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Tuesday November 14, 2017

(SD-Agencies)

IT was all about who got the best start at Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel had it, starting from the second spot on the grid. Pole sitter Valtteri Bottas didn’t, and it probably cost the Mercedes driver the race.

Vettel overtook Bottas on the fi rst turn and essentially held the lead the entire way for his 47th career victory, his fi fth this season, and his third in Brazil.

The victory solidifi ed Vettel’s hold on second place in the season standings after Lewis Hamilton clinched the title two weeks ago in Mexico City.

“I thought I had a pretty good launch,” said Vettel, who slipped by Bottas on the fi rst turn — a left-hander heading down a slight grade at the roll-ing Interelagos circuit.

“I knew I had to go for it. There was a little bit of a gap and it turned out to be very important.”

Hamilton started last after crashing in qualifying on the fi rst lap, but managed to push his way into contention, staying out longer before pitting while the other leaders changed tires earlier because they were run-ning on softer compounds.

Bottas fi nished second with Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari taking third. Hamilton was fourth, just 5.4 seconds behind Vettel.

Hamilton closed relentlessly, and Vettel was asked if he was ever worried about the English-man passing him.

“Not really,” he replied. “I didn’t think he was a threat.”

Hamilton said he expected to fi nish fi fth, at best.

“This was the fi rst time I pushed the engine like that,” he said. “It was more than I looked for. I was very happy with the day. Yesterday was horrible.”

Vettel has 302 points with the fi nal race in two weeks in Abu Dhabi. Third-place Bottas has 280. Even if Bottas wins in Abu Dhabi, Vettel can take second place in the season rankings by fi nishing in eighth place or higher.

“He’s got quite a lead now, so it will take a miracle in Abu Dhabi,” Bottas said.

(SD-Agencies)

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel celebrates winning the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo on Sunday. SD-Agencies

Vettel wins Brazilian GP

SWITZERLAND is going to the World Cup after left-back Ricardo Rodriguez denied Northern Ireland hope in both games of their playoff at either end of the fi eld.

Croatia also qualifi ed for the 2018 World Cup on Sunday by holding Greece to a 0-0 draw in the second leg of their play-off in Piraeus for a 4-1 win on aggregate.

Zlatko Dalic’s men will be playing in their fi fth World Cup in Russia next year, having only once failed to qualify in 2010.

In each leg of Switzerland’s 1-0 aggregate win, the key inci-dent involved one of Northern Ireland’s Evans brothers.

Switzerland needed only a draw Sunday to advance to Russia, and a tense 0-0 result in rain-soaked Basel was pre-served by Rodriguez’s goal-line clearance in stoppage time from Jonny Evans’ header.

“In the right moment he was in the right place,” Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic said of the AC Milan defender.

It meant Switzerland’s dis-puted penalty for handball in the fi rst-leg victory in Belfast made all the difference.

Rodriguez scored that spot kick Thursday, when Corey Evans was whistled harshly for an incident that few agreed with. Northern Ireland coach Michael O’Neill said his team’s exit after a spirited second-half Sunday was “a devastating moment.”

“It was decided by a really

Switzerland reaches World Cup

poor decision and a penalty that should never have been,” O’Neill said, 25 minutes after the fi nal whistle. “We should still be play-ing extra time now.”

“It was a privilege to be their coach and manager tonight,” said O’Neill, who shared tearful embraces with players at the fi nal whistle.

Northern Ireland came to Basel with aggression in its play that had been strangely lacking in the home leg.

Still, Switzerland dominated

much of the fi rst half and should have sealed its place at a fourth straight World Cup much earlier.

Center forward Haris Seferovic was most at fault, failing to hit the target with two fi rst-half headed chances and a late shot lofted high over the goal.

Though Petkovic declined to criticize the Benfi ca forward, who was booed by some fans when substituted, the coach acknowledged a regular weak-ness of his 11th-ranked team.

“We have to be more clinical in front of goal,” Petkovic said through a translator. “We had to suffer to the end, especially with this chance Northern Ire-land had.”

In the fi rst of four stoppage-time minutes, Evans rose at the far post to meet a cross that goal-keeper Yann Sommer misjudged to leave himself stranded. Rodri-guez moved across the goalmouth toward the post and hooked the ball clear as he fell backward into the goal. (SD-Agencies)

Swiss defender Ricardo Rodriguez (L) and Northern Ireland’s midfi elder Stuart Dallas vie for the ball during their match at St. Jakob-Park Stadium in Basel, Switzerland, on Sunday. SD-Agencies

ONE break of serve, and a mini-break, was all Roger Federer needed to win his opening match at the season-ending ATP Finals on Sunday.

The 19-time Grand Slam champion broke Jack Sock at the start of his 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory at the O2 Arena. Both then held serve the rest of the way, with Federer losing only three points on his serve in the second set.

“Sure, I had a tactical plan with my team,” Federer said. “But very often in a fi rst match like this, it gets thrown over-board because at the end you’re just happy to be serving well. Focus on that fi rst, and then on the return game sort of try your best, try to keep the ball in play, and go from there.”

The 36-year-old Federer, who is ranked No. 2 in the world and won the Australian Open and Wimbledon this season, is the oldest player ever to qualify for the season-ending tournament, which started in 1970.

In the late match, Alexander Zverev beat Wimbledon runner-up Marin Cilic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Federer broke Sock, who was making his debut at the tourna-ment, in the very fi rst game, hit-ting a backhand winner to take the 1-0 lead.

“I missed one fi rst serve in the fi rst game,” Sock said. “I had my chances. He put me in some

Federer wins opener at ATP Finals

awkward positions on some of those forehands.”

That was the only break point for either player in the fi rst set. But Federer had plenty more in the second set — fi ve, to be exact. He just couldn’t convert them.

In the tiebreaker, Federer went ahead 3-2 with a mini-break, but Sock got it back. After another to make it 5-4, however, it was nearly over. Federer won the fi nal two points on his serve to go to 1-0 in the round robin.

Sock had his moments, though, including a tweener in the second set when he was leading 40-15. Federer got to it and hit a backhand winner.

(SD-Agencies)

Switzerland’s Roger Federer in action during his group stage match against Jack Sock of the U.S. in London on Sunday. SD-Agencies

A 17-YEAR championship drought came to an end Sunday for the United States when it beat Belarus 3-2 to take its 18th Fed Cup title.

CoCo Vandeweghe and Shelby Rogers defeated Aryna Sabalenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the deciding doubles of the 2017 fi nal. It was the fi rst Fed Cup title for the U.S. since 2000.

“It feels perfectly believable and unbelievable,” Vandeweghe said. “I’m ready for a vacation.”

The Belarus pair led 5-2 in the second set and served to level at one-set apiece in the eighth, 10th and 12th games. The Americans dominated the tiebreaker, win-ning fi ve of the last six points.

Sasnovich had kept Belarus alive after beating U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens 4-6, 6-1, 8-6 to leave the fi nal level at 2-2 on the indoor hard-court Chizhovka Arena.

Vandeweghe earlier beat Sabalenka 7-6 (5), 6-1 to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead.

Kathy Rinaldi, in her inaugural season in charge of the Ameri-cans, became the fi rst female captain in the tournament to lead a Fed Cup team to victory since Billie Jean King for the U.S. in 2000.

“It’s been an incredible ride thanks to these ladies,” Rinaldi

Coco Vandeweghe (R) and Shelby Rogers of the U.S. celebrate after winning against Aryna Sabalenka and Aliak-sandra Sasnovich of Belarus in Minsk, Belarus, on Sunday. SD-Agencies

US claims Fed Cup title

said. “We’re family and we’ve had each other’s backs. This was a very tough match.”

The U.S. holds the most Fed Cup titles in the international team competition. This was its fourth Fed Cup fi nal since last winning in 2000. It lost the 2003, 2009 and 2010 fi nals.

Belarus was making its fi rst appearance in a Fed Cup fi nal.

“We are really satisfi ed we gained this result,” Belarus cap-tain Eduard Dubrou said.

(SD-Agencies)