A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
The American slumped to a 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 defeat by Frenchman Fabrice Santoro in the first round of the Lyon Grand Prix.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
The Belgian world number one beat France's Tatiana Golovin 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the final of the Stuttgart Grand Prix to land her eighth title of the year.
Andy Roddick defeated French wildcard Thierry Ascione in the first round of the Lyon Grand Prix.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has received a flurry of criticism from the Formula One world, including legendary driver Niki Lauda who asked him to consult a psychiatrist after the teenage driver was involved in a three-car collision in last week's Belgian Grand Prix.
The Belgian thumped Yugoslav Jelena Dokic 6-0, 6-4 in the final of the Swisscom Challenge on Sunday
Sebastian Vettel won a tense Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday in a Ferrari one-two that stretched his championship lead to 14 points after Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton sportingly surrendered third place to his teammate.
Hamilton wrapped up his record-equalling seventh title in Turkey last month and picked up his 11th win of the season in Bahrain on Sunday. Mercedes have already won the constructors' title for an unprecedented seventh year in a row.
A weekend that began at the top of the timesheets for Max Verstappen ended with the Dutchman out of the points and in a war of words with Ferrari rivals after a nightmare Belgian Formula One Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari one-two at the top of the timesheets in final practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday, ending the stranglehold of previously dominant champions Mercedes. Vettel lapped the Sakhir Circuit in a best time of one minute 31.683 seconds, 0.040 faster than team mate Kimi Raikkonen on the supersoft tyres. It was the first time this season that any driver from outside the Mercedes pairing of Nico Rosberg and triple world champion Lewis Hamilton had ended practice on top. Hamilton was quickest in all three sessions in Australia two weeks ago while championship frontrunner Rosberg led his team mate in Bahrain practices one and two on Friday. Rosberg was third fastest in practice three, his time of 1:32.104 slower than Friday when he did 1:31.001, with Hamilton fourth.
Lewis Hamilton hopes fellow Briton Jenson Button will make a comeback and replace McLaren's Fernando Alonso at the Monaco Grand Prix when the Spaniard is away competing in the Indianapolis 500 in May.
Kimi Raikkonen made clear on Friday that his Lotus Formula One team had issues to resolve before he could have serious discussions about staying on next season.
Formula One's governing body is planning to tighten the rules on telemetry next season to limit the amount of remote assistance drivers can get from their data engineers.
Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez will miss Sunday's British Grand Prix after testing positive for COVID-19, his Racing Point team said on Thursday. The Canadian-owned outfit said the 30-year-old, who is the first driver to test positive since the pandemic-hit season started this month, is "physically well and in good spirits".
Ferrari felt the pain on Sunday after emerging with just two points from a hard day in front of their home fans at the Italian Grand Prix.
Jules Bianchi had a bright future in Formula One.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc held off Lewis Hamilton to win his first Formula One race on Sunday in the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix.
Formula One could start the season behind locked gates due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the glamour sport will likely have to slim down considerably to get the green light to go racing. Across Europe, bans on mass gatherings and public events have been extended into July and August even as countries begin to emerge from the strict lockdowns that have put sporting activities on hold.
The 30-year-old Indian shuttler had an impressive run in the $75,000 BWF Tour Super 100 tournament before caving in tamely 14-21, 10-21 to Shesar in 28 minutes.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the French Grand Prix on Saturday with Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas alongside him on the front row.
The Mercedes driver, with a record 94 wins, is the most successful Formula One driver of all time. The following details his progression to the 2020 title.
Aggrieved McLaren boss Ron Dennis says Formula One teams must decide whether a driver is fit to race, rather than the governing body's doctors, after Fernando Alonso was barred from the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Haas, a six-time PGA Tour winner, was scheduled to play in the Genesis Open at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades that begins Thursday, but will withdraw to recover at his home in Greenville, South Carolina, his manager said.
Brazilian Felipe Massa announced on Tuesday he is leaving Ferrari at the end of the season, opening the door for Kimi Raikkonen to return to the Formula One team that took him to the title in 2007.
Finnish team mate Kimi Raikkonen, who started on pole for the first time in nine years but lost the lead in the pitstops, made sure of a Ferrari one-two with Hamilton finishing seventh for Mercedes after starting 13th.
Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram took to social media to announce his retirement.
Michael Schumacher's son Mick has followed in his father's footsteps by signing a contract with Ferrari to join the Formula One team's young driver academy. The 19-year-old German, whose father won five of his record seven championships with the Italian team, will be competing in Formula Two this year after winning the European F3 title in 2018.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Lewis Hamilton took a big step towards clinching his fifth Formula One title after putting his Mercedes on pole position at the U.S. Grand Prix on Saturday with Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel starting fifth.
Formula One esports race was the third in a series designed to give fans something to watch after the COVID-19 pandemic stalled motorsport worldwide and left Formula One still waiting to start its season.
Team mate Sebastian Vettel was second fastest to complete the front-row sweep, with championship leader Lewis Hamilton third for Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton, once the young sensation of Formula One, is starting to feel his age as a new generation of drivers sweeps into the sport and old hands like Jenson Button and Felipe Massa head for the exit.
Lewis Hamilton has had more success in Shanghai than any other Formula One driver, which makes Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix the ideal location for the triple world champion to end Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg's winning streak. While Rosberg has started the season with a perfect 50 points from two races, and a run of five successive victories dating back to last November, Hamilton is ready to turn the tables. The Briton has won four times in Shanghai and is on for three in a row after last season becoming the only driver to win the race in successive years. "It's not been a smooth start to the season for me, so to be in the championship position I'm in right now is actually pretty positive," said Hamilton, who lies second in the standings after a second and a third place. "Now we go to China for the next battle. It's a track that's been good to me over the years... so hopefully this race can be the turning point." Hamilton has not won since he took his third world championship in Austin, Texas, last October but the 31-year-old has started both races this season on pole position.
Fernando Alonso hopes to extend his Ferrari contract beyond the end of 2016 and reckons he could have 10 more years of racing in Formula One.
Lewis Hamilton lapped in a league of his own on Saturday to seize pole position for the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix with Mercedes team mate and championship favourite Nico Rosberg joining him on the front row.
