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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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Huskers earn top overall seed in volleyball tourney

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Huskers earn top overall seed in volleyball tourney


Undefeated Nebraska earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament bracket released Sunday.

The five-time national champion Huskers (30-0) have dominated this season, dropping just seven sets. They lead Division I in hitting percentage at .352.

Dani Busboom Kelly, who won NCAA titles as both a Nebraska player and assistant, took over at her alma mater this season after longtime Huskers coach John Cook retired. Busboom Kelly led Louisville to the NCAA final in 2024, where the Cardinals lost to Penn State.

The other No. 1 seeds are Kentucky, Texas and Pitt. The Wildcats have won one NCAA title, and the Longhorns have four. The Panthers reached the final four the past four seasons but lost in the semifinals each time.

Pitt and Stanford finished tied atop the ACC at 18-2, and the Cardinal won their head-to-head matchup 3-2 at Stanford on Nov. 14. But the Panthers’ overall body of work secured them the last No. 1 seed, while nine-time NCAA champion Stanford is the No. 2 seed in Texas’ region.

SEC regular-season and tournament champion Kentucky defeated Texas 3-2 in the conference tournament final. They would face each other in the national semifinals should they advance that far.

Defending national champion Penn State, the only school that has appeared in every NCAA tournament dating back to the event’s start in 1981, is a No. 8 seed in Texas’ quarter of the bracket. St. Thomas (Minnesota) and Toledo are both making their first appearance in the tournament.

The Big 12 led all leagues with 10 teams in the field, the Big Ten has nine, the ACC seven and the SEC five.

Early-round matches will be held from Dec. 4 to 6 on campus sites. The regionals, scheduled for Dec. 11-14, will be hosted by the four highest seeds still standing in each quarter of the bracket.

The final four is at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, for the third time in the tournament’s history. It was there that Penn State won the championship in 2010 and Nebraska won its most recent title in 2017.

The national semifinals are Dec. 18 (ESPN), and the championship match is Dec. 21 (ABC).



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Commanders vs. Broncos live updates: Washington tightens up in red zone, yields field goal

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The Commanders return from their bye week searching for their first victory since Oct. 5. It won’t be easy against the Broncos, who have won eight straight.



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Ruben Amorim: Man United ‘steal’ set-piece routines from rivals

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Ruben Amorim: Man United ‘steal’ set-piece routines from rivals


Ruben Amorim has said that Manchester United are “stealing” set-piece routines from other clubs after goals from two free-kicks helped earn a valuable 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.

United came from behind at Selhurst Park thanks to second-half goals from Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount, both of which came from Bruno Fernandes set plays.

Amorim’s team have now scored 10 Premier League goals from set-pieces this season — joint most with table-toppers Arsenal.

“We work a lot,” Amorim said when asked about United’s improvement at set-pieces.

“We have more time to work, we work a lot and we learn a lot in England.

“I think you are used to seeing that, but when you come for the Premier League you learn a lot with other teams how to do it and we are stealing a lot of things to score goals.”

United looked destined for another set-back following Monday’s defeat to 10-man Everton when Crystal Palace went in at half-time 1-0 up thanks to a retaken penalty from Jean-Philippe Mateta.

But there was marked improvement in their performance after the break as Amorim’s team recorded just their second league win away from home since March.

“I just said to the players we need to be more alive and you can feel that,” Amorim said.

– Mason Mount, Joshua Zirkzee inspire Man United comeback win at Crystal Palace
– Zirkzee leads Man United comeback in game of two halves vs. Palace
– Premier League table

“So if you are more alive, you are in more places, you are near the ball more often. I think everyone did that.

“But we also need to understand that the opponent was tired also in the second half.

“And when you increase the rhythm and the opponent gets tired a little bit, suffers right away a goal, you felt that we had the control of the game and that’s it.”



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