Swiatek’s Struggles Continue as Title Defense in Rome Ended by Collinshttps://english.aawsat.com/sports/5141484-swiatek%E2%80%99s-struggles-continue-title-defense-rome-ended-collins
Swiatek’s Struggles Continue as Title Defense in Rome Ended by Collins
Poland's Iga Swiatek reacts during the women's singles match against US' Danielle Collins of the WTA Rome Open tennis tournament at Foro Italico in Rome on May 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Swiatek’s Struggles Continue as Title Defense in Rome Ended by Collins
Poland's Iga Swiatek reacts during the women's singles match against US' Danielle Collins of the WTA Rome Open tennis tournament at Foro Italico in Rome on May 10, 2025. (AFP)
Holder Iga Swiatek crashed out of the Italian Open to American Danielle Collins after a 6-1 7-5 third-round loss on Saturday in a major upset that will cost the Pole the world number two ranking as the defense of her French Open title looms.
Swiatek held a commanding 7-1 head-to-head record against Collins before the contest and yet another early defeat does not bode well for the 23-year-old, who has not won a tournament since her fourth triumph at Roland Garros last year.
"I played against Iga so many times ... When you play that many close matches and get this close and also play some of your best tennis and lose, I think you learn a lot," Collins, 31, said. "I feel like I applied that today, to the match."
Five-times Grand Slam champion Swiatek went 5-0 down in the opening set before getting on the board to avoid a bagel.
Collins was lethal from the baseline, mixing it up with forehand and backhand service return winners as she picked apart Swiatek's serve in an opening set that was one-way traffic.
The second was level at 4-4 as Swiatek showed flashes of brilliance, but 31-year-old 2022 Australian Open runner-up Collins showed no mercy, sealing victory in one hour and 44 minutes when a return went wide.
Collins fired 32 winners and converted six of eight break points while Swiatek, who had won the tournament three times in the last four years, made 22 unforced errors.
Swiatek has lost nine matches this year - as many as in all of 2024 - while she has not reached a claycourt final ahead of her bid to retain the French Open title later this month.
China Sprint Race Presents ‘Huge Challenge’ in F1’s New Erahttps://english.aawsat.com/sports/5249909-china-sprint-race-presents-%E2%80%98huge-challenge%E2%80%99-f1%E2%80%99s-new-era
Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 8, 2026 Drivers in action during the race. (Reuters)
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China Sprint Race Presents ‘Huge Challenge’ in F1’s New Era
Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 8, 2026 Drivers in action during the race. (Reuters)
Formula One's new era heads into its first sprint in Shanghai this weekend, with the Chinese Grand Prix promising a very different test to Melbourne, where George Russell led home a Mercedes one-two.
The Silver Arrows dominated the season-opener, Russell winning from Kimi Antonelli and followed home by the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in the first race under sweeping new regulations.
Lando Norris and McLaren struggled, the British world champion trailing home fifth and teammate Oscar Piastri failing to even start after crashing on his way to the grid.
Red Bull's four-time champion Max Verstappen carved his way through the field to sixth after starting 20th on the grid following a qualifying crash.
The Shanghai International Circuit, unlike the Albert Park track in Melbourne, has one long straight and several complexes of turns.
It will require a different approach to battery deployment and energy harvesting in the new cars, which have a 50-50 split between conventional and electrical power.
But with only one practice session before sprint qualifying on Friday, the teams will have little time to hone their set-ups and strategies.
Saturday morning will see the sprint race over 19 laps of the 5.451km circuit and grand prix qualifying in the afternoon.
Sunday's grand prix will be over 56 laps, and if the race in Melbourne is anything to go by, it could be very eventful.
"Shanghai is going to be important to be straight on point with deployment, with everything, because obviously we get only one practice and then we go into qualifying," said Antonelli.
"The rate of development is going to be massive and it's going to be important to not put any wrong step because the situation can flip very quickly."
Leclerc agreed: "To have a sprint race so early on in a season like this will be a huge challenge for everybody. It's going to be very tricky."
Race-winner Russell said his only reservation about the 2026 cars was a lack of control when the active front wing was opened up under the new "straight mode".
Introduced this season to reduce drag and give a boost of speed akin to the now-defunct DRS system, Russell said it made the cars skittish.
- 'Pretty big gap' -
"The only thing I would request from the FIA is that the front wing doesn't drop as aggressively," said Russell.
"When we open 'straight mode' we will have lots of understeer, and when I was behind Charles and I was trying to duck out of his slipstream it was like my front wing wasn't working.
"So, I think from a safety aspect that would make the racing safer, better. I don't see a downside of doing it."
Norris was highly critical of the new cars.
McLaren, so dominant last season, were off the pace all weekend in Australia.
"The gap to the guys ahead is pretty big and we clearly have a lot of work to do," said the world champion.
Verstappen admitted Red Bull also have problems to address.
"I had some issues at the start with the battery so as soon as the clutch was dropped, I had no power, so that is something we need to understand," said the Dutchman.
"It was a decent comeback from P20 and we will work as a team to close the gap further."
New to the grid, Cadillac were encouraged by Sergio Perez finishing 16th on the team's much-anticipated debut.
"It was great to see the Cadillac Formula 1 Team bring its first car home," said team principal Graeme Lowdon.
Sinner Edges Into Indian Wells Quarters, Sabalenka Powers Past Osakahttps://english.aawsat.com/sports/5249905-sinner-edges-indian-wells-quarters-sabalenka-powers-past-osaka
Sinner Edges Into Indian Wells Quarters, Sabalenka Powers Past Osaka
World number two Jannik Sinner survived a stern test from Joao Fonseca on Tuesday to reach the Indian Wells quarter-finals, while women's world number one Aryna Sabalenka eased past 16th seed Naomi Osaka 6-2 6-4 to progress to the women's last eight.
Sinner was pushed hard by the 19-year-old Brazilian, trailing 6-3 in the first set before rallying to close out the match 7-6(6) 7-6(4).
"I am very happy winning this match," Reuters quoted Sinner as saying.
"Joao is an incredible talent. He was serving really well. I was trying to be as aggressive as possible and that was the key to get through against the incredible talent."
The Italian will now meet the home favorite Learner Tien on Friday for a place in the last four.
"I feel he is a very consistent player and I am very happy to face him again. He has improved a lot since the last time we met," Sinner said of his American opponent.
Meanwhile, in the first meeting between the two four-time Grand Slam champions since 2018 - when Osaka beat Sabalenka at the US Open en route to her maiden major title - the Belarusian's power proved too much for the former world No. 1 on Tuesday.
"Yeah that's crazy, for so many years we only played once. I'm pretty sure we are playing many more matches, she's coming back playing great tennis," Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. "I'm pretty happy for the result today, much better than last time."
Mar 10, 2026; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Naomi Osaka (JPN) and Aryna Sabalenka (BEL) embrace after their fourth round match in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Osaka began confidently with a strong opening service game, but top seed Sabalenka soon found her rhythm and capitalized on a brief dip from the Japanese, breaking for 2-1 after two double faults.
The Belarusian tightened her grip with a barrage of powerful backhands to lead 5-2, then served out the set comfortably with an ace.
After a series of solid holds from both players early in the second, Sabalenka again used her firepower to take control, breaking again for a 4-2 lead that proved decisive in closing out the win and continuing her run in the tournament without dropping a set.
"I'm happy that I put so much pressure on her today, that I brought variety to the court," Sabalenka said. "My serve worked well. On the return I played really great tennis. Happy with my performance for sure."
Last year's runner-up Sabalenka will continue her quest for a first title in the California desert against Canada's Victoria Mboko, who sailed past higher-ranked American Amanda Anisimova 6-4 6-1.
It will be a rematch of an Australian Open round-of-16 between the two, which Sabalenka won in straight sets.
Elsewhere, Australia's Talia Gibson enjoyed the biggest win of her career, beating Italy's world No. 7 Jasmine Paolini 7-5 2-6 6-1 in her first match against a top-10 player.
The 21-year-old, playing her first WTA 1000 main draw, also became the first qualifier in 11 years to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament.
"I just have a confidence in the way I'm playing," Gibson said. "I'm in shock."
Czech Republic's Linda Noskova, the 14th seed, sailed past Alexandra Eala in just 55 minutes with a 6-2 6-0 win to book a quarter-final meeting with Gibson.
In the men's draw, Alexander Zverev saw off Frances Tiafoe 6-3 6-4, converting two of three break points and firing 14 aces to seal his ninth win over the 21st-seeded American.
He will next face France's Arthur Fils as he looks to reach his first Indian Wells semi-final.
Fils earlier produced a stunning 6-3 7-6(9) win over Canadian ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, saving five set points and rallying from 0-5 down in the second-set tiebreak to book a place in the quarter-finals for the second consecutive year.
Iranian Women’s Football Team Member Changes Mind on Asylum in Australiahttps://english.aawsat.com/sports/5249898-iranian-women%E2%80%99s-football-team-member-changes-mind-asylum-australia
Members of Iran's women's football team walk as they arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport after taking part in the AFC Women's Asian Cup Australia 2026 tournament in Australia, in Sepang on March 11, 2026. (AFP)
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Iranian Women’s Football Team Member Changes Mind on Asylum in Australia
Members of Iran's women's football team walk as they arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport after taking part in the AFC Women's Asian Cup Australia 2026 tournament in Australia, in Sepang on March 11, 2026. (AFP)
An Iranian women's football team member who sought sanctuary in Australia has changed her mind after speaking with teammates, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Wednesday.
Seven members of Iran's visiting women's football team had claimed asylum in Australia after they were branded "traitors" at home over a pre-match protest.
One player and one support member sought sanctuary before the side flew out of Sydney to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday evening in emotional scenes, joining five other athletes who had already claimed asylum.
Burke said in parliament on Wednesday that he had since been advised one of the group "had spoken to some of the teammates that left and changed their mind".
"She had been advised by her teammates and encouraged to contact the Iranian embassy," he said.
"As a result of that it meant the Iranian embassy now knew the location of where everybody was."
The remaining players have been moved from a safe house to another location, he said.
The travelling squad arrived in Malaysia early Wednesday morning after flying out from Sydney, AFP photos at Kuala Lumpur International Airport showed.
There were fears male minders travelling with the team might try to prevent other women seeking asylum.
Burke said each player was separated from the squad at Sydney Airport and given time to mull the offer in private.
Australian officials had "made sure this was her decision" he said, referring to the Iran team member who had changed her mind.
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