Sports News Roundup: France's Jeanjean in the limelight with Pliskova win in Paris; Nadal sails through with 300th major win and more

The Russian, who reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year after four consecutive first-round exits, struggled at times but his elasticity eventually made up for his lack of natural ability to move around on the slow surface. Motor racing-Ecclestone arrested in Brazil for illegally carrying a gun Former Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone was arrested in Brazil late on Wednesday for illegally carrying a gun while boarding a private plane to Switzerland, local police said on Thursday.


Decdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 26-05-2022 22:29 IST | Created: 26-05-2022 22:27 IST
Sports News Roundup: France's Jeanjean in the limelight with Pliskova win in Paris; Nadal sails through with 300th major win and more
File Photo Image Credit: ANI

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Soccer-Portugal gives sanctioned citizen Abramovich green light to sell Chelsea

Portugal has given its blessing to the sale of Chelsea by Russian-born billionaire Roman Abramovich, who became a Portuguese citizen last year and is under European Union sanctions, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. He put the London club up for sale in early March following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Abramovich has been sanctioned by the British government and the European Union over his links to Vladimir Putin. He has denied having close ties to the Russian President.

Motor racing-Raikkonen to make racing return in NASCAR with Trackhouse

Former Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen will return to racing when the Finnish driver makes his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Watkins Glen in August. Raikkonen, the world champion with Ferrari in 2007, retired from F1 at the end of 2021 after 19 seasons, making his final appearance with Alfa Romeo at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Tennis-France's Jeanjean in the limelight with Pliskova win in Paris

Local wildcard Leolia Jeanjean caused a major upset at the French Open by thrashing ex-world number one Karolina Pliskova 6-2 6-2 in the second round on Thursday, bursting into the limelight as she resurrected her career in spectacular fashion. The 26-year-old Jeanjean, playing in her maiden Grand Slam, is a former big hope of French tennis who ended up living on minimum wage after a knee injury suffered when she was 15 kept her off the courts for two years.

Tennis-Nadal sails through with 300th major win

Rafa Nadal produced an imperious show on Wednesday to secure his 300th Grand Slam match victory, dismantling local hope Corentin Moutet 6-3 6-1 6-4 to book his spot in the French Open third round. Nadal counts 13 Roland Garros titles among his overall 21 majors -- the highest among men -- and despite his injury-blighted buildup to the claycourt tournament he has looked at his usual best in the first two rounds.

Golf-Wie West stepping back from full-time competition

American Michelle Wie West is "stepping back" from professional competition, the 2014 U.S. Women's Open winner said on social media on Thursday, after a 14-year career. The five-times LPGA tour winner said she was partnering with Nike to work as an athlete collaborator and would no longer participate on the tour full-time.

Motor racing-Keep calm and points will come, Steiner tells Schumacher

Mick Schumacher is close to his first points in Formula One but the young German must avoid falling into the trap of desperation and over-driving, Haas team boss Guenther Steiner said on Thursday. The 23-year-old went through his rookie season in 2021 without scoring in a car that the U.S.-owned team stopped developing early on to turn their focus on 2022 and major rule changes.

Cycling-De Bondt wins stage 18 of Giro in photo finish

Belgian Dries De Bondt of Alpecin-Fenix led a breakaway group to win stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia on Thursday in a closely-fought sprint to the line, beating Edoardo Affini of Jumbo-Visma in a photo finish. After three rigorous stages in the mountains, the 156km ride from Borgo Valsugana to Treviso was a flat one with a circuit at the end.

Motor racing-Leclerc says past failures in Monaco are no pressure

Charles Leclerc carries a burden of expectation into Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, and a nightmare track record on city streets he has known all his life, but the Ferrari driver denies feeling the pressure. The 24-year-old Monegasque was leading the Formula One championship by 19 points in Spain last weekend, and set for the race victory, until he was halted by a power unit problem.

Tennis-Elastic man Medvedev through to French Open third round

Daniil Medvedev still has issues with claycourt tennis, but the world number two cantered into the French Open third round with a 6-3 6-4 6-3 win against Serbian Laslo Djere on Thursday. The Russian, who reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year after four consecutive first-round exits, struggled at times but his elasticity eventually made up for his lack of natural ability to move around on the slow surface.

Motor racing-Ecclestone arrested in Brazil for illegally carrying a gun

Former Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone was arrested in Brazil late on Wednesday for illegally carrying a gun while boarding a private plane to Switzerland, local police said on Thursday. The Brazilian police found an undocumented LW Seecamp .32 gun in Ecclestone's luggage during an X-ray screening, police said in a statement, adding that the 91-year-old was then arrested and taken to a facility at Viracopos airport in Campinas.

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

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