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PSG Moves 6 Points Clear at Top of French league after Beating Lens 1-0

Ousmane Dembele of PSG runs with the ball during the French Ligue 1 soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and RC Lens in Paris, France, 02 November 2024. EPA/Franco Arland
Ousmane Dembele of PSG runs with the ball during the French Ligue 1 soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and RC Lens in Paris, France, 02 November 2024. EPA/Franco Arland
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PSG Moves 6 Points Clear at Top of French league after Beating Lens 1-0

Ousmane Dembele of PSG runs with the ball during the French Ligue 1 soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and RC Lens in Paris, France, 02 November 2024. EPA/Franco Arland
Ousmane Dembele of PSG runs with the ball during the French Ligue 1 soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and RC Lens in Paris, France, 02 November 2024. EPA/Franco Arland

Ousmane Dembélé's early goal was enough as defending champion Paris Saint-Germain beat Lens 1-0 to move six points clear at the top of the French league on Saturday.
Winger Bradley Barcola broke free down the left in the fourth minute and set up Dembélé with a low cross to the back post.
Barcola has been PSG's best attacking player this season. Near the end of the first half, he played a through ball to Marco Asensio but goalkeeper Brice Samba saved his angled shot, The Associated Press reported.
PSG failed to score a second goal, despite Lens having defender Abdukodir Khusanov sent off in the 59th for a reckless foul on Achraf Hakimi.
Dembélé’s return to form is a boost for coach Luis Enrique, whose team has struggled to score in the Champions League. PSG will host Atletico Madrid at Parc des Princes on Wednesday.
PSG took advantage of second-place Monaco's 1-0 home defeat against struggling Angers on Friday.
Also Saturday, Evann Guessand continued his scoring form as Nice won 1-0 at Brest to move up to fifth place, and struggling Saint-Etienne won 2-0 against midtable Strasbourg, with goals from central defender Mickael Nade and forward Ibrahim Sissoko.
After a 3-0 defeat to PSG last weekend, Marseille needs to appease its fans with a win at Nantes on Sunday.

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Sinner, Berrettini Lift Italy Past Australia and Back to the Davis Cup Final

Italy's Jannik Sinner returns the ball against Australia's Alex de Minaur during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Italy's Jannik Sinner returns the ball against Australia's Alex de Minaur during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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Sinner, Berrettini Lift Italy Past Australia and Back to the Davis Cup Final

Italy's Jannik Sinner returns the ball against Australia's Alex de Minaur during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Italy's Jannik Sinner returns the ball against Australia's Alex de Minaur during the Davis Cup semifinal at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini won matches Saturday in front of a supportive crowd to lift defending champion Italy past Australia 2-0 and back into the Davis Cup final.

Sinner extended his tour-level winning streak to 24 singles sets in a row by beating No. 9 Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4 after Berrettini came back to defeat Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-7 (6), 6-3, 7-5, The Associated Press reported.
“Hopefully this can give us confidence for tomorrow,” said Sinner, now 9-0 against de Minaur.
Italy will meet first-time finalist Netherlands on Sunday for the title. The Dutch followed up their victory over Rafael Nadal and Spain in the quarterfinals by eliminating Germany in the semifinals on Friday.
Italy, which got past Australia in last year's final, is trying to become the first country to win the Davis Cup twice in a row since the Czech Republic in 2012 and 2013. Italy’s women won the Billie Jean King Cup by defeating Slovakia in Malaga on Wednesday.
The much shorter trip for Italian fans than Australians meant the 9,200-seat arena sounded like a home environment Saturday for Berrettini, with repeated chants of “I-ta-lia!” or “Ole, ole, ole, ole! Matte’! Matte’!” amplified by megaphones and accompanied by drums and trumpets. Chair umpire James Keothavong repeatedly asked spectators to stop whistling as Kokkinakis was serving.
“We're in Spain,” Kokkinakis said, “but it felt like we were in Italy.”
Sinner received the same sort of backing, of course, although he might not have needed as much with the way he has played all year, including taking the title at the ATP Finals last weekend.
“It's an honor, it's a pleasure, to have Jannik with us,” Italian captain Filippo Volandri said.
The biggest suspense Saturday on the indoor hard court at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martina Carpena in southern Spain came in Berrettini vs. Kokkinakis.
Berrettini, the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2021, needed to put aside the way he gave away the opening set, wasting three chances to finish it, and managed to do just that. He grabbed the last three games of the match, breaking to lead 6-5, then closing it out with his 14th ace after 2 hours, 44 minutes.
The big-hitting Berrettini has been ranked as high as No. 6 and is currently No. 35 after missing chunks of time the past two seasons because of injuries or illness. He sat out two of this year’s four major tournaments and lost in the second round at each of the other two.
But when healthy, he is among the world’s top tennis players, capable of speedy serves and booming forehands. He was in control for much of the match against No. 77 Kokkinakis, who was the 2022 Australian Open men’s doubles champion with Nick Kyrgios and helped his country get past the United States in the quarterfinals Thursday.
Berrettini earned the first break to lead 6-5 in the opening set and was a point away while serving at 40-30. Kokkinakis saved that via a 21-stroke exchange that ended with Berrettini sending a forehand long, then ended up breaking back when the Italian missed again off that wing.
Then, ahead 6-4 in the tiebreaker, Berrettini had two more opportunities to own the set. But Kokkinakis — who saved four match points against Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals — saved one with a gutsy down-the-line backhand passing winner and the other with a 131 mph (212 kph) ace, part of a four-point run to close that set.
“It wasn’t easy to digest ... because I had so many chances,” Berrettini said.