French Open champion Mira Andreeva of Russia will meet Olympic champion and host Zheng Qinwenwen in the final of the China Open Tennis Championship, held in the capital, Beijing, after the Russian fourth seed easily surpassed her opponent, Nikola Bartonkova, while the unseeded Qinwen defeated Elise Mertens in the two semi-final matches held on Saturday.
Kenwen, who participated as a wild card after recovering from an elbow injury, became the first Chinese player to reach the final of the Beijing tournament, after she defeated Belgian Mertens, seeded 13th, with a score of 7-5, 6-2, following Andreeva’s crushing victory over Bartonkova, 6-2, 6-2.
Kenwin broke her opponent's serve early to lead 4-2, but she made several errors to allow Mertens to return the break.
But the 24-year-old, chasing her first 1,000-point WTA title on home soil, held her nerve to lead 6-5, before a powerful cross-court forehand earned her another break point, which she clinched as Mertens volleyed the ball into the net.
Kenwin dominated the second set, ensuring a second confrontation with Andreeva, after she defeated the Russian player when they met in the quarter-finals of the same tournament in 2024.
It took Andreeva an hour and 14 minutes to defeat Bartonkova and reach the second final of the thousand-point tournament this year.
Czech Bartonkova committed 20 unforced errors, twice the number of Andreeva's errors, while the world's fifth-ranked player hit 27 successful shots to seal the victory.
"I just tried to play offensively, and I'm really happy with the way I played," Andreeva said. “I really tried to be brave no matter what, and I am very happy with my performance today.”
Bayern Munich conceded the fastest goal in the history of the German Football League, after falling behind on Saturday at Augsburg, just 8 seconds after the start of the match, following a fatal passing error by its goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer.
From the opening kick taken by Bayern players, Colombian striker Luis Diaz returned the ball to Neuer, who controlled it with his right foot for a long time.
Under pressure from Robin Wielhauer, the 2014 world champion tried to deflect the ball with his right foot, but the Augsburg striker intercepted it and deposited it into Bayern's empty net just eight seconds after the start of the match.
Feilhauer thus scored the fastest goal in the history of the German League, one second ahead of the previous record of nine seconds, which was shared by Kevin Volland with Hoffenheim since August 2015 (also against Bayern), and Karim Bellarabi with Bayer Leverkusen since August 2014 (against Borussia Dortmund).
World champion Lando Norris apologized to his McLaren team after his last-lap collision with teammate Oscar Piastri eliminated their hopes of a podium position in a chaotic speed race at the Singapore Grand Prix in the Formula 1 World Championship, on Saturday.
The McLaren duo were chasing Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who was experiencing tire problems in the closing stages of the 20-lap sprint, when disaster struck on the final lap.
Norris, who was in fifth place behind Piastri fourth, tried to overtake his teammate but his front tire collided with the rear tire of the Australian driver's car, causing both cars to spin and giving Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli fourth place.
"Sorry about that," Norris said over the team's internal communication. I certainly didn't want that to happen, but I thought I was right next to him. There was not enough room for me at the top of the bend, but I was there.”
Norris narrowly managed to occupy eighth place to grab the last available point, while Piastri was forced to withdraw, becoming one of nine cars that did not complete the race - a record number of withdrawals in a world championship speed race.
Norris told Sky Sports: “I would rather go back and review what happened. “I apologized to them for the withdrawal of one of the cars, but, as I said, we will review the matter.”
Piastri said he did not see the incident clearly enough to comment on it, but he downplayed its importance because they were not in positions that awarded many points.
“From my point of view, it's about fourth and fifth place in a sprint race, so I'm not too bothered either way,” Piastri said. The team certainly has a lot of work to do to repair both cars (before qualifying for tomorrow's race). "It's unfortunate for the team."
Race stewards summoned the two McLaren drivers after their collision.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won the speed race, and overtook the Dutch driver Norris to rise to fifth place in the world championship standings.
