SPORTS

Rafael Nadal had defeated Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the French Open and then he progressed to the final after Alexander Zverev was forced to retire midway during the semi-final.

Rafael Nadal is the toast of the tennis world and the sports fraternity after overcoming severe physical obstacles to win the French Open 2022 men's singles title. Nadal brushed aside the challenge of Casper Ruud in straight sets on Sunday to capture his 14th title at Roland Garros and this extended his record to 22 grand slam titles, two ahead of his primary rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. What must have been satisfying for the Spaniard is the fact that he defeated Djokovic in the quarters to win this title. Nadal had lost to Djokovic in the semi-final last year, which allowed the Serbian to win his 2nd French Open title in 2021.

Sourav Ganguly is regarded as one of the finest Indian captains of all time. Ganguly is often credited for backing the youngsters during his time as captain of the Indian side and several players have over the years thanked Ganguly for playing a role in shaping their careers. The likes of Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni among others were all backed by Ganguly as youngsters and went on to become greats of the game.

Ganguly's ability to trust his players and back them even at their worst often paid rich dividends for the Indian team as they registered come memorable victories both at home and away from home. Former India spinner Harbhajan, who also shone under Ganguly's captaincy, recently revealed how he once saved the former captain from getting sacked.

It’s been a while since Virat Kohli has looked Virat Kohli. The star India batter has not scored a century since 2019 and his form has been on a steady decline. Even in the recently concluded IPL, Kohli failed to make an impact and mustered only 341 runs in 16 matches at an average of 22.73 and strike rate of 115.98.

While Kohli’s long-stretched lean patch has started to concern fans, former India skipper Mohammed Azharuddin feels that every player goes through a lean patch and there is nothing to be concerned about. Azharuddin said that expectations from Kohli are so high that even his half-century is considered a failure. Azharuddin backed Virat Kohli to return to form in England.

French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo defended night sessions after both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic said their match started too late. At around 9:05 pm French time, Nadal and Djokovic started their quarterfinal match.

The match lasted just over four hours and finished after 1am. After the match, both Nadal and Djokovic said the match started too late. "As far as I'm concerned, night sessions in the stadium are definitely appropriate, because it was always full to the brim every night," Mauresmo said, per the BBC.

"There was a real enthusiasm. People could actually work during the day and yet watch the match during the evening. I'm learning a lot of things regarding the scheduling of the tournament. We will actually have a feedback session on this at the end, but it's just 10 night matches overall."

Former India captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has announced that he is planning to do something which is supposed to help a lot of people. Ganguly, who made his international debut on January 11, 1992, has decided to start new innings this year which will mark his 30th since the start of his cricketing journey.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India president took to Twitter and shared a note where he asked for support from the fans in the new chapter of his life. However, he didn’t disclose the details about his new venture.

 “2022 marks the 30th year since the start of my journey with cricket in 1992. Since then, cricket has given me a lot. Most importantly, it has given me the support of all of you. I want to thank every single person who has been a part of the journey, supported me, and helped me reach where I am today. Today, I am planning to start something that I feel will probably help a lot of people. I hope you continue your support as I enter this chapter of my life,” he wrote.