Sports

Twenty-three times major champion Serena Williams suffered the worst loss of her storied career on Tuesday, falling 6-1, 6-0 to Britain’s Johanna Konta in the first round of the Silicon Valley Classic.

After a routine hold to start the match, Williams lost the next 12 games in a one-sided affair that lasted less than an hour, stunning the partisan crowd of 3,000 at San Jose State University.

Those expecting to see Williams continue to battle back after a difficult child birth last year were left disappointed as the 36-year-old committed 25 unforced errors to Konta’s nine and managed to put just 41 per cent of her first serves into play.

“I think she played well in the second set and I think I wasn’t sharp at all in the first set and she got confident and she clearly ran away with it,” the American said after the loss.

Williams, who lost the Wimbledon final to German Angelique Kerber, had never lost a match before where she did not win at least two games since turning pro in 1995.

As poorly as Williams played, the 27-year-old Konta was sharp, firing six aces and smacking 17 winners to Williams’ nine while controlling the tempo of the match.

“She obviously wasn’t playing at her best level, nowhere near it, and I really just tried to play the match on my terms,” said Konta, who won the tournament two years ago.

“I tried to put aside the incredible champion she is and just play the player of the day,” she said. 

“I felt I did better than her on the day but it’s still a humbling experience to be out here with her.” 

With the loss Williams falls to 11-4 since returning to the tour and will look to bounce back when she competes in the Cincinnati Open next month, another tune-up ahead of this year’s US Open.

Konta will play American teenager Sofia Kenin in the second round.

Fellow Briton Heather Watson was also a first-round winner, beating Claire Liu of the US 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

She will meet Serena Williams’ sister Venus in round two.

Former World No. 1 Andy Murray was far from his best but was still good enough to come from behind and defeat American Mackenzie McDonald 3-6 6-4, 7-5 in a marathon first-round match at the Washington Open on Monday. 

Murray, who is attempting to return to the top of the tennis world after undergoing hip surgery in January, was out of sorts in the first set of the rain-delayed match, losing three service games behind some uncharacteristically soft second serves.

He looked in trouble but found new life when McDonald sent a forehand wide to hand Murray a break and a 5-4 advantage in the second set. 

The error ignited the three-time Grand Slam champion, who pumped his fist and screamed after easily holding serve to set up a third-set decider.

McDonald, coming off a round of 16 appearance at Wimbledon that put him in the top 100 for the first time in his career, blasted winners all night but was ultimately undone by a torrent of unforced errors in the third set, including a costly one when his racquet crossed the net on a volley. 

Despite the win, Murray looked far from his dominant self. 

He walked awkwardly around the court between points, especially in the lengthy third set when at one point he grabbed his hamstring and winced in pain. 

The 31-year-old also tightened up at key moments in the match, needing seven match point opportunities before finally crossing the finish line. 

Next up for Murray is countryman Kyle Edmund, who he will face on Wednesday. 

Murray has a 2-1 lead in head-to-head matches against Edmund, but the 23-year-old won in straight sets when the pair met in the second round of the Eastbourne International last month. 

Elsewhere American Tim Smyczek won his rain-interrupted match against Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 7-6(4), 6-2 and will next face Mischa Zverev, who defeated Smyczek in three sets at the Atlanta Open last week. 

Tunisian Malek Jaziri cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 win over Russian Evgeny Donskoy while Romanian Marius Copil fired nine aces en route to a 7-6, 6-4 win over Mirza Basic. 

American Noah Rubin’s powerful serving overwhelmed Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

Lukas Lacko held a 1-0 lead over American Denis Kudla before their match was called off due to rain while three-times Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka’s match against struggling American Donald Young was rescheduled.

BUDAPEST — Lewis Hamilton leads Formula One into the August break by a healthy margin but, despite winning from pole position in Hungary on Sunday, the champion feels Mercedes still have some catching up to do.

Ferrari had looked favourites for victory at the Hungaroring but could not show their true race pace after Hamilton and team mate Valtteri Bottas made the most of a wet qualifying on Saturday.

The circuit is famously difficult for overtaking and Bottas, however much it pained him to be told, proved an excellent “wingman” in keeping the Ferraris behind while Hamilton built a buffer.

Hamilton, now 24 points clear of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel after 12 of the 21 races, will head off on holiday a happy man but also recognising he is in a different kind of fight this year compared to 2017.

“This year we all know that Ferrari really do have the upper hand pace-wise,” said the Briton after his fifth win of the campaign.

“But to win a championship is not just about speed, it’s about how you manage things, the strategy calls you make, mistakes, all these different things weigh up.”

While Mercedes have made some glaring strategy mistakes, Vettel has made more errors in the heat of battle than his rival.

Work to do

The Briton has now won six times in Hungary, more than any driver, but has yet to do so and take the title in the same season.

There is still plenty of work to do if he is to break that streak, even if Hamilton is well ahead of where he was this time last year when he went into the August shutdown 14 points adrift of Vettel.

“We’ve got things to improve, we’ve got performance to bring moving forwards. We’ve got to try and catch them,” said Hamilton of Ferrari’s perceived pace advantage.

“But we’ve got to continue to keep rising with all the other elements, which allows us to beat the Ferraris when they don’t bring their A game.”

The second half of the season has been good for Hamilton in the past, with the Briton coming back strongly last year to clinch his fourth title.

He rejected a suggestion that he had a couple of fingers on a fifth already, however.

“Absolutely not. I think it’s far too early and you’ve seen the ups and downs we’ve had from this year, you’ve been ahead by some points and behind some points,” he said.

“A lot can happen moving forwards but what’s really important is that we continue to keep up the pressure and keep working as we have done until now. There’s nothing we really need to alter.

“It’s important to capitalise on those difficult weekends such as this and I think that’s really been a key strength of ours this year,” he added.

Belgium is next up, followed by Italy, and Hamilton won both of those last year. But before then he can enjoy a few weeks of down time.

“Now it’s holiday, I’m going to meet my mum and my sister and niece and nephew tonight and I’ll spend the next four or five days with them,” he said on Sunday.

“It’s not too often I get to do family holidays so that’s something I’m looking forward to.”

OAKVILLE, Ontario — A hard-charging Dustin Johnson fired a seven-under 65 to seize a share of the third round lead at the Canadian Open on Saturday, setting the world number one up for another shot at a title that has slipped his grasp.

Twice a runner-up in Canada, Johnson used a scorching start that included five birdies over his first six holes and a birdie-birdie-eagle rampage on the back nine to get to 17-under.

He was in a four-way tie at the top of the leaderboard with South Koreans Kim Whee (67), An Byeong-hun (66) and American compatriot Kevin Tway (68), whose father Bob Tway hoisted the Canadian crown in 2003.

With 18 PGA Tour wins, including two this season, Johnson will head into Sunday’s final round as the heavy favourite since the three other men sharing the lead are all chasing maiden PGA Tour titles.

American Hudson Swafford and South African Rory Sabbatini sit four off the pace on 13-under.

“I want to win just because I like to win but this is the last one here so it would mean a lot to get it done here tomorrow as I have finished second here twice,” said Johnson.

“I like the golf course, my game is in really good form, I have a lot of confidence in it but I’m going to have to go out and play really well tomorrow.

“There are some really low numbers out there. Somebody is going to shoot low and I just hope it’s me.”

After missing his first cut of the year last week at the British Open, Johnson has been almost flawless at Glen Abbey.

Having wrapped up a bogey free 66 with a birdie on Friday, Johnson picked up where he left off by carding three consecutive birdies on Saturday.

The 34-year-old American, who started the day three off the pace, took a breather with a par at the fourth but was quickly back in top gear as he hit birdies in the fifth and sixth holes en route to an error free start.

The back nine, however, did not begin as brightly. Johnson collected his first bogey since Thursday’s opening round and quickly followed that up with his second at the par-five 13th.

But Johnson was able get back on track with birdies at the 14th and 15th before rolling in a 23-foot putt at the 16th for an eagle.

Kim had a more adventurous day grabbing and surrendering the outright lead with an eagle, bogey, par closing stretch.

Overnight leader Tway could not match the early birdie binge, and was slowly pushed down the leaderboard before responding with three birdies over his final four holes to join the party.

BUDAPEST — Formula One world championship leader Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday after a qualifying session with thunder, lightning and plumes of spray.

The Briton’s Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas will line up alongside on the front row of the starting grid for Sunday’s race, when conditions are expected to brighten up, with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel behind.

Hamilton now has 77 career poles, and five this season, but Saturday’s went against the odds with the opportunity emerging as the heavens opened.

“It’s great for the team to have a one-two. We couldn’t have expected this,” said the 33-year-old, who leads Vettel by 17 points after 11 races in the battle of four times world champions.

“Ferrari have been quickest all weekend and we were doing our best to catch up, but then the heavens opened and it was fair game.

“It’s so tricky out there, at the beginning it was dry and then it got wetter so it was hard to say how much grip we had.”

Vettel had been fastest in Friday and Saturday practice, with track record times, and Red Bull also expected to be in the mix but Australian Daniel Ricciardo failed to make the cut in a tricky second phase and starts 12th.

Dutch teammate Max Verstappen qualified only seventh, with Renault’s Carlos Sainz and Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly fifth and sixth respectively.

PAU, France — Arnaud Demare silenced his critics by claiming a comfortable win in the bunch sprint of the 18th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday, the first victory this year for a French team in the race.

The Frenchman, who had been accused by fellow sprint specialist Andre Greipel of holding on to his team car in Wednesday's mountain stage to avoid missing the time cut, was perfectly set up by Italian teammate Jacopo Guarnieri.

He beat compatriot Christophe Laporte and Norway's Alexander Kristoff, who were second and third respectively as Briton Geraint Thomas retained the overall leader's yellow jersey after 171km from Trie sur Baize.

"I did not fight for nothing in the mountains, I was thinking of a possible victory when I was suffering," said Groupama-FDJ rider Demare.

On Wednesday, Greipel hinted on Twitter that Demare held on to his team car in the final climb up to the Col du Portet, which the Frenchman denied.

Reuters understands that Demare sent his power and time data to Greipel, who had quickly deleted his Tweet.

"Today I thought of him," said Demare of Greipel, who abandoned the race last week along with several other top sprinters, exhausted by extreme heat and gruelling efforts in the mountains.

Demare grinded his teeth though the mountain stages, narrowly avoiding missing the time cut on a couple of occasions.

"I had good legs and today all the hard work I did paid off," he said.

"I stayed strong in my head. [Cheating] is not my philosophy. I gave everything, I worked super hard in the mountains ahead of the Tour de France. Several sprinters are home today and I'm still here. I deserved this victory, the whole team deserved it for their hard work."

Five men, including former Paris-Roubaix winners Niki Terpstra and Matthew Hayman, formed the day's breakaway, but they were kept on a tight leash by the peloton and were reined in way before the line.

World champion Peter Sagan did not contest the final sprint after his crash on Wednesday left him in pain. "It was hard but I thought it would actually be harder," said the Slovak.

The only incident in an otherwise dull stage raced in searing hot temperatures came 105km from the finish when Colombian Nairo Quintana, fifth overall after his stage win on Wednesday, hit the asphalt when he and Briton Adam Yates were caught in a pile-up.

Thomas had until Wednesday insisted Chris Froome was Team Sky's leader, yet, that changed when the Tour de France's yellow jersey holder emerged as the British outfit's best, if not only, chance of winning the race.

Froome, 2:31 off the pace with three competitive stages left, said after Wednesday he would now "look after" Thomas, effectively conceding that his own hopes of success had been dashed.

The Welshman, who had already claimed two stage wins in the Alps, had once again looked the strongest of the main contenders.

He took third place behind Colombian Nairo Quintana and Ireland's Dan Martin, but gained time over Froome, Dumoulin and fourth-placed Primoz Roglic.

That prompted a change of tune from Thomas. Asked who was the Team Sky leader, he replied: "I'm in a good position now.

"I'm not going to change my mental approach and take it day by day, keep doing the small things right."

Thomas, who has never previously been in a position to win a grand tour, is keeping his feet on the ground.

"As soon as you get carried away, it's when it goes downhill," the two-time Olympic track champion said.

Thomas praised the work of his teammates after they controlled the pace of the race all day, preventing most of their rivals from attacking as they set a high tempo in front of the main pack.

Froome's struggles, however, gave him the confidence to power on.

"Froomey said with five or four kilometres to go that he was not feeling super. It gave me confidence, because if Froomey is suffering then everyone is suffering and I was feeling good," said the 32-year-old Welshman.

With that in mind, Thomas even pushed for a four-second time bonus allocated to the rider taking third place in the stage.

"It's the first time I've ridden for GC [general classification]. I'm feeling good but I'm not going to get carried away. No complacency."

AMMAN — Many of Jordan’s top speedsters will be looking to end a driver’s grip on one of the Middle East’s most prestigious motor sporting events this Friday, according to the Jordan Motorsport Media Service.

Khatsheek Shadian has won the Al Hussein Rumman Hill Climb for the past three years, winning last year’s in a rapid time of 1m49.75s to complete his hat-trick.

But, on Friday, he will face a stiff challenge from a host of Jordanian drivers who will be looking to put their name on a trophy which has been one of the most sought-after for the past 50 years.

Looking to capitalise on any slip that Shadian may make will be Husam Salem, an experienced speed test champion who finished third last year.

Wael Mustafa, Ihab Al Shurafa and Salem Tuaima are also capable of upsetting the reigning champion. Past winners of the event include His Majesty King Hussein, while the record stands at 1m48.76s, set by Lebanon’s Roger Feghali in 2007.

SAINT-LARY-SOULAN, France — Britain's Geraint Thomas extended his Tour de France lead as Chris Froome's hopes of a record-equalling fifth title were hanging by a thread after the defending champion was dropped in the finale of Wednesday's 17th stage.

Colombian Nairo Quintana attacked at the foot of the final climb up to the Col du Portet to snatch a prestigious victory 28 seconds ahead of Ireland's Dan Martin, but all eyes were on yellow jersey holder Thomas and four-time champion Froome.

Froome, attempting a first Giro d'Italia-Tour double in 20 years, cracked two km from the finish when Dutchman Tom Dumoulin attacked, and slipped from second to third overall.

Thomas, who took third place 47 seconds off the pace, now leads Dumoulin by 1:59 and Froome by 2:31 and is widely expected to hand Team Sky their sixth Tour title in seven years.

Froome's hopes are hanging by a thread after he crossed the line 1:35 off the pace as he does not seem to have the legs to overturn the deficit and might not be allowed to by his team after Thomas emerged as the clear leader in the British squad.

Froome's last hope appears to rest on whether Thomas cracks in the last mountain stage on Friday, which seems unlikely after the Welshman proved stronger in all three summit finishes.

Organisers had set up a grid start at the foot of the first climb but, while it often brings excitement in Formula One, it was a forgettable moment here, with the peloton being well-organised after a few hundred metres.

Team Sky controlled the pace as several riders attacked in the Montee de Peyragudes, a 14.9-km ascent at an average gradient of 6.7 per cent.

Among them was France's Julian Alaphilippe, who strengthened his lead in the mountain classification.

Romain Bardet's AG2R-La Mondiale team upped the pace in the second climb, the Col du Val Louron Azet (7.4km at 8.3 per cent), to shake up the peloton and hoped to drop several Team Sky domestiquesbut they failed.

Those tactics even backfired in the last ascent, a 16-km effort at an average gradient of 8.7 per cent, as the Frenchman cracked and had no team mate left to help him.

At the foot of that last effort, Quintana jumped away in impressive style followed by Martin who quickly found himself unable to sustain the pace of the twice Tour runner-up.

With 14km left, Slovenia's fourth-placed Primoz Roglic also attacked and was immediately followed by Froome. The duo opened a small gap before being reined in by the yellow jersey group thanks to the work of Dumoulin protecting his podium place.

Froome started to suffer and he was briefly distanced 2.5km from the top on another Roglic attack.

Dumoulin's acceleration then buried Froome, who even had trouble holding his team mate Egan Bernal's wheel.

Thomas finally made his point, accelerating with about 400 metres left to drop Dumoulin and Roglic.

World champion Peter Sagan suffered a spectacular crash in the descent from the Col du Val Louron but remounted his bike and made the time cut, his jersey torn to pieces.

The Tour de France went for its moment of truth on Wednesday in a stage that could decide whether leader Geraint Thomas or defending champion Chris Froome will wear the yellow jersey in Paris.

It could, however, also open the door for a challenger to emerge and Dutchman Tom Dumoulin is one of those lying in wait for the top two to slip up.

The world time trial champion could still pip the Team Sky duo in Saturday's solo effort against the clock.

"This stage is going to be massively decisive, there are going to be big gaps," said Thomas before the race.

"You can't get carried away at the start because the last climb is one of the hardest of the tour."

Team Sky have said that Thomas and Froome will not race against each other, but the four-times champion is a far better descender than the yellow jersey holder.

CARNOUSTIE — Rory McIlroy reckons Francesco Molinari will not be short of offers when it comes to forming partnerships at the Ryder Cup following the Italian’s superb victory at the British Open.

Molinari held his nerve at the Carnoustie course in Scotland on Sunday to win his first major championship title, beating a top-class field by two shots.

His victory saw Molinari rise to the top of Europe’s Ryder Cup standings ahead of the clash against the United States in Paris in September.

McIlroy was one of the potential title-contenders left trailing by the in-form Molinari, who last played in the Ryder Cup in 2012.

Molinari, the first Italian to win one of golf’s four majors, has been in superb form this season, winning the European PGA at Wentworth and the Quicken Loans event in the United States. 

“He’s always been a great player but, with how he’s played this year, there’s just maybe a little more belief,” said McIlroy of Molinari.

“I played with him the final day at Wentworth, where he won, and he didn’t miss a shot.

“So there’s going to be a lot of European guys vying for his partnership in the foursomes at the Ryder Cup, that’s for sure. He’s a fantastic golfer and he’s a great guy.”

One of the other contenders was 14-time major winner Tiger Woods, who was back vying for one of golf’s biggest prizes again before finishing three shots behind Molinari.

“It’s not [the] Tiger that, you know, Phil [Mickelson] and Ernie [Els] and those guys had to deal with. It’s a different version,” said World No. 8 McIlroy, who ended the British Open in a share of second place.

“But he [was] right there. He’s getting himself in the mix. He looked good in [Washington] DC a couple weeks back [where he tied fourth at the Quicken]. He’s looked good here.

“He does things that maybe he didn’t do 10, 15 years ago, but it’s still great to have him back. It’s still great for golf.”

McIlroy put himself into contention with an eagle at the par-five 14th, but could not claw back any more shots over the closing four holes and signed for 70.

“I don’t really feel like it’s a defeat,” said McIlroy. “I feel like it’s been a good week.

“Only one guy out of 156 is going to win, 155 other guys are going to leave a little disappointed.”

It was another case of what might have been in a major for McIlroy after he threatened to deliver victory at the British Open before settling for a tie for second place.

The 29-year-old Northern Irishman looked down and out in the closing round when bogeys at the second and fifth pushed him down the field in stiff breezes at Carnoustie that gusted up to 28mph.

However, McIlroy produced just the sort of burst he has become renowned for.

Birdies at the ninth and 11th restored his hopes before he celebrated wildly after sinking a 50-foot putt for an eagle three at the 14th.

Ultimately, though, the four-times major champion fell short after a run of four straight pars over the brutal closing holes.

“I’m not really frustrated,” McIlroy told reporters after a one-under 70 left him on six-under 278 overall, two behind champion Francesco Molinari of Italy.

“I could have squeezed one more out of the round today. When I made the eagle on 14 it was tough to get close on 15, 16 and 17.

“I think anything under-par out there today was a good score. I’m happy with how I played,” said McIlroy who has seven times finished in the top-10 in a major without winning since landing his last ‘Big Four’ title at the 2014 US PGA Championship.

“I didn’t get off to a great start but I hung in there and battled back and just ran out of holes at the end,” he said.

McIlroy said he was pleased to have played a minor role in a blockbuster round during which the lead changed hands several times, with former World No. 1 Woods having a brief spell in top spot.

“It was great just to be a part of it and hear the roars,” McIlroy added. 

AMMAN — The U-19 women’s national team will host the UAE next month, as both teams prepare for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championship qualifiers.

The qualifiers set for October 20-28 will see 27 teams play in six groups with Jordan in Group E alongside Malaysia, the Northern Mariana Islands and Vietnam.

Group A: Lebanon, Australia, Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Mongolia.

Group B: Thailand, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Singapore.

Group C: The UAE, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Guam and the Maldives.

Group D: Korea, Taiwan, Tajikistan and Bangladesh.

Group F: Palestine, Myanmar, Iran and Laos.

The top team from each group and the top two second placed teams move to the second round set for April 2019, where the teams will play in two groups with the top two from each group advancing to the finals.

Similarly, Jordan’s girls U-16 team was drawn in Group A alongside China, Uzbekistan, Guam, Sri Lanka.

Group B: Laos, India, Hong Kong, Pakistan and Mongolia.

Group C: Thailand, Iran, the Northern Mariana Islands, Singapore and Tajikistan.

Group D: Australia, Palestine, Taiwan, Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan.

Group E: Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia, Syria and Nepal.

Group F: Vietnam, the UAE, Bahrain, Lebanon and Bangladesh.

Qualifiers are set for September 15-23 where 30 teams will play in six groups with the top team and best two second placed teams moving to the second round in February 2019, where the teams play in two groups with the top two from each group advancing to the finals.

In men’s competitions, Jordan was drawn in Group C for the AFC U-19 Championship to play alongside Australia, South Korea and Vietnam. Group A includes Indonesia, the UAE, Qatar and Taiwan. Group B includes Japan, Iraq, Thailand and North Korea, while Group D includes Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia, China and Malaysia.

The championship will see 16 teams playing in four groups with the eventual semifinalists playing in the FIFA U-19 World Cup.

Jordan failed to qualify to the championships in 2014 and 2016 after earlier qualifying four times and reaching the FIFA Youth World Cup in Canada in 2007. The team finished fourth in 2006, but exited the first round in 2008 and 2010 and reached the quarters in 2012. 

Jordan’s U-16 team qualified to the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship after topping Group A qualifiers. Held once every two years for Asian U-16 teams, the competition also serves as a qualification tournament for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, with the top four countries qualifying. Iraq is the reigning champ.

Earlier this year, Jordan’s U-23 team was knocked out of the first round of the 3rd AFC U-23 Championship that acts as a qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In 2016, Jordan was eliminated from the quarter-finals of the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship. 

In women’s Asian competitions, Jordan hosted the continent’s top eight teams in the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup earlier this year. The Kingdom now 57th in FIFA Rakings became the first country in the West Asia zone to host the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, which is held every four years. Previously, the senior team competed in 2015, when it exited the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament with a winless record.

In 2016, Jordan hosted the U-17 FIFA World Cup, the first of its kind to take place in the Middle East from which the top five advanced to the Women’s World Cup 2019 in France.