Hady Habib's historic run at the Australian Open is over after the Lebanese player was beaten in straight sets by Ugo Humbert on Wednesday.
Habib had become the first man from his country to win a Grand Slam main draw match when he defeated China's Bu Yunchaokete at the weekend.
He had already made history by coming through three qualifying-round matches to reach the main draw at Melbourne Park but Humbert proved a step too far, with the French 14th seed securing a confident 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Habib's dream might be over but he can still look back in pride at his run Down Under. “I always had goals to play these big tournaments, but at times it seemed very far, I’m not going to lie,” the Texas-born 26-year-old said after beating Bu.
“I had some challenging moments in my career playing for a small country with limited financial help from the government.
“The energy that I felt on the court from the fans, it literally pushed me to get that win. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Novak Djokovic, looking to make it 11 titles in Melbourne, defeated Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria 6-1, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 to seal his spot in the third round.
It was the 37-year-old's 430th singles match at a major to claim sole ownership of most ever played, men or women, in the Open Era ahead of Roger Federer (429) and Serena Williams (423).
“I love this sport. I love competition,” Djokovic said when asked about the milestone after beating the 21-year-old.
“I try to give my best every single time. It's been over 20 years that I've been competing in Grand Slams at the highest level.
“Whether I win or lose, I will always leave my heart out on the court. I'm just blessed to be making another record.”
Clinching the title would also take him clear of Australia's Margaret Court and become the first player to 25 Grand Slam crowns.
Djokovic, who had new coach Andy Murray watching from the stands, now faces Czech 26th seed Tomas Machac next and is drawn to meet Spain's red-hot Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.
Four-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz dropped just five games in an ominous display to sprint into the third round where he will take on Portugal's Nuno Borges.
The third seed showed no mercy to Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka in a 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 rout in 81 minutes.
“The less time you spend on court in the Grand Slams, especially in the beginning, it is going to be better,” said Alcaraz, who is yet to go beyond the quarter-finals in Melbourne.
Sixth seed Casper Ruud was sent spinning out of the tournament after being beaten 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 by Czech teenager Jakub Mensik under the lights at Margaret Court Arena.
Ruud became the fourth top 10 seed to fall at the tournament following Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov.
In the women's draw, Olympic champion and last year's runner-up Zheng Qinwen was beaten 7-6, 6-3 by Laura Siegemund of Germany.
The fifth seed left the court looking like she was about to burst into tears while world No 97 Siegemund was beaming from ear to ear after a famous win.
“Maybe today is not my day,” Zheng, 22, said. “There's a lot of details in the important points. I didn't do the right choice.”
World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka dropped her serve three times and faced 11 break points before overcoming Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-3, 7-5, rattling off the last five games in a row.
“She played incredible tennis today and it was a really tough one. I expected this tennis from her, I'm really glad I was able to win this match,” said Sabalenka, who beat Zheng in the 2024 final and tackles unseeded Dane Clara Tauson next.
The win kept the Belarusian world No 1 on course for a hat-trick of Australian Open titles, a feat last achieved 26 years ago by Martina Hingis.
Former world No 1 Naomi Osaka, the 2019 and 2021 champion in Australia but now unseeded, stormed back to defeat 20th seed Karolina Muchova 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Osaka called it a “little revenge” for defeat at the US Open in August to the Czech. Up next is Swiss Belinda Bencic, who returned to the tour late last year after giving birth to her daughter.
Third seed Coco Gauff made heavy weather of British battler Jodie Burrage before claiming a 6-3, 7-5 victory.
The 20-year-old American set up an intriguing duel against former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez for a place in the fourth round.
“It was tough. She was serving really well, so I was just trying to manage that, honestly,” said Gauff.
“She really stepped her level up in the middle of the second set so I was just trying to be offensive as much as I could.”
American seventh seed Jessica Pegula, beaten in the US Open final by Sabalenka last year, eased through 6-4, 6-2 against Belgium's Elise Mertens to set up a third-round clash with Serbia's Olga Danilovic.
Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test India won by innings and 53 runs at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
Zombieland: Double Tap
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone
Four out of five stars
Everton 1 Stoke City 0
Everton (Rooney 45 1')
Man of the Match Phil Jagielka (Everton)
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
Scoreline:
Barcelona 2
Suarez 85', Messi 86'
Atletico Madrid 0
Red card: Diego Costa 28' (Atletico)
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Types of fraud
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
* Nada El Sawy
Countries offering golden visas
UK
Innovator Founder Visa is aimed at those who can demonstrate relevant experience in business and sufficient investment funds to set up and scale up a new business in the UK. It offers permanent residence after three years.
Germany
Investing or establishing a business in Germany offers you a residence permit, which eventually leads to citizenship. The investment must meet an economic need and you have to have lived in Germany for five years to become a citizen.
Italy
The scheme is designed for foreign investors committed to making a significant contribution to the economy. Requires a minimum investment of €250,000 which can rise to €2 million.
Switzerland
Residence Programme offers residence to applicants and their families through economic contributions. The applicant must agree to pay an annual lump sum in tax.
Canada
Start-Up Visa Programme allows foreign entrepreneurs the opportunity to create a business in Canada and apply for permanent residence.
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nag%20Ashwin%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPrabhas%2C%20Saswata%20Chatterjee%2C%20Deepika%20Padukone%2C%20Amitabh%20Bachchan%2C%20Shobhana%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
The specs: 2019 Subaru Forester
Price, base: Dh105,900 (Premium); Dh115,900 (Sport)
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 182hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 239Nm @ 4,400rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.1L / 100km (estimated)
