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Tyson Fury Says He'll Fight in London in December

WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. (AFP)
WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. (AFP)
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Tyson Fury Says He'll Fight in London in December

WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. (AFP)
WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. (AFP)

WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury said Saturday that he plans to fight in London on Dec. 5, but his opponent is unknown.

“I'd just like to announce I'm definitely fighting December the 5th in London. Opponent to be announced very, very soon,” Fury said in a video message posted on his social media accounts. “Just working on some opponents. Let you all know who it's going to be shortly."

Fury and his co-promoter Frank Warren recently expressed doubt that a third fight with American Deontay Wilder would happen in 2020.

Fury claimed the WBC belt off Wilder with a seventh-round stoppage in February, after their draw in 2018.

The 32-year-old Fury announced in June that he had agreed to a two-fight deal with Anthony Joshua. The sides said that the first bout could take place sometime in 2021 in what would be an all-British showdown between the current holders of the heavyweight belts.

Joshua is scheduled to fight Kubrat Pulev on Dec. 12 at the O2 Arena in London. The fight was postponed from June because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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City's Foden and Shaw Win FWA Footballer of the Year Awards

Football - Premier League - Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester City - The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, Britain - April 25, 2024 Manchester City's Phil Foden celebrates scoring their second goal. (Action Images via Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester City - The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, Britain - April 25, 2024 Manchester City's Phil Foden celebrates scoring their second goal. (Action Images via Reuters)
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City's Foden and Shaw Win FWA Footballer of the Year Awards

Football - Premier League - Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester City - The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, Britain - April 25, 2024 Manchester City's Phil Foden celebrates scoring their second goal. (Action Images via Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester City - The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, Britain - April 25, 2024 Manchester City's Phil Foden celebrates scoring their second goal. (Action Images via Reuters)

Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden has been named the Football Writers' Association's men's player of the year, while City forward Khadija “Bunny” Shaw won the women's award, it was announced on Friday.

England international Foden, 23, who has scored 24 goals in all competitions this season, including his goal in their Club World Cup final victory, won 42% of the vote, ahead of Arsenal's Declan Rice and his City team mate Rodri.

"I'm immensely proud to have won this award. Now I am focused on seeking to finish the season as strongly as possible and to try to help City win more trophies," Foden said.

City won both awards for the second time in five years, with Jamaica international Shaw taking the women's award after a season in which she became the club's all-time leading women's scorer.

Shaw, whose season ended prematurely last week with a foot injury, is the Women's Super League top scorer with 21 goals, and won the vote ahead of Chelsea's Lauren James, and City's Alex Greenwood.

Foden and Shaw will receive their awards at a ceremony on May 16.

Foden's City are second in the Premier League, one point behind Arsenal and with a game in hand, while Shaw's side are top of the WSL, with a six-point lead over Chelsea, who have played one game less.

Sports

Klopp Says He Has ‘No Problem’ with Salah after Touchline Spat

Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Liverpool - London Stadium, London, Britain - April 27, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah talks to manager Jurgen Klopp (Action Images via Reuters)
Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Liverpool - London Stadium, London, Britain - April 27, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah talks to manager Jurgen Klopp (Action Images via Reuters)
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Klopp Says He Has ‘No Problem’ with Salah after Touchline Spat

Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Liverpool - London Stadium, London, Britain - April 27, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah talks to manager Jurgen Klopp (Action Images via Reuters)
Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Liverpool - London Stadium, London, Britain - April 27, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah talks to manager Jurgen Klopp (Action Images via Reuters)

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insisted Friday his spat with Mohamed Salah has been “completely resolved,” saying his long history with the star forward ensured there was no lasting damage to their relationship.

Klopp and Salah were involved in a touchline confrontation during the 2-2 draw at West Ham on Saturday. When Salah was asked after the game to comment on the incident, the Egypt international was heard saying: “There’s going to be a fire today if I speak.”

Nearly a week later, Klopp said the matter was a “non-story.”

“There's no problem,” said Klopp, who was speaking ahead of Liverpool's home match with Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday. “If we wouldn't know each other for that long, I don't know how we would deal with it, but we know each other for that long and respect each other too much that it's really no problem.”

The incident happened as Salah was preparing to come on as a substitute, having been selected on the bench for the second time in three games.

“In general, the best situation would be everybody is in the best possible place, we win games, we score lots of goals. Yes, then the situation (with Salah) would probably not have been exactly like that,” Klopp said. “Then Mo wouldn't have been on the bench in the first place.”

Klopp, who is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season after nearly nine years in charge, was asked if the 31-year-old Salah should be part of the new manager's plans. Salah, a Liverpool player since 2017, has been linked with a move to the Saudi league.

“I've said before, what a player he is. That he's incredible,” Klopp said. “But I don't think I should speak about that, to be honest. Other people will decide that, especially Mo.

“I don't have any signs it will not be like that. But I'm really the wrong person already for a few weeks to talk about these kind of things.”

Sports

Swiatek Returns to Madrid Open Final by Beating Keys, Medvedev Retires with Injury

Iga Swiatek of Poland in action during her semifinal match against Madison Keys of USA at the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, 02 May 2024. (EPA)
Iga Swiatek of Poland in action during her semifinal match against Madison Keys of USA at the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, 02 May 2024. (EPA)
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Swiatek Returns to Madrid Open Final by Beating Keys, Medvedev Retires with Injury

Iga Swiatek of Poland in action during her semifinal match against Madison Keys of USA at the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, 02 May 2024. (EPA)
Iga Swiatek of Poland in action during her semifinal match against Madison Keys of USA at the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, 02 May 2024. (EPA)

Iga Swiatek cruised to a straight-sets semifinal win over Madison Keys on Thursday to reach the Madrid Open final and a rematch against No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.

Top-ranked Swiatek beat No. 20 Keys 6-1, 6-3 and will next face the defending champion Sabalenka, who rallied to overcome No. 4-ranked Elena Rybakina 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5).

The Madrid Open is the only high-profile European clay-court title that Swiatek is yet to win.

“It was a pretty clean performance and really solid game from myself,” she said. “I’m happy with everything.”

It will be the third final of the year for Swiatek after titles in Indian Wells and Doha.

“I’m happy that we can play a final against the top players,” Swiatek said. “It shows consistency. For sure it’s going to be a challenge, whoever it’s going to be, and a tough match. I will be ready. I will focus on myself."

Sabalenka, who needed three sets to defeat Swiatek in the Madrid final last year, is into her third Madrid final after ending Rybakina’s 16-match clay-court winning streak.

“I was just trying to fight for every point,” Sabalenka said. “I was hoping that I’ll have opportunity to turn this match around, and yeah, super happy that I was able to do that.”

Keys said she was disappointed but there were “a lot of really great things to take from the tournament” in the Spanish capital.

“It’s been a while since I have won four matches in a row. Lots to build on. It’s obviously great momentum going into Rome next week,” she said.

“It’s obviously only my fourth tournament back after the shoulder injury, so to do so well here and to be able to play some tough matches and have some three-set matches and be physically 100% still and being able to look forward to Rome and hopefully play some good tennis there is a huge positive.”

Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev retired from his quarterfinal match after losing the first set 6-4, sending the 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka into a semifinal against 35th-ranked Felix Auger-Aliassime.

No. 4-ranked Medvedev needed treatment on his upper right leg while leading 3-2, complaining about having trouble moving to his right. He also needed treatment at 4-3, and after Lehecka broke serve in the ninth game to win the set, Medvedev decided not to continue.

“It’s never easy in a match like this,” Lehecka said of Medvedev’s retirement. “If I were to choose the way how to win this match, it wouldn’t be like that. So of course, it’s never easy to see your opponent struggling, but at that moment, you just need to focus on yourself, trying to get the maximum level out of yourself.”

Sports

Paris Inaugurates Giant Water Storage Basin to Clean up River Seine for Olympic Swimming

A worker walks inside the Austerlitz wastewater and rainwater storage basin, which is intended, among other things, to make the Seine swimmable during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris, on May 2, 2024. (AFP)
A worker walks inside the Austerlitz wastewater and rainwater storage basin, which is intended, among other things, to make the Seine swimmable during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris, on May 2, 2024. (AFP)
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Paris Inaugurates Giant Water Storage Basin to Clean up River Seine for Olympic Swimming

A worker walks inside the Austerlitz wastewater and rainwater storage basin, which is intended, among other things, to make the Seine swimmable during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris, on May 2, 2024. (AFP)
A worker walks inside the Austerlitz wastewater and rainwater storage basin, which is intended, among other things, to make the Seine swimmable during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris, on May 2, 2024. (AFP)

French officials inaugurated on Thursday a huge water storage basin meant to help clean up the River Seine, set to be the venue for marathon swimming at the Paris Games and the swimming leg of the Olympic and Paralympic triathlons.

Sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra praised Paris' ability "to provide athletes from all over the world with an exceptional setting on the Seine for their events."

Last year, swimming test events had to be canceled due to poor water quality. One reason was heavy rains that overwhelmed the city's old sewers, causing a mix of rainwater and untreated sewage to flow into the Seine and leaving safety standards unmet.

The giant reservoir dug next to Paris’ Austerlitz train station aims to collect excess rainwater and prevent bacteria-laden wastewater from entering the Seine.

It can hold the equivalent of 20 Olympic swimming pools of dirty water that will now be treated rather than being spat raw through storm drains into the river.

"We are on time," the prefect of the Paris region, Marc Guillaume, said. "The beginning of the Games will coincide with water quality allowing competition. That’s a tremendous collective success."

Paris mayor Anne Hildago promised she would herself swim in the Seine before the Olympics — possibly alongside President Emmanuel Macron.

The new storage basin "guarantees" that water can be stored even during severe storms, and will help water levels to "return to normal as quickly as possible," she said.

The opening of the basin is the latest step toward a cleaner river and comes as part of a series of newly-built facilities, including a water treatment plant in Champigny-sur-Marne, east of Paris, that was inaugurated last month.

During the Olympics, water will be tested at 3 a.m. each day to determine whether events can go ahead as planned. If results were not up to the standards, events could be delayed by a few days, organizers said.

The estimated cost of the cleanup efforts amount to 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion), paid by the state and local authorities.

"For more than ten years already, we’ve seen a very significant improvement of the Seine water quality and our river’s fishes and wildlife are back," Hidalgo said.

About 35 fish species are now living in the Paris section of the river, up from only three in the 1970s, when waters were extremely polluted due to nearby industrial activities.

For decades, the Seine was used mainly as a waterway to transport goods and people or as a watery grave for discarded bicycles and other trash. Swimming there has, with some exceptions, been illegal since 1923.

Paris officials are planning to open several bathing sites to the general public in the summer, starting from next year.

The River Seine also is to be at the heart of the grandiose opening ceremony for the Olympics that will see over 200 athletes' delegations parade on more that 80 boats in central Paris.

Sports

Title, Relegation and European Spots in the Balance as Premier League Heads for Exciting Finale

Manchester City's Jack Grealish celebrates with the trophy after winning the 2022 English Premier League title at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (AP)
Manchester City's Jack Grealish celebrates with the trophy after winning the 2022 English Premier League title at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (AP)
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Title, Relegation and European Spots in the Balance as Premier League Heads for Exciting Finale

Manchester City's Jack Grealish celebrates with the trophy after winning the 2022 English Premier League title at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (AP)
Manchester City's Jack Grealish celebrates with the trophy after winning the 2022 English Premier League title at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (AP)

The title race is down to two teams.

The relegation tussle still involves three.

And the contest for the remaining European qualification positions contains as many as five.

The Premier League season is down to its last two weeks and there's still plenty at stake from top to bottom.

Meanwhile, the second-tier Championship's regular season finishes on Saturday, with a second automatic promotion spot set to be secured.

Here's a look at what's still to be decided:

TITLE

This time, Arsenal vs. Manchester City for the Premier League title looks like going down to the wire.

City took advantage of a late-season collapse by the Gunners to win the league with three matches to spare in the 2022-23 campaign, but an improved Arsenal might last the course this time round.

Arsenal leads by one point with three games to go — against Bournemouth at home on Saturday, Manchester United away and Everton at home.

City has four games remaining — at home to Wolverhampton, away to Fulham and Tottenham, and at home to West Ham — and would capture an unprecedented fourth straight title by winning all of them.

The pressure is on the defending champions to do that because even just one draw could be fatal. Arsenal has a superior goal difference and, as it stands, would win on that tiebreaker if the teams are equal on points.

Away to Tottenham looks to be the toughest match for City, which has yet to win — or even score — in four league games at Tottenham's new stadium that opened in 2019. Spurs fans will have mixed feelings about the May 14 game, because a win for their team could hand Arsenal, Tottenham's fierce north London rival, the title.

A trip to Old Trafford is likely Arsenal's hardest remaining fixture. After all, Liverpool — until recently the other title contender — saw its season turned upside down after a loss at United in the FA Cup quarterfinals on March 17 was followed by a costly draw at Old Trafford in the league on April 7.

The Premier League is the only one of Europe's top five leagues where the title race is still bubbling. Germany's Bundesliga (champions Bayer Leverkusen), Italy's Serie A (Inter Milan) and France's Ligue 1 (Paris Saint-Germain) have been decided, while Real Madrid leads Barcelona by 11 points in Spain's La Liga.

EUROPEAN PLACES

Arsenal, City and Liverpool are locks for Champions League qualification, with fourth-place Aston Villa likely to join them. Tottenham is isolated in fifth, the reward for which is Europa League qualification.

The remaining intrigue, then, revolves around which teams finishes in sixth and seventh to likely earn a berth in the Europa Conference League. Manchester United, Newcastle and Chelsea are the teams occupying sixth to eighth places and three points separate them with four games left for each. West Ham and Bournemouth have outside shots in ninth and 10th, respectively.

Chelsea is in the best form, having lost just one of its last 11 games — though that was 5-0 at Arsenal.

If United drops to eighth, the team has a last chance to get into Europe by winning the FA Cup final against Man City a week after the Premier League finishes.

RELEGATION

The relegation battle looks like it will go to the final day of the season — and won't just be determined by what happens on the field.

With last-place Sheffield United already down, there are three teams fighting to avoid the two remaining relegation places: Nottingham Forest (26 points), Luton (25 points) and Burnley (24 points).

Each team has three games left and, significantly, two of them meet in the final round when Burnley hosts Forest.

Forest's current points total is subject to change, however, because the club has appealed against a four-point deduction for breaching the league's financial rules. The result of that appeal should be known before the end of the season, meaning Forest could recover some points based on the views of an independent panel.

If Burnley and Luton are also relegated, it means the three teams that came up last year lasted just one season before going back down to the Championship.

PROMOTION

There's one automatic promotion spot up for grabs heading into the final round of games in the second-tier Championship on Saturday.

Leicester has already clinched promotion and an immediate return to the Premier League. The team will go up as champions.

Ipswich or Leeds will join them.

Ipswich, which last played in the top flight in 2002, is currently in second place and three points ahead of third-place Leeds, whose American ownership group includes major-winning golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.

Ipswich hosts next-to-last Huddersfield, and Leeds is at home to fourth-place Southampton.

The teams placed third to sixth will compete in the playoffs for the third promotion spot. The playoff final is at Wembley Stadium on May 26.

Sports

Refugee Team for Paris Olympics Has 36 Athletes from 11 Countries across 12 Sports

The logo of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is pictured in front of the National Assembly in Paris, France, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)
The logo of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is pictured in front of the National Assembly in Paris, France, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)
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Refugee Team for Paris Olympics Has 36 Athletes from 11 Countries across 12 Sports

The logo of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is pictured in front of the National Assembly in Paris, France, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)
The logo of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is pictured in front of the National Assembly in Paris, France, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)

The Refugee Team for the Paris Olympics will feature 36 athletes from 11 countries in 12 sports.

They were picked from more than 70 scholarships, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said at the team announcement on Thursday.

Instead of competing under the Olympic flag, the refugees have their own emblem featuring a heart at its center, surrounded by arrows symbolizing how lost refugees can find their way back. The team will be known under the acronym EOR from the French name Équipe Olympique des Réfugiés.

"Having our own emblem creates a sense of belonging, and empowers us to also stand for the population of more than 100 million people who share this same experience," said Masomah Ali Zada of Afghanistan, the team chef de mission who competed in women’s cycling at the Tokyo Games. "I cannot wait to wear it proudly."

A total of 23 men and 13 women will compete in athletics, badminton, boxing, breaking, canoeing, cycling, judo, shooting, swimming, taekwondo, weightlifting and wrestling at the Games starting on July 24.

Boxer Cindy Ngamba and Ethiopian runner Farida Abaroge are among the women. Kasra Mehdipournejad, an Iranian taekwondo athlete living in Germany, and shooter Edilio Francisco Centeno Nieves from Venezuela are among the men.

"My Olympic dream is coming true," Mehdipournejad said.

On Tuesday, a third runner on the team was suspended for a positive doping test.

The refugee team was created by the IOC for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro to allow athletes to keep competing, even if they have been forced to leave their home countries.

There were 10 athletes in Rio, with Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini becoming the first to compete. Three years ago in Tokyo the number was 29 across 12 sports.

Sports

Tottenham Manager Postecoglou Jokes He’s Moving to Sweden for a Life without VAR 

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou looks on during his teams 3-2 loss against Arsenal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur against Arsenal FC in London, Britain, 28 April 2024. (EPA)
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou looks on during his teams 3-2 loss against Arsenal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur against Arsenal FC in London, Britain, 28 April 2024. (EPA)
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Tottenham Manager Postecoglou Jokes He’s Moving to Sweden for a Life without VAR 

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou looks on during his teams 3-2 loss against Arsenal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur against Arsenal FC in London, Britain, 28 April 2024. (EPA)
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou looks on during his teams 3-2 loss against Arsenal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur against Arsenal FC in London, Britain, 28 April 2024. (EPA)

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou joked Wednesday that he would move to Sweden because of its refusal to adopt VAR technology.

Most soccer leagues around the world use video assistant referees to determine offsides and other key calls. But Sweden is an outlier as the only one of Europe’s top-30 ranked leagues in holding out.

“Yeah, I’m moving there,” Postecoglou said. “I don’t have a job, I’m just moving there.”

VAR calls continue to be a contentious issue and despite Postecoglou’s concerns, his Tottenham team benefited from a major error earlier this season when Liverpool erroneously had a goal ruled out in a 2-1 loss to the Londoners.

The referees’ governing body in England quickly introduced changes to VAR after reviewing the errors that led to Luis Diaz having a goal disallowed, despite replays clearly showing he was onside.

But Postecoglou believes more reform is needed.

“I’d change a hell of a lot on it, but again I’ve said before that I think it’s changed the game materially, which I don’t think was the intention when it was brought in,” he said ahead of Spurs’ game against Chelsea in the Premier League on Thursday.

Sports

F1 Champion Senna Remembered on Imola Track 30 Years After His Death During San Marino GP 

People lay flowers at the grave of Brazilian F1 driver Ayrton Senna in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 1, 2024, during the 30th anniversary of his death. (AFP)
People lay flowers at the grave of Brazilian F1 driver Ayrton Senna in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 1, 2024, during the 30th anniversary of his death. (AFP)
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F1 Champion Senna Remembered on Imola Track 30 Years After His Death During San Marino GP 

People lay flowers at the grave of Brazilian F1 driver Ayrton Senna in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 1, 2024, during the 30th anniversary of his death. (AFP)
People lay flowers at the grave of Brazilian F1 driver Ayrton Senna in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 1, 2024, during the 30th anniversary of his death. (AFP)

The 30th anniversary of three-time F1 champion Ayrton Senna’s death was commemorated Wednesday with a memorial on the Imola track where he crashed during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali was joined Wednesday by hundreds of fans, politicians from Brazil and Italy, plus a representative from Austria to also recall fellow Formula One driver Roland Ratzenberger, who died a day earlier during qualifying.

At 2:17 p.m. (1217 GMT), a minute of silence was held and flowers laid down at the Tamburello curve to observe the exact time and place that the 34-year-old Senna crashed into a concrete wall at about 300 kph (185 mph).

Then flowers were also laid down at the Villeneuve corner only slightly further down the track where the 33-year-old Ratzenberger crashed.

Senna, the Brazilian driver who won F1 titles in 1988, 1990 and 1991, was leading the race in Imola when he crashed.

Ratzenberger was an F1 rookie from Austria.

“They are part of sports history and history in general for what they represented,” Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.

The attention around Senna’s death brought about safety improvements at the Imola track and throughout F1, resulting in shorter straights, more room around dangerous turns and less powerful engines.

Sports

Fiery Rublev Keeps a Cool Head to Move on in Madrid 

Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - May 1, 2024 Russia's Andrey Rublev celebrates winning his quarter final match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz. (Reuters)
Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - May 1, 2024 Russia's Andrey Rublev celebrates winning his quarter final match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz. (Reuters)
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Fiery Rublev Keeps a Cool Head to Move on in Madrid 

Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - May 1, 2024 Russia's Andrey Rublev celebrates winning his quarter final match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz. (Reuters)
Tennis - Madrid Open - Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain - May 1, 2024 Russia's Andrey Rublev celebrates winning his quarter final match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz. (Reuters)

Andrey Rublev surprised himself by managing to stay calm during an intense battle with Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid quarter-finals on Wednesday and the fiery Russian said his work on the mental side of the game was starting to pay off.

Rublev, who fought back from a set down to beat world number three Alcaraz 4-6 6-3 6-2, has struggled to keep his temper under control at times on tour.

The 26-year-old was defaulted in the Dubai Championships in March after a Russian-speaking official said he uttered an obscenity while screaming at a line judge, an accusation that the player denied.

In another match against Alcaraz in the ATP Finals last year, Rublev drew gasps from the Turin crown by repeatedly smashing his racket into his leg before wiping blood off his knee during a changeover.

He destroyed another racket after his shock defeat by Brandon Nakashima in Barcelona last month and had heated arguments with the chair umpire in Madrid last weekend, but the seventh seed said he was making efforts to address the issue.

"I can't believe I was able to stay calm throughout the match," Rublev told Sky Sports after downing defending champion Alcaraz. "I didn't say a word. Even I'm impressed by that."

Coming into Madrid on a four-match losing streak after early defeats in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Rublev looked back to his best against Alcaraz.

He said he had been working hard at staying cool in the heat of battle.

"I want to believe that I've been working on this because if not then I'm stupid," he added.

"After so many years, to not improve on this would mean that something is wrong with my head."

Rublev faces American Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals as he targets a second Masters title heading into the French Open that begins on May 26.

Sports

Bundesliga Pressure off Dortmund After Win over PSG 

Dortmund players celebrate with their supporters after winning the UEFA Champions League semi final, 1st leg match between Borussia Dortmund and Paris St Germain in Dortmund, Germany, 01 May 2024. (EPA)
Dortmund players celebrate with their supporters after winning the UEFA Champions League semi final, 1st leg match between Borussia Dortmund and Paris St Germain in Dortmund, Germany, 01 May 2024. (EPA)
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Bundesliga Pressure off Dortmund After Win over PSG 

Dortmund players celebrate with their supporters after winning the UEFA Champions League semi final, 1st leg match between Borussia Dortmund and Paris St Germain in Dortmund, Germany, 01 May 2024. (EPA)
Dortmund players celebrate with their supporters after winning the UEFA Champions League semi final, 1st leg match between Borussia Dortmund and Paris St Germain in Dortmund, Germany, 01 May 2024. (EPA)

The storm clouds that had been gathering for weeks over Borussia Dortmund lifted suddenly following their 1-0 Champions League semi-final first-leg win over Paris St Germain on Wednesday, with a spot in next season's top European club competition in the bag.

Coach Edin Terzic and his team had faced mounting criticism for weeks for their erratic domestic form, but they can now breathe a sigh of relief. They will go into next week's return leg with a slim advantage but equally importantly having earned Germany a fifth place in the competition for next season.

With three league games left to play, Dortmund are fifth, five behind fourth-placed RB Leipzig and 12 ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt in sixth, ensuring they are the beneficiaries of the additional spot.

Their domestic form this season has not matched their European success and with only one win in their last four Bundesliga matches, they looked set to miss out on next season's Champions League, especially after last week's 4-1 demolition by Leipzig.

They sensationally lost last season's league title on the final matchday.

But the atmosphere at the Signal Iduna Park on Saturday will be anything but subdued when they host Augsburg, with the prospect of a Champions League final and a spot in next season's competition enough to put a smile on every Dortmund fan's face.

"We covered up a miserable Bundesliga season with a good Champions League campaign," said Dortmund defender and Wednesday's man-of-the-match Mats Hummels.

"We are not shutting our eyes to this Bundesliga season but obviously we now want to go to Wembley."

The Champions League final in London could be a repeat of the 2013 edition when Dortmund lost to Bayern Munich in an all-German clash. The Bavarians on Tuesday drew 2-2 against Real Madrid in Munich in their first leg.

Bayern, who saw their 11-year league reign come to an end when Bayer Leverkusen secured the title last month, are in second place but also preoccupied with an ongoing search for a successor to coach Thomas Tuchel, who will leave at the end of the season.

They face in-form VfB Stuttgart, who are third five points behind, and in high spirits after securing their Champions League participation for next season following Dortmund's win that earned the fifth spot.

"Our VfB will play on European football's biggest stage next season," said club chairman Alexander Wehrle. "Qualifying for this event which promises magical European Cup nights for all fans is the result of excellent work from all involved."