Jo-Wilfried Tsonga continued to lay waste to tennis’ top names at the Rogers Cup, beating Andy Murray to reach the semi-finals in Toronto.
Having beaten world number one Novak Djokovic, 13th seed Tsonga added the scalp of Britain’s two-time grand slam champion Murray in three sets.
Read more: Honeymoon over in Toronto as Novak Djokovic falls to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
The Scot lost a tight opener on the tie-break and appeared set to bow out at the quarter-final stage when he offered up two break points at 4-4 in the second.
He hung tough to save his serve, though, and then broke the Frenchman before running away into a 3-0 lead in the decider.
But he inexplicably crumbled, losing five games in a row before slumping to a 7-6 (7/5) 4-6 6-4 loss.
Tsonga told the ATP Tour’s official website: “I had my hand on the match at the beginning and then he came back. Then I was a little bit down.
“I just stayed focused, tried to be a little bit more aggressive because I was a little bit flat after losing the second set.
“(In the third set) he gave me one or two points that he didn’t give me since the start of the second set and then I broke back and I won it.”
Tsonga’s next opponent will be Grigor Dimitrov, who came from a set down to beat giant South African Kevin Anderson 5-7 7-5 7-6 (8/6).
World number three Roger Federer celebrated his 33rd birthday with a 6-3 4-6 6-3 win over David Ferrer.
The Swiss 17-time grand slam winner allowed his momentum to slip in the second set but was otherwise in strong form, serving the only seven aces of the match and breaking serve five times.
He will face Feliciano Lopez, who followed up his win over Tomas Berdych with another valiant three-set effort to overcome sixth seed Milos Raonic 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-3.
Lopez’s solid serving saw him through the match’s trickiest moments - most notably at 2-2 in the third set, when he saved nine break points.
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Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Haemoglobin disorders explained
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
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T20 World Cup Qualifier fixtures
Tuesday, October 29
Qualifier one, 2.10pm – Netherlands v UAE
Qualifier two, 7.30pm – Namibia v Oman
Wednesday, October 30
Qualifier three, 2.10pm – Scotland v loser of qualifier one
Qualifier four, 7.30pm – Hong Kong v loser of qualifier two
Thursday, October 31
Fifth-place playoff, 2.10pm – winner of qualifier three v winner of qualifier four
Friday, November 1
Semi-final one, 2.10pm – Ireland v winner of qualifier one
Semi-final two, 7.30pm – PNG v winner of qualifier two
Saturday, November 2
Third-place playoff, 2.10pm
Final, 7.30pm
RESULTS
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Under-21 European Championship Final
Germany 1 Spain 0
Weiser (40')
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
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