results, it makes you happy.”

Sinner will play 32nd seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals. Bublik advanced to the last eight with a 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4 win over 22nd-seeded Taylor Fritz of the United States.

Elsewhere, Polish 26th seed Hubert Hurkacz upset Canada’s 12th-seeded Milos Raonic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to advance to a last eight meeting with second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, a 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) victor over Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.

WASHINGTON — Washington’s Russell Westbrook and Brooklyn’s James Harden delivered impressive triple-doubles on Monday, sparking their clubs to NBA victories and making some personal history for themselves.

Westbrook unleashed 35 points, a career-best 21 assists and 14 rebounds to power the Wizards over the visiting Indiana Pacers 132-124 for the 162nd triple-double of his career.

It was the first triple-double in NBA history with 35 or more points and 20 or more rebounds. Only Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson had previously produced triple-doubles of 30 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists.

“I take pride as a leader in making my teammates better. Tonight the guys helped me out making shots and keeping it moving,” Westbrook said.

It was Westbrook’s 16th triple-double with the Wizards, the 32-year-old US guard setting a club one-season record in only his 38th appearance for Washington.

“Mindset was to go out and be aggressive and make sure I set the table for my teammates like I’ve been doing all year long and make sure they have confidence going into the fourth,” Westbrook said.

“When the fourth hits, it’s time to take over.”

Japan’s Rui Hachimura added 26 points as the Wizards (17-28) had six double-figure scorers, while Domantas Sabonis led Indiana with 35 points and 11 rebounds.

In New York, Harden scored 38 points, passed off 13 assists and pulled down 11 rebounds, while Kyrie Irving added 27 points in his return as the Nets beat visiting Minnesota 112-107.

Harden delivered his 12th triple-double in only 32 games with the Nets, tying Jason Kidd’s one-season club record, as Brooklyn moved a half-game back of Eastern Conference leader Philadelphia at 32-15.

Irving, who missed Brooklyn’s past three games for personal reasons, added seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot against the league-worst Timberwolves (11-36).

Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant remains sidelined for at least another week due to a hamstring injury.

Jazz, Clippers win big

Frenchman Rudy Gobert had 18 points and 17 rebounds as the Utah Jazz improved the NBA’s best record to 35-11 with a 114-75 trouncing of visiting Cleveland.

Donovan Mitchell had 19 points, and Mike Conley added 18 for the Jazz, whose win streak stretched to five games.

The Los Angeles Clippers extended their win streak to six games by ripping the Milwaukee Bucks 129-105, improving to 32-16 and staying four games behind the Jazz in the Western Conference.

Marcus Morris led the Clippers with 25 points, and Kawhi Leonard added 23, while Greek star big man Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 32 points.

Miami’s Jimmy Butler scored 27 points, and Bam Adebayo added 20 points and 18 rebounds to spark the Heat over host New York 98-88. Julius Randle led the Knicks with 22 points.

The Heat improved to 23-24 to match Boston for seventh in the East after the Celtics were beaten 115-109 by the visiting New Orleans Pelicans.

Zion Williamson led New Orleans with 28 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four steals, while Brandon Ingram added 25 points and nine assists.

Jayson Tatum scored 34 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Boston, which closed the game on a 20-8 run but couldn’t overtake the Pelicans.

Frenchman Evan Fournier went 0-for-10 from the floor in his Celtics debut after being obtained from Orlando at the NBA trade deadline.

Slovenian guard Luka Doncic scored 25 points, and Kristaps Porzingis added 20 to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 127-106 victory at Oklahoma City.

Lithuanian centre Jonas Valanciunas scored 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to spark the Memphis Grizzlies over Houston 120-110.

Saben Lee, Saddiq Bey and reserve Hamidou Diallo each scored 19 points as the Detroit Pistons (13-33) snapped a four-game losing streak by defeating Toronto 118-104.

Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points, and Richaun Holmes added 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead seven double-digit scorers in the Kings’ 132-115 victory at San Antonio.

Stephen Curry scored 32 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 116-102 home victory over Chicago.

PARIS — Dani Olmo’s injury-time strike saved Spain in a 2-1 win against Georgia on Sunday, while France also rebounded from an opening draw in World Cup qualifying by beating Kazakhstan.

Elsewhere, England, Italy and Germany all had to work hard in the Balkans to gain their second victories in two matches. 

Denmark also stayed perfect as they made a double statement, protesting the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar before putting eight goals past Moldova, while Switzerland eked out a victory over Lithuania in a game delayed because one of the goals was too big.

Spain, who had been held to an embarrassing home draw by Greece in their opening game in Group B, fell behind to a goal by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia just before half-time.

Ferran Torres of Manchester City levelled in the 56th minute with his fifth goal from just six starts.

Spain’s second-half pressure finally paid off in injury time.

Olmo’s rasping strike from 25 metres flew into the top corner.

“It was perhaps one of the games where I suffered the most, but, for the joy at the end, it was worth it,” said Spain coach Luis Enrique. 

“I’ll sign to suffer if in the end we win but we saw the spectre of qualification getting very complicated.”

In Tirana, Kane ended his six-game England goal drought as he inspired a 2-0 win in Albania in Group I.

Gareth Southgate’s side struggled to break down the well-organised underdogs until the Tottenham striker netted late in the first half.

It was the England captain’s first international goal since he scored against Kosovo 500 days ago in November 2019.

He set up England’s second for Mason Mount in the second period.

“As a striker you go through spells where things don’t go your way,” Kane told British broadcaster ITV. 

“You have to stay focused on doing your job for the team and we’re grateful to get the three points.”

Serge Gnabry gave Germany the lead against Romania in Bucharest after 17 minutes. 

The visitors dominated much of the game, but had three narrow escapes in the closing minutes before winning 1-0. 

“We should have scored the second goal, so we would not have been in danger of losing two points,” said German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, in remarks reported by FIFA. 

“We are lacking coolness, cleverness, maybe a bit of will inside the box.”

Italy kept their campaign on track with a 2-0 win over Bulgaria.

‘Getting chills’

Andrea Belotti scored the first goal from the penalty spot just before the break with Manuel Locatelli sealing the win with his first ‘Azzurri’ goal with eight minutes to go.

“My first Italy goal, it’s incredible, I’m still getting chills,” said Locatelli.

In Copenhagen, Denmark cemented their grip on first place in Group F by thrashing Moldova 8-0, with Kasper Dolberg and Mikkel Damsgaard both scoring twice.

The victory was preceded by the Danish team joining other European national sides in protesting the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup.

Danish players wore jerseys with the slogan “Football supports CHANGE” as they lined up for a photograph before the game.

The Danish Football Union said the shirts would be put up for sale and the money given to migrant workers in the Gulf state.

Kick-off in Switzerland’s home game against Lithuania in St. Gallen was delayed by 15 minutes on Sunday because one of the goals was too big.

When played started, Xherdan Shaqiri scored after just two minutes as the hosts on 1-0.

Ousmane Dembele scored the opening goal as holders France won 2-0 in Kazakhstan to claim their first victory in Group D after drawing at home to Ukraine in their opener.

Sergei Maliy put through his own net for France’s second goal before half-time but Kylian Mbappe had a second-half penalty saved after coming off the bench.

“People might have thought Kazakhstan would let us score five goals but no, they played well,” Paul Pogba, who returned to the starting line-up, told broadcaster TF1. “We got the result and we can be happy.”

SAKHIR, Bahrain — Lewis Hamilton produced another stunning demonstration of his supreme racing talent on Sunday to resist a charging Max Verstappen and win a thrilling 'cliff-hanger' season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

The defending seven-time champion defended with great skill over the closing laps in his Mercedes to hold off the Red Bull driver and claim a record-increasing 96th Formula One victory.

Hamilton came home seven-tenths of a second ahead of the Dutchman, who was forced to hand back the race lead in the closing laps after passing him with a move that had taken him off the track.

As expected, the champion and his heir apparent delivered an exhilarating exhibition of racing as they raced to the flag - the pair leaving third-placed Valtteri Bottas, in the second Mercedes, to finish adrift by 37 seconds.

It was Hamilton's first season-opening triumph since 2015 and surprised many observers after Red Bull had dominated pre-season testing and two days of practice and qualifying ahead of the race.

"Firstly, can I just say it's the first time I've seen fans in a long time!" said a delighted Hamilton.

"What a difficult race that was — stopping early we knew it was going to be tough, but we had to cover Max and it was always going to take something pretty special to do it."

A disappointed Verstappen said: "Of course, it's s shame, but you also have to see the positives. We're putting the fight on to them so it's great to start the year like that."

Lando Norris was fourth for McLaren ahead of Sergio Perez, who had started from the pit lane in the second Red Bull, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and Daniel Ricciardo, of McLaren.

Carlos Sainz was eighth for Ferrari ahead of Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll.

Starting from his fourth pole position, Verstappen advanced smoothly and held the lead ahead of Hamilton as the lights went out, but the opening lap was soon halted when Russian rookie Nikita Mazepin of Haas speared into the barriers at Turn Three.

'Leave me to it' 

The crash revived memories of a similar first lap accident at the same corner last season, when his predecessor Frenchman Romain Grosjean escaped from his blazing car after going into the barriers.

Mazepin escaped unhurt, but the race was paused for a Safety Car intervention for two laps.

On the re-start, AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly lost his front wing after a clash with McLaren new boy Daniel Ricciardo while rookie Mick Schumacher spun off in his Haas at Turn Four — and a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed briefly.

Hamilton stayed within two seconds of Verstappen until lap 14 when he pitted as Mercedes went for an “undercut” to switch him from mediums to a new set of hards. 

Verstappen, complaining about differential problems, came in and took mediums as Hamilton swept into the lead for the first time.

By lap 23, Hamilton's lead was 3.8 seconds on the Red Bull man, but it was soon reduced to one.

Sensing Verstappen closing in, Hamilton pitted again for more hards on lap 29, rejoining 20 seconds adrift of the Dutchman.

Verstappen pitted again on lap 40. He rejoined second, eight seconds behind the champion to set up a chase for a grandstand finish. An immediate fastest lap trimmed the gap to six seconds.

"Make sure you've got enough tyres to challenge him at the end," warned his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

By lap 49, the lead was two seconds. "Leave me to it, Bono," snapped Hamilton when his engineer advised him Verstappen was on his tail. The tension was palpable.

With five laps to go, the champion ran wide at Turn 10, enabling Verstappen to close up. He squeezed by at Turn Four, on lap 53, but having gone off circuit had to hand the position back.

Hamilton continued to resist, Verstappen began sliding for grip and the champion hung on.

MIAMI — Daniil Medvedev celebrated his rise to second in the world with a seamless entry into the Miami Open on Friday, trouncing Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun in less than an hour.

Russia’s Medvedev needed just 56 minutes to subdue Lu 6-2, 6-2, firing nine aces with just one double fault as he advanced to a third-round meeting with Australian Alexei Popyrin, a 6-4, 6-2, winner over 30th-seeded American Reilly Opelka.

Women’s World No. 2 Naomi Osaka, seeded second behind top-ranked Australian Ashleigh Barty, had a tougher time, but conquered her nerves in her first match since winning the Australian Open to beat Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.

“I would say what I’m most proud of today, just being able to handle my nerves,” Osaka said.

That was a bigger problem than the gusty wind on Grandstand Court at Hard Rock Stadium, where 77th-ranked Tomljanovic twice went up a break in the opening set but despite an impressive display of power was eventually undone by 24 unforced errors.

Thirteen aces among her 36 winners helped Osaka overcome a slew of unforced errors of her own and set up a third-round meeting with Serbian qualifier Nina Stojanovic, who surprised Yulia Putintseva, the 26th seed from Kazakhstan, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.

“I served really well when I needed to,” Osaka said. “Unfortunately I got broken a couple of times, but I think when it really, really mattered, I was able to serve well, so I’m happy with that.

“I’m happy I was able to get it done in two,” Osaka added. “I’m not sure if it was nerves or just I’m a bit rusty but my decision making on some shots was kind of questionable.

“But I think overall I learned as the match was going on.”

Medvedev, the top seed in an ATP Masters event for the first time, was all over Lu from the opening game.

He belted 24 winners to become the second player — along with compatriot Andrey Rublev — to reach 15 match wins this year.

Runner-up to top-ranked Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, Medvedev ascended to No. 2 in the world when he lifted the ATP trophy in Marseille.

Medvedev became the first player outside the “Big Four” of Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray to rank second in the world since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005.

But he’s already looking for more.

“The only thing I feel like when you reach something you haven’t done then straight away it doesn’t matter and you want to go further and further,” he said. “I think it’s the same for everybody.”

“I’m happy about my achievement but only trying to improve every day and want to go further.”

In other action, Australian James Duckworth surprised eighth-seeded Belgian David Goffin 6-3, 6-1 and Britain’s Cameron Norrie beat ninth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-5.

Canadian 11th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime got past France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 6-4.

“I’m very happy, because it was a tricky first match,” said Auger-Aliassime, who split two matches with the Frenchman last year. “I’ve lost to him before, and I won saving match points. So he’s a tricky opponent with a great serve.”

Women’s sixth seed Karolina Pliskova and No. 12 Garbine Muguruza also advanced in straight sets.

Pliskova beat China’s Zheng Saisai 6-2, 6-1 and Spain’s Muguruza, coming off a title in Dubai two weeks ago, beat wild card Wang Xinyu of China 6-4, 6-1. 

LONDON — Lewis Hamilton begins his bid for an unprecedented eighth drivers' world championship this week facing a cluster of challenges to his crown, as Formula One launches its cost-cutting era with a record 23-race global calendar.

The defending champion passed his 36th birthday in January and struggled this month in pre-season testing, which was dominated by Max Verstappen and a reinvigorated Red Bull, having after long delays committed to only a one-year contract, for 2021, during the sport's brief off-season.

After contracting COVID-19 and duly missing the Sakhir Grand Prix last year, Hamilton had returned to be beaten in the season-ending Abu Dhabi race by Verstappen — a 'blip' that may be seen by some as an early signal of a decline in his powers, which will have encouraged not only the young Dutchman, but others.

After reeling off seven consecutive constructors' championships — and seven 'doubles' of team and driver titles — Hamilton's 'black arrows' are under serious threat and both he and teammate Valtteri Bottas know it.

"They're going to be a different animal this year," Hamilton said of Red Bull, after testing at Sakhir's Bahrain International Circuit, where the jumbo-sized 2021 season, a second in succession to run under pandemic protocol conditions, begins.

"They've had some really good running with a strong line-up of the two drivers and a really good car. Having seen them win the last race, you can only assume they're going to be right there, at the front, in the first race. It's going to be a great long battle with them this year."

The prospect of a long-awaited wheel-to-wheel 'battle royal' between the sport's most outstanding drivers, notwithstanding Fernando Alonso's return, will be welcomed by F1 fans worldwide as an antidote to the predictability of last year when Hamilton won 11 and team-mate Bottas two of the 17 races.

As Verstappen and his new Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez ran smoothly through 369 trouble-free laps in testing, Mercedes struggled to complete 304, Hamilton spinning off twice and suffering gearbox problems.

The team's chief strategist James Vowles admitted: "No-one up and down the paddock will be able to pin-point where they are exactly, but there are a few trends — and I would say Red Bull are ahead on performance.

"They are the class act from this test, but it is only a test. It is not a race."

He conceded that a close season is in prospect, as Hamilton also forecast as he digs into his reserves for a 15th consecutive year and, this time, in direct competition with a ferocious competitor who is 13 years his junior.

Verstappen was delighted by his team's powerful signal of intent in recruiting Perez and then shining in testing, but he said nothing could indicate their competitiveness until after qualifying at the opening race, the first to run with 'financial regulations' embedded in the rule book.

An early result of the cost cuts was that testing was reduced to only three days while team spending in operational budgets this year is capped at $145 million (122 million euros). A further reduction to 140 million is planned for 2022 when the sport's latest radical overhaul is set to be introduced.

That means this season will see only minor tweaks to the rules affecting the cars, but the combination of reduced budgets and other changes may provide a greater challenge to big factory teams like Mercedes or Ferrari, than their smaller opponents.

Speed in testing

Red Bull know how to win titles — they won four drivers' championships in succession with Sebastian Vettel — and in Adrian Newey possess arguably the finest car designer of the modern era.

Verstappen's speed in testing suggested they have a car to match his talent and ambitions this year.

If that proves true, Hamilton's assault on the records could be paused in a season that sees the arrival of two 'new' teams in Aston Martin, a re-branding of Racing Point, and Alpine, formerly Renault, and two additional races at Zandvoort, for the first time since 1995, and Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia where a high-speed street circuit is anticipated.

In addition to two-time champion Alonso returning with Alpine, several drivers will be making debuts — Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time champion Michael, lines up alongside Russian Nikita Mazepin for Haas while highly-rated Japanese Yuki Tsunoda has replaced Daniil Kvyat at Alpha Tauri.

Furthermore, as a changing of the guard appears to be in the air, Perez's switch to join Verstappen at Red Bull made room for Vettel at Aston Martin while Carlos Sainz left McLaren and took the German's seat at Ferrari.

In turn, Daniel Ricciardo joined McLaren and was replaced at Alpine by Alonso.

After a year in the doldrums, Ferrari hope to lead the chase behind the leading duo ahead of a resurgent McLaren, ambitious Alpine and Aston Martin, where Vettel seeks to recover his mojo.

Hamilton, perhaps distracted by his many off-track causes and commitments, will hope his well-oiled team can recover to stay beyond their reach.