Cristiano Ronaldo Nets Another Hat Trick in Saudi Arabia 

Football - Saudi Pro League - Abha v Al-Nassr - Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City, Abha, Saudi Arabia - April 2, 2024 Al-Nassr's Abdulmajeed Al-Sulayhim celebrates scoring their fifth goal with Cristiano Ronaldo and teammates. (Reuters)
Football - Saudi Pro League - Abha v Al-Nassr - Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City, Abha, Saudi Arabia - April 2, 2024 Al-Nassr's Abdulmajeed Al-Sulayhim celebrates scoring their fifth goal with Cristiano Ronaldo and teammates. (Reuters)
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Cristiano Ronaldo Nets Another Hat Trick in Saudi Arabia 

Football - Saudi Pro League - Abha v Al-Nassr - Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City, Abha, Saudi Arabia - April 2, 2024 Al-Nassr's Abdulmajeed Al-Sulayhim celebrates scoring their fifth goal with Cristiano Ronaldo and teammates. (Reuters)
Football - Saudi Pro League - Abha v Al-Nassr - Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City, Abha, Saudi Arabia - April 2, 2024 Al-Nassr's Abdulmajeed Al-Sulayhim celebrates scoring their fifth goal with Cristiano Ronaldo and teammates. (Reuters)

Cristiano Ronaldo notched his second hat trick in the space of 72 hours as Al-Nassr routed Abha 8-0 in the Saudi Pro League on Tuesday.

The five-time Ballon D’Or winner scored three goals and recorded two assists in the first half for the nine-time Saudi Arabian champions.

The hat trick was his third of the league season following his treble in Saturday’s 5-1 win over Al-Tai. The Portugal star leads the league with 29 goals.

Ronaldo’s first two goals Tuesday came from free-kicks. With 11 minutes on the clock, he opened the scoring with a low shot from a central position just outside the area. The second came 10 minutes later when he curled the ball around the wall from the left side.

Ronaldo then assisted Sadio Mané for Al-Nassr’s third just after the half-hour, pulling the ball back from the left for the former Liverpool forward to score.

Three minutes before the break, Ronaldo then completed the hat trick with a beautiful chip from outside the area as he ran toward goal. There was still enough time in the first half for Ronaldo to slip the ball to his right for Abdulmajeed Al-Sulayhim to score into an open goal from close range.

The star was taken off at the break though Al-Nassr continued to find the target. Saudi Arabian international Abdulrahman Ghareeb added a sixth soon after the restart and substitute Abdulaziz Al-Aliwa scored two more.

Despite the win, Al-Nassr is still in second, 12 points behind runaway leader Al-Hilal with eight games remaining.

Al-Hilal announced earlier in the day that striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, second behind Ronaldo with 22 goals, is likely to miss the rest of the season through injury.



Paolini Becomes First Italian in 11 Years to Reach Rome Final

Jasmine Paolini of Italy celebrates after winning the semi-final tennis match against Peyton Stearns of the United States at the Italian Open at the Foro Italico, in Rome, Thursday, May 15, 2025, (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Jasmine Paolini of Italy celebrates after winning the semi-final tennis match against Peyton Stearns of the United States at the Italian Open at the Foro Italico, in Rome, Thursday, May 15, 2025, (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
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Paolini Becomes First Italian in 11 Years to Reach Rome Final

Jasmine Paolini of Italy celebrates after winning the semi-final tennis match against Peyton Stearns of the United States at the Italian Open at the Foro Italico, in Rome, Thursday, May 15, 2025, (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Jasmine Paolini of Italy celebrates after winning the semi-final tennis match against Peyton Stearns of the United States at the Italian Open at the Foro Italico, in Rome, Thursday, May 15, 2025, (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Jasmine Paolini became the first Italian woman in more than a decade to reach the final of her home Italian Open when she beat American Peyton Stearns 7-5 6-1 on Thursday.

Paolini is the first Italian to advance to the final in Rome since her doubles partner Sara Errani lost to Serena Williams in 2014.

Paolini had found herself a set and 4-0 down to Diana Shnaider in her quarter-final tie before storming to victory and once again the world number five had a slow start in the opening set before mounting a comeback.

"I am very happy, I don't know what to say! It's a dream to be here, it's a dream to play in Italy, it's a dream to be able to play the final," the 29-year-old said, according to Reuters.

Any hopes of a quick start for Paolini were put to rest when Stearns jumped into a 3-0 lead amid muted applause from the home crowd as the Italian soon found herself 4-1 down.

The American looked comfortable and poised to take the opening set before Paolini clawed her way back as she saved set points to level it at 5-5, pumping her fist with a triumphant scream that got the crowd roaring again.

The comeback was complete when Paolini, having won four games in a row, took the opening set after more than an hour of play.

The momentum was firmly with Paolini as she broke Stearns for a fifth time to go 4-1 up in the second set and the deflated American had no answer as the Italian's winners whizzed past her.

Stearns fired a forehand wide on match point as the crowd erupted and Paolini raised her arms in celebration.

"You (the crowd) gave me a boost because today it was a bit of an uphill start and I struggled at the beginning, thank goodness you were there," she added.

"We won this match together. Point after point I managed to fight, to turn it around, even if at the beginning I did not have a good feeling. But I am happy with the way I managed to turn this match around."