Champions League preparations and US Open tennis results

The Italian “Napoli” is suffering from problems in the midfield, before its opening match in the “UEFA Champions League” against the English “Arsenal”, on Wednesday, as the Scottish Scott McTominay and the Cameroonian Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa are absent.

McTominay underwent surgery to treat an irregular heartbeat on Tuesday, while Anguissa suffers from a physical injury.

Napoli coach Massimiliano Allegri said on Tuesday: “We will play with four players in midfield: Kevin De Bruyne, Billy Gilmour, Stanislav Lobotka, and Antonio Vergara.”

As the holder of the Italian League title, Napoli was eliminated from the group stage, after finishing thirtieth out of 36 teams in the Champions League last season.

Allegri took over the position of coach, succeeding Antonio Conte, after last season.

“We need 12 points to guarantee qualification,” Allegri said. We know that we are facing a team that has just won the Premier League title and reached the final of this tournament. Mikel Arteta has organized his defense well, and the team has only conceded a very small number of goals.”

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone ruled out the participation of Argentine striker Julián Alvarez as a starter against Liverpool on Wednesday at Anfield in the opening of the two teams' Champions League campaign.

Simeone said in a press conference on Tuesday: “There are several possible scenarios for the match, but that will be decided once the starting whistle is blown, and some things may happen that exceed expectations, and this will be determined at the start of the match.”

When asked what has changed in Liverpool under the leadership of its new coach, Andoni Iraola, the Argentine coach replied: “He is trying to apply the method he used in his previous experiences. He tends towards distinguished teamwork, but he needs time. But the English team is developing, has distinguished players, and is led by a distinguished coach. I expect him to succeed.”

The Atletico Madrid coach talked about the team's attacking line, saying that Jonathan David is in the harmony stage because he joined Atletico's ranks late.

He continued: “As for Julian Alvarez, he is in the adaptation stage, and I do not expect him to participate as a starter, but I am confident that he will be an addition to us.”

Simeone stressed: “Intensive work awaits us in light of the joining of a number of new players, the position of Julián Alvarez, and the delay in the arrival of international players after participating in the World Cup.”

He concluded his statements: “No one will care about all these details, but it is the reality, so we have to find our rhythm gradually.”

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, ranked number one in the world, continued her march towards a third consecutive title in the US Open, the last of the four major tennis tournaments, by qualifying for the semi-finals, for the sixth year in a row, with her very difficult victory over the Wimbledon champion. Linda Noskova sixth 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 7-6 (10-7).

Sabalenka, who has not won any title since winning the 1,000-point Indian Wells-Miami double (Sunshine Double), last March, needed two hours and 22 minutes to reserve her place in the semi-finals, for the sixth year in a row.

The Belarusian, who will give up the top spot in the world rankings to Kazakh Elena Rybakina if the latter reaches the semi-finals at the expense of Chinese Cheng Chenwen, will face the winner of the American confrontation between Jessica Pegula, third, and Emma Navarro, twenty-sixth, in her next test.

The quarter-final confrontation between Sabalenka and Noskova, who reached this round for the first time in the American tournament, was a repeat of the final of the Adelaide tournament in 2023 and the semi-final of Indian Wells 1000 points this season, when the Belarusian also emerged victorious, but in two sets on both occasions.

Sabalenka believed she had created the difference in the first set when she took the fourth game on her opponent's serve, taking a 3-1 lead and then 4-1 on her serve.

But the Czech Republic returned to the match and returned the break in the ninth game from the first opportunity it had, on its way to impose a tie 5-5 and then 6-6, with the decision being in a tiebreak that was completely dominated by the Belarusian and it led 6-0 before deciding it 7-1, ending the set in 47 minutes.

Unlike the first set, Sabalenka seemed unable to create a difference despite having a break opportunity in the fifth game that she did not capitalize on, so Neskova led 3-2 and then 5-2 after winning the sixth game on the Belarusian’s serve.

Then the Czech woman had an opportunity to decide it 6-2 on Sabalenka’s serve without converting it, but she won the ninth game on her serve to end it 6-3, imposing a decisive third set that she started with a break opportunity in the second game that she did not take advantage of, so she paid the price and fell behind 2-4 after losing her serve in the fifth game.

But she did not drop her weapon and tied the game 4-4 on her opponent's serve, then advanced 5-4 and 6-5, before going to a tie-break, which the Belarusian decided 10-7 with an ace, and with it a difficult match.

The fourth seed, American Coco Gauff, beat her compatriot Iva Jovic 6-1, 6-4 to set up a match with French Open champion Mira Andreeva for a place in the semi-finals.

Gauff told reporters: “Mira is a player that I always face in difficult matches. "She's definitely in a different frame of mind, now that she's at the top of the game after winning a major tournament... It's going to be a very intense and difficult match."

Gauff became the sixth American to qualify for the quarter-finals, joining Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro, Frances Tiafoe, Alex Mikkelsen and Ben Shelton.