05 March 2025
One of Novak Djokovic’s last big ambitions in tennis may now be beyond him after Serbia suffered a shocking defeat in the Davis Cup Qualifiers.
Djokovic played for Serbia in the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga last November and had three match points in his semi-final clash against Jannik Sinner to knock-out Italy.
Inexplicably, Djokovic blinked when the winning line was in sight and allowed Sinner to creep back into the match and eventually beat him.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ravichandran Ashwin remain unbeaten at stumps with India reaching 336/6 in the second Test of the five-match series against England in Visakhapatnam. The former has gone past 150 and the latter has walked into bat in the final stages of Day. Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed chip in with a couple of wicket each.
Earlier Rohit Sharma have won the toss and India elect to bat first. India have made three changes in their playing XI. Injured KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja has been replaced by Rajat Patidar, who is making his Test debut and Kuldeep Yadav. Mukesh Kumar comes in for Mohammed Siraj. On the other hand, England have made a couple of changes from their last win. Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir is making his debut in place of injured Jack Leach and James Anderson will replace Mark Wood.
India shuttler Kidambi Srikanth opened his campaign at the Thailand Masters badminton tournament with a straight-game win over Taiwan’s Wang Tzu Wei here on Wednesday.
The former world No .1 number toiled hard for 45 minutes to get the better of Wang 22-20, 21-19 and enter the second round.
The first game saw a seesaw battle, with Srikanth saving three game points before sealing it 22-20. The second game proved steadier, with both players probing each other’s defenses. However, Srikanth’s late-game acceleration secured him a 21-19 victory.
Cristiano Ronaldo will miss the chance of a much anticipated reunion with Lionel Messi because of an injury, Al-Nassr coach Luis Castro said Wednesday.
Ronaldo is recovering from a reported calf injury and will not be fit in time to play in the exhibition match between Al-Nassr and Inter Miami in Riyadh on Thursday.
“Cristiano is in the final stage of his recuperation before re-joining the team. We expect that in the next few days he will start working with the team. So, obviously, it will mean he is absent for the game (against Inter Miami),” Castro said at a news conference.
Musheer Khan scored his second hundred of the tournament – also claiming two wickets – and Saumy Pandey struck a 4-fer as India beat New Zealand by a whooping 214 runs in their Super Six clash at Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein. India came into the game unchanged, while New Zealand made three changes in the starting XI.
