After a brief interruption when the players were locked at 5-5 in the opening set, Federer saved two set points in the tiebreak and held firm to gain the upper hand in the contest.
No Dutch top-flight league soccer title will be awarded this season after the COVID-19 pandemic brought the campaign to a premature close, the Dutch FA (KNVB) said after a meeting with clubs and unions representing coaches and players on Friday. Ajax were top of the Eredivisie table with 56 points from 25 games, only ahead of AZ on goal difference, and both teams will now fill the Netherlands' qualifying places in UEFA's 2020-21 Champions League, Europe's elite club competition.
Under the lights on the stadium court, Williams smashed 39 winners to defeat Azarenka 7-5, 6-3 in a rematch of the 2016 final, which the Belarusian won.
To finish with dignity is how Robin van Persie wants to end his playing days on Sunday when he hangs up his boots after an 18-year career.
Didier Deschamps has let his hair go grey naturally since the last time he picked up a European title 16 years ago. The diminutive Deschamps was never a spectacular player -- a la Zinedine Zidane -- and certainly does not belong to the Jose Mourinho school of coaching with sensational sound bites. But the unglamorous Frenchman with the twangy voice has been instrumental in taking the host nation through to Sunday's Euro 2016 final against Portugal.
Factbox on Dutchman Louis van Gaal who left his job as Manchester United manager on Monday.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Venus Williams staged a spirited comeback to down third seed Petra Kvitova 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 and reach the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Eight-time World champion Pankaj Advani continued his fine run to enter the pre-quarter-finals of the third European Players Tour Championship (PTC) of the season, the Bluebell Wood Open, being held at Doncaster Dome, in Sheffield.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
IMAGES from the Euro 2020 qualifiers played on Thursday
PHOTOS from day four of the Wimbledon championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Thursday.
Following badminton World No 1 Lee Chong Wei's provisional ban, Rediff.com brings you ten top sports persons who gave in to drugs - one of the mighty perils that has affected modern sporting culture.
