Racquet

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Nepali tennis player Prasamsha Moktan has secured silver medal in Circuit-1 of the First Qatar Asian Junior U-19 Tennis Championship. Moktan clinched silver medal in both singles and doubles category under the championship held at Doha-based Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. According to Moktan’s father Sulabh, she lost the final against Alexandra of Russia 6-3, 6-1 in the singles category. In the doubles section, Moktan partnered with Safia Al Thani. She is the lone player representing Nepal in the championship.

Agencies Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz won his second ATP Masters 1000 title at the Madrid Open after defeating defending champion Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-1 in front of his home crowd on Sunday. According to Reuters, Alcaraz looked dangerous throughout his run at the claycourt tournament, where he stunned 21-times major winner Rafa Nadal and world number one Novak Djokovic before cruising past world number three Zverev in the title clash. The 19-year-old is the youngest player since start of the ATP Tour in 1990 to defeat three top-five players at the same event. "It feels great to be able to beat these players. To beat two of the best players in history and then Zverev, the world number three. He is a great player," Alcaraz, who did not face a break point against the Ger...

Agencies Teenage rising star Carlos Alcaraz shocked world number one Novak Djokovic in a three-set thriller to reach the Madrid Open final. According to the BBC, the 19-year-old Spaniard followed up his quarter-final win over Rafael Nadal with a 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-5) success. Alcaraz coped with everything Djokovic threw at him and delighted the home crowd with some brilliant drop shots. He plays defending champion Alexander Zverev in Sunday's final after the German beat Stefanos Tsitsipas. Zverev - ranked third in the world - won 6-4 3-6 6-2 to record his first victory on a clay court over the Greek world number five. Alcaraz becomes the first player to beat 21-time Grand Slam champion Nadal and 20-time major winner Djokovic on consecutive days on a clay court. ...

Agencies World number one Novak Djokovic began his quest for a fourth Madrid Open title with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Gael Monfils on Tuesday, improving his unbeaten record to 18-0 against the Frenchman. The result ensures Djokovic remains at the top of the rankings while it earned Monfils the ignominy of having the worst record against a single opponent without winning in the Open era, Reuters reported. Djokovic first played Monfils at the U.S. Open in 2005 but Tuesday's match was only their second encounter on clay and he needed only one break point to clinch the first set. Monfils did entertain the crowd with a few shots worthy of the highlights reel, including a 'tweener' that had even Djokovic applauding along with the fans, the news agency further reported. But the to...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Raju Shrestha made a winning start to the Eighth Citizens Bank Open Tennis Championship in the veterans’ above 45 years men’s singles event on Sunday. Shrestha defeated Apoorva Thapa 6-2, 7-5 in the match held at the tennis court of the National Sports Council in Tripureshwar. In other matches of the same age group, Hari Bahadur Basnet, Agya Bhahdur Bhandari, Shiva Prasad Sedhai, Sharan Gurung, Ashok Singh, Gopi Bhattarai, Uttam Bogati, Manoj Shah, Hemraj Dhakal, Mahesh Shrestha, Raju Gola, Yubaraj Thapa and Bimal Gurung won their respective matches. The event features competition in men’s singles, women’s singles, mixed doubles, men’s veteran above 35 years, men’s veteran above 45 years, men’s veteran above 55 years (singles and doubles) and a...

Agencies Taylor Fritz battled through excruciating pain to bring Rafa Nadal's 20-match winning run to an end with a 6-3, 7-6(5) victory in the Indian Wells final on Sunday. According to Reuters, Fritz has become the first American to lift the title since Andre Agassi over two decades ago. Home favourite Fritz gave fans what they came to see - an heroic effort and an American winner, denying Nadal what would have been his fourth title of the season and a record-equalling 37 ATP Masters 1000 championships. Struggling with an injured ankle, Fritz said after collecting his second career title he had had doubts he could even take to the court and had never before experienced such pain prior to a match. But the 24-year-old American decided to gut it out and was rewarded with the bi...