Madrid, May 13 (AP/UNB) — Novak Djokovic celebrated a lot more than a record-tying 33rd Masters 1000 title at the Madrid Open.

Djokovic left the Spanish capital feeling pretty good about his game, too, carrying a lot of confidence into the rest of the clay-court season.

The top-ranked Djokovic earned a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday to join Nadal as the most successful players in Masters 1000 tournaments, moving five ahead of Roger Federer, who is third in the all-time list.

It was Djokovic's second title of the season, adding to his triumph in the Australian Open.

"I feel like this tournament win was very important for my level of confidence because after the Australian Open I wasn't playing my best, I wasn't finding the right game and the consistency on the court in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo," Djokovic said. "(It's a) very important time for me in the season, because this gives me a lot of confidence prior to Rome and, of course, Roland Garros, where I definitely want to play my best."

Djokovic will be seeking his second French Open title in June. He now has three Madrid Open trophies, adding to the ones he won in 2011 and 2016.

"These are the best tournaments, biggest tournaments we have in our sport, in the ATP, of course alongside the Grand Slams," Djokovic said. "This is as important and as good as it gets."

Djokovic was in control from the start against his 20-year-old Greek opponent, who had defeated Nadal in the Madrid semifinals and was trying to become the first player to win three tour titles this season.

The Serb broke Tsitsipas early in the first set and late in the second to comfortably close out the match at the Magic Box center court, securing his 14th clay title — and 74th overall — without dropping a set.

The eighth-seeded Tsitsipas, the tour's winningest player in 2019 with 27 victories, lacked the intensity and aggressiveness that he showed against second-ranked Nadal and was overpowered by Djokovic. He had beaten Djokovic in Toronto last year in the first meeting between the two players.

"He deserved the victory, he played unbelievable. I couldn't do much," Tsitsipas said. "Physically I was not there. My legs were not coping with my mind. Completely I could feel the fatigue and this soreness, not just in my legs, but everywhere in my body. I had a tough match last night, so he took advantage of that. I just didn't have solutions."

Djokovic didn't concede a break point on Sunday, earning a crucial one for himself at 4-4 in the second set by returning Tsitsipas' overhead shot with a backhand winner down the line. He then served out to win the match.

The 31-year-old Djokovic, who now has 200 wins against top 10 opponents, had struggled after winning the Australian Open, with his best result since then having been a quarterfinal appearance in Monte Carlo at the start of the clay-court season.

He was coming off another confidence-boosting win over an in-form Dominic Thiem to make it to the final in Madrid.

Tsitsipas, who will reach a career-high No. 7 ranking this week, won titles in Estoril and Marseille, and reached the final in Dubai, where he lost to Federer. He was beaten by Nadal in the Australian Open semifinals for his best-ever showing in a Grand Slam. The Toronto final, when he lost to Nadal, was his first in a Masters 1000 event.

In the doubles final, Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau defeated Thiem and Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-3 for their second Madrid Open title, adding to their 2016 victory.

Kiki Bertens won the women's title on Saturday.

Dhaka, May 12 (UNB) - Robi Axiata Limited from Bangladesh is going to participate in the Standard Chartered Trophy 2019 at Anfield Stadium in United Kingdom on Monday (May 13). 

Each team with five players will compete in a 30-minute special match in the tournament. From Group-A India, UK and South Korea and from Group-B Bangladesh, Ghana and Hong Kong will compete at the Anfield Stadium. 

Robi got the opportunity to participate in the tournament by wining Bangladesh part that was held on March 1.

The Robi team includes Sheikh Adil Ahmed, Towfiquzzaman Chowdhury, Mohammad Aslam Hossen, Shakib Ahmed, Asiful Huq, MSR Momen Sagor and ShamShul Arifin.

Earlier, Bangla Trac, LankaBangla, Unilever, IDLC, Robi Axiata Ltd, BATB, Youth Group, United Group, Ispahani Group, Nestlé, Laugfs Gas and Unique Group participated in the Bangladesh part of the tournament.  

Dhaka, May 12 (UNB)- Bangladesh archers missed bronze medal as they lost to South Korea by 2-6 sets in men’s recurve team event in the ongoing Stage-2 of World Cup Archery 2019 in Shanghai on Sunday.

The team comprised of Roman Shana, Tamimul Haque and Hakim Rubel faced Lee Woo Seok, Kim Woojin and Lee Seungyun of South Korea.

Bangladesh had a chance to grab the first medal in their second appearance in the World Cup Archery but they managed the fourth slot on the final day of the ongoing competition.

However, the team will return home on Monday night.

Earlier, a 10-member team representing Bangladesh (seven archers and three officials) reached Shanghai on early Sunday to take part in stage 2 of Archery World Cup 2019.

Hakim Ahmed Rubel joined veteran archers Roman Shana, Tamimul Islam, Emdadul Haque Milon and Beauty Roy in the men’s and women’s recurve divisions while Asim Kumar Das and Susmita Bonik took part in the men’s and women’s compound divisions.

In men’s recurve singles, Mohammad Hakim Ahmed Rubel lost to Lee Seungyun of South Korea by 7-3 sets and veteran Mohammad Roman Sana lost to Van Den Berg Sjef of the Netherlands by 6-4 sets in the round 16.

Imdadul Haque Milan and Mohammad Tamimul Haque were eliminated from round of 48 of the same event. Milan lost to Huston Patrick of Great Britain by 2-6 sets while Tamimul lost to Tekoniemi Antti of Finland.

Beauty Ray was eliminated from round of 24 of the women’s recurve singles after losing to Hayakawa Ren of Japan 3-7 sets.

In the recurve mixed team event, Bangladesh team comprised of Roman Shana and Beauty Ray lost to Tan Ya-Ting and Tang Chih-Chun of Chinese Taipei by 6-0 sets in the round of 8.

In the men’s compound singles, Ashim Kumar Das lost to Wong Co Wan of Malaysia by 140-142 score while Susmita Bonik lost to Medeleine Ong Xue Li of Singapore by 141-143 score in the women’s compound singles.

Ashim and Susmita also lost to their Japanese rivals by 137-157 score in the round of 12 of the compound mixed team event.  

Madrid, May 12 (AP/UNB) — For the third straight time this season, Rafael Nadal won't be fighting for a title on his favorite surface.

Nadal's slump on clay continued on Saturday at the Madrid Open with a third consecutive semifinal elimination, adding to his worst start to the clay-court swing since 2015.

He lost to ninth-ranked Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who will try to win his third title of the year in a final against top-ranked Novak Djokovic, who defeated Dominic Thiem 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) and will have a chance to tie Nadal for the most titles in Master 1000 tournaments with 33.

In the women's final, Kiki Bertens beat two-time Madrid champion Simona Halep 6-4, 6-4.

"It wasn't my best night," Nadal said. "I knew what I had to do, it was clear to me, but I just wasn't capable of doing it. I didn't have a good feeling to do the things I wanted to do and that's it. We don't have to dwell too much on it."

The second-ranked Spaniard, still seeking his first title of the season, had also failed to make it to the final in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, tournaments he had won the last three consecutive seasons. He lost to Fabio Fognini in Monte Carlo and to Thiem in Barcelona. This is the first time since 2004 that Nadal had arrived in Madrid without a title.

"I've won a lot over the years on this surface," he said." But this year it hasn't been the case. I've been really close, but I haven't been able to win."

Nadal, who was yet to lose a set in Madrid this year, had beaten Tsitsipas all three previous times they played, without losing a set, including in the semifinals of the Australian Open.

The 20-year-old Tsitsipas converted on his fourth match point to close out the victory on the Magic Box center court.

"I'm really happy that I managed to keep my nerves down and fight back. Probably one of the toughest victories I've had in my life," Tsitsipas said. "Adding variety and being unpredictable was the key today."

The young Greek played aggressively from the start, breaking Nadal's serve six times. He saved 11 of the 16 break opportunities he conceded.

"I really liked my fighting spirit," he said. "I went on the court and I was mentally prepared for a fight."

Tsitsipas will be playing in his fourth final of the season and will have a chance to become the first player to win three titles this year, adding to his triumphs in Estoril and Marseille. He is the tour's winningest player in 2019 with 27 wins.

"I have to be mentally prepared for a tough match," said Tsitsipas, who defeated Djokovic in Toronto last year. "He's in a pretty good state of his tennis, so it won't be easy."

Djokovic on top

Djokovic can add to his Australian Open title on Sunday thanks to his confidence-boosting win over an in-form Thiem.

"Dominic is one of the best tennis players in the world at this moment, especially on this surface, so this was a very big win for me," Djokovic said.

The fifth-seeded Thiem, who beat Roger Federer in the quarterfinals, had won two straight against Djokovic and was trying to make his third straight Madrid final following losses to Rafael Nadal in 2017 and Alexander Zverev in 2018. The Austrian was also attempting to become the first player to win three titles this season, adding to triumphs in Indian Wells and Barcelona.

"I thought he was the favorite coming into this match because of his win in Barcelona and the way he played winning against Roger yesterday," said Djokovic, who will be trying to add to his Madrid titles from 2011 and 2016.

"I was still kind of trying to find my best game on clay," Djokovic said. "These are exactly the matches that I need. I'm very, very pleased with this win."

Thiem played well in both sets but Djokovic prevailed in both tiebreakers.

"I think that to beat these players, Novak, or Rafa, you need to have this little luck, this momentum going for you, and that was not the case today," Thiem said. "Some break points for me were a little bit unlucky and some of them I missed, which I usually don't do."

Bertens Wins

Last year's runner-up Bertens defeated Halep for her second title of the year, adding to her victory in St. Petersburg, Russia.

"I am really proud of this week. I played some good tennis," said Bertens, who next week will reach a career-high No. 4 ranking.

The seventh-ranked Dutch became the first woman to win the Madrid title without dropping a set. She had victories over three Grand Slam champions in the Spanish capital — Jelena Ostapenko, Sloane Stephens and Petra Kvitova. Bertens lost to Kvitova in last year's final.

Halep, winner in Madrid in 2016 and 2017, lost the chance to take over the No. 1 ranking from Naomi Osaka.

Dhaka, May 11 (UNB)- Bangladesh will play against South Korea on Sunday for their maiden bronze in men’s recurve team event in the ongoing Stage-2 of World Cup Archery 2019 in Shanghai.

The match will start at 8:30am (BdST).

The team comprised of Roman Shana, Tamimul Haque and Hakim Rubel will fight against Lee Woo Seok, Kim Woojin and Lee Seungyun.

Earlier, Bangladesh lost to Turkey by 5-3 sets in the semifinal of the men’s recurve team event at the same venue on May 9.

They defeated India by 5-1 sets in the quarterfinal and the Netherlands by 5-3 sets in the round of 8.