TENNIS
Federer advances
Roger Federer defeated Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6 (5) to advance to the final of the Gerry Weber Open at Halle, Germany, for the 11th time on Saturday. Chasing his ninth title at the grass-court tournament, Federer was serving for the match when he was broken by the 21-year-old Russian. Khachanov then missed two set points before Federer took it to the tiebreaker. Federer saved four of the six break points he faced overall, while converting three of his five opportunities. The 35-year-old Swiss will face fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev or Richard Gasquet in today’s final. Federer had a busy start to the year — winning at the Australian Open to take his 18th Grand Slam title — and his decision to skip the clay-court season to recuperate appears to be paying off with a view to Wimbledon, where he is a seven-time champion.
Cilic, Lopez move up
Marin Cilic and Feliciano Lopez secured returns to the final at Queen’s after hard-fought three-set victories in the last four of the Wimbledon warm-up event on Saturday. Cilic, the 2012 champion, recovered from having his serve broken for the first time in four matches this week in London to beat Gilles Muller 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Lopez gained a measure of revenge for his loss to Grigor Dimitrov in the 2014 final by beating the Bulgarian 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 in the second semifinal, which was delayed midmatch by rain.
Kvitova reaches final
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova beat Lucie Safarova in the Aegon Classic semifinals on Saturday to reach the first final since her playing hand was injured in a knife attack at her home last year. The left-handed Czech dominated from the start against compatriot Safarova, who retired at 6-1, 1-0 down. The tournament’s other Grand Slam winner, former French Open champion Garbine Muguruza, plays unseeded Australian Ashleigh Barty in the second semifinal.
SOCCER
Russia eliminated
Host nation Russia fought valiantly effort but could not avoid early elimination at the Confederations Cup after a 2-1 loss to Mexico on Saturday, a result that secured the Mexicans in the semifinals of the World Cup warm-up tournament. Portugal also advanced from Group A after beating last-place New Zealand in St. Petersburg. Needing a victory to advance from its difficult group, the hosts played well and took the lead with a goal by Alexander Samedov in the first half, but the experienced Mexicans equalized with Nestor Araujo before halftime and secured the victory early in the second with a goal by Hirving Lozano after a blunder by Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev. The Russians had plenty of chances, but poor finishing kept them from earning a better result. Several players missed clear scoring opportunities throughout the match in front of 41,585 fans at Kazan Arena. Mexico had a second-half goal by defender Hector Moreno disallowed for offside after video review.
HORSE RACING
Queen denied a winner
Queen Elizabeth II was denied a winner on the final day of Royal Ascot when Dartmouth failed to retain the Hardwicke Stakes, losing out to one of Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien’s two victorious horses on Saturday. Dartmouth won the same race in 2016 for his famous owner by outsprinting Highland Reel, but faded to fourth this time after briefly holding the lead. Idaho — the brother of Highland Reel — came through late for a win for O’Brien at odds of 9-2. With 11-8 favorite September also winning the Chesham Stakes for O’Brien, the champion trainer from Ireland finished with a meeting-high six victories. The Tin Man won the day’s signature race, the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, but only after a steward’s inquiry over potential interference with the horses who placed second and third.
Irap wins in Ohio
Irap, ridden by Julien Leparoux, got his nose down on the wire to nip Louisiana Derby winner Girvin and jockey Mike Smith to win the Grade III $500,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown in North Randall, Ohio, on Saturday. Irap, 18th in the Kentucky Derby, wore down Girvin in the stretch after Girvin, 13th in the Kentucky Derby, opened a clear lead. Irap ($7.60) was sixth, 2 lengths behind the leaders in a bunched-up field. Leparoux guided Irap three wide for a clear run as Girvin turned back his challengers. Untrapped, third in the Rebel Stakes and sixth in the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, finished third.
MOTOR SPORTS
Penske dominates start
Team Penske will have a stranglehold on the first two rows of the IndyCar race today at Road America near Elkhart Lake, Wis. Helio Castroneves won the pole at qualifying on Saturday, turning in a lap time of 1:41.30. It was his 50th career pole, and third of the season. Castroneves beat out teammate Will Power by .06 seconds to take the pole. Power won last year’s race at the rural Wisconsin road course. Two more Penske drivers will start in the second row after Josef Newgarden finished third and Simon Pagenaud came in fourth. Penske drivers have also turned in the fast practice times all weekend. Points leader Scott Dixon will start fifth, with Graham Rahal starting sixth. All six of the top drivers are separated by 49 points atop the crowded season leaderboard.
TRACK AND FIELD
U.S. depth bodes well for London
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Olympic 100-meter hurdles gold medalist didn’t race. The bronze medalist couldn’t make the team.
Still, they’re thinking a red, white and blue sweep in the event at the London world championships. Just shows the depth of the hurdles.
World-record holder Keni Harrison used a strong start to win her first U.S. outdoor track and field championship Saturday. Nia Ali, the silver medalist at the Rio de Janeiro Games, was second and Christina Manning took third. Because Harrison already had a wild-card berth into worlds in August, 2008 Olympic gold medalist Dawn Harper-Nelson also made the hurdles squad courtesy of her fourth-place finish.
Harrison finished in 12.60 seconds to beat Ali by a 0.08 margin.
In Rio, the 1-2-3 hurdles finish was led by Brianna Rollins, who received a one-year suspension in April for repeated failures to disclose her whereabouts to anti-doping officials. Rollins’ suspension is retroactive to Sept. 27, 2016, the date of her last missed whereabouts report. Also missing from the world team will be Kristi Castlin, the bronze medalist in Rio who wound up sixth in the final.
Harrison went all out despite already having a safety net to worlds thanks to her Diamond League title. She needed the work after breaking her left hand while warming up for a hurdles race this spring.
Some of the highlights of Day 3 at the national championship:
Pole vaulter Sam Kendricks became a member of the six-meter club (19 feet, 8 ¼ inches) in his victory.
Former University of Colorado runners Jenny Simpson (1,500) and Emma Coburn (steeplechase) earned national titles. Another former Buffalo, 31-year-old Sara Vaughn, finished third in the 1,500.
Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz recently recovered from a viral infection and an adductor injury that left him wondering how well he would be able to compete in the 1,500. He made the team, but couldn’t catch Robby Andrews down the stretch.
Odds and ends: Quanera Hayes won the 400 in a world-leading time of 49.72. … Fred Kerley of Texas A&M held off Gil Roberts to capture the 400 title. Baylor’s Wil London III was third. … The field events winners included Raven Saunders (shot put), Tianna Bartoletta (long jump), Riley Dolezal (javelin) and Mason Finley (discus).
Sports on 06/25/2017