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Ousts Halep to Reach US Open Quarterfinals
Ukraine’s fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina defeated two-time major winner Simona Halep at the US Open on Sunday, advancing to her eighth Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Svitolina, coming off a WTA title in Chicago, stretched her win streak to nine matches by dispatching the Romanian 12th seed 6-3, 6-3 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“Definitely was a great match,” Svitolina said.
“I was really excited. I know how big a fighter is Simona. I had to bring my best game. For sure I’m happy with the win.”Svitolina, who hasn’t dropped a set this week, made her deepest Slam runs to the 2019 US Open and Wimbledon semifinals.
Svitolina will next play either German 16th seed Angelique Kerber, whose three Grand Slam titles include the 2016 US Open, or 18-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez, who ousted 2020 champion Naomi Osaka.
Seven of the top nine women’s seeds reached the last 16 with Osaka and top-ranked Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty exiting early.
After an exchange of early breaks, Svitolina broke on an errant backhand in the eighth game and held to claim the opening set after 34 minutes.
Former world number one Halep, the 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon champion, netted a backhand to give Svitolina a break for a 2-1 edge but broke back in the next game with a backhand cross-court winner.
Svitolina, a week shy of her 27th birthday, broke to lead 4-3 when Halep netted a backhand, held to 5-3 and broke again for the victory after 76 minutes when Halep netted a backhand.
“Definitely I have goosebumps right now,” Svitolina said.
Russian second seed Daniil Medvedev will face British 24th seed Daniel Evans for a quarter-final berth.
Medvedev, the 2021 Australian Open and 2019 US Open runner-up, has not dropped a set in New York while Evans has matched his best Grand Slam run from the 2017 Australian Open.
With only nine seeds among the men’s last 16, it’s the fewest seeds to advance so far at a Slam since nine at Wimbledon in 2013 and at a US Open since eight in 2005.
Argentine 11th seed Diego Schwartzman faced 117th-ranked Dutch qualifier Botic Van de Zandschulp, a US Open debutante in his deepest Grand Slam run, for a quarter-final berth.
Van de Zandschulp would be the first Dutchman in a Slam quarter-final since 2004 at Wimbledon and at the US Open since 2003.
He would also match the best showing by any US Open qualifier, last-eight runs by Frenchman Nicolas Escude in 1999 and Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in 2008.
Spanish 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, who upset Greek third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, will face 141st-ranked German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk in a later match.
Alcaraz or Gojowczyk will have a quarterfinal against either Canadian 12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or American Frances Tiafoe, with one of the four assured of playing his first Grand Slam semi-final.
Alcaraz would be the youngest US Open men’s quarterfinalist since Brazilian Thomaz Koch in 1963.
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who made a Slam-best run to July’s Wimbledon semifinals, will meet Belgian 15th seed Elise Mertens in a later match. Mertens seeks a third straight US Open quarterfinal.
Czech eighth seed Barbora Krejcikova, the reigning French Open champion, will play Spanish ninth seed Garbine Muguruza, a two-time Grand Slam champion, in the first Grand Slam meeting of top-10 WTA players since last year’s Australian Open.
The US Open is the only Slam where Muguruza has failed to reach
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Results of Match Day 2 Fixtures in 2024/2025 NPFL
Following are the results of Match Day 1 fixtures in the 2024/2025 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), played on Sunday and dates of the remaining fixtures:
Akwa United FC 1-1 Abia Warriors FC
Bayelsa United FC 1-1 Kano Pillars FC
Katsina United FC 1-1 Bendel Insurance FC
Niger Tornadoes FC 0-0 Nasarawa United FC
Shooting Stars FC 1-1 Plateau United FC
El Kanemi Warriors Vs Kwara United FC (postponed )
The following Match Day two fixtures
Would be played on Sept.
25:Ikorodu City FC Vs Enugu Rangers international FC
Enyimba international FC Vs Lobi stars FC .
(NAN)SPORTS
Match Day 1 Remaining Results in 2024/2025 NPFL
Following are the results of remaining Match Day one fixtures played on Sunday in the 2024/2025 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL)Heartland FC 1-3 Enyimba international FCKwara United FC 1-2 Niger Tornadoes FCBendel Insurance FC 0-0 Rivers United FCPlateau United FC 1-0 Katsina United FCKano Pillars FC 3-0 Ikorodu City FCSunshine Stars FC 3-0 Bayelsa United FCAbia Warriors FC 0-2 Remo Stars FCNasarawa United FC 1-1 Shooting Stars FC.
(NAN)SPORTS
Morocco 2025: Super Eagles can Beat any Team, Eguavoen Boasts
The interim coach of the Super Eagles, Augustine Eguavoen, said his team can beat any team with the quality of players in the team.
Eguavoen stated this after his team spanked the Cheetahs of Benin Republic 4-0 in the 2025 African Cup Of Nations (AFCON) at the Godswill Akpabio stadium, Uyo, Akwa Ibom on Saturday.
“We have quality players to beat any team but we respect team anyway.
Any coach can come in and do the same job with the Super Eagles.“It is a mindset, we have the potential and how you perceived your opponent, given the information about them and then go out and do the job,“he said.
Equavoen attributed the victory to the formation adopted by the technical crew, adding that any formation could be used to ensure that the team was successful.
“We can decide to use any system. It is something we discussed and I slept over it. I know with the caliber of players that we have, we can decide to play any formation.
“Football is about you win, lose and draw, I don’t believe we have a poor result,” he said.
He, however, said that the former Super Eagles coach didn’t do a good job but it has to do with believe, what is at stake and what you want to achieve.
“Psychologically as a group, we are agreed, where we are and where we are going to be. We will definitely achieve it,” Equavoen said.
He commended the performance of the defence , describing it as superb, adding that the team had been training together for one week.
The coach said that asking six players to warm up for the second half was to buy time, adding that there was no need to rush to change.
He said the Cheetahs of Benin Republic were a good team, adding that they came with a good game plan.
Report says that Eguavoen was appointed interim coach after the deal between the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) and coach Bruno Labbadia failed.
NFF explained in a statement that it failed due to the stringent regulations of German tax authorities.(NAN)