Digest

TENNIS

Murray blasts Tsitsipas over delaying tactics

Three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray ripped Stefanos Tsitsipas for "nonsense "delaying tactics in a five-set US Open thriller on Monday, saying the moves influenced the outcome of the match.

Greek third seed Tsitsipas rallied to defeat the 34-year-old Scotsman 2-6, 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 after grinding through four hours and 39 minutes at Flushing Meadows.

Murray barely greeted Tsitsipas at the net after the Greek third seed's delays, including medical timeouts and bathroom breaks to disrupt Murray's rhythm.

"I think he's great for the game," Murray said. "But I have zero time for that stuff at all and I lost respect for him."

Tsitsipas brushed off Murray's remarks.

"If there's something he has to tell me, we should speak the two of us to kind of understand what went wrong," Tsitsipas said. "I don't think I broke any rules. I played by the guidelines.

"As far as I'm playing by the rules and sticking to what the ATP says is fair, then the rest is fine. I have nothing against him. Absolutely nothing."

SOCCER

Wang hails coach Li's 'Total Football' tactics

Chinese defender Wang Shenchao has revealed head coach Li Tie has introduced a 'Total Football' approach to the national team.

"What Li demands from us is 'Total Football, especially the attackers' positioning while we are defending," Wang said on Sunday, referring to the tactical system popularized by Dutch soccer in the 1970s. "For me, this is the biggest transformation he brought to our team," he added.

Former Everton midfielder Li took over the Chinese side in January 2019 after Marcello Lippi's abrupt departure from the job.

Li had his contract extended to 2026 after guiding China to the final round of the FIFA World Cup Asian Zone qualifiers in June.

The 12 teams in the final round have been drawn into two groups, playing in a home-and-away format. The top two of each group will qualify for the World Cup finals in Qatar, and the two third-place finishers will face each other in a two-legged playoff, with the winner then entering an intercontinental playoff.

China will face Australia in the first game of the final round qualifiers on Thursday in Doha. The other teams in the group are Japan, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Vietnam.

Europe's elite account for half of global spend

Soccer clubs worldwide splashed out $48.5 billion on international transfer fees over the past decade, almost half of which was spent by the top 30 clubs, FIFA revealed in a report published Monday.

The report charted the number of international transfers and loans concluded between FIFA's 200 member associations, totaling 133,225 such moves over the period from 2011 to 2020.

Transfer market activity rose steadily from 11,890 in 2011 to a peak of 18,079 in 2019, with Brazilian nationals (15,128) the most frequent movers to foreign clubs.

The number of clubs conducting international transfers increased by more than 30 percent over the past decade, from 3,167 in 2011 to a high of 4,139 in 2019.

However the 30 top-spending clubs all came from Europe, led by England with 12. Spain and Italy had five each with Germany (three), France and Portugal (both two) and Russia (one) completing the list.

This group of clubs alone forked out $22.8 billion on transfer fees, representing 47 percent of the global total over the decade.

FIFA also highlighted the growing commissions paid to agents, which soared from 131.1 million in 2011 to 640.5 million two years ago. Agents pocketed $3.5 billion in commission on overseas deals over the course of the decade.

BASKETBALL

Rondo rejoining Lakers on one-year contract

Rajon Rondo is reuniting with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to ESPN, which reported Monday that the veteran point guard will sign a one-year, $2.6 million deal.

Rondo originally joined the Lakers as a free agent in 2018 and played a complementary role on their championship-winning team in 2019-20.

He then joined the Atlanta Hawks via free agency but after 27 games, he was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in March. The Clippers dealt Rondo to Memphis earlier this month in the Eric Bledsoe trade.

The Grizzlies, as expected, bought out the final year of Rondo's contract on Saturday, making him a free agent.

Rondo is expected to formally sign with the Lakers on Tuesday, ESPN reported.

The 35-year-old veteran has spent 15 seasons in the NBA－the first 8 1/2 with the Boston Celtics and the last 6 1/2 with seven different franchises. He was a key part of the Celtics' 2007-08 championship team. The four-time All-Star owns career averages of 10 points, 8.1 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals.

Last season, he put up a combined 5.4 points, 4.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game for the Hawks and Clippers.

Xinhua - Agencies