Rafael Nadal Outlasts Stefanos Tsitsipas to Win Record-Extending 12th Barcelona Open Title

Posted on April 25, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal has persevered to continue his winning ways on clay…

The 34-year-old Spanish tennis star saved one championship point on Sunday to defeat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-5 and collect a record-extending 12th Barcelona Open trophy.

The top seed was one point from defeat at 4-5, 30/40 in the decider and he carried the momentum from that moment to win three straight games and overcome the Monte-Carlo champion after three hours and 38 minutes.

The championship match was the longest best-of-three-set ATP Tour final since statistics started being tracked in 1991.

This is the second tournament where Nadal has captured 12 or more titles. The 13-time Roland Garros (French Open) champion, who failed to convert two championship points at 5-4 in the second set, will return to No. 2 in the FedEx ATP Rankings on Monday.

“I think I never played a final like this in this tournament, so it means a lot to me against a player like him, [after what] he achieved in Monte-Carlo and [that he reached] the final here without losing a set,” Nadal said. “It is an important victory for me. I think I have been increasing my level during the whole week and this victory confirms it. That’s important for today.

“To have the trophy with me here at home means a lot, but at the same time for the future.”

Rafael Nadal Defeats Pablo Carreno Busta to Reach Barcelona Open Final

Posted on April 24, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal has punched his ticket to the Barcelona Open final…

The 34-year-old Spanish tennis star will face a red-hot Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final after the 11-time champion eased past compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday.

Nadal roared out to a 5-1 lead before Carreno Busta pulled back a break. Carreno Busta then had three break chances on Nadal’s next service game, but the latter saved them all and closed out the set.

Any thoughts of a Carreno Busta comeback were snuffed when Nadal broke his first service game of the second set in intimidating fashion. Carreno Busta thought he smashed the ball well beyond Nadal’s reach, only for the 20-time Grand Slam winner to angle into position and blast the ball right back past him as Carreno Busta lost his footing and tumbled to the clay.

The top-seeded Nadal improved to an 8-0 career record against the 13th-ranked Carreno Busta.

“I am very happy to be back in a final here at an historic event, a home event, an important one for me,” Nadal said. “I have been improving every single day a little bit more.”

Tsitsipas advanced after beating Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-3 for his eighth consecutive straight-set victory, including last week’s title run at Monte Carlo. The Greek’s 26 wins this season are matched only by Andrey Rublev on the men’s circuit.

Tsitsipas beat Nadal in their past meeting in the Australian Open quarterfinals in February, when Tsitsipas rallied from a two-set deficit over four hours.

Nadal will try to stop Tsitsipas’ winning streak on Sunday.

“Tomorrow will be a very tough one. (Tsitsipas) is playing probably better than ever,” Nadal said. “Not one set lost in Monte Carlo and here, so it will be the toughest opponent possible. I hope to be ready.”

Overall, Nadal holds a 6-2 head-to-head record with Tsitsipas, including a victory in the 2018 Barcelona Open final.

“It feels great to be back [in the final]. I will try to redeem myself from last time,” Tsitsipas said.

Nadal has won all 11 finals he has reached in Barcelona. He dominated the tournament in his home country from 2005-09, 2011-13 and 2016-18. He lost in the 2019 semifinals to eventual champion Dominic Thiem. Last year the event was not held because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Pete Alonso Ready for This Year’s Home Run Derby

Posted on April 22, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Pete Alonso is ready to take a swing at the title…

The 26-year-old Spanish-American New York Mets slugger is in for this year’s Home Run Derby at hitter-friendly Coors Field.

Alonso won the contest the last time it was held, in 2019, edging fellow rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at Cleveland’s Progressive Field for his first derby title.

“I’m all-in,” Alonso said Thursday afternoon from Wrigley Field, where the Mets finish up a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs. “I’m ready. If I get invited, I’d love to do it. I’d love to defend my title.”

Last year’s Home Run Derby was canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic. The 2021 edition will take place July 12 at Colorado’s Coors Field after Major League Baseball moved the All-Star Game and related festivities from Atlanta.

Alonso committed to the derby the day after hitting a monster home run that landed on the street beyond the left-center-field bleachers at Wrigley Field. It was measured at 429 feet.

“I’m very happy that ball went far,” Alonso said. “I think Statcast kind of stumped me. I think that ball did not go [only] 429 feet, but that’s what the computer says, and I think the computer is wrong.”

Alonso’s longest home run of his career was measured at 485 feet. He thinks Wednesday’s long ball was closer to that figure than 429 feet.

“If that ball went 429 feet, that’s the shortest ball that’s ever left this stadium,” Alonso said. “I’ve hit plenty of balls here that have gone 430 feet, but if a ball leaves the stadium, there’s no way that ball went only 429 feet.”

Alonso has three home runs this season entering Thursday night’s game against the Cubs. He led the majors with 53 in 2019, his rookie year.

He enjoyed Wednesday’s homer as much as any he has hit.

“That was one of my favorite home runs I’ve hit,” he said. “That’s top five for me.”

Elwin Soto to Defend WBO Flyweight World Title Against Katsunari Takayama

Posted on April 22, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Elwin Soto is going on the defense…

The 24-year-old Mexican professional boxer will defend his WBO flyweight world title against former strawweight champion Katsunari Takayama on the Canelo Alvarez–Billy Joe Saunders undercard on May 8 at AT&T Stadium, according to ESPN.

Soto (18-1, 12 KOs) will be making the first defense under the Matchroom Boxing banner, after agreeing to a co-promotional contract on April 9. Soto is also promoted by Zanfer Promotions.

Soto won the title in 2019 with a 12th-round KO of Angel Acosta. He has made two defenses of the belt, including a unanimous decision victory over Carlos Buitrago last October.

Takayama (32-8, 12 KOs), 37, of Japan, is a five-time strawweight titlist. He moved up in weight in December in a six-round unanimous decision victory over Reiya Konishi in Osaka.

Houston Astros Agree to One-Year Contract Extension with Martin Maldonado

Posted on April 21, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Martin Maldonado is staying put…

The Houston Astros have reached a one-year contract extension with the 34-year-old Puerto Rican professional baseball catcher, according to general manager James Click.

Under terms of the deal, Maldonado will make $5 million in 2022, according to sources. The deal, which includes a $500,000 buyout, also has a $5 million vesting option for 2023 that becomes guaranteed if Maldonado plays in 90 or more games this season.

Maldonado has served two stints with the Astros and has emerged one of their core vocal leaders over these last couple of years. He’s making $3.5 million in 2021, the second season of a $7 million, two-year contract.

He’s off to a slow start offensively this season — with only three hits and 17 strikeouts in 34 at-bats — and has batted only .216/.291/.352 throughout an MLB career that spans 11 seasons. But his value comes in his handling of the pitching staff and his defense, particularly his arm strength.

Maldonado won a Gold Glove Award in 2017 and ranks as the game’s best pitch-framer in 2021.

He would have been eligible for free agency after the World Series.

Laurie Hernandez to Appear in Peacock’s Women’s Gymnastics-Themed Docuseries “Golden”

Posted on April 19, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Laurie Hernandez is golden…

The 20-year-old Puerto Rican Olympic gold medal gymnast and Dancing with the Stars champion will appear on Golden, a docuseries about women’s gymnasts vying for a spot on the U.S. team heading to the Tokyo Olympics.

The six-episode series, which hails from Peacock and LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s Uninterrupted will track five hopefuls competing for four spots on the U.S. Olympic team.

A premiere date hasn’t yet been confirmed for the show, which is part of a broad array of live and on-demand Tokyo programming heading to NBCUniversal platforms.

In addition to Hernandez, the series also features Morgan Hurd, Sunisa Lee, Konnor McClain, and MyKayla Skinner.

A major theme will be the coronavirus pandemic, which forced the postponement of the Games from 2020 to 2021 and also dramatically altered athletes’ preparations and training.

Each hour-long episode of Golden will center on one of the individual gymnasts, with storylines of the other competitors woven into the narrative.

Hernandez is known to Olympic viewers for winning a gold medal as a member of the “Final Five” team and an individual silver on beam at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The series will cover a five-month span and milestones like national team training camps, the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, and the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, which start June 24.

Three-time Olympian Dominique Dawes is executive producing, along with James, Carter and Uninterrupted’s Jamal Henderson and Philip Byron.

“When I look back, I remember the tremendous sacrifice it took me to achieve my own Olympic pursuits,” Dawes said. “Similarly, these gymnasts have and will continue to endure physical, emotional and mental hurdles that most cannot fathom. The millions of viewers who watch the Summer Games are accustomed to witnessing the short-lived glory of the podium without truly understanding the demands these young female athletes face.”

Roberto Durán to Be Featured in Showtime’s Docuseries “The Kings”

Posted on April 12, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Roberto Durán is returning to the limelight…

The 69-year-old Panamanian former professional boxer, known as “Manos de Piedra,” will be among four high-impact boxers featured in the Showtime docuseries The Kings.

In addition to Durán, who held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, the docuseries will also feature Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns.

The first of the show’s four episodes will premiere on Sunday, June 6, at 8:00 pm ET/PT on linear and streaming, the ViacomCBS premium network announced.

Nicknamed the Four Kings during their remarkable, overlapping careers, the quartet contested nine championship fights among them from 1980 to 1989. Their distinct styles and vivid personalities helped spark a renaissance in the sport of boxing, which had endured a downturn after Muhammad Ali’s storybook run concluded.

The backdrop of the series is the 1980s, a go-go decade marked by pronounced socioeconomic and political upheaval in the U.S. as President Ronald Reagan left his mark.

Hagler died last month at age 66.

“These four men defined an era in boxing,” said Stephen Espinoza, president of Showtime Sports, in a press release. “Their individual stories, forever linked by the spectacular battles they waged, reflect a tumultuous period in American culture and history. The Kings takes the viewer beyond the glorious action of some of history’s most memorable prizefights to illuminate each man’s dramatic journey and the societal context that made them stars of sports and popular culture.”

Leonard’s first fight with Durán came in 1980 and kicked off years of tightly contested battles in the ring and surging global popularity outside of it. The four boxers, joined in the latter years of the 1980s by the up-and-coming Mike Tyson, became some of the biggest names in sports and popular culture.

The Boxing Writers Association of America voted each of the four Fighter of the Year every year but one from 1979 to 1985. The Ring magazine named three of their title bouts Fight of the Year and picked Round 1 of Hagler-Hearns as Round of the Year.

The show is premiering during a year that marks the 45th anniversary of Leonard’s Olympic gold medal win and the 40th anniversary of a high point for the Four Kings: Leonard vs. Hearns.

The Kings is produced by Box To Box Film in association with Ingenious Media.

Maria Camila Osorio Serrano Wins First Career WTA Title at Copa Colsanitas

Posted on April 11, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a homecoming to remember for Maria Camila Osorio Serrano…

The 19-year-old Clombian tennis player completed her Cinderella run in front of her home crowd at the Copa Colsanitas in epic fashion, winning her first WTA title 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 over No.5 seed Tamara Zidansek.

“It’s been an unreal week for me,” Osorio Serrano said after her win. “I still cannot believe that I won the title.”

At two hours and 48 minutes, it was easily the longest final of the season, 40 minutes over the previous benchmark set by Daria Kasatkina‘s victory over Marie Bouzkova to take the Phillip Island Trophy.

“I played a really great match against Tamara, and I didn’t know how I turned the match,” said Osorio Serrano. “I lost the first set and I was a little bit tight, so I still cannot believe I won.”

World No.180 Osorio Serrano becomes the lowest-ranked WTA title winner since World No. 299 Margarita Gasparyan won Tashkent 2018.

The former junior World No.1 and 2019 US Open girls’ champion is the fourth teenage titlist on tour in 2021 following Iga Swiatek in Adelaide, Clara Tauson in Lyon and Leylah Fernandez in Monterrey.

She’s also the third Colombian to capture the Bogota title in the tournament’s 23-year history, joining four-time champion Fabiola Zuluaga (1999, 2002-04) and 2010 winner Mariana Duque-Mariño on the roll of honour.

“With this tournament, my calendar is going to be more open, I’ll have more options to play bigger tournaments, so I’m super, super happy with this win,” Osorio Serrano said. “And of course that I’m home, with my family, with my friends, with my fans from Colombia. ”

“That was my dream, and kind of a goal, to win the tournament,” Osorio Serrano added.

Osorio Serrano’s last appearance in Bogota had been a significant breakthrough – as a wildcard ranked World No.438, she reached the 2019 quarterfinals, where she lost a high-quality three-setter to eventual champion Amanda Anisimova. This year, playing just her fourth WTA main draw, Osorio Serrano’s talent was on display as she made the final without dropping a set.

Pablo Carreno Busta Outlasts Jaume Munar to Claim First Andalucia Open Title

Posted on April 11, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Pablo Carreno Busta is celebrating a special first…

The 29-year-old Spanish professional tennis player won his first ATP Tour title at home on Sunday, defeating fellow Spaniard Jaume Munar 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 to claim the Andalucia Open trophy in Marbella.

Carreno Busta, the top seed, clinched his 200th tour-level victory by defeating the 23-year-old in the championship match. Carreno Busta needed to summon all of his experience to triumph after two hours and 21 minutes.

“I suffered like yesterday trying to continue fighting all the time… I needed to do it if I wanted to win this kind of match,” Carreno Busta said. “It’s a pleasure to win a title here in Spain, in Marbella. For me, it’s very special. It’s my fifth title, so I’m very, very happy for the victory.”

The level reached its peak towards the end of the match, with both men hitting sensational shots under an incredible amount of pressure. From magical drop shots to jaw-dropping half-volleys, they certainly showed their racquet skills on the Spanish clay.

“I started really good, really focused, being very aggressive,” Carreno Busta said. “After that I missed a little bit and Jaume started to play better and at the end.”

Now a five-time ATP Tour titlist, Carreno Busta was relentless in his pursuit of the win. At 4-4 in the decider, Munar fought hard to avoid losing serve. But on his seventh break point of the game, the favorite finally made good on his opportunity, blasting a backhand return up the line from deep in the court to force an error from his younger adversary.

Carreno Busta earned 17 break points in the match. Although he was unable to convert just four of them, it was enough to claim his first title since Chengdu in 2019. He earned 250 ATP Rankings points.

Next Gen ATP Finals alumnus Munar put forth a tremendous effort in his maiden ATP Tour final. The World No. 95 scratched and clawed no matter what Carreno Busta threw at him, but it was not enough to earn his first crown at this level. The World No. 15 was just a bit better on the day.

Munar, who captured 150 points, was comfortable in Marbella, where he’s now 12-3 on the ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour combined. He reached Challenger finals at this venue in 2020 and 2021 before his impressive run this week.

Maria Camila Osorio Serrano Reaches First-Ever WTA Final

Posted on April 10, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Maria Camila Osorio Serrano is thisclose to claiming her first WTA title.

The 19-year-old Colombian tennis player, the former junior World No.1, continues her Cinderella run on home soil in Bogota’s Copa Colsanitas.

Osorio Serrano, a wildcard in this tournament has had a breakthrough run, which continued on Saturday with an emphatic 6-1, 6-2 semifinal victory over French qualifier Harmony Tan, putting her through to her first WTA singles final in just her fourth career WTA main draw appearance.

Her effort this week has seen her earn her first win against a Top 100 player, beating No.7 seed Tereza Martincova in the second round, before following that up with a victory over former Top 50 player Stefanie Voegele in the last eight. She has not dropped a set in four victories this week.

“I feel super happy to be in the final,” Osorio Serrano said after the match. “I was really hoping to be here and to play in the final. I really don’t feel any pressure and I feel like it’s an opportunity for me to enjoy, to play my best and to do what I’ve been doing the whole week.

“It’s my chance to show my tennis, show my best and I hope that I can play well in this final.”

After winning a nearly 15-minute game to begin the match, Osorio Serrano overwhelmed the French qualifier in the first five games to build a 5-0 lead. Contesting her sixth match of the week, Tan received a medical timeout at the ensuing changeover and saved the bagel, but never found a foothold in the match over the course of 85 minutes.

Though each player landed less than half of her first serves in the match, it was Osorio Serrano who proved all the more effective on return: in all, the wildcard broke serve seven times.

Currently ranked World No.180, Osorio Serrano is the lowest-ranked singles finalist on the WTA this year, and is the third player from her country to play for the title in Bogota. Fabiola Zuluaga won the event four times, in 1999 and 2002-04, and Mariana Duque-Mariño won her crown in 2010.

The former US Open junior champion will play No.5 seed Tamara Zidansek for the title.

At the event’s last staging in 2019, Osorio Serrano reached the quarterfinals as a wildcard before bowing out to eventual Amanda Anisimova in three sets. She and Zidansek, the lone seeded player among those to reach the quarterfinals this week, have never played.

“It would mean a lot to win my first WTA title because that’s what we’re working for,” Zidansek said. “I’ve won two WTA 125Ks, but I remember that feeling, how it felt. Going for my first WTA 250 title, winning that would be amazing.”

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