Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.
Santana throws first no-hitter in Mets history
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Johan Santana threw the first
no-hitter ever for the New York Mets as he blanked the visiting
World Series champion St Louis Cardinals 8-0 at Citi Field on
Friday with the help of a big break and a big assist from
outfielder Mike Baxter. The Venezuelan struck out World Series
MVP David Freese on a change-up in the dirt to end the game
with his eighth strikeout and unleash a huge celebration in the
middle of the diamond.
Celtics cool Heat to narrow series deficit
BOSTON (Reuters) – The Boston Celtics ramped up on defense
to re-energies their playoff ambitions with a 101-91 victory
over the Miami Heat on Friday, their first win in the NBA
Eastern Conference finals series. A win at home was critical
for Boston, especially after losing in overtime to Miami on
Wednesday. The Celtics still trail 2-1 in the best-of-seven
series but could now tie it up in Boston on Sunday.
Li through, Schiavone out at French Open
PARIS (Reuters) – Last year’s finalists Francesca Schiavone
and Li Na headed in opposite directions at the French Open on
Saturday when the Italian was knocked out in the third round
and the Chinese fought her way through to the last 16 with a
tough win. Schiavone, the Roland Garros winner in 2010 and
runner-up to Li last year, was unlucky to run into battling
American Varvara Lepchenko for the second time in a month.
WADA propose Olympic ban in revised draft code
LONDON (Reuters) – The World Anti-Doping Agency WADA has
issued a revised draft code inserting a proposed Olympic ban
for serious doping offenders from January 2015. The revision,
if left in the final draft to be approved at a world conference
on doping in sport in Johannesburg in November 2013, would mean
athletes whose suspension ends before a Winter or Summer Games
could be banned for one Olympic cycle.
Sharapova pummels Peng to reach last 16 in Paris
PARIS (Reuters) – It was business as usual as Maria
Sharapova breezed into the fourth round of the French Open by
sweeping past Chinese Peng Shuai 6-2 6-1 on Saturday.
Sharapova’s outings have been fleeting this week as she has
dropped just five games en route to the last 16, spending a
total of two hours and 54 minutes on court over her three
matches.
Li makes her experience count to down American McHale
PARIS (Reuters) – Defending champion Li Na relied on her
wealth of experience to end the challenge of plucky 20-year-old
American Christina McHale with an energy-sapping 3-6 6-2 6-1
third-round win at the French Open on Saturday. Seventh seed
Li, who last year became the first player from an Asian nation
to win a singles grand-slam title, needed almost two hours on a
sunsoaked Court Suzanne Lenglen to break the world number 36’s
resilience.
Murray shrugs off back problem to ease into fourth round
PARIS (Reuters) – Having shaken off the effects of a back
injury that pushed him to the brink of elimination, Andy
Murray’s progress into the fourth round at Roland Garros was
less pain and more gain as he eased past Santiago Giraldo on
Saturday. The British number four seed pummeled his way past
the Colombian 6-3 6-4 6-4 under a burning Parisian sun.
Youzhny in a sorry state after Ferrer roasting
PARIS (Reuters) – If there was any doubt about how
tormented Mikhail Youzhny felt as he was being bullied into a
6-0 6-2 6-2 submission by David Ferrer at the French Open, the
single word ”SORRY!” etched into the red clay by the Russian
said it all on Saturday. A disbelieving Youzhny was red-faced
after winning only six points, all on his own serve, during the
first eight games of the third-round contest against a man he
had beaten four times in six previous meetings.
Schiavone knocked out by Lepchenko again
PARIS (Reuters) – Former champion Francesca Schiavone made
a third-round exit from the French Open on Saturday when she
was beaten, for the second time in a month, by American
left-hander Varvara Lepchenko. Lepchenko, ranked 63rd in the
world, beat the 2010 winner and 2011 runner-up 3-6 6-3 8-6 in a
match full of long rallies in the midday sun on Court One,
where the temperature reached 29 degrees Celsius.
Kvitova fights past battling Russian Bratchikova
PARIS (Reuters) – Fourth seed Petra Kvitova moved into the
French Open fourth round with a 6-2 4-6 6-1 victory over
Russian Nina Bratchikova on Saturday, but the Czech was forced
to toil in the piercing Parisian sunshine. Peppering the
baseline with a series of snappy and accurate groundstrokes,
the physically imposing Kvitova had looked to be on course for
a smooth passage into the next round when she claimed the first
set in just 28 minutes.
