Penalty heartbreak for Saudi Arabia in U-20 Asian final

DUBAI: Stefanos Tsitsipas will compete in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for a third time in four appearances after easing past Tallon Griekspoor in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 on Friday.

The World No. 11, in what will be his 30th career final, will face the ATP Tour’s most in-form player, Felix Auger-Aliassime, after the Canadian defeated qualifier Quentin Halys earlier in the day.

Saturday night’s trophy match represents a first outdoor hardcourt final in 18 months for Tsitsipas, who is seeking a maiden title in the emirate after finishing runner-up against both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in 2019 and 2020 respectively. This week, having eased past Lorenzo Sonego in the first round, he needed three sets against both Karen Khachanov and Matteo Berrettini, with both ties going late into the night. Tsitsipas was grateful to wrap up his semifinal with Griekspoor in just one hour and 23 minutes.

“Finally, I can have an early night, a good night’s sleep, and not have to go to bed at two o’clock in the morning,” said the Greek No. 4 seed, who is hunting a 12th ATP title. “I’m extremely happy to play good tennis from beginning to end. My focus levels were at the highest they have been this week.

“It was a well-balanced game from my side and I felt I didn’t get into the same drama I got in the previous matches where I was in kind of control and suddenly the coin flipped. I felt like I was leading the game, which felt good; I played the tennis that I deserved.”

The former World No. 3, Tsitsipas was nearly flawless on serve in the opening set, hitting four aces and looking more at ease than in previous matches. At three games apiece, he glimpsed his first real opportunity to seize control, carving out a pair of break points but failing to capitalize. The harbinger, however, was unmistakable. When Griekspoor stepped to the line in his next service game, the Greek pressed again — this time with precision. A single break was all he needed.

In the second, with Griekspoor having called a medical timeout between sets, Tsitsipas claimed an early break and never looked back. Both players showed strength on serve and clinical efficiency as each held serve without drama. But it was Tsitsipas’s composure — so often the Athens-born star’s Achilles’ heel in pressure moments — that defined the night. This time, there were no stumbles, no wavering resolve. With a measured, almost methodical performance, he closed out a comfortable victory to book his place in a first hardcourt final since defeating Alex de Minaur to win Los Cabos in 2023.

On Saturday, Tsitsipas will face, in Auger-Aliassime, a player he holds a 6-3 head-to-head Tour record against, but one he has not faced since November 2023 at the ATP Masters 1000 in Paris when he won in straight sets. The 24-year-old Canadian beat qualifier Quentin Halys 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in his own semifinal to continue a standout start to 2025 and book a place in a third final of the season before the end of February. Ominously for his opponent, he has won both those title matches, in Adelaide and Montpellier.

“I feel like he has improved — I’ve been seeing that over the last few weeks,” Tsitsipas said of the World No. 21, who with 16 wins has won more matches than any other player on Tour this year. “I’m not expecting the same type of Felix I’ve played before; I’m expecting something different. Him being in the final just proves that. From my mind, I’m just going to try to play well, try to be a tough opponent to beat. That’s my main focus; my main goal going out there. I will try my best in terms of delivering that, making sure that’s the level I want to reach when I’m playing.”

Auger-Aliassime has been made to fight his way to the final too, requiring three sets in all his matches so far this week. Showing resilience after falling a set down to Halys on Friday, the Montreal native stayed calm to turn the tie on its head. Frenchman Halys, ranked No. 77 in the world and forced to come through qualifying, had enjoyed somewhat of a fairytale week as he eliminated both No. 3 seed Andrey Rublev and 2018 champion Roberto Bautista Agut en route to the final four.

Yet Auger-Aliassime is exuding confidence this season and the third set seemed to only be going to one man as the Canadian booked a place in his sixth ATP 500 final.

“I’ve been really trying to win in straight sets this week,” he said, smiling. “Somehow, I find myself in three-setters … ultimately you have to win two sets, so it doesn’t matter how. Not every week is going to be like this during a season — it happens. The great thing is that even not playing, let’s say, the ultimate best tennis every set, every game, I’m able to be in a final. That’s positive — I’ll for sure take that. Hopefully tomorrow I can play even a little bit better.”

DUBAI: Virat Kohli is set for his 300th ODI on Sunday in the latest landmark for the Indian batting great after silencing doubts over his form and future with a match-winning Champions Trophy century.
India face New Zealand in their last group match in Dubai with both teams already into the semifinals of the 50-over tournament.
Called “King Kohli” for his prolific run-scoring, the batsman went through an extended lean patch with speculation swirling that he and skipper Rohit Sharma could soon retire. They have already quit T20Is.
But Kohli roared back with an unbeaten 100 in their win over arch-rivals Pakistan to take them to the brink of the semifinals, which they reached after a New Zealand win.
Kohli, 36, rolled back the years with his first ODI century since November 2023 as he took his time before bossing the opposition bowlers.
Teammate KL Rahul said the veteran has still a lot left in the tank.
“That (300) is a lot of ODI games and a lot of international games and he’s been... I mean words fall short to express how good a player he’s been and what a great servant of Indian cricket he’s been,” Rahul told reporters on Friday in Dubai.
“Really happy to see that he got the 100 last game as well and he’s been batting really well.
“For a player of his calibre it was about time that he scores that big century and a match-winning century.”
Rahul added: “Virat and Rohit, they are the senior players and you are always looking up to them to step up and score when the big games come.
“Hopefully there’s many more hundreds left for him (Kohli) and many more games of international cricket.”
Both Kohli and Rohit retired from T20 internationals after India’s triumph in the World Cup last year.
Kohli went past 14,000 ODI runs early in his innings against Pakistan, becoming only the third batsman to achieve the milestone after Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.
The knock was Kohli’s 51st ODI ton in 299 matches since his debut in 2008. He has 82 hundreds across the three international formats.
Kohli is the 22nd player in history and seventh Indian to enter the 300 club.
Tendulkar tops the list with 463 ODIs.
“I think that’s obviously a massive achievement,” New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell said of Kohli’s longevity.
“Three hundred games across a career is very impressive and then to put that in just one format is amazing.
“I think it’s a testament to the way that he’s gone about his career.”
Bracewell played with Kohli at Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League and said he was looking forward to facing him on Sunday.
“I saw it first hand at RCB how he sort of prepared for each match and it’s very impressive,” said Bracewell.
“He’s one of a number of class players in the Indian line-up and they’ve all played a lot of cricket now.”
Kohli has endured plenty of bumps along the way.
He won the 2011 ODI World Cup under M.S. Dhoni and then took over as captain.
Kohli helped India get back to the top of the Test rankings but he was unable to deliver the cricket-crazy nation a global title.
That drought, combined with his runs drying up, saw Kohli removed as ODI captain after giving up the T20 job.
Kohli gave up leading the Test side too and later talked about his mental struggles during his dry phase, including how he had been “snappy” around wife Anushka Sharma.
Known to wear his heart on his sleeve, Kohli has never shied away from a battle on the field and despite the odd controversy, is a hero to Indian fans.
Supporters invading the pitch to touch his feet and take selfies are regular occurrences at Indian venues.