Paolini Battles Past Shnaider at Italian Open, Alcaraz Sets Up Draper Clash

Jasmine Paolini of Italy celebrates after winning against Diana Shnaider of Russia in their women’s singles quarter final round match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Italy, 13 May 2025. EPA/FABIO FRUSTACI
Jasmine Paolini of Italy celebrates after winning against Diana Shnaider of Russia in their women’s singles quarter final round match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Italy, 13 May 2025. EPA/FABIO FRUSTACI
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Paolini Battles Past Shnaider at Italian Open, Alcaraz Sets Up Draper Clash

Jasmine Paolini of Italy celebrates after winning against Diana Shnaider of Russia in their women’s singles quarter final round match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Italy, 13 May 2025. EPA/FABIO FRUSTACI
Jasmine Paolini of Italy celebrates after winning against Diana Shnaider of Russia in their women’s singles quarter final round match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Italy, 13 May 2025. EPA/FABIO FRUSTACI

Jasmine Paolini became the first Italian woman to reach the Italian Open semi-finals since 2014 when she beat Russian world number 11 Diana Shnaider 6-7(1) 6-4 6-2 on Tuesday.

In a stunning first-set collapse, Paolini was 4-0 up but lost the next five games before Shnaider then forced a tiebreak, which the 21-year-old Russian dominated.

Backed into a corner, world number five Paolini mounted a comeback of her own in the second set, winning six successive games after trailing 4-0.

Down a break in the decider, French Open runner-up Paolini continued to show resilience with the crowd behind her to become the first Italian woman to reach the last four of the WTA 1000 event since doubles partner Sara Errani just over a decade ago.

Paolini, who reached the last four in Rome for the first time, will face Peyton Stearns for a spot in the final after the American knocked out Elina Svitolina 6-2 4-6 7-6(4), Reuters reported.

In the men's draw, world number one Jannik Sinner overcame Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(2) 6-3 to extend his winning streak to 24 matches, which started in October last year.

The 23-year-old continued his run of reaching the quarter-finals at every event played since the start of 2024.

Fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti, seeded eighth, powered to a 7-5 6-4 win against Daniil Medvedev to set up a quarter-final clash with defending champion Alexander Zverev, after the German second seed beat Frenchman Arthur Fils 7-6(3) 6-1.

Earlier on Tuesday, four-times Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz recovered from a second set blip to beat world number 24 Karen Khachanov 6-3 2-6 7-5 and reach the quarter-finals for the first time.

The third seed will next face Britain's world number five Jack Draper, who rallied from a set down to beat Frenchman Corentin Moutet 1-6 6-4 6-3.

Former Australian Open and US Open semi-finalist Khachanov started well and took a 3-1 lead before Alcaraz responded swiftly to level things up, making it 3-3 and sweeping the next three games to close out the opening set.

Despite being 3-2 down in the second set, Khachanov forced a decider — the first time the 28-year-old Russian had taken a set off Alcaraz in four meetings.

The Spaniard saw his lead slip away again after being up 4-1 in the third as Khachanov clawed his way back to draw level at 4-4, threatening an upset.

However, the 22-year-old Alcaraz steadied himself just in time, breaking Khachanov in the 12th game to clinch victory in two hours and 29 minutes.

"It feels amazing to get the win at the end against a really big and really tough guy like Khachanov," Alcaraz said.

"Physically I struggled a bit. Not any pain on any part of the body, but I was just tired. The match was really tough. I had to run a lot, so I'm just really proud of the way I fought for every ball."



Bayern Munich Advances in Club World Cup with 2-1 Win over Boca Juniors

Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group C - Bayern Munich v Boca Juniors - Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, US - June 20, 2025 Bayern Munich's Harry Kane celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group C - Bayern Munich v Boca Juniors - Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, US - June 20, 2025 Bayern Munich's Harry Kane celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
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Bayern Munich Advances in Club World Cup with 2-1 Win over Boca Juniors

Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group C - Bayern Munich v Boca Juniors - Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, US - June 20, 2025 Bayern Munich's Harry Kane celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group C - Bayern Munich v Boca Juniors - Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, US - June 20, 2025 Bayern Munich's Harry Kane celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)

Michael Olise fired Bayern Munich into the knockout stages of the Club World Cup, scoring in the 84th minute for a 2-1 win over Boca Juniors on Friday night.

German champion Bayern made it two wins in Group C and advanced to the round of 16 with a game to spare.

Olise secured the victory at Hard Rock Stadium after Miguel Merentiel had put Boca in position for a draw with a brilliant solo goal in the 66th.

Bayern, which tops the group, took the lead on Harry Kane's clinical finish in the 18th and went on to miss of a slew of chances before Merentiel's equalizer.

South American teams had been unbeaten in their first nine games of this expanded Club World Cup.

Bayern looked like it would be held until Olise's cool finish. Collecting Kane's layoff inside the box, the forward curled a powerful first-time effort low into the bottom corner.

Bayern has the luxury of resting players for its final group game against second-place Benfica on Tuesday, which could be bad news for Boca. Argentine giant Boca, which plays Auckland City, needs Bayern to beat Benfica to have any chance of advancing to the next round.

“We knew it wasn't going to be easy, we knew we were coming into a hostile environment, hot weather, it was tough. It's a massive tournament. We are playing against the best teams in the world. We just have to compete to our highest level and we should be able to beat most teams,” said Kane.

“We have to find a way (to advance). A draw would’ve been great but it’s up to us to compete and do our best and I would not be surprised if that happened,” said Boca Juniors coach Miguel Angel Russo.