Czech Linda Noskova booked her place in the semi-finals of the final tournament of the women's tennis season, after defeating American Coco Gauff in two sets to no, with a score of 6-3 and 6-3, yesterday, Tuesday, to achieve her second successive victory in the group competitions without losing a set.
Noskova continued her strong start in the tournament, after she began her journey by defeating Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, before surpassing Gauff, to ensure her qualification to the semi-finals, before entering the final round of the group competitions.
On the other hand, the Americans Gauff and Jessica Pegula are equal with a score of one victory versus one loss each, after the latter revived her hopes of qualifying by defeating Kostyuk in two sets to no one, with a score of 6-2 and 7-5, so that the Ukrainian player bid farewell to the tournament.
The final round of the group competitions, Thursday, decides the identity of the second qualifier to the semi-finals, as Gauff faces her rival Kostyuk, while Pegula meets Noskova.
In the confrontation between Noskova and Gauff, the Czech player imposed her advantage during a match that witnessed fluctuations in the serves of the two players. After an early exchange of breaks, Noskova succeeded in breaking her opponent's serve twice more to settle the first set with a score of 6-3.
Gauff's struggle to serve continued in the second set, giving Noskova an early advantage, which she advanced by three games to nothing. Despite the American's attempts to return to the atmosphere of the match, she was unable to reverse the result.
Noskova held her serve until the end, before deciding the confrontation with an ace, bringing the Wimbledon champion to the semi-finals, in her first participation in the final tournament.
While Noskova secured her qualification, Gauff still has the chance to grab the second pass when she faces Kostyuk, on Thursday, while Pegula seeks to continue her journey by facing the Czech player.
Kostyuk had joined the list of participants in the tournament, for the first time, as a replacement for world number one Elena Rybakina, who withdrew due to illness.
Jason Tatum outperformed his former teammate Jaylen Brown, and led his team, the Boston Celtics, to victory over the host Philadelphia 76ers, 123-101, and removed them from the top of the Eastern Conference, on Tuesday, in the American Professional Basketball League (NBA), in a confrontation that received great attention.
Brown's first match in the regular season came against his former team, the Celtics, whose colors he played for a full decade, against the backdrop of reports that spoke of tension in the relationship between him and Tatum, his former teammate, who won the league title in 2024.
The two players exchanged veiled statements in public, apparently due to a disagreement over the extent of Tatum's knowledge or his role in Brown's surprise transfer this summer to the Sixers.
Tatum greeted Brown moments before the start of the match, but the latter seemed to ignore him, and then the confrontation began with great enthusiasm. Brown succeeded in stealing two balls, but he committed two personal fouls in the first minutes.
But Brown was satisfied with scoring only 13 points on a difficult evening, compared to 21 points for Tatum in a confrontation in which Boston withstood a Philadelphia uprising in the third quarter and went on to win.
“No match is bigger than another,” Tatum said. “Especially in the regular season, it's just one game.”
He added: “The hype surrounding it has ended, and now we are all preparing for tomorrow.”
The Celtics took an early lead despite the Philadelphia fans booing Tatum at every touch of the ball, and the irony intensified when he grossly missed a pass under pressure from Bahamian Junior Valdez Edgecombe.
But as the match entered its normal format, veteran Paul George, who moved in the opposite direction from Philadelphia to Boston as part of the Brown deal, was the most prominent star in the match.
George scored 36 points with 5 rebounds, benefiting from excellent shooting accuracy, which included 6 three-pointers out of 11 attempts.
In the third quarter, Tatum rose above “King” LeBron James and scored a special dunk, but Philadelphia returned to the atmosphere of the match, tying the score 76-76 and then 79-79 thanks to an amazing long-distance hat-trick from Tyrese Maxey.
But Boston regained its balance and widened the gap in the final minutes of the match, while George praised Tatum, who captured most of the opponents' defensive attention, allowing him easy scoring opportunities.
“Tatum is clearly attracting a tremendous amount of interest,” George said. Playing alongside him gave me many easy opportunities.”
He added: “At this stage of my career, there is only one thing I want to achieve, which is to win. “For Tatum, my role is to alleviate any pressure or friction.”
He continued: “I am here to help you.” "I'm here in some way to serve you and make you the best player you can be."
The confrontation with the two best records in the Eastern Conference saw Boston advance to 9 victories versus two defeats, achieving its fourth victory in a row, while Philadelphia's tally became 9 victories and 3 defeats.
He honored the New York Knicks, the defending champions, and helped their host, the struggling Milwaukee Bucks, by beating them 117-85.
Jaylen Brunson scored 23 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns continued his strong performances by scoring 21 points and 16 rebounds.
The Pax fell to a disastrous record of one win versus 10 defeats, after losing their former Greek star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, during the summer.
The Celtics had initially tried to exchange Brown for Antetokounmpo, which sparked the chapters of this story, before the Greek player eventually moved to the Miami Heat, and Brown joined Philadelphia.
The city of Montreal fears losing its club participating in the North American Soccer League (MLS), after its owner announced that it was for sale.
The president and founder of CF Montreal, Joey Saputo, announced on Monday evening that he had “taken the decision to begin organized procedures in preparation for the sale of the club.”
The Canadian businessman added, during a press conference: “We would prefer to find the right buyer here so that the club can remain in Montreal,” without being able to provide guarantees about its staying in the largest cities in the province of Quebec.
In a closed tournament such as the American League, transferring one of the clubs to another city remains possible.
The announcement of the sale of CF Montreal raised concerns in political circles in the French-speaking province of Quebec, which is still affected by the departure of the Montreal Expos baseball team in 2004 after its transfer to Washington.
The new head of the separatist provincial government, Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon, announced on Tuesday that he “will study what will be offered to us” by potential investors, and did not rule out the possibility of the government contributing a minority stake in the football club, which was founded in 1992, to avoid moving it to another city.
He added: “A responsible government cannot close the door before reviewing the proposed projects.”
For its part, the municipality of Montreal confirmed, in a statement sent to Agence France-Presse: “We want, above all, for the club to be able to rely on investors from Quebec who are keen on its future and want to see it continue to grow here in Montreal.”
The club, which was called “Impact” until 2021, is experiencing one of its worst seasons since joining the “American League” in 2012, after achieving only 6 victories and collecting 26 points in 34 matches.
CF Montreal, which was coached by Frenchman Thierry Henry between 2019 and 2021, ranked last in the Eastern Conference standings.
