Swiss defeat Italy to reach Davis Cup final
GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) — Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka each have Grand Slam singles titles, and Olympic gold together in doubles. Now they can win Switzerland’s first Davis Cup trophy in the competition’s 114-year history.
Federer carried the Swiss to a first final in 22 years, beating Fabio Fognini of Italy in the opening reverse singles yesterday for a winning 3-1 lead in their semi-final. France will host the final on November 21-23.
Federer celebrated with skipping jumps across the court on completing a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (4) win against the 17th-ranked Fognini.
“It’s fabulous to share in this moment,” Federer said in an on-court interview after being hoisted on the shoulders of Wawrinka and captain Severin Luethi for a lap of honour round the court.
Their celebrations delighted a noisy 18,000-plus crowd at Palexpo indoor arena.
Switzerland reached the final only once before, in 1992 against a United States team of Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras.
“It’s nice that we are going to have the opportunity to do something very special at the end of the year,” Federer said at the winning team’s news conference.
Hanover 96 move level with Bayern Munich
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Hanover 96 moved level with Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga after a 2-0 win over Hamburg left the visitors at the bottom of the table yesterday.
First-half goals from Leon Andreasen and Artur Sobiech gave the home side a comfortable victory against a Hamburg side coached by former Hanover boss Mirko Slomka.
Hanover now join Bayern and Leverkusen on seven points, while Hamburg, who have failed to score a goal in three matches, sit last on goal difference.
“That criticism comes after one point in three games is clear,” said Slomka.
“We have to put aside the unrest coming from outside and think only of our work.”
Lavillenie soars above competition
MARRAKECH, Morocco, (AFP) — Olympic pole vault champion and world record holder Renaud Lavillenie had too much class for his rivals as the French star eased to victory at the Continental Cup yesterday.
Lavillenie only needed to clear 5.65m for the win before he went on to succeed at 5.80m.
The French athlete, who was also recently crowned the European champion, had arrived in Marrakech hoping to break through the six-metre mark to cap off a season which started with his world record 6.16m.
But he had to be content with yesterday’s low-key win, entering the competition at 5.65m which was good enough to beat rivals Changrui Xue of China and America’s Mark Hollis.
Xue could only clear 5.65m at his third attempt and then failed three times at 5.70m, while Hollis dropped out with three failures at 5.65m.
Lavillenie cleared 5.80m on his third try but couldn’t get over the 5.90m mark.
His eight points helped Europe to keep their top spot in the two-day competition ahead of the Americas, Africa and Asia/Pacific.
Lucic-Baroni quenches thirst at expense of Venus
QUEBEC CITY, Canada (AFP) — Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni won her first WTA title since 1998 yesterday, defeating former world number one Venus Williams 6-4, 6-3 to capture the Quebec City tournament.
The 32-year-old former teen star won her only two prior WTA titles on home soil at the 1997 and 1998 Croatian Opens, beating American Corina Morariu in each Bol final.
By defeating US top seed Williams, Lucic-Baroni ended the longest gap between titles in WTA history, a wait of 16 years and four months.
Japan’s Kimiko Date-Krumm held the old mark of 13 years and one month between her trophies in 1996 at San Diego and in 2009 at Seoul.
Lucic-Baroni broke seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Williams in the fourth game of the second set and held for a 4-1 edge before the 34-year-old American battled back, holding and then breaking back to 4-3.
Lucic-Baroni, who had not reached a final since her 1998 title run in her homeland, answered with a break and held serve to claim the historic title after 83 minutes.
Bordeaux suffer at hands of Guingamp
PARIS, France (AFP) — Bordeaux suffered their first defeat of the new Ligue One season at Guingamp yesterday to lose top spot in the table to Lille, who beat Nantes earlier in the day.
First-half goals from Moustapha Diallo and Christophe Mandanne, the latter from a penalty, condemned Willy Sagnol’s Bordeaux to a 2-1 defeat, with a late Cheick Diabate strike proving to be a mere consolation for the visitors in Brittany.
Lille had gone clear at the summit earlier in the day thanks to a 2-0 victory against Nantes in the far north, with Divock Origi scoring one goal and then setting up another for Portuguese youngster Rony Lopes.
Rene Girard’s side, who will face the Russians of FC Krasnodar in the Europa League on Thursday, are a point ahead of both Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne, with champions Paris Saint-Germain a further point adrift in fourth.
Diallo headed home a free-kick from on-loan Newcastle United midfielder Sylvain Marveaux to put Guingamp ahead after 26 minutes, and Mandanne netted from the spot eight minutes later after Gregory Sertic had brought down Jeremy Pied inside the box.
Golf great almost severs hand with chainsaw
MIAMI, Florida (AFP) — Golf great Greg Norman was recovering at home yesterday after almost cutting off his hand with a chainsaw.
Australia’s former world number one posted a photo to Instagram of himself lying in a Florida hospital bed with his left arm heavily bandaged.
Norman, 59, issued a warning alongside the photo and suggested he had come close to severing one of his hands.
“Working with a chainsaw ALWAYS be respectful of the unexpected. I was one lucky man today. Damaged, but not down & out. Still have left hand,” Norman tweeted.
The accident took place while Norman was trimming trees Saturday near his home.
Yesterday morning, Norman posted another photo from his yard while making a thumbs-up sign with his right hand. His left was covered in a protective cast.
“Thank u all for your concern and good wishes,” he tweeted. “All well the morning after the accident. Here I am at the scene of the crime.”
Norman last week posted a photo of himself working with a chainsaw to cut back a small tree at what appears to be one of his seaside properties.
Icardi hat trick helps Inter beat Sassuolo 7-0
MILAN, Italy (AP) — Mauro Icardi netted a hat-trick as Inter Milan beat 10-man Sassuolo 7-0 yesterday for their first win of the fledgling Serie A season.
New signing Paolo Osvaldo scored twice and Mateo Kovacic also recorded his first league goal for Inter, while Fredy Guarin capped off a fantastic day for the Nerazzurri.
Sassuolo, who lost at home by the same scoreline in their first meeting with Inter last season, also had forward Domenico Berardi sent off for an elbow on Juan Jesus.
Napoli missed a penalty as they went down to a surprise 1-0 loss at home to Chievo Verona, while Lazio beat Cesena 3-0.
Elsewhere, it was: Fiorentina 0, Genoa 0; and Cagliari 1, Atalanta 2.
Sampdoria beat Torino 2-0 in the lunchtime kickoff.
Parma were due to host AC Milan in a late kick-off.