Sports

CINCINNATI — Venus Williams scored a straight sets upset of 16th seed Veroninka Kudermetova at the ATP/WTA Cincinnati Open on Monday, bagging her first win over a top 20 player in four years.

The 43-year-old American veteran, who was granted a wild card into this week’s tournament, rallied superbly to polish off Kudermetova 6-4, 7-5.

The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, whose career has spanned four different decades, showed great heart to recover from 4-1 down in the opening set before overturning a 5-1 deficit in the second to seal victory.

“I love this game, it’s what I do,” Williams said in on-court remarks after her victory against the Russian World No. 14.

“The last few years have been difficult in terms of injuries,” Williams added. 

“I want to be able to be out here and be strong, and be myself and that’s important to me, and I’m trying to get there.”

Williams, a semifinalist at Cincinnati in 2012, saw her match interrupted by rain before she completed her victory. 

In other women’s matches on Monday, 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens marked her 12th appearance with a 7-5, 6-2 defeat of Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

“This [summer] series so far has been tough. D.C., there was rain. Last week, Montreal was rain. This week again, rain,” Stephens said.

In the men’s draw, Felix Auger-Aliassime won a battle of injury comeback competitors, keeping former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini winless on the Tour since March with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory.

Auger-Aliassime, seeded 12th, missed his home Masters last week in Toronto with his injury recovery not yet complete.

Victory snapped a five-match loss streak stretching to the week before Roland Garros in May.

Finn Emil Ruusuvuori beat Corentin Moutet 6-4, 6-2. 

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz will open on Wednesday after a bye against Jordan Thompson, who put out 2013 finalist John Isner 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/2). 

Meanwhile, World No. 1 Iga Swiatek on Monday joined Elena Rybakina in blasting late-night scheduling which wrecked the closing days of last week’s Montreal Masters.

The four-time Grand Slam winner, who will chase her fifth title of the season this week in Cincinnati, said the WTA is taking little account of the physical needs of players when rain-delayed matches stretch into the early hours.

“Maybe we should focus more on what is healthy for players because we have to compete every week,” the top-seeded Swiatek said as she awaited her second-round start here after a bye.

“The Tour is so intense with travel that it would be nice in the future to focus on players — especially next year when there will be more and more mandatory tournaments and longer tournaments.”

The scheduling ordeal for last year’s Wimbledon winner Rybakina began with a Friday night Montreal quarterfinal against Daria Kasatkina which did not end until aronud 3am local time on Saturday.

Having won that encounter, the Kazakh had nothing left for a later Saturday semi, which she lost in three sets to Liudmila Samsonova. 

Samsonova, meanwhile, was left having to play her semifinal and the final on the same day on Sunday due to weather disruption.

Rybakina complained afterwards about the physical demands of the scenario, with Swiatek backing her colleague to the hilt.

“During the clay season, in Rome and Madrid, I played four matches that finished close to or after midnight,” Swiatek said.

“I understand we have to adjust to broadcasters and everything, but I also asked the WTA for some data to see if people are watching matches that start past 10pm. I didn’t get anything.”

Samsonova went on to lose the Sunday final to Jessica Pegula in 49 minutes.

Rybakina called WTA leadership “a bit weak now”, adding: “Hopefully something is going to change because this year [there were] many [scheduling] situations which I cannot really understand.”

PARIS — Neymar was “in negotiations” on Sunday to become the latest football superstar to decamp for Saudi Arabia, leaving Paris Saint-Germain just as Kylian Mbappe was brought back in from the cold by the French champions.

A source close to PSG told AFP that 31-year-old Neymar “no longer figures in the club or manager’s plans” with the Brazilian immediately linked to Al-Hilal in the Gulf kingdom.

Another source in Saudi Arabia said that “direct negotiations” between Neymar’s agents and the Public Investment Fund were ongoing.

“If we reach an agreement with him in the coming hours, we would start negotiating with PSG immediately. He would play for Al-Hilal if a deal is sealed,” said the source.

Neymar joined PSG for a record 220 million euros ($241m) from Barcelona in 2017. Some media reports on Sunday claimed that Al Hilal would offer in the region of $80 million for the Brazilian.

Last month Al Hilal made a 300-million-euro bid for Mbappe, though the striker reportedly refused to meet with officials from the team.

Neymar underwent surgery on his right ankle in early March, only returning to join PSG on their pre-season tour of Asia.

His time at PSG has been blighted by a catalogue of injuries.

Although he helped the club to the 2020 Champions League final he has often been sidelined for key games.

If Neymar does end up moving to Saudi Arabia he will join a growing list of top players lured to the oil-rich kingdom since Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Al Nassr in January.

Al Hilal have traditionally been one of Saudi Arabia’s top clubs and have been crowned Asian Champions League winners on four occasions.

Al-Hilal squad

They are coached by Portugal’s Jorge Jesus, who is in his second spell at the club, while the squad currently boasts four international players recently lured from Europe — Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Kalidou Koulibaly and Neymar’s Brazilian compatriot Malcom.

Neymar’s anticipated departure from PSG would follow that of Lionel Messi who now plays for Inter Miami in the United States.

In a sign of the growing impact of the Saudis in world football, Roberto Mancini was reported Sunday to be the man lined up to become the manager of the country’s national team after his shock resignation from European champions Italy.

It has been a rocky build-up to the new Ligue 1 season for champions PSG with both Mbappe and Neymar left out of new coach Luis Enrique’s team for Saturday’s underwhelming opening goalless draw against Lorient.

After being sidelined for several weeks amid an ongoing contract dispute Mbappe watched from the Parc des Princes stands.

But the club’s prize asset is now back in the fold, for the time being at least, said PSG on Sunday.

Mbappe stand-off

After a summer of flux at the Parc des Princes filled with new arrivals, doubts over Neymar’s future and Messi’s departure, it is the Mbappe stand-off that dominated the headlines.

The France captain has refused to sign an extension to his PSG deal, meaning he can leave for free next year, with Real Madrid long seen as his preferred destination.

Qatari-owned PSG want to sell him now and bring in a significant transfer fee for a player who cost 180 million euros from Monaco in 2017.

“The position is very clear. If Kylian wants to stay, he must sign a new contract. We can’t let the best player in the world today leave for free. It’s impossible,” PSG President Nasser Al Khelaifi said last month.

He sat alongside fellow 2018 World Cup winner Ousmane Dembele, who completed his transfer from Barcelona earlier Saturday, as Luis Enrique handed debuts to six players against Lorient.

AUCKLAND — Women’s World Cup semifinalists Spain might be defined by technique and a mesmerising passing game, but the player who gives them that precious something different is Salma Paralluelo.

The 19-year-old took Spain to this stage of the World Cup for the first time with her brilliant winner against The Netherlands in the quarterfinals.

The Barcelona ace, who was once a promising athlete before concentrating on football, struck on the counter-attack in extra time after coming off the bench.

A starter in every round before that, she also played a big part in the 5-1 demolition of Switzerland in the last 16 with her deliveries from the left wing, two of which led to goals for Aitana Bonmati.

With Alexia Putellas still recovering full fitness following a serious knee injury, midfielder Bonmati has been the leader in Jorge Vilda’s team that will face Sweden in the last four in Auckland on Tuesday.

But Paralluelo could have a big role to play against a physically imposing Swedish side thanks to her pace, direct running and power on the flank.

“She is a player with enormous potential and she is a long way from touching the ceiling in terms of what she can do,” Vilda said.

“She is very young and has only been focusing fully on training for football for a year. We will see the best of Salma in the future.

“She is already shining now, but I am sure that in the future she will do so even more.”

Vilda must consider whether to recall Paralluelo from the start or whether to focus first on passing Sweden into submission in a clash of styles at Eden Park.

Spain has completed 3,171 passes in their five games so far at the tournament, compared to under 2,000 for Sweden.

Born in the northeastern city of Zaragoza to a Spanish father and a mother from Equatorial Guinea, Paralluelo grew up combining football with athletics.

“I started doing both when I was seven. At first it was just a game for me but little by little as I grew up I started to realise I could go further,” she said of her early footballing days in an interview with FIFA.com last year.

Paralluelo won medals in several different track disciplines, taking part in hurdles and triple jump.

She also competed in the 400 metres at the 2019 European Indoor Championships in Glasgow, when aged 15.

Paralluelo’s budding football career took her to Villarreal, where she suffered a ruptured ACL in her left knee in April 2021 that kept her out for nine months.

In July last year she joined Barcelona, the emerging superpower of European women’s club football, just after another injury ruled her out of the Spain squad for the European Championship in England.

That move meant giving up athletics once and for all.

“It was difficult to give up one sport, but it was a step I had to take and I couldn’t be in a better place,” she said at the time.

Having helped Barca win the Champions League in June, she is now hoping to beat Sweden and go on to win a third world title with Spain.

Paralluelo was part of the team that won the U-17 World Cup in 2018 and scored twice in the final as Spain beat Japan 3-1 to win last year’s Under-20 World Cup.

“She is unique. It is difficult to find players like her, whose background is in athletics and who has so much quality on her left foot and a really good shot,” said Bonmati.

“When we have played together we combine well and we try to play her in either in space or to her feet. You can do both with her.”

BARCELONA — Jude Bellingham said “it was really special” to score on his Real Madrid debut in a 2-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday in their opening La Liga match.

Despite concerns at both ends of the pitch, Carlo Ancelotti’s side earned a convincing victory at the San Mames to kick off their title bid, with Rodrygo Goes opening the scoring.

Madrid, who lost Ballon d’Or holder Karim Benzema to big-money Saudi football in the summer, are still heavily linked to Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe as a replacement, as the transfer saga drags on.

Brazilian duo Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo worked well as a strike duo, with Bellingham in the No 10 role at the tip of a diamond midfield offering ample support.

“It’s really special, the most important thing is the win,” Bellingham told Real Madrid TV.

Los Blancos goalkeeper Andriy Lunin started in place of regular stopper Thibaut Courtois, who is set to miss the majority of the season with a cruciate ligament injury.

The Ukrainian was solid, although he may soon be behind Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga in the pecking order, with the Spaniard set to join on loan according to various reports.

Ancelotti, who will take over the Brazilian national team at the end of this campaign, handed defender Fran Garcia his second Madrid debut after his return from Rayo Vallecano. 

However it was Bellingham’s name that stood out and the 20-year-old demonstrated why Madrid paid over 100 million euros ($110 million) for him.

“I’m very happy to play with [Bellingham], he’s a great player, and I’m sure he’ll help us a lot this season,” said Rodrygo.

Ancelotti also hailed the England international on his fine debut.

“[He was] very good, he’s got personality, being here motivates him a lot,” said Madrid’s coach.

“He’s a fantastic player, a very important signing — he’s out of the ordinary.”

Comfortable win

Madrid took the lead before the half-hour mark when Dani Carvajal hooked the ball back to Rodrygo, who slotted past Unai Simon at his near post.

The goalkeeper managed to force David Alaba’s header onto the post and thwarted Vinicius after he burst into the box, but Bellingham soon added Madrid’s second.

The England international netted in unorthodox fashion, volleying Alaba’s corner into the ground and over Simon.

Bellingham stood still, facing the home fans with arms wide in celebration, as if announcing his arrival to La Liga — drawing a rebuke from Athletic captain Iker Muniain.

“I’ve always been taught if you try and hit the target you can score,” said Bellingham.

“I didn’t make the best contact with it, I was a little bit lucky, but it worked.”

The midfielder nearly carved out another for Rodrygo with an inviting cross, but the Brazilian narrowly failed to make contact with an attempted bicycle kick.

Former Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde made a triple change at half-time to try and pull Athletic back into the game.

Madrid were forced into a change themselves early in the second half when Eder Militao hurt his knee and was replaced by Antonio Rudiger.

Bellingham continued to impress in the second half, bursting forward from deep into dangerous territory, but the move eventually broke down.

Wearing former Madrid midfielder Zinedine Zidane’s number five, the former Birmingham City man started as he means to go on.

Vinicius, making his first away appearance in La Liga since being racially abused by Valencia fans in May, was occasionally whistled by Athletic supporters.

The forward made way in the final stages for another debutant, Joselu, whom Madrid loaned from relegated Espanyol, as Los Blancos saw out their opening weekend win with ease.

“[Valverde] could have taken 11 players off,” Athletic defender Oscar de Marcos told Movistar.

“In the second half we were better but we couldn’t lay a glove on them.”

Elsewhere Real Sociedad were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Girona.

The Basque side, who finished fourth last season to qualify for the Champions League, went ahead when Takefusa Kubo struck but were pegged back by Artem Dovbyk’s header.

Antonio Raillo earned Mallorca a 1-1 draw at promoted Las Palmas, who took the lead through Jonathan Viera’s penalty.

SYDNEY — England battled past a physical Colombia 2-1 and Australia survived a thrilling penalty shootout against France on Saturday to set up a blockbuster Women’s World Cup semifinal.

Sarina Wiegman’s European champions fought back from going down to a stunning Leicy Santos goal for a deserved win in front of a pro-Colombian crowd of 75,000 in Sydney.

England will be back at Stadium Australia on Wednesday and will face an even more hostile reception against the co-hosts.

In the other quarter-final of the day, Australia beat France 7-6 in a nerve-shredding penalty shootout to reach the last four for the first time in their history.

Colombia, playing in its first quarter-final, took the lead against the run of play through a wonderful dipping effort from the edge of the box by Santos on 44 minutes.

But England struck back deep in first-half stoppage time when Lauren Hemp pounced on a goalkeeping error by a fumbling Catalina Perez, before Alessia Russo sealed the quarter-final in the Lionesses’ favour with a cool second-half finish.

Colombia has a reputation for being physical and they dished out some roughhouse treatment.

Wiegman praised her players for keeping their cool while still remaining aggressive.

“We stay calm, we can see the goal, you don’t see panic,” said Wiegman, who took her native Netherlands to the 2019 final, where they lost 2-0 to the United States.

“We have had lots of challenges and we have got through.

“It shows the resilience of the team... they got through really well, they got up and got the win over the line.”

The 25th-ranked Colombia was among the many surprises at the World Cup, its stunning 2-1 win over Germany a highlight of the group phase.

They have also been one of the best-supported teams at the tournament and their fans dominated at Stadium Australia, their yellow shirts vastly outnumbering England supporters.

Their coach Nelson Abadia called the tournament “a turning point” for women’s football in Colombia.

“We are not satisfied but we have peace of mind because we know we had a very good performance throughout the World Cup,” he said.

“We proved how Colombia has progressed and evolved.”

Penalty drama

Australia emerged from a heart-stopping penalty shootout in Brisbane after 120 minutes of goalless stalemate against France.

It all came down in the shootout to Australia’s Cortnee Vine, and she coolly converted the winning kick to send the home crowd into raptures.

It ended a remarkable shootout that saw both teams take 10 penalties.

Australia coach Tony Gustavsson said it was the most emotionally draining night of his career.

“I’ve won medals, but I said to the team before this game that it’s not about the medals around your neck,” he added.

“It’s about the heart beating on the back of it. And the heart beating tonight in this team and in this country, unbelievable. I’m so freaking proud about this team.”

In front of a sell-out crowd of more than 50,000, Sam Kerr came off the bench in the second half and the talismanic striker duly converted her penalty in the shootout.

Australia goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold had missed a chance to win the game in the shootout when her kick hit the post, but she saved twice from Kenza Dali after the VAR spotted she had both feet off her line the first time.

Vicki Becho missed France’s 10th penalty, and it was left to Vine to beat France’s substitute goalkeeper Solene Durand, who had been sent on especially for the shootout.

“You have to be proud of the girls tonight. They played an exceptional match,” French coach Herve Renard said.

In the other semifinal, Sweden will face Spain on Tuesday.

Spain beat The Netherlands 2-1 in extra time and Sweden defeated the 2011 champions Japan by the same scoreline on Friday, meaning there will be a new name on the World Cup trophy this year.

Outgoing holders the United States and former champions Norway and Germany are all already out.