Tennis: Sakkari into last four at WTA Finals as Jabeur on track | ABS-CBN

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Tennis: Sakkari into last four at WTA Finals as Jabeur on track

Tennis: Sakkari into last four at WTA Finals as Jabeur on track

Agence France-Presse

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From Maria Sakkari
From Maria Sakkari's Instagram

World number five Maria Sakkari advanced to the last four of the WTA Finals for the second straight year on Wednesday as Tunisia's Ons Jabeur got her campaign back on track with a battling victory.

Greece's Sakkari secured her place in the semi-finals in Fort Worth, Texas, after cruising past seventh-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-2, 6-4.

Sakkari's second win of the round-robin stage left her on top of the Nancy Richey Group with one match remaining.

Sakkari will qualify in top spot from the group if she beats Jabeur in her final first-round game.

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"It feels great, just giving myself the chance to play my next match a little bit more relaxed, and enjoy another battle," Sakkari said after her win.

"Obviously I want to win -- I still want to go undefeated. It's gonna be a very tough match but it's nice to feel like my hard work is paying off finally," she added.

Jabeur, who had been beaten by Sabalenka in three sets on Monday, shrugged off that loss with a spirited 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Jessica Pegula of the United States.

Sabalenka will pip Jabeur for a semi-final berth if she beats Pegula in her final group game.

Pegula was left ruing her failure to capitalize on a fast start in her defeat to Jabeur, a losing finalist at Wimbledon and the US Open this year.

The American roared through the opening set, winning six straight games after dropping the first.

Jabeur responded with an early break for a 2-1 lead in the second before dropping her serve at love.

Jabeur managed to right the ship, breaking twice in a row to force the third set.

The decider was tightly contested, Pegula failing to convert five early break points.

Jabeur finally gained the upper hand with a break for 5-3 and polished off the win after an hour and 41 minutes.

"After the first set, she was playing really well and really fast," Jabeur said.

"The balls were tough, very low. I know she likes to play the balls like that. And I just had to find that click to just change up the rhythm and impose my game."

Pegula was surprised to discover that she was not yet mathematically eliminated, although it would take an unlikely combination of results to see her reach the semi-finals.

"I'm still in?" Pegula asked a questioner at a post-match press conference. "That's good to know. I'm still alive, somehow."

nip/bb/rcw/mlm/dh

© Agence France-Presse

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Basketball

FIBA: After ACL tear, Kai Sotto expected to go under the knife on Feb 1, says Cone

FIBA: After ACL tear, Kai Sotto expected to go under the knife on Feb 1, says Cone

Rom Anzures,

ABS-CBN News

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Gilas Pilipinas big man Kai Sotto in action against New Zealand in the November 2024 window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. Photo by Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/fileGilas Pilipinas big man Kai Sotto in action against New Zealand in the November 2024 window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. Photo by Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/fileMANILA — Kai Sotto is expected to undergo surgery for his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear on his left knee in February.

The 7-foot-3, Gilas Pilipinas young star sustained the setback during a Japan B.League game last January wherein he fell on his knees early in the clash between the Koshigaya Alphas and the Seahorses Mikawa.

Since then, Sotto himself announced and confirmed the extent of the injury, which will cause him to miss the rest of the national team's FIBA Asia Cup assignments in 2025.

Gilas head coach Tim Cone shared on Wednesday that his prized big will be getting surgery on his knee on February 1, and this will be the start of the long road to recovery for the Las Piñas native.

“I think what I heard last is that he's gonna be, the surgery's gonna be around the 1st of February,” Cone told a few reporters.

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“So sometime this week, probably, he might have the surgery, and then from there, we count the months. Minimum nine, probably 12. A guy that's 7'3 usually takes longer, so we're thinking maybe a year. He'll be out for maybe a year,” the Barangay Ginebra head coach added.

Despite this unfortunate event in Kai's career, however, Coach Tim is confident that the youthful center will be return stronger than ever

“He's young, 22. At that age, he can easily recover from that. For the medical profession, it's really amazing these days what they can do,” said Cone.

“I can always say this about injuries, and it's almost cruel to say it, but this has always been the philosophy, I think the coaching philosophy: You feel bad about injuries for 10 minutes, then you move on.”

“Because there's nothing you can do about it. Just move on. Now you gotta figure out how we're gonna deal with that void on the team and how you're gonna make it.

"You feel crushed for 10 minutes, but time to move on. That's what we gotta do as a team, move on."

Still, Cone acknowledged that this may hurt Gilas’ program as a whole, and mainly, Kai’s career at present especially with the impressive run that he has been showing in the past few months.

“No doubt about it, Kai's the key to this program, but what hurts most is the fact that he's held back his NBA dream,” he said. “It looked like he was getting some real solid feelings from the NBA right up until he got injured. That's too bad. I feel really bad about that.”

“But again, there is nothing you can do about it. You can't bring it back, you can't do it again. So you move forward,” Coach Tim added.

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