Altmaier Stuns Zverev and Moves on to Second Round of Mexican Open 

Germany's Daniel Altmaier celebrates victory over Germany's Alexander Zverev during the Mexico ATP Open 500 men's round of 32 tennis match at Arena GNP Seguros in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico on February 27, 2024. (AFP)
Germany's Daniel Altmaier celebrates victory over Germany's Alexander Zverev during the Mexico ATP Open 500 men's round of 32 tennis match at Arena GNP Seguros in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico on February 27, 2024. (AFP)
TT

Altmaier Stuns Zverev and Moves on to Second Round of Mexican Open 

Germany's Daniel Altmaier celebrates victory over Germany's Alexander Zverev during the Mexico ATP Open 500 men's round of 32 tennis match at Arena GNP Seguros in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico on February 27, 2024. (AFP)
Germany's Daniel Altmaier celebrates victory over Germany's Alexander Zverev during the Mexico ATP Open 500 men's round of 32 tennis match at Arena GNP Seguros in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico on February 27, 2024. (AFP)

Daniel Altmaier pulled off a major upset on Tuesday, beating top seeded Alexander Zverev in a battle of German players to qualify for the second round of the Mexican Open.

The 27-year-old Altmaier and world's 57th ranked player defeated his countryman for the first time in three tries in 2:26 hours and will play Miomir Kecmanovic next.

Zverev, sixth in the ATP rankings, lost a seven-match winning streak against German players. His previous loss against one was in 2019, when he fell to Dustin Brow, in Stuttgart.

Earlier, second-seeded Holger Rune eased past American Michael Mmoh 6-2, 6-3 and advanced to the second round.

Rune, ranked seventh in the ATP, needed 92 minutes to dispatch Mmoh, who made his way into the main draw through the qualification tournament.

The 20-year-old Rune, from Denmark, reached the semifinals in Acapulco last year and now will meet Aleksandar Kovacevic, who took care of Jordan Thompson 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Earlier, fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Roman Safiullin 6-3, 6-4 and moved on to the second round where he will face Flavio Cobolli.

The 25-year-old Greek reached the semifinals last week in Los Cabos, Mexico, and is trying to win his first career 500 tournament.

Also Tuesday, Frances Tiafoe, seeded eighth, rallied to beat Max Purcell 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. He moved on to face Dominik Koepfer, who took care of Terence Atmane 6-4, 4—6, 6-0.

Tiafoe is the highest-ranked American player in contention in the tournament after fourth-seeded Taylor Fritz and seventh-seeded Tommy Paul were knocked out on Monday.

In another result, Casper Ruud outlasted Christopher Eubanks 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 and moved on to the second round.

Ruud is going to play against Dusan Lajovic, who beat local Rodrigo Pacheco 6-2, 6-2.



Sporting Sack Pereira, Borges Appointed as Replacement

Sporting Lisbon's Portuguese coach Joao Pereira is pictured during the Portuguese League football match between Gil Vicente FC and Sporting CP at the at the Cidade de Barcelos stadium in Barcelos, on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Sporting Lisbon's Portuguese coach Joao Pereira is pictured during the Portuguese League football match between Gil Vicente FC and Sporting CP at the at the Cidade de Barcelos stadium in Barcelos, on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
TT

Sporting Sack Pereira, Borges Appointed as Replacement

Sporting Lisbon's Portuguese coach Joao Pereira is pictured during the Portuguese League football match between Gil Vicente FC and Sporting CP at the at the Cidade de Barcelos stadium in Barcelos, on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Sporting Lisbon's Portuguese coach Joao Pereira is pictured during the Portuguese League football match between Gil Vicente FC and Sporting CP at the at the Cidade de Barcelos stadium in Barcelos, on December 22, 2024. (AFP)

Sporting have appointed Rui Borges as head coach, the Portuguese champions announced on Thursday, following the sacking of Joao Pereira.

Sporting said Borges has signed a contract until June 2026, with an option to further extend it by a year.

Pereira, who took over after Ruben Amorim's departure to Manchester United in November, was in charge for eight matches, of which Sporting won just three.

Under the former Portugal and Sporting defender, the Lisbon club suffered successive Champions League defeats and fell to second in the Primeira Liga standings behind cross-town rivals Benfica.

Pereira's replacement Borges takes charge of the club after stepping down from his role at fellow Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes.

Sporting paid Vitoria a settlement of 4.1 million euros ($4.26 million) for the 43-year-old's services.

Borges, who has coached a string of Portuguese clubs, took charge of Vitoria in May. He guided them to the knockout stages of the Conference League, where they finished the group stage as one of only two unbeaten clubs alongside England's Chelsea.

Sporting next host Benfica in a top-of-the-table clash on Sunday.