January 2024 – Page 839 – Safir News Agency

Rafael Nadal To Play Ex-US Open Champion Dominic Thiem In Comeback Match

admin Jan 1, 2024 0

Rafael Nadal will face former US Open champion Dominic Thiem in the first round of the Brisbane International in a tough return to the ATP Tour after almost a year off due to injury. Thiem, a former world number three who was beaten by Nadal in the 2018 and 2019 French Open finals, battled through two tough qualifying rounds to make the main draw. Like Nadal, he has also struggled with injury and fell to 352 in the world in 2022 following a right wrist tear. He is currently ranked 98.

The two men have played 15 times, with Nadal winning nine and Thiem six. However, the Austrian has won their past two encounters at the ATP Tour Finals in 2020 and the Australian Open the same year. They will play on Tuesday.

Nadal also left the door ajar to continue playing after the 2024 season, but conceded there was “a high percentage” that he was on his last trip as a player to Australia.

Speaking ahead of his comeback from a 12-month injury absence at the season-opening Brisbane International, the 37-year-old Spaniard said he did not know for sure what the future held.

“The problem about saying that’s going to be my last season is I can’t predict what’s going on 100 percent in the future,” he said.

“That’s why I say ‘probably’. It’s obvious it’s a high percentage that it’s going to be my last time playing here in Australia.

“But if I am here next year, don’t tell me, ‘You said it was going to be your last season’, because I didn’t say it.

“You never know what’s going on, you know? I can’t predict how I’m going to be in the next six months. I can’t predict if my body will allow me to enjoy tennis as much as I enjoyed the past 20 years.

“It’s not an easy decision, but I know inside myself that it is a high percentage that it’s going to be my last one.”

The 22-time Grand Slam champion said that the last year, with surgery for a hip injury, had been tough and he contemplated quitting at one point during his recovery.

Future ‘unpredictable’

But he said he had never lost his love for the sport, which motivated him to keep going.

“Of course I was asking myself that (about retirement), but at some point I decided to keep going. I had the determination to keep going.”

Nadal, who has been sidelined since injuring his hip at the 2023 Australian Open, begins his singles comeback against a qualifier in the first round in Brisbane.

He will make a low-key return later Sunday when he plays doubles.

Asked whether he identified with Naomi Osaka, who on Saturday admitted she had fallen out of love with tennis during her break from the tour, Nadal said that was not the case for him.

“She got tired or lost a little bit of motivation for the game,” he said.

“That never happened to me. I had to be away because my body was not able to keep going.”

Nadal said the long absence had allowed his body to heal and he no longer woke up every morning in pain, but he had no expectations heading into the new season and would take it week-by-week.

“Competing is different than practising, but in terms of practising with the guys here, I am quite happy because I feel competitive against the players that I played in practice,” he said.

“Of course I don’t have the expectations that I used to have in the past.

“It’s obvious, no? It’s one year (away). It’s surgery. For me it is a little bit unpredictable how things are going to be.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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US Sinks 3 Ships, Kills 10 In Response To Houthi Red Sea Attack

admin Jan 1, 2024 0

US Sinks 3 Ships, Kills 10 In Response To Houthi Red Sea Attack

The naval battle underlines the risk of a regional escalation in fighting.

Copenhagen/Dubai/Cairo:

US helicopters repelled an attack by Iran-backed Houthi militants on a Maersk container vessel in the Red Sea, sinking three ships and killing 10 militants, according to accounts by American, Maersk, and Houthi officials on Sunday.

The naval battle occurred around 0330 GMT on Sunday as the attackers sought to board the Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou, Maersk and US Central Command (CENTCOM) said. Helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely joined the ship’s security team in repelling the attackers after receiving a distress call, CENTCOM said.

Maersk said it was pausing all sailing through the Red Sea for 48 hours after the attack.

A spokesman for the Houthis said the group carried out the attack because the ship’s crew refused to heed warning calls. He said 10 Houthi naval personnel were “dead and missing” after their boats were attacked by US forces in the Red Sea.

The naval battle underlines the risk of a regional escalation in fighting as Israel continues with its relentless bombing campaign following a Hamas surprise cross-border attack on Israeli towns on October 7 that left 1,200 dead, and took 240 hostages. Israel’s air and artillery bombardment has killed more than 21,800 people, according to Gazan health authorities.

Yemen’s Houthis have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea since November to show their support for Hamas, prompting major shipping companies to take the longer and costlier route around the Africa’s Cape of Good Hope rather than through the Suez Canal.

The Red Sea is the entry point for ships using the Suez Canal, which handles about 12% of global trade and vital for the movement of goods between Asia and Europe.

The United States launched Operation Prosperity Guardian on December 19, saying more than 20 countries had agreed to participate in the efforts to safeguard ships in Red Sea waters near Yemen.

Maersk, one of the world’s top cargo shippers, said on December 24 it would resume sailing through the Red Sea. However, attacks have continued and US allies have proven reluctant to commit to the coalition, with nearly half not declaring their presence publicly.

The botched Houthi boarding operation was the second attack on the Maersk Hangzhou in as many days. The ship, which is carrying 14,000 containers en route from Singapore, was on Saturday hit by a missile about 55 nautical miles southwest of Al Hodeidah, Yemen.

The shipping company added that the crew of the Maersk Hangzhou crew was safe and there was no indication of fire onboard the vessel, which continued its journey north toward the Suez Canal.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby declined to say what options the US is considering when asked on ABC’s “Good Morning America” if Washington would consider a preemptive strike on the Houthis.

“We have made it clear publicly to the Houthis, we’ve made it clear privately to our allies and partners in the region, that we take these threats seriously.”

Writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We are willing to take direct action, and we won’t hesitate to take further action to deter threats to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.”

“The Houthis should be under no misunderstanding: we are committed to holding malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks,” he said.

Earlier on Sunday, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he had told Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in a call that Iran should help stop the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

The BIMCO shipping association condemned the attacks and thanked those states involved in repelling them.

“We are thankful to US, French, and UK efforts so far and hope even more states will support the coalition with naval assets or other impactful means including diplomatic pressure on the Houthis and their sponsors,” Jakob Larsen, BIMCO’s head of maritime safety and security, told Reuters.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)