TENNIS
Rafael Nadal pulled out of the upcoming hard-court tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami on Tuesday because of the left hip flexor injury that has sidelined him since the Australian Open.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion tweeted about his withdrawals, which were expected but still raise questions about when he will be able to return to action.
“Took my time off, started rehab, gym and physiotherapy as instructed by the doctors,” Nadal wrote as part of a thread on Twitter that included videos showing him in the gym. “Getting ready to come back … in the best conditions.”
He is a three-time winner and reached the 2022 final at the BNP Paribas Open in California, where the men begin main-draw play on March 8. That will be followed by the Miami Open, another Masters 1000 tournament, where ATP action starts on March 22 and Nadal last competed in 2017. He has never won the title there and is a five-time runner-up, including two losses apiece in finals against rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
After Miami, the men’s tennis circuit shifts to the European red clay, leading up to the French Open in late May.
ATX OPEN: Top-seeded Magda Linette was eliminated in the first round with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 loss to 88th-ranked Varvara Gracheva at Austin, Texas.
No. 2 Zhang Shuai pulled out with an illness and No. 6 Lauren Davis withdrew with an abdominal injury.
DUBAI CHAMPIONSHIPS: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic held on to beat Czech qualifier Tomas Machac 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (1) in his first match since winning his 10th Australian Open title.
Djokovic’s first-round victory came a day after the 35-year-old Serb broke the record for the most time spent at No. 1 in the professional tennis rankings by a man or woman.
Also, third-seeded Daniil Medvedev beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-2 to extend his winning streak to 10 matches.
Fourth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Maxime Cressy 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3 and Botic van de Zandschulp beat sixth-seeded Karen Khachanov 7-5, 6-2.
AUTO RACING
INDYCAR: Marco Andretti will attempt to defend the only professional championship of his career when he returns this summer to Superstar Racing Experience, the all-star series created by Tony Stewart.
Andretti was among five IndyCar drivers named to the series, which last week confirmed Stewart would return to run the full six-race season. Stewart won the inaugural SRX championship in 2021.
SOCCER
FRANCE: French soccer federation president Noel Le Graet resigned after a government audit found he no longer had the legitimacy to lead because of his behavior toward women and his management style.
Le Graet, 81, is under judicial investigation for alleged sexual and moral harassment. He had already stepped away from his duties until the audit’s findings were reviewed by the federation’s executive committee.
He submitted his resignation to a meeting of the executive committee, according to a statement from the federation.
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: FIFA’s choice of Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima as its first global fan ambassador five months before the Women’s World Cup was described as “tone deaf” by the former leader of the soccer body’s task force for women’s soccer.
Lima’s appointment to “develop, promote and participate in several global initiatives” was announced by FIFA on Monday hours before the former Victoria’s Secret runway model helped present the fan prize in Paris at its annual award ceremony.
“Seriously, FIFA, is this the fan engagement ambassador we need as the (Women’s World Cup) approaches?” wrote Moya Dodd, who was part of the co-hosting bid campaign for her native Australia and New Zealand, on her Twitter account.
Dodd, a former FIFA executive committee member and longtime advocate for women’s soccer, used the hashtag “tonedeaf” and posted the glamor photo from the profile of Lima’s Twitter account that has 2.4 million followers.
A former Australia national-team player, Dodd also recalled recent speculation FIFA could sign the Saudi Arabia tourism board as an official sponsor of the month-long tournament that starts July 20.
“Honestly baffled by the marketing strategy. First FIFA wants to send an LGBTQ-friendly audience to `Visit Saudi’,” Dodd wrote. “Now it’s targeting who exactly?”
TRACK & FIELD
OBIT: Bob Richards, a two-time Olympic pole vault gold medalist who also became an ordained minister, died Sunday. He was 97.
USA Track and Field confirmed his death. His son, Brandon, wrote in a social media post that his father “passed in his sleep peacefully surrounded by loved ones.”
Richards competed at the 1948, ’52 and ’56 Olympics in the pole vault. He won a bronze medal in his first Olympic go-around, followed by back-to-back gold medals. The versatile athlete known as the “Vaulting Vicar” also competed in the Olympic decathlon in 1956.
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