Pushed to the limit, Djokovic finds a way to win

Rome: Novak Djokovic had to work hard to beat Filip Krajinovic 7-6(7) 6-3 for a spot in the quarterfinals for the 14th straight year. In the women’s tournament, top-seeded Simona Halep improved to 7-0 in tennis’ restart with a 7-5 6-4 win over Dayana Yastremska.

Osaka out of French Open due to injured hamstring

Paris: US Open champion Naomi Osaka has pulled out of the French Open because of an injured left hamstring. Osaka joins defending champion Ash Barty in skipping the French Open, which opens on September 27. In another blow to the Grand Slam, tournament organisers announced a further reduction in crowd sizes. The new limit is 5,000 spectators per day. They had previously been planning for 11,500 spectators.

Harikrishna stays in fifth place; So on top

Chennai: Indian Grandmaster P Harikrishna maintained his joint-fifth place in the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz online chess tournament even as American Wesley So climbed to the top spot ahead of world champion Magnus Carlsen.

Tvesa cards 1-under 70, lies seventh

Bordeaux (France): Indian golfer Tvesa Malik shot a 1-under 70 in the opening round of the Open De France to be tied-7th. She is two shots behind the trio of leaders, Charlotte Thompson, Gabriella Cowley and Lucie Malchirand. Things were miserable for Diksha Dagar, who shot an 18-over 89.

Liverpool complete Thiago signing from Bayern

London: Liverpool have signed Spain midfielder Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich on a long-term contract. The deal will cost Liverpool around £20 million. Thiago, 29, spent seven seasons with Bayern.

Duplantis breaks Bubka’s outdoor world record

Rome: Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis broke Sergey Bubka’s 26-year-old outdoor world record. Duplantis cleared 6 metres, 15 centimetres at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea meet here with his second attempt, besting Bubka’s mark of 6.14m set in 1994. Duplantis already holds the indoor world record of 6.18m set in February. World champion Karsten Warholm again narrowly missed out on Kevin Young’s 28-year-old world record in the men’s 400 hurdles but the Norwegian keeps getting close. Warholm ran a meet record 47.07 seconds, less than three-tenths of a second off Young’s record of 46.78 from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

NBA: Heat seize 2-0 series lead over Celtics

New York: Miami Heat rallied from 17 points down to beat Boston Celtics 106-101 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. Heat improved to 2-0 in the best-of-seven series and 10-1 in the playoffs.

Thomas grabs US Open lead, Mickelson falters

Mamaroneck: World No. 3 Justin Thomas fired his lowest opening score in a Major and held a one-shot lead after the first round of the US Open yesterday. Thomas shot a 5-under 65. He is one shot clear of Thomas Pieters, Matthew Wolff and Patrick Reed. Four-time Major champion Rory McIlroy was among a group of three golfers two shots off the lead. Phil Mickelson shot a 9-over 79. Also far from contention were Tiger Woods (73), Dustin Johnson (73), Gary Woodland (74) and Collin Morikawa (76).

Tour de France: Andersen wins 19th stage

CHAMPAGNOLE (France): Denmark’s Soren Kragh Andersen claimed his second audacious solo stage win of the Tour de France today with a perfectly timed attack late in the 19th stage, an undulating 166.5-km ride. Primoz Roglic retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey. Agencies