Ashleigh Barty and Alexander Zverev warmed-up for the US Open by winning their respective tournaments at the combined ATP and WTA events in Cincinnati.
World No 1 Barty won her fifth title of the season by thrashing Swiss wild card Jil Teichmann 6-3, 6-1. The Australian, who will retain her firm grip at the top of the rankings before the final Grand Slam of the season that begins at Flushing Meadows next Monday, took control in the opening set and was never under threat.
“It's been an awesome week, with each match it was getting progressively better,” said Barty, who is looking to add the US Open title to her Wimbledon crown. “Today I was able to trust myself and play with confidence, which was important in a big final.
“I'm excited to get matches in tough conditions here in Cincy going into New York.”
For Teichmann, it was a disappointing end to a memorable week when the world No 76 beat three top 12 players, including four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka, fourth seed Karolina Pliskova and Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic.
“I'm very happy with my week, today I wanted to win, but Ash was just too good,” she said. “I felt like I was there in the first set, but suddenly the first set was gone. She stepped up her level in the second — she was too good.”
Zverev, meanwhile, backed up his Olympic gold medal with a fifth ATP Masters 1000 title as he crushed Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday.
The German showed no effects from the stomach problem that hampered him during a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 semi-final win over Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday.
“My first win here was on Wednesday and now I'm holding the title four days later,” he said. “It's been an incredible week, I had a lot of great matches. It's a great feeling going into the Open.”
Zverev's victory saw him leapfrog Rafael Nadal to take fourth spot in the new ATP rankings released on Monday.
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
Saturday results
Qatar beat Kuwait by 26 runs
Bahrain beat Maldives by six wickets
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by seven wickets
Monday fixtures
Maldives v Qatar
Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
Bahrain v UAE
* The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
Verdict: Three stars
MATCH INFO
Leeds United 0
Brighton 1 (Maupay 17')
Man of the match: Ben White (Brighton)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Biography
Favourite drink: Must have karak chai and Chinese tea every day
Favourite non-Chinese food: Arabic sweets and Indian puri, small round bread of wheat flour
Favourite Chinese dish: Spicy boiled fish or anything cooked by her mother because of its flavour
Best vacation: Returning home to China
Music interests: Enjoys playing the zheng, a string musical instrument
Enjoys reading: Chinese novels, romantic comedies, reading up on business trends, government policy changes
Favourite book: Chairman Mao Zedong’s poems
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Schedule for show courts
Centre Court - from 4pm UAE time
Johanna Konta (6) v Donna Vekic
Andy Murray (1) v Dustin Brown
Rafael Nadal (4) v Donald Young
Court 1 - from 4pm UAE time
Kei Nishikori (9) v Sergiy Stakhovsky
Qiang Wang v Venus Williams (10)
Beatriz Haddad Maia v Simona Halep (2)
Court 2 - from 2.30pm
Heather Watson v Anastasija Sevastova (18)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12) v Simone Bolelli
Florian Mayer v Marin Cilic (7)
Jebel Ali card
1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m
2.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,400m
2.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,000m
3.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,200m
3.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m
The National selections
1.45pm: Cosmic Glow
2.15pm: Karaginsky
2.45pm: Welcome Surprise
3.15pm: Taamol
3.45pm: Rayig
4.15pm: Chiefdom
4.45pm: California Jumbo
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
The biog
Name: Maitha Qambar
Age: 24
Emirate: Abu Dhabi
Education: Master’s Degree
Favourite hobby: Reading
She says: “Everyone has a purpose in life and everyone learns from their experiences”
UAE v Ireland
1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets
2nd ODI, January 12
3rd ODI, January 14
4th ODI, January 16
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
The view from The National
