Briefs

Maria, 37-y-o qualifier, ousts Keys in semis

LONDON, England

Madison Keys was stunned in straight sets by 37-year-old qualifier Tatjana Maria in the Queen’s Club semi-finals yesterday.

Maria, a German mother of two, beat Keys 6-3, 7-6 (3) for her first career victory in four meetings with the reigning Australian Open champion.

She is the oldest singles finalist on the WTA Tour since 2020, when Serena Williams won the Auckland Classic at age 38.

“You always have to keep going. You never can stop; it doesn’t matter how it goes,” she said. “I love to play tennis, I love this sport, and we live for these special moments.”

No. 86 Maria, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist, toppled No. 8 Keys, who hit 10 aces but failed to get a break.

Keys, the No. 2 seed, exited with the No. 1, Zheng Qinwen, who lost to No. 8 Amanda Anisimova of the United States 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

Anisimova and Maria last met seven years ago.

“It’s incredible to see what she’s doing and her family is so cute, seeing her kids coming everywhere,” Aninimova said. “It’s really special for her, and it’s going to be a great final.”

Inter’s Mehdi Taremi stuck in Iran

MILAN (AP):

Inter Milan forward Mehdi Taremi will not be able to join his teammates at the Club World Cup in the United States as he is stuck in Tehran amid the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel.

Flights from all Iranian airports have been grounded following an exchange of military strikes between Iran and Israel over the last two days.

That meant the Iran international was unable to take his scheduled flight yesterday to join his Inter teammates in Los Angeles.

Taremi will miss Inter’s opening match against Monterrey on Wednesday and Italian media reports the 32-year-old will not feature in the other matches either regardless of whether Iranian airspace reopens.

Taremi joined Inter from Porto last year.

-AP