Section:GDN 1N PaGe:47 Edition Date:190906 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 5/9/2019 20:43 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
Friday 6 September 2019 The Guardian •
Sport^47
Tennis US OpenBoxingJoshua defends desert fi ght
and points to Saudi ‘reforms’
Anthony Joshua, touching down
briefly in New York, desperately
wanted to return to the scene of the
crime to reclaim his world heavy-
weight titles but he has settled
instead for meeting his conqueror in
Saudi Arabia , where crime takes on an
altogether diff erent meaning.
In the city where Andy Ruiz Jr
stopped him in seven rounds in June,
Joshua explained yesterday why the
rematch is not taking place at nearby
Madison Square Garden, or Cardiff or
London – and why he is comfortable
going to Saudi Arabia.
“I do like New York,” he said. “It was
part of the plan [to fi ght in New York
again]. That was my preferred option.
The fi gures were amazing. I spoke to
the team. The UK was a great oppor-
tunity, home crowd. I’m about energy
- getting energy from fi ghting at home,
would have been good.
“Then the Saudis came on board,
so there were all those opportunities
as well. Even though we had more say
in the contract negotiations, when we
discussed it being in the UK, there was
just stalling on their side. They didn’t
want to come to the UK.
“I was happy to fi ght in London. We
weighed up the situation. Then [the
Saudis] told me about Formula E,
WWE, World Series Boxing, mentioned
all these things [held there]. So OK,
cool. But honestly, I wouldn’t know
enough about what was exactly hap-
pening to make it so bad for me that I
wouldn’t want to box there. The event
they’re going to put on, the people
they’re going to cater for, what they’re
trying to achieve through boxing, the
reforms happening in their country ...
“But, since I was going to fi ght
there, I had this conversation in my
gym with two women. It is a point of
conversation. And, the good thing is,
they are talking about [reforms]. The
good thing is they are going to make a
change. The other good thing is Match-
room are having conversations about
maybe having a female boxer on the
night. The event is going to be mixed.
They are making progress .”
Joshua has been philosophical
about losing against Ruiz and says
he has a higher purpose than just
regaining his titles. “There’s pressure,
being an ambassador for boxing, to be
bigger than boxing,” he said. “That’s
my ambition and I have to deal with it.”
Yet, for all his good intentions –
and he does sound sincere – Joshua
is seeking redemption on 7 Decem-
ber in a country where that concept
is a nebulous concept. Human rights
abuse, the slaughter of innocent
people in Yemen and the murder of
the journalist Jamal Khashoggi also
seem to have been no impediment to
doing a deal with a regime so trans-
parently desperate for international
approval that “sportswashing”, as it
has become known, is a central plank
of their public relations platform.
This is not all about the dethroned
Joshua. Ruiz told him when they faced
off in Saudi Arabia the day before:
“The hunger remains. I don’t want 15
minutes of fame. I want it to last. I want
a generation. I want to be a champion
for more years.”
Ruiz will bring with him the IBF,
WBA and WBO belts he ripped away
from the then unbeaten champion at
Madison Square Garden. It was Josh-
ua’s American debut, the moment
that was meant to propel him into a
mega-fi ght with Deontay Wilder, but
their paths diverged dramatically
when Ruiz brought his big lumbering
fi sts into the equation. Joshua went
down four times and a couple of pegs- although his stature and Sky Sports
connection kept his commercial clout
in place.
“You have time to grieve,” Joshua
said yesterday. “You have to get over
that situation and get back to the draw-
ing board. We are soldiers. You just
prepare for the next battle.”
That it will be in the desert of a
country that has an appalling human
rights record is the itch nobody wants
to scratch. This is professional boxing.
This is about money, not morals –
because the business does not do all
that well with morals. In a way it is the
perfect place to have a fi ght: a long way
from normality.
Kevin Mitchell
New York
Dethroned champion wanted
rematch in America and says
Ruiz stalled plan for UK bout
Dimitrov’s resurgence to be tested
by Medvedev’s relentless rhythm
After Grigor Dimitrov’s breathless fi ve-
set upset of Roger Federer on Tues-
day night, one question stuck in the
mind: has there ever been a greater
turnaround in a single tournament?
Twelve months ago Dimitrov stood
handsomely in the top 10, yet over the
following year his form turned to dust.
He fell 70 spots from eighth to 78th.
He struggled with shoulder injuries.
Only six weeks ago at a small warm-up
tournament in Atlanta, the 28-year-old
lost to the 405th-ranked Kevin Kim.
Dimitrov stresses that nothing
clicked, that his turnaround is a simple
consequence of his consistent work
through the doubts. Throughout his
run to a third career grand slam semi-
fi nal, he has played clean, varied ten-
nis with conviction. He dropped only
one set en route to the quarter-fi nals
and against Federer, in the middle of
battle, he found himself overjoyed by
how good his legs felt.
Across the net to day Daniil Medve-
dev’s route to his fi rst grand slam semi-
fi nal could not have been more diff er-
ent. The 23-year-old was ranked 68th
last year but this summer he has piece d
together 19 wins in 20 matches and
will rise to fourth behind Novak Djoko-
vic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer- in other words number one among
mere mortals. In his semi-fi nal victory
over Novak Djokovic his body seemed
close to hitting a physical wall, yet
through his litany of injuries he
marches on.
They will try to confound each
other in diff erent ways. If Medve-
dev is feeling good, he will simply
try to break Dimitrov by lengthening
the rallies. The Bulgarian will have
to thwart Medvedev’s metronomic
rhythm by coming into the net, play-
ing dropshots, attacking the forehand
and showing all the talent that he has
promised for so long.
As Medvedev and Dimitrov relaxed
on Wednesday, savouring the extra day
of rest they received by the luck of the
draw Matteo Berrettini was serving for
his fi rst grand slam semi-fi nal and had
arrived at match-point against Gaël
Monfi ls. As Berrettini hit the second
serve, his grip slipped and the ball fell
limply into the net.
“I was saying to myself during the
match: ‘What do you expect?’” said
Berrettini. “You’re 23. Just playing
your fi rst quarter-fi nals and you expect
that you not get tight?”
As both men battled double faults
and nerves, somehow Berrettini recov-
ered for a victory that marked the fi rst
time three grand slam semi-fi nalists
were born in the 90 s. It is about timeplayers outside the big three started
excelling after years of NextGen
hype but it is fascinating that the two
23-year-olds to survive should be the
two with the least fanfare.
As recently as April Berrettini was
ranked outside the top 50, his future
promising but his ceiling uncertain.
He has spent his spring and summer
breaking through across three sur-
faces, winning titles on clay and grass,
reaching his fi rst grand slam fourth
round at Wimbledon and then thriving
in the chaos of New York. He now faces
Nadal, who has lost only one set here,
and he responded to that by punishing
the 2014 champion, Marin Cilic, 6-1,
6-2 in their fi nal two sets. Nadal has
won 25 of his last 26 matches and he
will attempt to obliterate Berrettini’s
weaker backhand as he has done to so
many over the years.
Berrettini will have to handle pres-
sure, hit his two-handed backhand as
well as he ever has and, when Nadal
draws out yet another error with his
series of wicked, spinning high fore-
hands, have to calm himself in a famil-
iar manner.Tumaini Carayol
Flushing Meadows
▲ Grigor Dimitrov will battle Daniil
Medvedev for a place in the fi nal▲ Andy Ruiz Jr (left) poses with Anthony Joshua at their New York press event
MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS
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