williams: Serena Williams exits US Open in third round; could this be the last match of her career?

Serena Williams crashed out of the US Open on Friday in what may be the last of her illustrious career, but the impact she had on her game for more than two decades will be felt for generations to come.

Williams, who made her professional debut in 1995, a year after her older sister Venus, has been one of the sport’s best-selling stars. She has several corporate partners and in 2019 became the first athlete to appear on Forbes’ list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women.

Williams, 40, who also lost in a US Open doubles event with sister Venus, said in a Vogue article last month that she was “getting away from tennis” and added in an Instagram post that “the countdown has begun.” ”

Although Williams has not said exactly when her last tournament will be, US Open organizers welcomed her with an elaborate farewell ceremony after her first-round match on Monday.

Williams revolutionized women’s tennis with a deadly mix of powerful serves, groundstrokes and superb athleticism and won 23 Grand Slam titles to become the most successful player in the Open Era, the most recent being in 2017.

That success also inspired a generation of tennis players, including Naomi Osaka, who beat Williams in the final of the 2018 US Open to claim her first of four majors and remember seeing her childhood idol.

“When I was little, the family event was watching Serena and Venus,” Osaka, of Japanese and Haitian parent, said.

“So when I was watching it, it really shocked me. I never got to see him play live in a match, but I got to see his practice. Seeing that, seeing people who look like me, that’s for sure. Absolutely inspiring.”

rights of women

Throughout her career, Williams has been vocal about the culture of racism that she and her family, including Venus, were subjected to in a predominantly white sport.

At the height of her career, Williams initiated a 14-year boycott of a marquee tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, after facing a racist joke there in 2001, an incident she said she cried in the locker room for hours. doing .

In 2018, she accused officials of allowing a culture of sexism in the sport to run rampant, with female players punished for things their male counterparts would never be punished for.

Williams was particularly upset after Osaka was handed a series of code violations during the final loss of the US Open, when she was docked a game for verbal abuse after telling the umpire that she was being punished for a previous violation. There were “thieves” to steal a point. ,

Williams said at the time, “I’m here fighting for women’s rights and women’s equality …. He never played a man because he called him a ‘thief’.”

Tennis pioneer Billie Jean King was among many who praised her for highlighting the “double standards” that plague female players.

Williams told British Vogue in 2020, “In this society, women are not expected to be the leaders of the future or the CEOs of the future. The story has to change. And it may not get better in time for me, But someone in my position can show women and people of color that we have a voice because God knows I use me.

“I love being up for people and supporting women. Being the voice that millions of people don’t have.”

Williams also pushed the boundaries of fashion on the tennis court, perhaps most notably at the 2018 French Open when she took to the court wearing a skin-tight black catsuit with a red waistband – which she said was prone to blood clots. Helped to deal with, which threatened them. life when she gave birth to her daughter a few months back.

However, the idea of ​​female players coming in such unorthodox tennis attire upset the Roland Garros establishment, which then banned such outfits from the Paris chief.

Writer Howard Bryant, who wrote “The Heritage: Black Athletes, a Divided America and the Politics of Patriotism”, said in a report https://ift.tt/LaMGBPF . Elegant-what-Serena-Williams-and-Roger-Federer-Have-Mean-To-Tennis.com will see Williams’ career as a dividing line when it comes to women and black athletes.

“With his standing and his empire, he has created a counter-voice and a new perspective,” Bryant said in the report.

“It’s changed how we investigate behavior. You can’t just gang up on him or make off-hand comments about his body. His stature is that of any great male athlete.

“In 100 years, if we ask when that change happened, we’ll be back in Serena.”

Originally published at Pen 18

nadal: US Open: Rafael Nadal overcomes self-inflicted nose injury and Fognini to reach third round

Rafael Nadal defeated Fabio Fognini 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 in the third round of the US Open on Thursday after beating a poor start and bloody nose.

The veteran Italian came out flying to take a set and a 4-2 lead as Nadal struggled to find a rhythm, making upsets like Fognini’s memorably pulled off against the Spaniard at Arthur Ashe Stadium seven years ago. Chances of it happening increased.

Momentum turned in Nadal’s favor in the third set when he went down an overhead and crushed a forehand to break Fognini and take a 4-2 lead.

He broke the fading Fognini again to capture the third set and appeared to march towards the finish line when, leading 3–0 in the fourth set, his racket jumped off the court and accelerated to the bridge of his nose. hit with

This led to a medical time-out where the 22-time Grand Slam champion lay on his back with his eyes closed as a pink bandage was applied to stop the bleeding.

Nadal regrouped and with the support of the partisan crowd sealed the victory on Fognini’s 60th unforced error, ending an ugly affair, with the players combined for 15 breaks of serve and 11 double faults.

“I haven’t been competing for over an hour and a half, it was my worst start ever,” Nadal said in an interview on the court. “When this happens, hopefully not very often, you have to stay positive and be patient. The match is long.”

Talking to reporters after the match, Nadal said that he was dizzy and pained by the blows of the racket. “There was just one strong hit,” he said. “Initially I thought I had broken my nose because it was a shock in the beginning. There was a lot of pain.

“Seems like ain’t broke. I’m not convinced yet. I don’t know. I feel like it’s getting bigger and bigger.”

With the win, Nadal avenged his loss to Fognini at the 2015 US Open, when the Italian returned from two sets. Nadal is now 14-4 against Fognini’s lifetime.

Nadal next faces Richard Gasquet, who beat Serbia’s Miomir Kekmanovic 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on day one.

Originally published at Pen 18

Bopanna, Ramanathan crash out of US Open

Veteran Indian tennis players Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan made early exits from their respective matches at the US Open here. While Bopanna lost both his opening round matches in both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles events on Thursday, Ramanathan was knocked out in the men’s doubles opening round.

42-year-old Bopanna and his Dutch partner Matvey Middelkup lost to the unseeded Italian pair of ninth seeds Andrea Vavassori and Lorenzo Sonego (2) 6-7 2-6.

It was a disappointing day for the sixth seeded pair of Bopanna and China’s Yang Zhaoshuan as they lost 5-7 5-7 to Australia’s Max Purcell and Gabriella Dabrowski in the mixed doubles opening round.

Earlier in the day, Ramanathan and Serbia’s Nicola Cacic lost 4-6, 4-6 in the men’s doubles to the Italian combination of Simone Bolelli and 15th seed Fabio Fognini.

Originally published at Pen 18

jadeja: Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of Asia Cup, Axar Patel to join team as replacement

Axar Patel will replace Ravindra Jadeja in the squad after the Indian all-rounder was ruled out of the rest of the Asia Cup on Friday due to a knee injury. In India’s first-round match against Pakistan, Jadeja was instrumental in the team’s performance.

“The All India Senior Selection Committee has named Axar Patel in place of Ravindra Jadeja for the ongoing Asia Cup,” a BCCI statement said.

“Ravindra Jadeja has suffered a right knee injury and has been ruled out of the tournament. He is currently being looked after by the BCCI medical staff. Axar Patel, who will take his position, is already one of the standbys of the team. Were listed as and will soon be joining the squad in Dubai.

On Sunday, India will meet in their first Super 4 match. Squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan

Originally published at Pen 18

AIFF President Election: Kalyan Chaubey beats Bhaichung Bhutia by 33-1 – The Economic Times Video

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Friday elected a former player as the first president in its 85-year history, with Kalyan Choubey defeating the legendary Bhaichung Bhutia in the top post here. The 45-year-old Choubey, who played as a goalkeeper, registered a 33-1 win, the result expected as former captain Bhutia did not have many supporters in the 34-member voter list made up of state association representatives. The ‘Sikkimes sniper’, also 45, is one of the biggest stalwarts of Indian football and his candidacy has gained additional traction in the election.

Originally published at Pen 18

Bhaichung Bhutia: Kalyan Chaubey beats Bhaichung Bhutia, AIFF gets first player president

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Friday elected a former player as the first president in its 85-year history, with Kalyan Choubey defeating the legendary Bhaichung Bhutia in the top post here. The 45-year-old Choubey, a former Mohun Bagan and East Bengal goalkeeper, registered a 33-1 win, the result expected as former captain Bhutia did not have many supporters in the 34-member electoral roll drawn from the state association. Representative.

The ‘Sikkimis sniper’, who is also 45 years old, could not get his state union representative as a mover or seconder to file his nomination papers.

Choubey, a BJP leader who lost the last parliamentary election for West Bengal’s Krishnanagar seat, never played for India’s senior team, although he was in the team on a few occasions.

However, he played for India in age-group international tournaments. He was also a former goalkeeper in both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.

In fact, Bhutia and Choubey were once teammates in East Bengal.

Karnataka Football Association president NA Haris, a sitting Congress MLA, won the election for the vice-president’s post by defeating Manvendra Singh of Rajasthan FA.

Kippa Ajay of Arunachal Pradesh defeated Gopalkrishna Kosaraju of Andhra Pradesh for the post of Treasurer.

Kosarju and Manvendra proposed and supported Bhutia.

All the 14 candidates who filed nominations for the posts of Executive Committee members were elected unopposed.

Originally published at Pen 18

Japan Open: Prannoy loses in quarterfinals after valiant effort

Osaka: HS Prannoy went down in the men’s singles quarterfinals against World Championships bronze medalist Chou Tien Chen at the Japan Open here on Friday, putting the curtains on India’s campaign. The 30-year-old Indian played out of his skin and saved three match points, only to bear the pain of losing it at the end, as Chow emerged victorious 21-17 15-21 22-20 in a pulsating contest. hour and 20 minutes.

One of the most consistent Indian players in the circuit this season, Prannoy recovered well from an early game upset, breathing down his opponent’s neck until the end point, but in the end, Chow’s perseverance won him the Super Saw this match. 750 tournaments.

Coming into the match after his twin victories against Chow in the previous two meetings, Prannoy continued to engage in a tussle with his opponent, leading 12-8 in the opening game.

However, Chow took a 15-14 lead when Prannoy went to the net. The Taiwanese had a two-point advantage after the Indian faltered with his net shot twice.

Prannoy sent one over the net with another hard return on his opponent’s backhand, and when he put his forehand over the net, there were three game point opportunities for Chow.

A precise cross court return gave Chow bragging rights.

After a change of sides, Chow again opened a thin 5-4 lead before a lucky net cord brought it to a similar tack. While Chow’s comeback intensified and his attack strengthened, Prannoy’s errors piled up as he trailed 6-10.

Prannoy tried to set the pace of the rallies, and a spectacular rally ended with a lucky net cord for the Indian, who drew parity at 10-10, when Chow stumbled on the front court.

However, Chow’s nose was pointed forward as Prannoy failed to defend a shot on his backhand.

After the restart, Prannoy showed better defense and made some accurate down-the-line smashes ahead of his opponent, who suddenly made several errors, especially in the front court.

As Prannoy took a 19-14 lead, Chow hit a cross-court smash on the Indian’s serve to break the run of the game. But Prannoy made sure there were no hiccups as he along with Chow took the match to the decider.

Prannoy made an erratic start to the decider as he widened the shuttle to trail 1-4. Chow went on three long runs before making a body smash to end a grueling rally and take a 6-4 lead.

Things didn’t go Prannoy’s way as he struggled to control the shuttle and several unforced errors saw Chow take a six-point cushion on the break.

Prannoy built the rallies well and precision in his returns, including two delightful cross-court returns, helped him reach 12-13. But once again, unforced errors surfaced in his game as he went long and over the net, giving Chow a 17-14 lead.

The Taiwanese produced a body smash to maintain the three-point lead and took three match points as the Indian went to the net.

Chow went wide twice and Prannoy opened a down-the-line smash in the middle to save three match points, but he once again handed a match point to his opponent, and when Prannoy went wide he sealed it in his favor. done.

Originally published at Pen 18