Germany's Laura Siegemund entered the record books with her defeat of fifth-seeded Xiyu Wang of China in four hours, nine minutes at the Thailand Open in Hua Hin on Wednesday.
The 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (1) match was the fourth-longest of the Open Era on the WTA Tour. It was the first to surpass the four-hour threshold since Francesca Schiavone defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 1-6, 16-14 in four hours, 44 minutes at the Australian Open in 2011.
Siegemund rallied from 3-1 down in the first set and 6-5 in the third set. She won nine of the final 10 points to advance.
It was the only singles match played Wednesday because of rain.
Korea Open
Veronika Kudermetova ousted second-seeded Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 6-2 in an all-Russian encounter in Seoul to reach the quarterfinals.
Kudermetova moved to 5-2 overall against Samsonova, including three wins in the past year. She joins her younger sister, Polina, who already had secured her spot in the quarters.
Another Russian, fourth-seeded Diana Shnaider, defeated Carol Zhao of Canada 6-3, 6-3 in 67 minutes. The fifth seed, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, eliminated Great Britain's Heather Watson 6-2, 6-2 in 75 minutes.
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It might have been a good thing the Chicago Bears didn’t play Caleb Williams on Sunday. The Bears might need to hide their second-year quarterback as he irons out his wrinkles in the pre-snap process and with accuracy issues. The No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft struggled with timing and accuracy during the Bears’ joint practice with the Miami Dolphins on Friday. Caleb Williams was inaccurate in the red zone against no defenders On Sunday, head coach Ben Johnson chose not to play Williams against the Dolphins in the Bears’ first preseason game. Instead, Johnson led a workout with Williams and wide receivers Rome Odunze and DJ Moore before the game. Per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, the Bears ran a total of 87 plays during the workout. All of the plays were routes in the air with no defenders on the field for the scripted practice. Despite going against no defenders bringing pressure or guarding his receivers, Williams struggled to hit his targets in the red zone. "Williams would stand next to Johnson, who would give him the play," Biggs wrote. "Then, the quarterback simulated a huddle with the player (only one ran a route on each snap) and gave the play call. They’d break the huddle, go to the line of scrimmage, Williams would simulate pre-snap actions and then the play would be run… "Before ending the session with eight deep balls, there was a 25-play set of snaps in the red zone. One thing Williams struggled to connect on was out routes to Moore and Odunze near the goal line. Those throws were not close and Williams consistently led the receivers too much." A closed-door problem for the Chicago Bears The throws weren’t close during routes on air… in the red zone… seriously? Williams wasn’t ready to take the field for the preseason game. For all of the flak he’s been getting from practice reports, the quarterback would have been relentlessly mocked for having these issues shown during an NFL Network broadcast. Biggs’ report is troubling, with a month to go before the season. Williams has much to improve upon, and the Bears are very much trying to do so without cameras present for a reason.
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has been named in a lawsuit that was filed in Hawaii on Friday. Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo, are being sued by a real estate investor and a broker in Hawaii who have accused Ohtani and Balelo of sabotaging a $240M real estate deal for a development on the Big Island. According to court documents that were obtained by Jimmy Golen of The Associated Press, real estate developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto say Ohtani and Balelo deliberately had them removed from the project “for no reason other than their own financial self-interest.” The lawsuit claims Ohtani was brought into the deal for his promotional value and that he and his agent pushed the founders of the project out using “threats and baseless legal claims.” “Defendants must be held accountable for their actions, not shielded by fame or behind-the-scenes agents acting with impunity,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiffs bring this suit to expose Defendants’ misconduct and to ensure that the rules of contract, fair dealing, and accountability apply equally to all — celebrity or not.” Hayes and Matsumoto have also accused Ohtani and Balelo of trying to push them out of a similar neighboring development project. The $240M Big Island development is located along Hapuna Beach, which is rated one of the top beaches in the world. Matsumoto was supposed to be the listing agent for the properties, which average more than $17.3M each. A brochure for the project stated that Ohtani, who was called “Japan’s Babe Ruth” has committed to buying one of the 14 properties and acting as a “celebrity spokesperson” for the development. Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700M contract with the Dodgers prior to the 2024 season. The two-way star is having another monster year with a .284 average, 42 home runs, 78 RBI and a 1.013 OPS entering Tuesday. Ohtani has also returned to pitching this season and has a 2.37 ERA across 19 innings. Ohtani was also connected to a massive gambling scandal last year, though Major League Baseball determined that the 31-year-old was not guilty of any wrongdoing.
Oregon wide receiver Jurrion Dickey has struggled to live up to expectations in his first two seasons with the Ducks, and he is now in a terrible position heading into 2025 as well. Dickey has been suspended indefinitely by Oregon, head coach Dan Lanning announced on Tuesday. Lanning also suggested that Dickey may not play for the Ducks again. "We have two team rules; that’s respectful, be on time,” Lanning said, via James Crepea of The Oregonian. “There’s some pieces of that where I felt like he needed a break from us and we needed a break from that so we could focus on what’s in front of us right now. "Wishing him nothing but the best, as far as success and want to see him get back to where he can be a contributor somewhere; that might be here that might be somewhere else.” Dickey was a five-star recruit and rated as one of the top wide receivers in the country when he came out of Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, California in 2023. He suffered an injury his senior year in high school and redshirted as a freshman at Oregon. Dickey has two catches for 14 years during his time with the Ducks. Oregon went 13-1 in Lanning's third season with the program last season. The Ducks lost to eventual national champion Ohio State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel raised some questions Monday with his cryptic comment about wide receiver Stefon Diggs. Diggs did not play in Friday’s preseason opener against the Washington Commanders, but the move did not attract much attention. Diggs is still coming back from a torn ACL, and the presumption was that the Patriots were not yet ready to risk the wide receiver in game action. Vrabel, however, opened the door to more speculation when asked about Diggs’ absence Monday on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.” “Coach’s decision,” Vrabel said, via Karen Guregian of MassLive. Diggs appeared to be on shaky footing with the Patriots in May, when he was filmed flashing a pink substance on a party boat. Vrabel indicated he was not thrilled with Diggs after that, but those negative feelings seemed to have faded within a few weeks. Diggs was a full participant in Monday’s practice, so there does not appear to be a new injury in play. Realistically, this is probably nothing, but considering the earlier controversy with Diggs, Vrabel’s answer will raise some eyebrows. The Patriots signed Diggs to a three-year, $63.5 million contract in March, hoping he would provide a veteran weapon for QB Drake Maye.
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