Sports
Federer closes in on Nadal after Australian Open win, Cilic 3rd
Madrid, Jan 29 (IANS) Switzerland’s Roger Federer closed to within 115 points of top-ranked Rafael Nadal of Spain in the Association of Tennis Professionals men’s singles rankings, released on Monday, after winning the Australian Open.
Nadal’s record-extending 20th Grand Slam title victory in Melbourne on Sunday moved him to within striking distance of Nadal, who was forced to retire in the quarter-finals due to injury and has lost almost 1,000 points in the last two weeks, reports Efe.
Croatia’s Marin Cilic, who lost to Federer in the Australian Open final but had knocked out world No. 1 Nadal, jumped to third place, over 300 points ahead of Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, who fell one spot to fourth.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Alexander Zverev was nipping at Dimitrov’s heels just 20 points behind in fifth place, and was 550 points in front of Austria’s Dominic Thiem.
The current ATP rankings and point scores are as follows:
1- Rafael Nadal (Spain) 9,760 points
2- Roger Federer (Switzerland) 9,605
3- Marin Cilic (Croatia) 4,960
4- Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) 4,630
5- Alexander Zverev (Germany) 4,610
6- Dominic Thiem (Austria) 4,060
7- David Goffin (Belgium) 3,460
8- Jack Sock (USA) 2,880
9- Juan Martin del Porto (Argentina) 2,815
10- Pablo Carreño Busta (Spain) 2,705.
–IANS
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.