Russian Qualifier Upsets Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in Miami

Ons Jabeur of Tunisia fields questions from the media during the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 21, 2023 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Getty Images/AFP)
Ons Jabeur of Tunisia fields questions from the media during the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 21, 2023 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Russian Qualifier Upsets Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in Miami

Ons Jabeur of Tunisia fields questions from the media during the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 21, 2023 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Getty Images/AFP)
Ons Jabeur of Tunisia fields questions from the media during the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 21, 2023 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Getty Images/AFP)

Russian qualifier Varvara Gracheva overpowered fourth-seeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-2, 6-2 on Friday in the second round of the Miami Open.

Jabeur, who is ranked fifth in the WTA, twice sought assistance from the training staff. She has been slowed by a knee injury this year, perhaps playing a role as Gracheva beat a player ranked in the world top five for the first time.

Gracheva said: "The plan was, of course like all matches, to be as stable as possible, to try to make her work as much points as possible, and of course wait for comfortable ones to attack."

Gracheva wound up saving three of the four break points she faced while converting five of her six break opportunities.

"I just probably caught this wave where I'm stable, where I always have a chance to play my game, be aggressive, cause troubles for the others by the game style," Gracheva said. "Just try to keep rolling on this way."

Two other highly seeded player joined Jabeur on the way out of Miami, as No. 5 Caroline Garcia of France and No. 7 Maria Sakkari of Greece both lost their second-round matches.

Romania's Sorana Cirstea cruised past Garcia 6-2, 6-3, while Canada's Bianca Andreescu overtook Sakkari 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Andreescu said of her victory, "I think the match was really good from both of our parts. Maria played amazing. She was playing very aggressive.

"I felt like I was on my heels a lot of the time during the match, but I made every ball. I fought to the end, and I think I played the important points just a little bit better today. But, yeah, it could have gone either way today."

Second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus produced a 6-4, 6-3 win over the United States' Shelby Rogers. Ninth-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland demolished Canada's Leylah Fernandez 6-1, 6-1, but 11th-seeded Veronika Kudermetova of Russia fell 6-4, 6-2 to Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova.

Other second-round winners were 15th-seeded Petra Kvitova, 16th-seeded Barbora Krejcikova, 17th-seeded Karolina Pliskova, 31st-seeded Marie Bouzkova and Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic; 18th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia; 19th-seeded Madison Keys and Sofia Kenin of the United States; 22nd-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia; and Magdalena Frech of Poland.



Amorim Offers to Quit if Man United Board Want New Boss

Soccer Football - Europa League - Final - Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - San Mames, Bilbao, Spain - May 21, 2025   Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim reacts during the match REUTERS/Juan Medina
Soccer Football - Europa League - Final - Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - San Mames, Bilbao, Spain - May 21, 2025 Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim reacts during the match REUTERS/Juan Medina
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Amorim Offers to Quit if Man United Board Want New Boss

Soccer Football - Europa League - Final - Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - San Mames, Bilbao, Spain - May 21, 2025   Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim reacts during the match REUTERS/Juan Medina
Soccer Football - Europa League - Final - Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - San Mames, Bilbao, Spain - May 21, 2025 Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim reacts during the match REUTERS/Juan Medina

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim said that he was confident he was still the right man for the job after the club's woeful Europa League loss to Tottenham Hotspur, but would quit with no compensation if the club's board believed otherwise.

Amorim and his men had hoped to salvage something from a woeful season that has them languishing 16th in the Premier League with one game remaining.

Instead, Brennan Johnson bundled in a first-half goal in a 1-0 win that clinched Spurs a spot in the Champions League next season -- leaving United out of European football entirely, Reuters reported.

"In this moment, I am not going to be here defending myself, it is not my style," Amorim told reporters. "I cannot do it, it is really hard for me.

"So I have nothing to show to the fans and say 'I'm going to improve because of this, I have these problems,' I will not do nothing.

"In this moment, it is a little bit of faith. Let's see. I'm always open, if the board and the fans feel that I am not the right guy, I will go the next day without any conversation about compensation."

Missing out on the Champions League is costly with co-owner Jim Ratcliffe estimating the financial benefit of qualification between 80 and 100 million pounds ($107 - $134 million) in broadcast, matchday and commercial income.

"It is tough for a club like us not to be in the Champions League but now we have to deal with that with a different plan, even with the market," Amorim said. "But that means we have more time, more time to think and work during the week and to be better in the Premier League. This will be our focus.

"I know it's going to be tough, I know we lost to an English team, I know the pressure of the fans is going to be really short in the next season. But I guarantee you I will not quit, I will not go away, so I am really confident."

United played like a team more afraid to lose than one focused on winning on Wednesday, particularly in the first half, which proved costly as terrible defending led to Spurs' goal.

United fared better in the second half and threatened to equalize in the dying minutes with Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho and Luke Shaw all forcing terrific saves.

"I was always really honest with you guys. We did not perform perfectly today but we were better than the opponent," Amorim said. "In the second half we tried everything with the center defenders wide, crosses, going inside the box. I think today was not the day."

There have been questions about whether United have gone backwards since the Portuguese succeeded Erik ten Hag after the former manager's sacking in late-October.

"I don't agree (that we are going backwards)," Amorim said. "We've had some bad results but I think we have improved in certain areas. We were competitive in more games that we didn't score in.

"I understand I'm a young guy. But I also understand that if we have the chances that we had in the second half, if we managed to score one, the game should have been different, this press conference should be so different."