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Sinner swamps Auger-Aliassime in Cincy | The Express Tribune

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Sinner swamps Auger-Aliassime in Cincy | The Express Tribune



CINCINNATI:

Jannik Sinner “felt great on the court” as he annihilated Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-0, 6-2 on Thursday to reach the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open semi-finals with his 25th straight hardcourt match victory.

The world number one powered through a rapid-fire opening set and overcame a wobble as he started the second set by dropping serve.

The defending champion prevailed in a brief 71 minutes as he claimed an eighth victory in a row at this event and his 30th this season.

“I felt great on the court today, you could see that,” said the Italian, who turns 24 on Saturday. “But every day can be different. Let’s see what I can do in the semis.”

Sinner, playing his first tournament since his Wimbledon triumph, will face either French qualifier Terence Atmane or Danish seventh seed Holger Rune for a place in the final.

Auger-Aliassime meekly lost the opening set after less than 30 minutes, delivering three double-faults in the final game.

After dropping his serve early in the second Sinner broke back to level at 2-all, eventually advancing as Auger-Aliassime coughed up his eighth double fault on match point.

“I served well today, that was the key for me,” Sinner said. “I had a small drop in the second set and I’m happy that I broke back. He moves and serves well, he’s difficult to play.”

Ben Shelton the fifth seed coming off a title in Toronto, finished up the last of the men’s fourth-round matches with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Jiri Lehecka, punctuated by back-to-back aces to yield three match points.

Shelton came good on his second as Lehecka drilled a return wide.

“I’m hungry, I’m in a good rhythm and the body feels good,” said Shelton, who will face third-seeded Alexander Zverev for the third time this season when they meet in the quarter-finals.

Zverev has won all three of their matches, including a quarter-final here a year ago.

In women’s action, French Open champion Coco Gauff beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

The second-seeded American’s game showed minor rust after a bye in the previous round.

“I could have maybe made some more first serves in that second set, but overall, I had a lot of aces and unreturnables,” said Gauff, the 2023 Cincinnati champion who went on to win the US Open title that year.

“I’m happy considering where (my serve) was last week. I’m always trying to get better, but also just trying to take the little wins along the way.”

“I’m just trying to be happy with where I’m at now, but still doing the things I need to do to improve.”

Gauff, who was broken once in each set herself, finally secured a spot in the last eight with a concluding break of the 61st-ranked Italian’s serve as Bronzetti hit long after 79 minutes on court.

Gauf next takes on seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, who crushed 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-1, 6-2.

Krejcikova had treatment on her left foot in the second set and her movement was clearly hampered.

Paolini, the 2024 Roland Garros and Wimbledon finalist, won seven straight games on the way to a 4-0 second-set lead and rallied from 0-30 down in the final game to advance.

“She’s a great player and can do anything she wants with the ball,” Paolini said. “But I don’t think she was at 100% today.”

Gauff will play Paolini – whom she beat here two years ago on the way to the title – in her third 1000-level quarter-final of the season after Madrid and Rome.



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Son Heung-Min nails 1st pitch at Dodger Stadium

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Son Heung-Min nails 1st pitch at Dodger Stadium


Star LAFC recruit Son Heung-Min is settling into life in Los Angeles brilliantly.

After netting his debut goal for the club last Saturday — a stunning 30-yard free kick against FC Dallas no less — the South Korea captain capped a fine week by throwing the ceremonial first pitch at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.

Ahead of the Dodgers hosting Cincinnati Reds, the former Premier League star stepped up to the plate and launched a finely arced right-handed strike, much to the delight of the fans at the stadium.

Son’s pitch comes just days after BTS star V also threw the ceremonial first pitch in LA. We’ll leave it up to you to decide which Korean superstars’ throw was best.



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Travis Kelce calls for Shedeur Sanders to start for Browns amid controversy: ‘Give the people what they want’

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Travis Kelce calls for Shedeur Sanders to start for Browns amid controversy: ‘Give the people what they want’


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Travis Kelce has spoken out about the ongoing controversy over Shedeur Sanders‘ role with the Cleveland Browns.

During his “New Heights” podcast this week, the Kansas City Chiefs star said he believes the Browns should start Sanders, who is third on the team’s depth chart behind veteran Joe Flacco and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel. 

Travis Kelce spoke about Shedeur Sanders’ role with the Browns on the latest episode of the “New Heights” podcast, which aired before the official start of the NFL season. (Imagn)

“Give the people what they want, in terms of the Browns fans. Start Shedeur. … Put him in coach,” Kelce said. “Give the people what they want. The world wants to see him go out there, and not only play, but have success. At this point, guys are rooting for him. This isn’t anything against Dillon. This isn’t anything against Joe. I’m just saying the excitement is there for [Sanders] to go out there. He’s going to put eyes on the screen. He’s going to bring people to the game. 

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“I would love to f—ing see it, man.” 

On the contrary, Kelce’s brother and co-host, Jason Kelce, defended the team naming Joe Flacco as the starter. 

“[Browns head coach Kevin] Stefanski and the Browns are trying to do the thing that they feel gives them the best chance to win football games,” Jason said. “If the Browns and Kevin Stefanski felt their best option and the most confident option they had to win games was Shedeur Sanders, they would be playing him.” 

Still, Jason conceded that he “wants” to see Sanders play. 

“What do I want? I want to see Shedeur Sanders,” Jason said. 

Jason also rejected the “conspiracies” surrounding the situation as to why Sanders is as low on the depth chart as he is. 

Criticism and conspiracy theories directed at the Browns reemerged after the team’s preseason finale on Saturday. 

Sanders entered the game in the third quarter and completed three of six passes for 14 yards, while taking five sacks for a combined loss of 41 yards against the Los Angeles Rams. He netted minus-27 yards for Cleveland before being pulled from the game on the final drive and replaced by veteran Tyler Huntley. 

Huntley led the Browns’ offense on a game-winning field goal drive, and the Browns won 19-17.

It was a far cry from Sanders’ first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers Aug. 8, when he threw for two touchdowns and was praised by fans and sports stars, including LeBron James and Dawn Staley. 

However, many fans and pundits were quick to defend Sanders for his rough outing on Saturday and blamed the Browns’ coaching for putting Sanders in a position where he had to rely on backup teammates while also calling questionable plays. 

EX-NBA PLAYER MAKES SHEDEUR SANDERS-LEBRON JAMES COMPARISON AFTER QB’S PRESEASON DEBUT

Jason Kelce broadcasting NFL game

Jason Kelce on the ESPN postseason countdown set during the 2025 Pro Bowl Games at Camping World Stadium Feb. 2, 2025.  (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)

Former NFL quarterback Derek Carr questioned why Sanders wasn’t left in the game to finish the final drive. 

“I need to understand why we don’t get to see Shedeur Sanders run this 2-minute drill? Wouldn’t you want to see your young QB operate in this situation? Get him more reps for the future? I didn’t see the whole game so maybe he already showed enough? Help me understand this…” Carr wrote on X. 

Sports talk show host Skip Bayless posted a 16-minute rant in defense of Sanders on X, while condemning the Browns for their handling of the quarterback. 

“They sabotaged it. They rigged it against him today, putting him in with third- and fourth-stringers, fifth-stringers. You got no shot at quarterback,” Bayless said. 

Other users on social media leveled similar criticisms at the Browns, with some speculating that the obstacles being put in front of the quarterback are intentional. 

Prior to that game, NFL Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson stoked conspiracy theories related to Sanders in a recent interview, claiming that NFL teams were “told not to” draft Sanders to “make an example” of the quarterback when he fell to the fifth round of the NFL Draft in April. 

“I tell you this much, what I heard from someone that’s in the NFL [is] that the NFL told [teams], ‘Don’t draft him, do not draft him,'” Dickerson said in a recent interview on the “Roggin and Rodney” show on AM 570 LA Sports. 

“‘We’re going to make an example out of him.’ And this came from a very good source, a very good source. They were going to have him not get drafted to basically show you, ‘This is what happens when you do this.’ I mean, look, the NFL’s got all kinds of power. They do all kinds of stuff.” 

Sanders’ slide out of the first round shocked many, including President Donald Trump, who condemned the league’s owners for passing on the quarterback in a Truth Social post.

ESPN host Stephen A. Smith revealed a text message from an associate who compared the situation to Colin Kaepernick being out of the NFL since 2016, suggesting “collusion.” 

“‘This is a bad look for the NFL. This feels like Kaepernick-level collusion,'” Smith said of the content of the text, adding the situation goes beyond “talent evaluation.” 

“All the hard work the NFL League Office puts in to eradicate these kinds of perceptions, only to turn around and watch as the OWNERS look like they’re colluding, messing up everything. What has been done to Shedeur will outshine everything else in this draft. We’ll never believe this is about just talent evaluation again.” 

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Shedeur Sanders on the sideline vs Eagles

Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders against the Philadelphia Eagles during a game at Lincoln Financial Field. (Kyle Ross/Imagn Images)

Sanders was eventually taken by the Browns on the third and final day of the draft with the 144th pick. The quarterback was initially considered a possible contender for the first overall pick early in the draft process after finishing his final season at Colorado. 

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Mike Vrabel is back to try to help the Patriots recapture their glory days

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