Carlos Alcaraz moved back to the ATP world No 1 position again, after a straightforward second round win at the Rome Masters. The 20-year-old will now be the top seed at the French Open that starts later this month.
In football news, Southampton has been relegated from the Premier League after a 2-0 defeat to Fulham. In La Liga, a heavily rotated Real Madrid just about got the better of Getafe in a league match, as manager Carlo Ancelotti opted to rest key players ahead of his team’s second leg Champions League semifinal against Manchester City.
Here’s a look at the key stories from international sporting events through the day for 14 May, 2023:
Alcaraz is No 1 again
Carlos Alcaraz marked his return to the world No 1 spot by comfortably seeing off fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in his first ever match at the Italian Open on Saturday, as play was cut short by miserable wet weather.
In-form Alcaraz ensured top spot just by taking to the court to play his second round match in Rome as he seeks a third straight tournament win.
The 20-year-old, who saw off Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-1, will overtake Novak Djokovic as world No 1 and is assured of the top seeding at the French Open later this month.
He came through in a match which started several hours late due to the pelting rain which drenched the Italian capital.
“The conditions here weren’t easy, the rain, the waiting all day, not knowing if I was going to play or not. It was tough,” said Alcaraz.
He added: “For me it doesn’t change too much to be number one or number two seed. I just focus on the tournament and on my game.”
The Spaniard became the youngest ever world No 1 thanks to his US Open triumph last September, with Djokovic denied entry to the United States because of his Covid vaccination status.
Alcaraz will begin his 23rd week at world number one on May 22.
Fifth-ranked Stefanos Tsitspas was set to join Alcaraz in the third round as he led Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-4, 4-3 when play was halted for the day due to another downpour.
The Italian Tennis Federation said that play would restart at 11am local time (0900 GMT) on Sunday, meaning both Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev were left waiting for their opening matches.
Garcia stunned
Caroline Garcia became the fourth top 10 player to be dumped out of the women’s tournament after the world No 4 lost 6-4, 6-4 to outsider Camila Osorio.
Qualifier Osorio almost broke down in tears after her shock straight sets victory in a match which started two hours late and was interrupted for more than an hour at the start of the second set.
A career-best win for world number 100 Osorio puts her in the last 16 of a WTA 1000 event for the first time.
She will face Beatriz Haddad Maia in the next round.
Garcia joins world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka, third-ranked Jessica Pegula and No 7 Ons Jabeur in being dumped out of the tournament.
Results on Saturday from the ATP/WTA Italian Open in Rome (x denotes seeding, players representing Russia and Belarus are banned from competing under the name or flag of their countries):
Men’s singles second round
Andrey Rublev (x6) bt Alex Molcan (SVK) 6-3, 6-4
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP x27) bt Guido Pella (ARG) 6-0, 7-6 (7/4)
J.J. Wolf (USA) bt Hubert Hurkacz (POL x14) 6-3, 6-4
Bernabe Zapata Miralles (ESP x31) bt Jason Kubler (AUS) 6-4, 6-1
Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) bt Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN x25) 7-5, 6-3
Borna Coric (CRO x15) bt Thiago Monteiro (BRA) 4-6, 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/5)
Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) bt Dan Evans (GBR x20) 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 6-4
Carlos Alcaraz (ESP x2) bt Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 6-4, 6-1
Women’s singles third round
Veronika Kudermetova (x11) bt Anastasia Potapova (x23) 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
Zheng Qinwen (CHN x22) bt Anna Bondar (HUN) 7-6 (7/2), 6-4
Wang Xiyu (CHN) bt Taylor Townsend (USA) 6-2, 0-6, 7-5
Camila Osorio (COL) bt Caroline Garcia (FRA x5) 6-4, 6-4
Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA x12) bt Magda Linette (POL x17) 7-5, 6-4
Anhelina Kalinina (UKR x30) bt Sofia Kenin (USA) 6-4, 6-2
Southampton relegated
Southampton were relegated from the Premier League after Saturday’s 2-0 defeat against Fulham capped a nightmare season for the club rooted to the bottom of the table.
Second-half goals from Carlos Vinicius and Aleksandar Mitrovic condemned Southampton to the drop at St Mary’s.
Ruben Selles’ side are without a win in their last 11 games and their plunge into the Championship was confirmed with two matches still to play.
The Saints will return to the second tier for the first time in 11 years.
“It’s a tough day for everybody, the performance on the pitch was not what we expect it to be and we were not good enough today. That’s why we are in this situation,” Selles said.
“If we were in our standards, we would not be talking about this situation right now. We need to face it like that.
“I don’t think there is one point where you can say that is exactly the point where it happened.
“We need to evaluate and be sure that when the club starts the next season those standards are on point.”
Southampton spent most of the season in the bottom three and Selles was unable to save them from the drop after replacing the sacked Nathan Jones in February.
Jones had lasted just 14 games as successor to Ralph Hasenhuttl, who was dismissed in November after four years in charge.
Real Madrid beat Getafe
Real Madrid warmed up for their decisive Champions League semi-final visit to face Manchester City with a 1-0 win over Getafe on Saturday in La Liga.
The champions’ slim victory ensured leaders Barcelona must beat city rivals Espanyol on Sunday in Cornella to be able to clinch the title this weekend.
Marco Asensio broke the deadlock in the 70th minute with a deflected strike from distance, in a game of few chances which did not get pulses racing.
Madrid’s win saw them climb provisionally second above Atletico Madrid, 11 points behind Barcelona.
Carlo Ancelotti rotated heavily to keep his key players fresh ahead of the second leg battle with Pep Guardiola’s City, following the 1-1 draw last Tuesday in Madrid.
Ancelotti lined up with just three of the side that started the first leg – goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Eduardo Camavinga and Fede Valverde.
However Camavinga limped off in the final stages with knee pain sustained in a clash with Juan Iglesias.
Ancelotti said the French midfielder would not take long to recover.
“It’s just a hit, it’s a bit painful for him,” Ancelotti told DAZN, hinting there were no worries ahead of the City match.
“He’s 20, he will recover very quickly.”
With text inputs from AFP
Updated through the day
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