MADRID // World No 2 Simona Halep crashed to a shock 7-6, 6-3 defeat to France’s Alize Cornet in the first round of the Madrid Open on Sunday.
Halep reached the final in the Spanish capital last year, but she looked out of sorts as a double fault handed Cornet the opening set in a tie-break.
And the Romanian’s serve crumbled when serving to stay in the match in the second as Cornet wrapped up victory in just under two hours on court.
Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard’s alarming slump continued as she lost a sixth consecutive match to the Czech Republic’s Barbora Strycova.
Bouchard looked to be set for a morale-boosting win as she cruised through the first set 6-0, but Strycova stormed back to win the next two sets 6-3.
There were no such problems for defending champion Maria Sharapova who showed no signs of her recent struggles with form and fitness as she beat Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky 6-2, 6-3.
Halep’s exit could be a big boost for Sharapova had been set to meet the Romanian in the last four had both women made it that far.
Sharapova dominated the Bacsinszky serve in the first set to break three times and then depended on her own in the second.
One break in the eighth game was enough to set up a second round clash with Britain’s Heather Watson or Colombian Mariana Duque-Marino.
Caroline Wozniacki continued her encouraging form of late with a comfortable 6-3, 6-0 win over Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova.
The Dane’s conquerer in the final in Stuttgart last weekend, Angelique Kerber, suffered an early exit, though, as the German lost out 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to former US Open champion Samantha Stosur.
There was also plenty for the home fans to cheer as 10th seed Carla Suarez Navarro and world number 20 Garbine Muguruza booked their places in the second round with straight sets wins over Zarina Diyas and Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor respectively.
sports@thenational.ae
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Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
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MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Fixture: Liechtenstein v Italy, Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match is shown on BeIN Sports
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The five pillars of Islam
Marathon results
Men:
1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25
4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46
5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
Women:
1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30
2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01
3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
The specs
Engine: 2.2-litre, turbodiesel
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Power: 160hp
Torque: 385Nm
Price: Dh116,900
On sale: now
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 849Nm
Range: 456km
Price: from Dh437,900
On sale: now
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Opening Rugby Championship fixtures:Games can be watched on OSN Sports
Saturday: Australia v New Zealand, Sydney, 1pm (UAE)
Sunday: South Africa v Argentina, Port Elizabeth, 11pm (UAE)
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
