Sports

Roger Federer needed more than three hours to outlast Nick Kyrgios 7-6(9), 6-7(9), 7-6(5) in a pulsating Miami Open semifinal on Friday to set up another mouthwatering final clash with Rafa Nadal.

The Swiss, who has won two of his last three tournaments including the Australian Open, had to dig deep to get through a second straight test after fending off a match point in his quarter-final victory over Tomas Berdych.

The 35-year-old’s victory sets up a re-match of January’s Melbourne Park title-decider against Spaniard Nadal, who earlier rolled over unseeded Italian Fabio Fognini 6-1, 7-5.

Kyrgios, who has twice beaten Novak Djokovic over the last month, left his racket a twisted heap on the court after coming up short in a battle against the former world number one and a partisan crowd. 

In their only previous match in Madrid in 2015, the Australian came out on top in a similar three-set thriller that went to three tiebreaks with the last decided 14-12.

“It’s great winning this way, especially of course I remember the loss against him few years ago,” Federer told reporters.

“I know I can’t always show my fighting skills because everything else sort of takes over.”

The temperamental Kyrgios came apart in the late stages of the last tiebreak after a fan yelled out when he was leading 5-4 and he miscued a forehand.

The 21-year-old turned to the fan and unleashed a volley of obscenities before serving up a double fault that gave Federer the window he needed to clinch the battle.

“Obviously, I’m an emotional guy. I had some ups and up and downs, bit of a roller coaster,” Kyrgios said.

“Ultimately, I think I put in a good performance. I thought the crowd would’ve enjoyed watching it, people at home would’ve enjoyed watching it. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if they found something bad to say about me.”

Nadal, who lost all four of his previous Miami Open finals, will be out to snap a run of three straight defeats against Federer, including in the Melbourne final and at Indian Wells. 

“Winning here would be something great, and an important title I haven’t won,” Nadal told reporters. “I served well [today]. That gives you calm when you have opportunities on the return.”

The fifth-seeded Spaniard did not face a break point against Fognini and put his opponent’s serve under pressure throughout the 90-minute match.

The 30-year-old raced through the first set in 26 minutes, losing only four points on serve while Fognini made 14 unforced errors.

“I was missing a lot of balls,” Fognini said. “I give him a present of the first set. I was playing really bad.”

The Italian came to life in the second set, especially in a stretch where he fended off five break points during his first two service games.

At 5-5, however, just when it looked as if Fognini might force a decisive third set, he double faulted and Nadal grabbed the break before sealing the match four points later.

Russell Westbrook recorded the highest scoring triple-double in NBA history Wednesday night, totalling 57 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a come-from-behind, 114-106 overtime road victory over the Orlando Magic.

For Westbrook, it was just another day at work as he compiled his fourth consecutive triple-double and his 38th of the season, leaving him three shy of the NBA record held by NBA legend Oscar Robertson. The 57 points were one short of his career high.

“You just got to want it more than other people,” Westbrook said. “I don’t think about getting tired. I just keep going and going. I don’t think about it. I just think about making the next play, making winning basketball plays. I’m blessed.”

The Thunder (43-31) have won eight of the last 10 games. Westbrook scored 16 points in the fourth quarter Monday when Oklahoma City erased a 13-point deficit in the final 3:31 to win in Dallas. He scored 19 points in the final six minutes of regulation to force overtime on Wednesday when the Thunder erased another 13-point fourth quarter deficit.

“Russell was spectacular coming down the stretch and the way he closed the game,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “Overall, it’s just incredible what he’s doing now. He played an exceptional second half again. He just has an incredible competitive spirit.”

“That [Westbrook’s performance] was one of the best,” Magic coach Frank Vogel said. “It’s tough to rank those over the years, but it’s right up there with the best. Give him credit.”

Westbrook hit 21 of 40 shots and six of 15 3-pointers. He made nine of 11 free throws.

He led a late rally by scoring 19 points in the final six minutes of regulation, hitting a 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.

Westbrook scored seven points in overtime.

Until Westbrook’s 3-pointer, the Magic led the entire second half. 

The Magic led by as many as 21 points in third quarter.

“I was just looking at the scoreboard, taking it one possession at a time,” Westbrook said. “I don’t take this game for granted. I just try to come out each and every night and compete at a high level.”

AMMAN — Jordan’s U-23 squad concluded a successful training camp and eight nation tournament in Dubai, as part of preparations for qualifiers for the 3rd Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship in 2018.

Jordan finished third after it beat Singapore 2-0, held China 0-0, lost 1-0 to the UAE before beating Malaysia 4-0. 

Head coach Iain Brunskill expressed his satisfaction with the overall performance. “To finish with a deserved 4-0 victory in the last game and get the third place in the tournament was a reward for the hard work that we have put together, as players and staff,” he was quoted as saying on the Jordan Football Association website.

Goalkeeper Obaida Zoubi, only conceded one goal in four games and was named the goalkeeper of the tournament, while Khaled Dardour was named the best goalscorer with three goals from four matches.

The AFC U-23 qualifiers, set to kick off from July 19-23, will see Jordan play in Group E along with Tajikistan, Bangladesh and host Palestine. The qualifiers will include 40 teams playing in 10 groups with the top team from each group, in addition to the top five second-placed teams will move to the championships finals. 

In 2016, Jordan was eliminated from the quarter-finals of the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship in Qatar and failed to make it to the top four and a possible Olympic slot with the continent’s top three advancing to the Olympic Games football tournament in Rio de Janeiro later won by Brazil.

In the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship in 2014 (renamed the AFC U-23 Championship), Jordan took third place when it beat South Korea while Iraq won the title after defeating Saudi Arabia.

In 2015, Jordan’s U23 squad was eliminated from the 1st West Asian U-23 Championship and in 2014 the line-up represented Jordan at the Asian Games where it made to the quarter-finals.

The Kingdom’s younger squads are also training for their respective Asian qualifiers. The U-19 team, which qualified to the Asian Championship four times and previously reached the FIFA Youth World Cup in Canada in 2007, was last eliminated from the qualifying rounds of the 2016 vhampionship. Jordan finished fourth in 2006, but exited the group stages in 2008 and 2010 and reached the quarters in 2012. Jordan failed to qualify to the 2014 Championship as well. 

Similarly, the U-16 team is now preparing for their Asian qualifiers. In 2015, the U-16 squad failed to advance to the 2016 AFC U-16 Asian Championship.

AMMAN — Teams return to local football action on Friday when the 17th week of the Jordan Football Professional League resumes after a two-week break for national team’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup qualifiers.

During the break Jordan beat Hong Kong 4-0 in a friendly before opening Asian Cup qualifiers with a 7-0 home win over lowly Cambodia.

Before heading to break Wihdat led the standings after scoring an important 3-0 win over 4th placed Manshieh. Jazira dropped to second after they were held 1-1 with Hussein, while Faisali remained third after a 0-0 draw with That Ras.

Wihdat will next play Ahli who lost 3-0 to 7th placed Shabab Urdun and dropped to 8th, while Baqa’a, who have managed to move out of the relegation zone for now, take on Jazira.

Baqa’a moved from last to 10th after their second consecutive win beating 9th placed Sahab 3-1, while That Ras remained 11th joining Sarih who dropped to last in the relegation zone. Ramtha are fifth after beating Sarih 2-1 and next play 6th placed Hussein.

Wihdat also lead their AFC Asian Cup Group C after they beat Oman’s Saham 2-1. They earlier scored a 1-0 win over Lebanon’s Nijmeh and held Bahrain’s Muharraq 1-1.

Representing Jordan in the Asian Cup for the first time, Ahli are now third in Group A after they held Oman’s Suweiq 0-0. They earlier held Iraq’s Zawra 1-1 and lost their opening match 1-0 to Syria’s Jeish. 

Wihdat, who exited the Asian Champions League, are looking to win their fourth consecutive and 16th overall league title, while Faisali have not won the league in the past four years and eyeing their 33rd record title.

Joining the top three this season is Manshieh who joined the league alongside Sahab. Former Jordan Cup champs That Ras are now in the relegation zone, while Baqa’a, a usual top five team is also struggling in the lower half of standings. Jazira’s Syrian pro Mardig Mardigian has maintained his scoring proficiency and leads the top scorers list with 12 goals followed by Wihdat’s Munther Abu Amara with eight.

DHARAMSALA, India — Lokesh Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane steered India to an eight-wicket win in the fourth and final Test against Australia as the hosts secured a 2-1 series victory at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium on Tuesday.

Rahul made 51 not out and Rahane added a rapid unbeaten 38 to help India chase down the modest 106-run victory target with more than five sessions to spare, the opener completing his sixth fifty of the series when he scored the winning runs.

Wrapping up the win appeared a formality for India when its openers walked out at the picturesque venue nestled in the shadows of the Himalayas needing just 87 runs to seal the series with all 10 second innings wickets intact.

Josh Hazlewood, however, seemed determined to make sure India would need to work for the win and the paceman struck Murali Vijay’s pad with consecutive balls in the first over, but both leg-before wicket appeals were turned down by the umpire.

At the other end, Rahul was showing his fluency against spin, driving and sweeping Steve O’Keefe for a couple of boundaries in the left-armer’s second over of the day.

Pat Cummins then came on to inject some brief excitement to proceedings when two Indian wickets fell in the paceman’s second over of the morning.

First he dismissed Vijay, caught behind for eight with his first delivery, and five balls later, Cheteshwar Pujara, normally a good judge of singles, was run out without scoring when he attempted a risky run.

Glenn Maxwell did an excellent job at point, where he collected Pujara’s push and threw down the middle stump at the non-striker’s end with the batsman well short of crease after a mix-up with Rahul.

Leading the side in the absence of injured skipper Virat Kohli, Rahane played with uncharacteristic aggression, hitting Cummins for back-to-back sixes at a stadium marking its debut as a Test arena.

Seventh heaven

“We want to be scoring big runs and taking big wickets but at the end of the match, we want to standing behind that board that says ‘champions’,” Rahul said afterwards, calling it the best series he had ever played in.

“The way Jinks [Rahane] came out and started hitting Cummins for sixes was excellent. He came out with a clear mind and said ‘let’s not play this out, let’s attack’ and I said ‘okay’.”

The victory sealed India’s seventh series win in a row, dating back to its triumph in Sri Lanka in August 2015.

“Magnificent series,” Australia captain Steven Smith said. “One of the best I have been a part of. Credit to India, it is a fantastic cricket side, particularly in its backyard.”

The win also brought a successful end of India’s 13-test home season, in which it won 10, drew two and had the lone loss to Australia in the opener in Pune.

“To come back from 1-0 down against the Aussies, when you could see there were tired bodies out there was just brilliant,” India coach Anil Kumble said.

“It was a tough game and after losing Virat through injury, it was really important that the team stood up. Rahane led the team brilliantly,” the former captain added.

AMMAN — The women’s national football team leaves for Tajikistan on Wednesday for Group A qualifiers for the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Football Championship.

Starting April 3, Jordan will be playing Bahrain, the UAE, Iraq, Tajikistan, and the Philippines as 21 teams divided into four groups start their quest for four slots to the 2018 AFC Women’s Championship, which will be held in Amman grouping the continents top eight teams. 

Jordan will be the first country in the west Asia zone to host an AFC women’s championship. 

The delegation, headed by Jordan Football Association board member Rana Husseini, seeks to make good use of the qualifiers as a competitive chance with the inadequacy of friendly matches ahead of the qualifiers apart from hosting Algeria in two matches winning 2-1 and losing 3-2. 

Jordan has already secured a slot in the competition, as host country, but seeks to benefit from competitive chances as the top team from each group will move to the championship which includes Japan, Australia, China and host Jordan which has automatically qualified. If Jordan tops its group, the runner-up will also advance.

The competition, held every 4 years, for 15 times, has been won by China eight times. Japan is reigning champ. 

Jordan recently lost its FIFA Rankings, after it was 52nd and 11th in Asia, after 18 inactive months. The last time the senior team competed regionally was in 2015, when they exited the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament with a winless record. 

The team is eagerly anticipating qualifiers for the 2018 AFC Women’s Championship after the U-17 team competed in the FIFA Under 17 Women’s World Cup in 2016 where they were eliminated from the first round after playing Spain, Mexico and New Zealand.  Jordan beat bids from Uruguay, South Africa, Ireland and Bahrain and was the only Arab team at the U-17 World Cup after Egypt and Morocco were eliminated from the qualifiers.

The U-17 FIFA World Cup, the first of its kind to take place in the Middle East, was a big boost not only for the Kingdom but women’s sports in the region.

Willie Cauley-Stein scored on a putback with 1.8 seconds remaining, allowing the Sacramento Kings to stun the Los Angeles Clippers 98-97 at Staples Centre on Sunday.

Darren Collison scored 19 points to lead the Kings, who trailed by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter. Kings rookie guard Buddy Hield, who hit two clutch three-pointers in the rally, and forward Anthony Tolliver each had 15 points.

DeAndre Jordan collected 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, while Chris Paul had 17 points and nine assists.

The loss prevented the Clippers from pulling into a tie with the idle Utah Jazz for the fourth seed in the Western Conference.

Celtics 112, Heat 108

Boston held off a late Miami charge and moved into a virtual tie for first place in the Eastern Conference with a victory over the Heat.

The win moved Boston to just four percentage points behind the idle Cleveland Cavaliers for the top seed in the conference. The teams meet April 5 in Boston.

Isaiah Thomas, the league’s leading fourth-quarter scorer, tallied eight points in the final 4:58 after the Celtics, who rallied from a 15-point first-half deficit, blew a nine-point fourth-quarter lead and trailed by two with 4:13 remaining.

Pacers 107, 76ers 94

Paul George scored 21 points to lead seven Pacers in double figures as Indiana beat Philadelphia at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Myles Turner contributed 17 points and a team-high 16 rebounds. Also in double figures for the Pacers were Jeff Teague (16 points) and Al Jefferson (14). C.J. Miles, Monta Ellis and Aaron Brooks each scored 10 points.

Jefferson suffered a leg injury with 9:43 left in the fourth quarter. He was taken to the locker room in a wheelchair.

Indiana snapped a two-game losing streak and moved into a three-way tie with Atlanta and Milwaukee for the No. 5 spot in Eastern Conference.

Hornets 120, Suns 106

Kemba Walker had 31 points and nine assists to lead Charlotte.

The Hornets pounced on the Suns quickly, racing to leads of 17-1, 22-3 and 30-7 before eventually leading 38-18 after one quarter. The Hornets went on to lead by as many as 25 in what was their second wire-to-wire victory of the season.

Charlotte has won four of its last five and continues to hang around in the Eastern Conference playoff race with nine games remaining.

Nets 107, Hawks 92

Veterans Jeremy Lin and Brook Lopez combined for 42 points to help Brooklyn outlast short-handed and struggling Atlanta, handing it a seventh straight loss.

Lopez had 23 points and seven rounds and Lin scored 19 points, his most since getting a season-high 24 on March 14. Lin added eight assists, two steals and four rebounds for the Nets.

Brooklyn have won three of their last four, improved to 8-8 in March and broke a five-game losing streak in Atlanta.

Rockets 137, 

Thunder 125

Lou Williams paced a quartet of 20-point scorers for the Rockets in their win. Williams finished with 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting, hitting 7 of 8 3-pointers to help carry the Rockets to their third win in four meetings with the Thunder this season.

Aid came in the form of guards James Harden (22 points, 12 assists) and Eric Gordon (24 points on 4-of-9 3-point shooting), and forward Trevor Ariza, who made 9-of-11 shots while also chipping in 24 points. Houston shot a robust 63.3 per cent from the floor.

Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook recorded his league-leading 36th triple-double. He finished with 39 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists.

Bulls 109, Bucks 94

Nikola Mirotic hit six three-pointers and scored 28 points on 11-of-14 shooting for the Bulls.

Jimmy Butler scored 20 points while adding 14 of the Bulls’ 33 assists. Robin Lopez and Rajon Rondo each scored 18 points for Chicago, with the latter adding nine rebounds and nine assists.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 22 points.

Pelicans 115, 

Nuggets 90

Anthony Davis scored 31 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in only 28 minutes to lead New Orleans to a victory over Denver.

Jrue Holiday and Jordan Crawford each scored 13 points, and the bench contributed 49 as the Pelicans earned their sixth win in eight games. New Orleans is now four games behind the Nuggets for the eighth spot in the Western Conference.

The Pelicans won without DeMarcus Cousins, who sat out due to an ankle injury. Cousins got hurt Friday during New Orleans’ 117-107 loss to the Houston Rockets and was still sore at the Sunday morning shootaround.

Warriors 106, 

Grizzlies 94

Stephen Curry contributed two three-pointers to a 14-5 fourth-quarter run that enabled Golden State to pull away from Memphis en route to a victory.

Curry finished with 21 points and Klay Thompson a game-high 31 for the Warriors, who extended the league’s longest active winning streak to seven games while squaring the season series 2-2 with the Grizzlies.

Mike Conley had 29 points and a team-high six assists for Memphis, which lost ground in its pursuit of the fifth and sixth play-off spots in the West.

Trail Blazers 97, 

Lakers 81

Damian Lillard led the way with 22 points, and Portland cruised past Los Angeles at Staples Centre.

Allen Crabbe added 18 points and CJ McCollum contributed 13 as the Trail Blazers beat the Lakers for the 12th consecutive time. Portland has won seven in a row over Los Angeles at Staples. The win allowed the Trail Blazers to tie the Denver Nuggets for eighth place in the Western Conference race.

D’Angelo Russell led the Lakers with 22 points.

AMMAN — Jordan hosts Cambodia on Tuesday in their opening Group C qualifier for the 2019 Asian Cup.

The 6:00pm match, against the 173rd ranked team at King Abdullah Stadium in Quweismeh, should provide a positive start for the qualifiers ahead of playing Vietnam and Afghanistan. Group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals, as well as the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Teams already having qualified include Australia, China, Iraq, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan and hosts the UAE.

The qualifiers, which will start March 28 and end on March 27, 2018, will see teams playing in six groups. Jordan is the top ranked team in Group C with, but head coach Abdullah Misfer said his squad does not underestimate any opponent. “ We will seek to lead the group and advance and be competitive in the Asian Cup.”

The national team has not had very glistening results or preparation period. It was a year of overhauling the team as the squad had inconsistent results and a change of five coaches as Jordan was eliminated from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. 

As the team slid further down to 115th in the latest FIFA Rankings and is still out of the Asian top 10, it also did not get the chance to play leading teams and settled for playing 142nd ranked Hong Kong whom they beat 4-0 ahead of the qualifiers. They also beat 126th ranked Georgia 1-0 in the first match under the new head coach. 

Now, the team aims to get pats Asian qualifiers and advance to the Asian finals. Group C teams Vietnam is ranked 136th, Afghanistan 156th, Cambodia 173rd. 

After the Cambodia match Jordan is slated to play two friendlies with Iraq on June 2 and Hong Kong on June 7 again before their Vietnam qualifier. 

Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972, Jordan reached the Championship three times. The pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup when they lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA rank of 37th in August 2004. The lowest ranking was 152nd in 1996.

They also reached the Asian Cup finals n 2011 and 2015.

The Kingdom had the most memorable World Cup qualifying journey in 2013, eventiually losing to then World’s 6th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying match for a place in the 2014 World Cup.

Roger Federer continued his impressive 2017 campaign with a straight-sets, second-round victory at the Miami Open in Florida on Saturday.

But it was far from a cakewalk for Federer, who came within two points of losing the first set before breaking twice in the second for a 7-6(2), 6-3 triumph over American teenager Frances Tiafoe.

Next up for Federer is Juan Martin del Potro, who beat Dutchman Robin Haase 6-2, 6-4 in a night match at Crandon Park.

Federer has a 15-5 career record against del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion.

“I would love to play against [del Potro],” Federer said, speaking before knowing who his next opponent would be. “We’ve had some epic matches against each other. I’m sure the crowd would love to see it.”

Tiafoe provided a good competitive workout for the 35-year-old Swiss maestro in his first match since he won the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Sunday.

Tiafoe broke in the first game of the second set, but fourth seed Federer broke straight back with a sizzling backhand winner and another break was all he needed to clinch his 1094th career victory at tour level.

Tiafoe, ranked 101st in the world, has only four career victories, but he showed enough to suggest he will add to that number sooner rather than later.

Federer could be on course for a semifinal showdown with compatriot Stan Wawrinka, less than two weeks after they met in the Indian Wells final.

Top seed Wawrinka defeated Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos in 65 minutes, firing seven aces in a 6-3, 6-4 victory in less than favourable morning conditions.

“I’m really happy with the match today,” Wawrinka told reporters. “It’s quite tough conditions, raining and really windy today. It’s really windy on the court, so it’s never easy.

“I’m happy with the way I was moving, the way I was playing and my attitude in general was really positive,” he added. “So it’s a great match.”

Austrian No. 6 Dominic Thiem was the only high seed to suffer a loss on Saturday. 

Thiem fell to 20-year-old Croatian Borna Coric, who overcame an embarrassing brain freeze in the final game to win 6-1, 7-5.

Serving for the match, Coric stopped in the middle of a rally, challenging a line call, only to be reminded by the chair umpire that he had no challenges left.

Volatile Australian Nick Kyrgios won his match, and also received a code violation warning from the chair umpire for swearing at a spectator who called out during a point.

Kyrgios, the 12th seed, dropped his first two service games, but roared back to beat Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 6-3.

AMMAN — Lebanon’s Rachid Akl held off a strong final day chase from compatriot Sheikh Mouss El Zein to win the 27th Jordan Open on Saturday, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Played at the Greg Norman-designed Ayla Golf Course in Aqaba, the Open saw Akl lead from day one and eventually took the title with a three-round total of 241.

But his winning margin was only two shots after Zein mounted a strong final day chase.

Third went to Bilal Ataya of Palestine and Salim El Zein was fourth. Jordan’s 13-year-old Shergo Kurdi led the home nation’s challenge in fifth, while the former reigning champion, Amer Radee of Iraq, was sixth.