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For record 21st Grand Slam title, Rafael Nadal loses bid with Australian Open loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas

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For the 225th time in his illustrious career, Rafael Nadal snatched a two-set lead in a Grand Slam coordinate. For just the subsequent time, he blew that huge edge and lost.

Several strangely sloppy overheads and an framed backhand in a third-set tiebreaker started Nadal’s demise, and his offer for a men’s-record 21st significant title in the end finished in the Australian Open quarterfinals Wednesday with 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-5 misfortune to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“I have to go back home,” Nadal said, “and practice to be better.”

At his put-the-ball-where-he-needs it best in the early going, Nadal proceeded rather effectively, winning 27 successive focuses on his serve in one stretch and running his dash of back to back sets succeeded at significant competitions to 35, one short of Roger Federer’s record for the expert time.

Nadal and Federer are as of now tied at 20 Grand Slam singles titles, more than some other man throughout the entire existence of a game that dates to the last part of the 1800s.

In any case, Tsitsipas never faltered and that shockingly helpless sudden death round by Nadal — thinking excessively far ahead, maybe? — helped hand over the third set and start the epic rebound.

“I started very nervous, I won’t lie,” the fifth-seeded Tsitsipas said. “But I don’t know what happened after the third set. I just flied like a little bird. Everything was working for me. The emotions at the very end are indescribable.”

As Tsitsipas played, in Nadal’s assessment, a “very very high level of tennis” throughout the last two sets, the 34-year-old Spaniard’s play dipped considerably.

Nadal made an aggregate of just 10 unforced blunders in the initial two sets joined, at that point had 11 in the third, 14 in the fourth and seven in the fifth.

The solitary other event where Nadal went from a two-set favorable position to an annihilation in a Slam came at the 2015 U.S. Open against Fabio Fognini (who just so had lost to Nadal in the fourth round at Melbourne Park this year).

So now, rather than Nadal endeavoring to proceed with his quest for Federer, it will be Tsitsipas — a 22-year-old from Greece with a conspicuous game — who will meet 2019 U.S. Open next in line Daniil Medvedev in the elimination rounds Friday.

Neither Tsitsipas nor Medvedev has won a Grand Slam competition.

In the other men’s elimination round, 17-time significant boss and No. 1-positioned Novak Djokovic will confront 114th-positioned qualifier Aslan Karatsev, who is making his Grand Slam debut.

The ladies’ elimination rounds Thursday (Wednesday night EST) are Serena Williams versus Naomi Osaka, and Jennifer Brady versus Karolina Muchova.

Nadal won the 2009 Australian Open, however it is the lone significant he hasn’t succeeded at least twice, with 13 at Roland Garros, four at the U.S. Open and two at Wimbledon.

“Sometimes the things go well,” Nadal said, “and sometimes the things go worse.”

He came into the current year’s first major with questions about his back, refering to that as his purpose behind pulling out of the ATP Cup group rivalry that went before the Australian Open and saying the issue kept him from rehearsing appropriately for around three weeks.

However, Nadal said after the misfortune to Tsitsipas that his back was not an issue.

Nadal hadn’t surrendered a set at Melbourne Park through four matches; he won each of the 21 sets he played finally year’s French Open, where he got his twentieth Slam prize to pull even with Federer (Williams has 23, Margaret Court 24).

Federer hasn’t contended in over a year after two knee tasks.

With screeching seagulls giving an odd evening time soundtrack at Rod Laver Arena — yet no observers, since they’ve been restricted during a nearby COVID-19 lockdown, and will not return until Thursday — Nadal consistently had a response for anything Tsitsipas attempted at the beginning.

Surge the net? Here comes a calculated passing shot. Hang out at the standard? Best of luck attempting to outslug Nadal from that point.

It appeared as though it very well may be a rehash of their 2019 elimination round in Australia, when Nadal overpowered Tsitsipas and permitted him to dominate only six matches.

However, this time, Tsitsipas came in following three entire days off, in light of the fact that the man he should look in the fourth round, No. 9 Matteo Berrettini, pulled out with a stomach injury.

That – and a 12-year age contrast — might have added to Tsitsipas’ being fresher in the late going as they played past four hours. Tsitsipas, who’s been fixed as a future star for quite a long time, almost pulled off such a stunner against Djokovic in the French Open elimination rounds in October, going from two sets down to constraining a fifth.

Tsitsipas couldn’t do what needs to be done in those days.

He did against Nadal.

Tsitsipas moved out front at 6-5 in the fifth by breaking at affection as Nadal flubbed a progression of shots, at that point served out the victory by changing over his third match point with a backhand winner.

“I’m speechless. I have no words to describe what just happened on the court,” Tsitsipas said shortly after the match ended. “It’s an unbelievable feeling to be able to fight at such a level and just be able to give it my all out on the court.”

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Dodgers Unveil Plans for Friday Parade and Stadium Celebration

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The Dodgers announced Wednesday night that they would celebrate their World Series victory on Friday with a parade in Downtown Los Angeles and a special ticketed event at Dodger Stadium. The full broadcast of both tournaments will be available on AM 570, local television stations, and Spectrum SportsNet LA. Fans will not be able to attend both events due to scheduling conflicts, transportation, and logistical issues.

The parade will start at Gloria Molina Grand Park on Spring Street in front of City Hall at 11 a.m. PT. The procession will begin with an official kickoff by Mayor Karen Bass and go for 45 minutes from 1st Street to Grand Avenue to 5th Street, ending at the corner of 5th and Flower Street. Dodgers players will ride double-decker buses during the parade. Due to extensive street closures and a shortage of public parking, those who desire to join the parade are strongly recommended to use public transportation.

At around 12:15 p.m., a special ticketed event at Dodger Stadium will start after the procession. The stadium’s entrance gates will open at 9 a.m., and parking gates for attendees will open at 8:30 a.m. There will be food and merchandise for sale. Before the team arrives, there will be entertainment inside the stadium, including DodgerVision scoreboards that will show the parade. This event will be subject to all Dodger Stadium policies and procedures, including the reminder that signs, bags, and other objects that are prohibited by our policies are not allowed.

At 9:30 a.m., SportsNet LA and local networks CBS 2, NBC 4, KTLA 5, ABC 7, KCAL 9, and Fox 11 will start airing coverage of every event on Friday. On AM 570, there will be radio coverage.

The Los Angeles Dodger Foundation, which is working to address the most important issues confronting Los Angeles with a mission to enhance social justice, health care, education, and homelessness for all Angelenos, will get a part of the stadium event’s earnings.

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Tuten Leads the Hokies with 4 Touchdowns and 266 Running Yards in a Blowout Victory

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Thursday night, Virginia Tech defeated Boston College 42–21 thanks to a school record 266 yards and four touchdowns from Bhayshul Tuten.

For the Hokies (4-3, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and never trailed en way to a second straight victory, Kyron Drones added two rushing scores and a touchdown pass.

Tuten completed 18 carries while also scoring on 83 and 61-yard touchdown runs, the latter of which came with 8:28 remaining to win the game. And he caught a touchdown pass from Drones that was 20 yards in length.

Tuten declared, “Every game is a special game.” “That’s how I look at it. I just felt a little better today. We had a bye week. I felt great throughout practice. I took the knee brace off (for a sore knee). I felt fast, I felt good, I felt fluid. I just came out and balled today, and that’s what we needed.”

After trailing 28-0 at the half, Boston College (4-3, 1-2 ACC) got within 28-21 on a 5-yard run by Kye Robichaux with 2:55 remaining in the third quarter, and they were on the drive early in the fourth. However, Robichaux was stopped on a fourth-and-1 at midfield, and Virginia Tech took advantage of the next play. With 11:02 remaining, Tuten scored on a 6-yard run to give Virginia Tech a 35-21 lead.

“That’s a good team that we beat tonight,” stated Brent Pry, the coach of Virginia Tech. “And we beat them soundly.”

With his 266 rushing yards, Tuten eclipsed the previous school record of 253 established by Darren Evans in 2008 versus Maryland. After removing Tuten from the game because of his proximity to the record, the Virginia Tech coaching staff decided to put him back in to break it. During the Hokies’ last drive, Tuten set the record with a 17-yard run.

“I normally don’t like that, but a school record at a place like Tech with so many great running backs, and he was deserving with his performance,” Pry stated.

Drones completed 14 of 18 passes for 164 yards and ran for 40 yards. Drones scored on runs of 11 yards and 1 yard on the Hokies’ opening two possessions. The Hokies finished with a season-high 533 yards, trailing just Tuten and Drones.

The Eagles finished with 372 yards, led by Thomas Castellanos, who passed for 205 yards and two touchdowns.

“I felt really good about the preparation for the game,” Boston College head coach Bill O’Brien remarked. “Obviously, I was wrong. We’ve got to prepare differently, better, whatever it might be. We’ve got to figure it out. … We’ve got to coach better. We’ve got a good coaching staff. We do. We have a lot of experience. But we didn’t play well tonight, so that’s on the coaching. We’ve got to coach better and hopefully we’ll get it turned around.”

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Shohei Ohtani Gets Standing Ovation After Achieving 50-50 Milestone, Then Hits 52-52

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After securing the first 50-50 season in MLB history on Friday, Shohei Ohtani made a triumphant homecoming to Dodger Stadium. He continued doing what he does best after that.

The Los Angeles Dodgers player began the 52-52 club with a home run and a steal against the Colorado Rockies, after the teams reached 50-50 and 51-51 in the same game. In the fifth inning, Ohtani faced Rockies starter Kyle Freeland. He worked the count full before taking a pitch at his armpits to deep center field.

Few batters possess the ability to hit a pitch that high and blast it 423 feet in the opposite direction.

After a double and a single two innings later, Ohtani advanced to second base on Mookie Betts’ first pitch.

Ohtani broke Rickey Henderson’s record of 13 home runs in a single game set in 1986 by recording both a stolen base and a home run for the 14th time this season.

After going 9 for 10 with four home runs, two doubles, three steals, six runs, and 12 RBI in his last two games, Ohtani is now one home run behind Aaron Judge for the MLB lead. The majority of that output occurred on Thursday night against the Marlins, when Ohtani not only reached 50-50 with style, but he also had one of the best offensive outings in MLB history.

Ohtani combined an incredible season-long feat with the 16th 10-RBI game in MLB history in the same game that he hit his 49th, 50th, and 51st home runs of the year and stole his 50th and 51st bases. In addition, it was the first three-homer, two-steal game in MLB history, all on the anniversary of Ohtani’s unbelievable—that he didn’t have Tommy John surgery—on September 19, 2023.

The only downside of that magical night was that it happened on the road. Still, Ohtani received a curtain call at LoanDepot Park in Miami. Dodgers fans made an effort to show their support by giving him a standing ovation before his first at-bat on Friday, which earned him a wave in return.

Though it’s unclear how far into untested terrain Ohtani can go in homers and steals, he may have reached 50-50.

In addition, there’s the playoff issue. With eight games remaining, the 92-62 Dodgers have a four-game lead over the San Diego Padres for the NL West championship. They also secured their spot in the playoffs on Thursday. They’ll need to get beyond a string of pitching injuries if they hope to give Ohtani a ring, regardless of where they finish in his debut postseason.

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