The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Wimbledon

  • Serena drops first set but zooms into semis

     

    Serena Williams dropped her first set at Wimbledon Tuesday before recovering to beat Camila Giorgi and reach semi-finals

    The seven-time champion, who missed the tournament last year, was outplayed by Italian Camila Giorgi in the first set, but rallied to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Centre Court.Tuesday’s triumph takes her winning streak at the All England club to 19 matches

    It also proved beyond doubt that she is the woman to beat in the women’s draw, despite this being just her fourth tournament back since giving birth last September.

    Williams will face Germany’s Julia Goerges, the 13th seed, who reached her first grand slam semi-final with victory over Kiki Bertens.

    The 29-year-old dropped the first set to Dutch 20th seed Bertens but fought back to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.

    Meanwhile Canadian rapper Drake ought to thank his stars that Serena emerged victorious in the game despite the initial challenges.  Had she crashed out Drake would probably have been lampooned by fans who would have linke the loss to his unsolicited presence.

    They were rumoured to have enjoyed an on-off secret romance between 2011 and 2015.

    And Drake looked proud as he turned up to support Serena Williams during her quarterfinal match at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

    The Canadian rapper, 31, couldn’t help but smile as he showed up to another of the icon’s grand slam tennis matches, with the star vying for her 24th single Grand Slam title, and her first since welcoming baby daughter Alexis in September.

    The Rapper’s presence at the tennis tournament led to a mixed response from fans, with many calling for him to leave due to fears he would ‘jinx’ her match.

    One wrote ‘come on @drake you gotta leave. Serena loses when you are around. Be a good friend and let her win.’

    Another added: ‘jeez Drake… you gonna come to her work and errrrthing?’

  • Federer delivers shot-making masterclass to reach round three

     Roger Federer was back making a style statement with his dazzling tennis as he gave Lukas Lacko a 6-4 6-4 6-1 dressing down to reach the third round on Wednesday.

    It came two days after the top seed created a stir at Wimbledon with his new mega-bucks clothing deal.

    The Swiss champion was at his breath-taking best as he crafted 48 exquisite winners during a 90-minute match.

    In fact, it seemed more an exhibition of his shot-making than a charge towards a record ninth Wimbledon title.

    Read Also: Roger Federer wins 20th grand slam, says ‘No plans to retire’

    When Federer turned up to defend his crown in 2013, he suffered a shock second-round humbling by Sergiy Stakhovsky.

    There was no danger of a repeat performance against Slovakia’s Lacko, however, and a forehand swish on match point gave the top seed a 26th consecutive set at the grass court major.

    Federer will face either Croatian Ivo Karlovic or Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff for a place in the fourth round.

    NAN

  • Rafael Nadal in doubt for Wimbledon

    Rafael Nadal has cast doubt on his participation at Wimbledon, saying he needs to see how his body recovers after a long clay court campaign culminated in an 11th French Open title.

    Two of the Spaniard’s 17 Grand Slam titles came on the All England Club’s lawns, but the 32-year-old has struggled to make an impact there in recent years.

    ‘Difficult for me to think about it now. I had a long and mentally tough clay court season, of course, because I played almost all the matches possible after coming from an injury. So it was a demanding two months for me,’ Nadal told reporters after his 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Dominic Thiem in Paris.

    Nadal, who also won the titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome this year, is entered for the Queen’s Club warm-up tournament starting next week but says he will consult with his team, including Coach Carlos Moya, over the next few days.

    ‘I would love to play in as many places as possible, but you understand I need to check how I feel in the next couple of days,’ Nadal said.

    ‘Of course, it’s a drastic change from clay to grass. I did it in the past when I was much younger, quicker because I played back to back.’

    Nadal spent several months away from the tour after sustaining an injury at this year’s Australian Open and could, like Roger Federer, decide that his long-term interests are best-served by sparing his body further punishment.

    It is common knowledge that the lower-bouncing ball on grass puts extra strain on the knees that have bothered him at times throughout his career.

    Yet Nadal also knows he could be a threat after playing impressively last year before falling in the last 16, losing a classic tussle against Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller.

    ‘Last year I felt that I had a good opportunity to go far in the tournament. I felt myself playing well on grass last year,’ the Spaniard said.

  • Bartoli makes retirement U-turn after five years

    Bartoli makes retirement U-turn after five years

     

    Marion Bartoli has shocked the world of tennis by announcing her comeback nearly five years after retiring following her unlikely triumph at Wimbledon in 2013.

    The Frenchwoman quit less than six weeks after claiming her only Grand Slam title and has been beset by healthy problems in the intervening years.

    The 33-year-old teased her return to the WTA circuit via Eurosport, and will make her comeback at the Miami Open in March.

    She said: ‘I have something to tell you — I’m coming back this year on the professional tour!

    ‘It’s going to be a huge challenge; I still have a lot of practice ahead of me, but I’m hoping to be ready for March and the Miami Open.’

    Bartoli added: ‘I’m really looking forward to be on the court again in front of you, to feel your support, especially in Paris, in Roland Garros, in my home country, but also for the Fed Cup – and Wimbledon. I’m so looking forward to it.’

    She last played a competitive match on the tour four years ago, losing to current world No 1 Simona Halep at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.

    She announced her immediate retirement from the sport after that defeat, just over a month after winning her first Grand Slam title.

    Bartoli peaked at a career-high of World No 7 in 2012, and also reached the Wimbledon final in 2007.

    She ended the year inside the world’s Top 20 for eight straight seasons from 2006 through 2013.

    Last year she suffered from a virus which left her unable to eat and brought about a dramatic weight loss, but she has since returned to good health.

    Bartoli was known for her unorthodox and intense style of play on the court. She used two hands on both the forehand and the backhand, and was generally classed as an aggressive and hard-hitting player who played primarily from the baseline. She developed her two-handed style on the advice of her father and longtime coach, Walter Bartoli. He had seen the classic 1992 French Open final in which Monica Seles defeated Steffi Graf, and immediately was inspired to teach Seles’ technique to his daughter. Bartoli had previously had trouble with her forehand, but it improved significantly when she made the switch to two hands. Her game was based on power and she used her double-fisted strokes to create sharp angles to open up the court and preferred to take the ball very early on ground strokes.

  • Boris Becker in £54 Million debt

    Boris Becker in £54 Million debt

     

    Tennis great Boris Becker is in debt to the tune of 54 million pounds and is facing having his homes and personal property repossessed, according to German media.

    Magazines Stern and Bunte say the bankruptcy declaration in London three months ago was only the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of what he actually owes.

    Bunte claims a court appointed insolvency administrator has found the mountain of debt built up by the 49-year-old tennis champion.

    The magazine claims the firm of Smith and Williamson has produced a report detailing the parlous state of his finances.

    It further reported that the auction house Wyles Hardy & Co. may now to be charged with estimating the value of his trophies and memorabilia. Becker is thought to have been asked not to remove these pieces from his London house or from his mother’s house in Germany.

    The revelation comes just months after it emerged that Becker, who is married to wife Lilly, 41, had been declared bankrupt over a debt of £3.34million owed to a private bank.

    Boris married first wife Barbara Feltus in December 1993, and their son Noah Gabriel, now 23, was born a month later.

    Their second child, Elias Balthasar, now 17, was born on 4 September 1999.

    On 15 January 2001, Becker was granted a divorce, with Barbara receiving a hefty $14.4 million settlement, their condominium on the exclusive Fisher island in Florida, and custody of Noah and Elias.

    Becker and his current wife, Dutch model Lilly, 41, live in Wimbledon for part of the year but their main residence is said to be in Switzerland.

  • Federer cruising with his Wimbledon take away!

    Federer cruising with his Wimbledon take away!

     

    Roger Federer certainly earned himself some time off following his record-breaking exploits at Wimbledon, but the Swiss star could not help but bring one piece of his day job with him on holiday.

    The 35-year-old sealed an eighth singles title at the All England Club earlier this month, overtaking the record he held jointly with the legendary Martina Navratilova as a result.

    And having also won the Australian Open in January, Federer has fled to his native Switzerland in an attempt to recuperate but found space in his hand luggage for his newest piece of silverware.

    Federer posted a photo of the Wimbledon trophy amid a stunning backdrop of Swiss mountains and Lake Zurich as he enjoyed the view from his retreat in Horgen. He also appeared in a photo alongside the trophy while sitting on a bench with a fitting inscription.

    But eagle-eyed observers will notice the trophy looks a little bit smaller than the one handed to him on Centre Court earlier this month and that is because it is – 25 per cent smaller, in fact.

    The trophy, which has been gifted to the winner at every Wimbledon tournament since its inception in 1877, never leaves the All England Club with winners only getting a touch of the real thing on the day.

    Winners are then handed a smaller replica, which bears the inscription of every men’s singles champion, for keeps. That obviously means Federer now has seven other identical trophies sitting somewhere in this world.

    He will be looking to add a 20th Grand Slam title to his name later this month and a third of the year when he travels to New York for the season’s final major at the US Open.

    With Novak Djokovic already confirming he will not play again in 2017 and Andy Murray struggling to find form and fitness, Federer will go into the year’s final major as the outright favourite to claim a sixth Flsuhing Meadows title and his first since 2008.

  • Federer becomes first man to win eight Wimbledon titles

    Federer becomes first man to win eight Wimbledon titles

    Roger Federer scaled new heights of greatness at Wimbledon when he duly collected a record breaking win to put him further ahead of other legends, living and dead.

    The 35 year-old Swiss took an eighth All England Club title by hammering a troubled Marin Cilic with ruthless ease, winning 6-3 6-1 6-4 in an hour and 41 minutes.

    It was his nineteenth Grand Slam victory and in achieving it he became the first player to win the title without dropping a set since Bjorn Borg in 1976.

    Cilic began brightly, but by the middle of the second set he was sobbing into his towel at the changeover. It was not immediately clear if that was due to emotional distress or a blistered foot or both.

    Either way, he ultimately had no answer to the rasping groundstrokes of Federer or a serve that functioned beautifully, pinging in more than seven out of ten first serves.

    Ultimately it was a disappointing final, purely in terms of a contest, but those present would be consoled by knowing that they will not see the like of Federer again. Incredibly, having packed in his 2016 season after knee problems post-Wimbledon he now holds both the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles.

    Before a crowd dripping with public figures, from Nigel Farage to Antonio Conte, it had been such a promising start for Cilic, bristling with positive language and with Federer looking the less settled. He forced a break point a 2-2, returning long, but then as we have seen so often in this tournament, there was an adverse reaction to it.

    With the Swiss getting more loop onto his forehand to cut the mistakes, he got the best of a brilliant exchange at the net on the second point of the next game, that ended with a deft flick over the net with his opponent lying on the ground.

    The roar nearly took the Centre Court roof off, which seemed to compound Cilic’s earlier disappointment. He must have felt very friendless. Federer missed two of the first three break points and then converted when Cilic stuck a backhand in the net.

    That visibly settled Federer and held safely until a second break at 5-3, which sealed the first set on 36 minutes when Cilic put a backhand wide.

  • Muguruza stuns Venus to clinch first Wimbledon title

    Muguruza stuns Venus to clinch first Wimbledon title

     

    Spain’s Garbine Muguruza won her first Wimbledon title and ended Venus Williams’ hopes of becoming the oldest Grand Slam champion in Saturday’s women’s final.

    Muguruza beat the in-form Williams in their first meeting on grass 7-5 6-0 as the Spanish 14th seed emulated her coach Conchita Martinez’s memorable triumph in 1994 and made up for her own pain of losing to Serena Williams two years ago to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish.

    Back in the All England Club final after an eight-year absence, Williams, 37, was hoping to become both the oldest Wimbledon and major winner since the Open era began in 1968, but was unable to claim a sixth Wimbledon title as Muguruza’s power proved too hot to handle.

    Williams created the first opening of what was turning into a slug-fest in the fifth game, but she netted a presentable opportunity on the forehand side.

    The 23-year-old held before driving her forehand long with her own break point chance in the next game.

    Under the Centre Court roof it was Williams who turned the screw with some juicy groundstrokes to earn two set points. But the Spaniard held steady following a tumultuous 19-shot rally to come through under immense pressure.

    And Muguruza made Williams pay with a break in the 11th game before delighting her temporary coach for Wimbledon, Conchita Martinez, by holding an intensely physical service game to take it 7-5 after 51 minutes of action.

    A double fault by veteran Williams handed Muguruza a break at the start of the second set as she began to make more unforced errors.

    Two more breaks of Williams’ serve followed as Muguruza took a stranglehold of the final and she closed out a bagel set to complete a remarkable turnaround.

    She will take home £2.2m in prize money, with runner-up Williams, in the Wimbledon final for the first time in eight years, netting £1.1m.

    Watching  from the Royal Box was  King Juan Carlos of Spain.

    Fittingly, it was Muguruza’s current coach Conchita Martinez who was the first woman to raise the Spanish flag at Wimbledon in 1994 when she defeated Martina Navratilova.

  • Andy Murray crashes out of Wimbledon

    Andy Murray crashes out of Wimbledon

    Andy Murray has crashed out of Wimbledon in the quarter-finals leaving British hopes resting on Johanna Konta.

    Murray lost out in an epic five-set match against the 6ft 6in American Sam Querrey, who became the first US tennis player to reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon since Andy Roddick eight years ago.

    The world number one was unable to replicate Konta’s success on Centre Court yesterday losing 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 1-6, 1-6.

    Murray came into the tournament dealing with a sore left hip and it clearly impeded him as the match wore on. He grimaced as he stumbled or landed awkwardly while attempting to play his game.

    Defending champion Andy Murray looked in discomfort during the match and British hopes now rest on Johanna Konta

    Murray’s defeat means the 50-year wait for a British man and woman in the Wimbledon semi-finals goes on.

    Konta yesterday became the first British woman to make it to the semi-finals of Wimbledon since Virginia Wade in 1978.

    Ice-cool Konta held her nerve in a nail-biting three-set match against world number two Simona Halep, coming from one set down to win 6-7 7-6 6-4.

    Wade, who was also the last British woman to lift the Wimbledon trophy in 1977, watched on from the Royal Box and said she was ‘ultra-impressed’ by Konta’s ‘absolutely stunning performance’.

    However Murray, who was clearly struggling with injury and was seen clutching his troublesome hip, was unable to replicate her success.

    The pair had met eight times previously, with Murray winning seven, but Querrey is a tricky opponent on grass and so he proved today.

    Last year he dumped out Novak Djokovic and his monstrous serve and powerful ground strokes proved too much for injury hit Murray to handle.

    Querrey hit 27 aces and 70 winners, 30 of them from the net, as he attacked at every opportunity.

    The 29-year-old, who was cheered on by his model girlfriend Abby Dixon, becomes the first US tennis player to reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon since 2009.

    Limping between points and fading down the stretch, defending champion Andy Murray was stunned by the 24th seed

    Speaking to BBC Sport after his win, he said: ‘I’m still in a bit of shock myself. That last point, I was so happy to get the serve. I’m thrilled right now.

    ‘I didn’t start my best but I kept with it, kept swinging away, then really found a groove in the fourth and fifth set and then everything started falling my way.

    ‘It feels great – this is a dream come true, to be in the semi-finals and to have it at Wimbledon makes it feel more special. I’m going to enjoy this win a little bit longer, then have an easy day tomorrow and get ready for the semis.’

  • Unwanted visitors at the Wimbledon!

    Unwanted visitors at the Wimbledon!

     

    Wimbledon organisers regularly pray for sunny days during the two weeks at the All England club, but the extremely warm weather appears to have attracted some unwanted visitors.

    As the mercury approached 30 degrees Celsius in SW19 on Wednesday, the warm and humid conditions gave flying ants the perfect opportunity to spread their wings for the first time this summer.

    The event, which is activated when the new queen leaves the nest, led to a plague-like scene on the outside courts of Wimbledon with tennis stars Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and Alijaz Bedene forced to play on regardless.

    Flying Ant Day usually occurs between July and August when wet conditions are followed by a period of warm weather.

    The queen, who can live for up to 10 years, will set off from her nest to start a new colony and will emit pheromones to attract new males.

    Once the chemical is in the air, it triggers chain reaction across thousands of colonies, which can be up to  5,000 strong.

    The scene was repeated across the country with commuters facing nightmare journeys home on Tuesday evening.

    Tsonga was seen noticeably struggling during his match against Simone Bolelli, as he swatted the annoying creatures away while attempting to serve. Luckily, the Frenchman came through against the qualifier in three sets.

    While there is no specific date for the annual event, it usually occurs between July and August when warm conditions emerge shortly after a period of wet weather.

    And while the event is unofficially described as ‘Flying Ant Day’, not all ants will leave the nest on the same day and it could actually last for as long as two weeks depending on conditions – meaning this could go on for the rest of the Wimbledon Championships.

    The event is triggered when a queen leaves her nest in search of a mate to start a new colony. The queen, who can live for up to 10 years, emits pheromones to attract other males, setting off a frenzied day of flight.

    British No 1 Johanna Konta was also playing on Wednesday but appeared to be protected from the worst of it by the high surroundings on Centre Court. Andy Murray is also set to play later this afternoon in his second round match against Dustin Brown.