Wawrinka back on the court

Tennis: Stan Wawrinka back on the court

(sda) Stan Wawrinka is back on the tennis court after recovering from a foot injury. 332 days after his last match on the ATP Tour, the 36-year-old from Vaud was able to resume training with the racket.

Wawrinka published a series of photos on social media showing him training in the Lake Geneva region with his coach Daniel Vallverdu. The three-time Grand Slam tournament winner, who is ranked 159th in the world, is likely to return to the ATP tour in April at the start of the European sand season.

Soccer: Andy Pelmard and Dan Ndoye stay in Basel

(sda) FC Basel is redeeming the two purchase options for 21-year-old defensive player Andy Pelmard and offensive player Dan Ndoye, who is the same age. Pelmard signed until the summer of 2025, Ndoye even until the summer of 2026. The two players came on loan from Nice last summer and immediately gained a foothold.

Football: Real Madrid are defeated by Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-finals

(sda) Real Madrid failed in the quarterfinals of the Spanish Cup. Los Blancos lost 1-0 away to Athletic Bilbao after a late goal from Alex Berenguer (89′). The Basques managed to get revenge for the lost Supercup three weeks ago in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which Real won 2-0.

Betis Sevilla, Rayo Vallecano and Valencia complete the semi-finals.

Nordic skiing: Prominent corona failures in Norway’s team

(sda/dpa) Simen Hegstad Krüger, Olympic champion in skiathlon in 2018, is not allowed to defend his title on Sunday because he tested positive for the corona virus in Europe before leaving. The Norwegian Ski Association announced the out. Krueger, who won two individual races this winter (both times over 15km skating), was among the contenders for the podium in skiathlon at Zhangjiakou, while his victory over that distance four years ago came as something of a minor surprise.

And Norway’s Nordic team has another corona failure to complain about: The gold favorite in the Nordic combined, Jarl Magnus Riiber, also tested positive for the virus, and it was detected in China. He has to go into quarantine. The first decision in the combination is on Wednesday, February 9th, with the individual. Riiber’s chances of participating in this start have fallen sharply. He has to submit two negative tests in order to be allowed to compete in the singles. The Norwegian already posted on Instagram: “The gold medal is yours, boys”.

The 24-year-old Riiber has dominated the combined in recent years and has won the overall World Cup since the 2018/19 season. Switzerland is not represented in Beijing in Nordic Combined.

Soccer: Kevin Rüegg moves to FC Lugano

(sda) Kevin Rüegg is returning to Switzerland, at least temporarily. The 23-year-old right-back is on loan from Hellas Verona to FC Lugano for the remainder of the season. The Ticino also got a purchase option in the negotiations with Hellas.

At his original club FC Zurich, Kevin Rüegg was a regular player and even – as in the U-21 national team – captain. After moving to Verona in the summer of 2020, he stayed on the bench in most games. In total, he only made seven appearances in Serie A, also due to various injuries.

Football: A Frenchman becomes the coach of Lausanne-Sport

(sda) 60-year-old Frenchman Alain Casanova is the new head coach of Lausanne-Sport. He succeeds the Serb Ilija Borenovic, who was released on Wednesday. Casanova has not coached a club since October 2019. On Thursday he led training for the first time with the Vaud team, which will contest the Léman derby against Servette in Geneva on Saturday from 6 p.m.

Casanova was once a goalie at Le Havre and Toulouse. In his coaching career, he only worked for two clubs, namely Toulouse (2008-2015 and 2018-2019) and Lens (2016-2017). Casanova earned a reputation as an expert in talent development. In Toulouse he produced, among others, Moussa Sissoko, Etienne Capoue, Wissam Ben Yedder and André-Pierre Gignac.