The Nation Newspaper

Tag: US OPEN

  • Serena may play US Open on daughter’s birthday

    Serena Williams is determined to keep chasing Grand Slam titles for as long as she can, and is prepared to be on the court when her daughter turns one during the US Open.

    The 23-time Grand Slam winner opened up about her prospects for the future, and how she mixes her career with motherhood, in a new interview on Today, on Wednesday morning.

    She said she’s had an ‘amazing year’ raising her 11-month-old daughter Olympia, whom she welcomed last year with her husband Alexis Ohanian, 35, all while returning to the courts.

    ‘Having the baby and coming back… It’s so special to have Olympia turning one soon,’ she told NBC News correspondent Stephanie Ruhle.

    ‘Maybe I’ll be playing on that day and I’ll just have those memories of being in the hospital and giving birth to my daughter.’

    Serena explained how she kept her head in the game even during her hiatus, making it clear she was always intent on competing again.

    ‘I was always there mentally. I was always watching and being a part of it,’ she said. ‘And I never wanted to hang up my racket at that point. I’m still trying to compete and win Grand Slams and most of all, do it while I have a daughter.’

    While the champion is due to start competing next week in the US Open, she’s already seeing beyond that tournament.

    ‘This is the beginning of a new career for me,’ she said. ‘I’m not going to be gone after the Open. I’m going to be in the next Grand Slam and the next and the next and the next and the next. It’s just going to keep going.’

    Meanwhile, Serena Williams is feeling like a true queen ahead of the US Open. She’s taken over the streets of New York, spreading the word: The queen has arrived.

    At the West Side Tennis Club in Queens, the 23-time Grand Slam champ hosted a group of young queens with the designer behind her collaboration with Nike and Off-white, Virgil Abloh.

  • US Open: 17th Seeded Serena ready to roll

    Serena Williams has been seeded 17th ahead of this year’s US Open which serves off August 27th, just a place below elder sister Venus, organizers said on Tuesday.

    Serena, who finished runner-up at Wimbledon this year after losing to Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the final, is ranked 26th in the world, nine places below the seeding she has been awarded.

    The current WTA rankings are the usual criteria to decide seeding in the women’s draw.

    Williams, who has won the US Open six times and will turn 37 next month, missed last year’s tournament because of pregnancy.

    In June, United States Tennis Association president Katrina Adams said the US Open would revise seeding to take into account the effect of pregnancy on the current rankings of players.

    Adams’ comments came in the wake of widespread criticism of tennis officials after Serena was denied a seeding at this year’s French Open, her first Grand Slam after returning to the sport.

    Romanian Simona Halep is the top seed in the women’s draw with defending champion Sloane Stephens at No 3, ahead of Kerber, who won at Flushing Meadows in 2016.

    There were no surprises on the men’s side with world No 1 and defending champion Rafa Nadal named top seed, ahead of Roger Federer and Argentine Juan Martin del Porto in third.

    Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, who heads to Flushing Meadows in arguably his best form since returning from a troublesome elbow injury, is seeded sixth, a place below big-serving South African Kevin Anderson.

    John Isner is the highest-seeded American in the men’s draw at No 11.

  • Venus: Too ‘speechless’ being an aunt

    Venus: Too ‘speechless’ being an aunt

    Shortly after she won her third-round match against Greece’s Maria Sakkari at the US Open…Venus Williams was asked about how she felt being an aunt to Serena’s new born baby.

    Apparently thrilled by her victory in the match Venus only manage to say: “I’m super excited. Words can’t describe.”

    Serena welcomed her daughter – whom she has with her fiancé Alexis Ohanian – into the world on Friday, and her older sister and fellow tennis star Venus, 37, was more than a delight.

    Venus had claimed she wouldn’t be answering questions about her sister’s start to parenthood, but did admit the pair “always talk”.

    She said: “We always talk. We always talk, so she’s always encouraging me. Yeah, from every step of the way, every match, always.”

    Her sister reportedly gave birth to a baby girl weighing in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces, at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach.

    Meanwhile, she previously revealed she is “looking forward” to motherhood.

    She said: “I am looking forward to becoming a mother and coming back to the courts already. I’m always thinking about what’s next: the next victory, the next trophy … I intend to keep exercising for as long as possible while pregnant.

    “I want the baby to be healthy and for that, you need a healthy life. Also, when I come back to tennis it’ll be better if I’ve kept as fit as possible all the way through the pregnancy rather than having to lose a lot of weight afterwards in order to get fit again. Eating healthily is a must, but being healthy is a lifestyle.”

    The sportswomen also previously revealed she thinks having a baby will make her a “real woman”.

    She shared: “I have so much respect for so many women [for giving birth]. I am about to be a real woman now, you know? It’s going to be something incredibly impressive to go through … I don’t think watching birthing videos helps. I actually think it makes it worse. Having a baby, nothing is guaranteed.”

  • Novak Djokovic misses rest of 2017 season

    Novak Djokovic misses rest of 2017 season

     

    Novak Djokovic has announced he will not play for the rest of the 2017 season because of an elbow injury.

    It means the 30-year-old will miss the final grand slam of the year, the US Open, an event he has won twice. His run of 51 consecutive grand slam appearances will therefore come to an end.

    World number four Djokovic was forced to retire midway through his Wimbledon quarter-final with Tomas Berdych earlier this month because of the problem.

    Djokovic has, however, confirmed Andre Agassi will remain part of his coaching team when he returns next year. Agassi started working with Djokovic at the French Open in May.

    The Serb said he intended to return at the start of 2018, playing a warm-up tournament ahead of the Australian Open in January.

    “After obviously a year and a half of carrying the injury of the elbow that has culminated in the last couple of months, I have made the decision to not play any tournaments for the rest of the 2017 season,” Djokovic said.

    “Unfortunately this is the decision that had to be made at this moment. Wimbledon was the toughest tournament for me in terms of feeling the pain that has escalated.

    “I have consulted many of the doctors and specialists and various people from both ends of the medicine (profession) in the last 12 to 15 months, and especially the last couple of months when I felt the injury was getting worse.

    “They all agree I need rest, I need time. This is one of those injuries where nothing can really help instantly. You have to allow natural rehabilitation to take its course.”

    Federer won the Australian Open earlier this year after a similar six-month break from the game.

    As a six-time winner in Melbourne, Djokovic is rated just a 5/2 chance to repeat the feat in 2018.

  • Serena hails ‘awesome’ recovery

    NOT for the first time in her career, Serena Williams climbed off the canvas to win her 15th grand slam title on home soil at the US Open.

    The 30-year-old had been a hot favourite to beat world number one Victoria Azarenka after her victories at Wimbledon and the Olympics but she was pushed all the way, fighting back from 5-3 down in the decider to win 6-2 2-6 7-5.

    Williams looked stunned as she absorbed her achievement, which brought a fourth title at Flushing Meadows and very different headlines to the ones she had written in New York over the past few years.

    In 2009, the world number four lost to Kim Clijsters in the semi-final after receiving a point penalty for abusing a lineswoman, then last year she was beaten by Sam Stosur in the final after again losing her cool, this time with umpire Eva Asderaki.

    Earlier last year, Williams feared not justher career but her life was in danger when she suffered from blood clots on her lungs as a result of a foot injury that kept her out of the game for a year.