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LONDON: Linda Caicedo shined on a rainy evening in the Spanish capital as Real Madrid beat Arsenal 2-0 in the first leg of the women’s Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Eight-time champion Lyon is eyeing the semifinals after a 2-0 win at Bayern Munich in their first-leg quarterfinal thanks to goals from Tabitha Chawinga and Melchie Dumornay.

Bayern goalkeeper Maria-Luisa Grohs saved Lindsey Heaps’ penalty before the break and made a host of other saves, too.

Caicedo, the 20-year-old Colombia star, opened the scoring in Madrid’s Alfredo di Stéfano Stadium and proved a constant source of torment for the Arsenal defenders. Substitute Athenea grabbed the second goal late to put the Spanish side in a promising position to reach the semifinals.

Caicedo capitalized on Arsenal defender Leah Williamson’s botched effort to cut out Signe Bruun’s pass when she took a couple of strides forward to hold off Arsenal’s Emily Fox and fired the ball inside the left post in the 22nd minute.

Beth Mead went closest for Arsenal before the break.

Madrid suffered a blow in the 63rd when Melanie Leupolz went off with an apparent right knee injury after kicking the ball. The 16-year-old Irune Dorado went on in the German midfielder’s place.

Arsenal responded with a period of sustained pressure, albeit without reward, and Athenea scored on a counterattack in the 82nd. Arsenal goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger got her hand to the ball but couldn’t keep Athenea’s powerful shot out.

“We knew how to endure,” Madrid coach Alberto Toril said. “In the Champions League there are important matches that you need to know how to play and that have many mini-matches within the games, and I think we did very well.”

Lyon and Arsenal will host their respective second-leg quarterfinal matches next Wednesday.

Madrid, a powerhouse in men’s soccer with a record 15 European titles, are bidding to reach the semifinals for the first time. The Spanish club was late to women’s soccer in comparison to rivals, only forming its women’s team after completing a merger and acquisition of another women’s soccer club in 2020.

The big clubs’ belated investments in women’s football have had an adverse effect on clubs like Sweden’s Umeå IK and Germany’s Turbine Potsdam.

The other quarterfinal matches are on Wednesday, when Wolfsburg face defending champion Barcelona at home, before Manchester City host English rival Chelsea.

MIAMI: A tennis union co-founded by Novak Djokovic on Tuesday announced a series of legal actions aimed at the sport’s governing bodies, alleging “anti-competitive restraints and abusive practices.”
The Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) said it was suing both tour organizers, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
The International Tennis Federation (ITF), and International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) were also named as defendants in a series of actions in the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union.
Both the ATP and WTA responded by vowing to defend themselves against the claims with the men’s tour saying the PTPA has “consistently chosen division and distraction through misinformation over progress.”
The PTPA was set up by Djokovic and Canadian Vasek Pospisil in 2020. Some 20 players were named as part of at least one of the actions.
“The lawsuits expose systemic abuse, anti-competitive practices, and a blatant disregard for player welfare that have persisted for decades,” said the PTPA statement.
“The ATP, WTA, ITF, and ITIA operate as a cartel by implementing a number of draconian, interlocking anti-competitive restraints and abusive practices.”
“Tennis is broken,” said Ahmad Nassar, Executive Director of the PTPA.
“Behind the glamorous veneer that the defendants promote, players are trapped in an unfair system that exploits their talent, suppresses their earnings, and jeopardizes their health and safety.”
The statement listed alleged abuses they are targeting.
It said the defendants “colluded,” “fixing prize money and suppressing player earnings” forcing “an unsustainable schedule” and exploiting players financially.
The bodies show a “disregard for players” by making them “compete in 100-degree (Fahrenheit) heat, endure matches that ended at 3 am, and play with different and injury-inducing tennis balls.”
The PTPA also cited image right ownership, sponsorship restrictions and the “draconian system of ranking points.”
The statement also complained that tennis violates player “privacy rights.”
“Players are subjected to invasive searches of personal devices, random middle-of-the-night drug tests, and interrogations without legal representation,” it said.
The ATP said that it was continuing to make change, with player input and hit back at the union.
“While the ATP has remained focused on delivering reforms that benefit players at multiple levels, the PTPA has consistently chosen division and distraction through misinformation over progress,” the statement read.
“Five years on from its inception in 2020, the PTPA has struggled to establish a meaningful role in tennis, making its decision to pursue legal action at this juncture unsurprising.
“We strongly reject the premise of the PTPA’s claims, believe the case to be entirely without merit, and will vigorously defend our position. The ATP remains committed to working in the best interests of the game — toward continued growth, financial stability, and the best possible future for our players, tournaments, and fans,” the tour concluded.
The WTA also defended their approach to the game and said that PTPA’s action “is both regrettable and misguided, and we will defend our position vigorously in due course.”
In addition to Djokovic and Pospisil, the seven-member PTPA executive council also includes players, Hubert Hurkacz, Ons Jabeur, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Taylor Townsend and Zheng Saisai.
Australian Nick Kyrgios, France’s Varvara Gracheva and American Reilly Opelka have joined the PTPA’s case in the United States, while Frenchman Corentin Moutet and Japan’s Taro Daniel have joined the case in the United Kingdom.