Tennis, US Open: Alexander Zverev made it into the quarter-finals of the US Open for the first time with an impressive performance. The 23-year-old German number one from Hamburg (No. 5) beat the unset Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina with 6: 2, 6: 2, 6: 1. In the round of the best eight there is now a duel with Borna Coric (Croatia / No. 27) or Jordan Thompson (Australia).
Zverev was highly concentrated from the start and dominated the game against his 21-year-old opponent, who is ranked 99th in the world. He served well and rarely made simple mistakes. After just 58 minutes, he won the second set.
At the beginning of the third set, the Spaniard injured his ankle and had to be treated, but then continued to fight. Zverev, who reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in spring, remained sovereign and prevailed without any problems. After 1:34 hours, Germany’s top player transformed his first match ball.
Ice Hockey, NHL: Thanks to a strong Thomas Greiss, the New York Islanders have moved into the final of the Eastern Conference in the North American ice hockey league NHL. The German goalkeeper contributed with 16 saves to the fact that the Islanders prevailed 4-0 (2-0, 1-0, 1-0) against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday (local time) in the decisive seventh game and thus the best of-Seven series won 4: 3. The goals came from Scott Mayfield (10th), Andy Greene (14th), Brock Nelson (32nd) and Anthony Beauvillier (54th).
The 34-year-old Greiss was the first time in a playoff game without conceding a goal. “It was an unreal game, the best performance I’ve ever seen from our team. My team-mates have already taken away most of the shots. I’m happy that we won,” said the Bavarian. His trainer Barry Boris, who did without Tom Kühnhackl, praised the goalkeeper: “I knew that his demeanor would be a good choice. We are blessed with two strong goalkeepers.” Before the next round, in which the Islanders meet the Tampa Bay Lightning, the New Yorkers have to move from Toronto to Edmonton. The team from Florida goes to the NHL semifinals more rested after the 4-1 win in the series against the Boston Bruins.
Basketball, NBA: The German national basketball player Daniel Theis and the Boston Celtics have given up their excellent starting position in the play-off quarter-finals of the North American professional league NBA. The record champions lost their fourth game against defending champions Toronto Raptors with 93: 100 and conceded the 2: 2 level in the best-of-seven series after two wins at the start.
Theis got eight points and seven rebounds in just under 26 minutes of play. The top scorer of the game was Boston’s Jayson Tatum with 24 points, while Pascal Siakam (23 points / 11 rebounds) and Kyle Lowry (22/11) shone at Toronto. The fifth game in the series will take place on Tuesday night (0.30 a.m. CEST).
Handball, World Cup: Germany’s handball players have been given a solvable task for the preliminary round of the 2021 World Cup in Egypt. The DHB selection plays in Group A against the European ninth place Hungary, Uruguay and the Africa representative Cape Verde. That was the result of the draw on Saturday evening in Giza.
The first finals in history with 32 teams will take place from January 13th to 31st of next year. In which of the four venues the team of national coach Alfred Gislason will hold its preliminary rounds, should only be decided on Sunday. The first three teams of each of the eight preliminary round groups reach the main round, which continues in four groups of six. This is followed by the knockout phase with quarter-finals, semi-finals and the medal games.
Formula 2: Mick Schumacher celebrated his first win of the season in Formula 2 and is right in the middle of the fight for the title. The 21-year-old Prema driver triumphed in the main race in Monza on Saturday, not least thanks to a perfect start. It is Schumacher’s second victory in the Formula 1 base after his success in the sprint race in Budapest 2019. With a tear-choked voice, Schumacher searched for words on the radio – it failed, he just managed to bring out a “grace”. Even minutes later in the parc ferme, Schumacher was still overwhelmed. “It feels great,” said the Prema driver: “I’m very happy to be here. I want to enjoy it first.”
In the championship, the son of Formula 1 record world champion and Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher improved to third place with 131 points thanks to his seventh podium of the season. His Russian team-mate Robert Schwarzman and Briton Callum Ilott (Uni-Virtuosi Racing) are only three points ahead.
Formel 1, Monza: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton also took pole position for Ferrari’s Formula 1 home game in Monza. The British World Championship leader relegated his team-mate Valtteri Bottas to second place on Saturday with a track record of 1: 18.887 minutes. For Hamilton it was the sixth pole of the season and the 94th of his career. Third in the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza was the surprisingly strong Carlos Sainz in a McLaren. Sebastian Vettel was only 17th in the qualification, his Ferrari stable rival Charles Leclerc only 13th.
Triathlon: Triathlete Laura Lindemann took third place at the Sprint World Championships in Hamburg. After swimming 750 meters, cycling 18.9 km and running five kilometers, the four-time German champion from Potsdam only had to admit defeat to Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown and Flora Duffy (Bermuda).
“I’m really happy that a medal came out. The race was really tough,” said Lindemann on ARD. The 24-year-old had problems putting on her left shoe when switching from the bike to the running track and only went out on the track in eleventh place. “I was really pissed off at the moment, my hands were so cold and my feet too, I lost a few seconds,” said Lindemann, who is still competing in the Mixed Team World Cup on Sunday (1.30pm / ZDF). With a courageous performance, the 24-year-old then worked her way forward piece by piece over the five kilometers, but was unable to catch up with Taylor-Brown and Duffy, who had already escaped early on.
In the men’s category, the French Vincent Luis had previously won the title again. The 31-year-old prevailed over the sprint distance in 49:13 minutes ahead of the Portuguese Vasco Vilaca and Leo Bergere (France). The best German was Lasse Lührs (49: 51 / Potsdam) in twelfth place. Due to the corona pandemic, the competitions will take place without spectators, the world champions will be crowned in a single round.
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