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Serena Williams has signaled that the U.S. Open that begins later this month could be the end of her storied career. She won her first Grand Slam — the U.S. Open — in 1999, when she was 17 years old, beating the top-seeded Martina Hingis. She went on to become the sport’s most dominant force […] More
The world first came to know Serena Williams as a 17-year-old with beaded braids, overwhelming power and precocious intelligence and poise when she stunned her sport by winning the first of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles at the 1999 U.S. Open.So began a journey that, with plenty of help from her sister Venus and her trailblazing parents, changed the game, transcended tennis and turned Williams into a beacon of fashion, entertainment and business, shifting the way people inside and outside of sports viewed female athletes.On Tuesday, Williams set the stage for the tennis part of that journey to conclude at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and the U.S. Open, where it began so many championships, battles, fist pumps and screams of “Come on!” ago.In a first-person article in the famed September issue of Vogue, published online on Tuesday, Williams said that she planned to retire from the sport after playing in the U.S. Open, which begins later this month, for the 21st time. And as she has for more than two decades, Williams made the announcement with her own unique twist, stating in the as-told-to cover story that she has “never liked the word retirement,” and preferred the word “evolution” to describe her next steps.“I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me,” including working with her venture capital firm and growing her family, she said.Williams was not explicit about when she might stop playing, but she hinted on Instagram that the U.S. Open could be her last tournament while leaving the door ever-so-slightly open to continue, or to come back, as players who retire often do. “The countdown has begun,” she said, adding, “I’m gonna relish these next few weeks.”Williams is playing this week at a U.S. Open tuneup tournament in Toronto and is scheduled to play in Cincinnati during the next week.Asked Monday after her straight-sets win over Nuria Parrizas-Diaz of Spain what motivated her now, Williams said “the light at the end of the tunnel.”“Lately that’s been it for me,” she added. “I can’t wait to get to that light.”Though some in tennis are skeptical that Williams will step away imminently, exiting the stage this year at the U.S. Open would be a fitting end to her storied career. Williams has won the singles title there six times, beginning in 1999, when she leapfrogged her older sister Venus to claim the family’s first Grand Slam championship 23 years ago, a number that matches her career Grand Slam tally. The tournament has also been the site of some of Williams’s lowest moments, including confrontations with umpires and tournament officials in the semifinals in 2009 and the finals in 2018.Williams has won each of the Grand Slam tournaments at least three times.Asanka Brendon Ratnayake for The NYT; Chang W. Lee/NYT; David Vincent/AP; Daniel Berehulak/Getty“It feels like the right exclamation point, the right ending,” said Pam Shriver, the former player and tennis commentator who was one of the great doubles champions of the 1980s. “It doesn’t matter her result.”Williams’s tennis future has been in doubt since she was forced to retire minutes into her first-round match at Wimbledon last year after she tore her hamstring.The injury sidelined her for nearly a year. In fact, Shriver and others thought it was likely that Williams might never officially retire but would instead continue the existence that she assumed for months following her teary Wimbledon exit.This spring though, Williams said she had the urge to play competitively again. In the Vogue story, she stated that Tiger Woods persuaded her to commit to training hard for two weeks and see what transpired. She did not immediately take his advice but eventually began hitting and signed up for the doubles competition at a grass court tournament ahead of Wimbledon .At Wimbledon, she played a spirited but inconsistent three-hour, first-round match, losing to Harmony Tan of France, 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7). She showed flashes of the power and touch that had once made her nearly unbeatable, but lacked the fitness and match toughness that comes from being a regular on the WTA Tour.Williams wrote that she and her husband, Alexis Ohanian, planned to have another child, though she lamented the choice between another child and her tennis career. She expressing envy that some male athletes, like the 45-year-old N.F.L. quarterback Tom Brady, could continue to compete while their female spouses had children.“I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete,” she said. “I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out.”Williams won her last Grand Slam tournament title while she was pregnant during the Australian Open in 2017.Williams has won nearly $100 million in prize money, but her tennis career has hardly prevented her from pursuing her other interests. She has frequently helped design her tennis outfits. She was an executive producer of “King Richard,” the Oscar-winning film about her family that focused on how her father took two girls from Compton, Calif., to the pinnacle of sports. In recent years, she has become a venture capitalist, creating Serena Ventures, which invests in early stage ideas and companies, many in technology and run by women.Williams at the Vanity Fair party at the Oscars. “King Richard” was nominated for six Academy Awards.Hunter Abrams for The New York TimesOn the tennis court, for the moment, Williams remains second to Margaret Court of Australia in Grand Slam singles championships, a record she had many chances to tie and then surpass in 2018 and 2019 when she lost four Grand Slam finals without winning a set. However, because many of Court’s wins predate the modern era of professional tennis, that shortcoming is unlikely to tarnish Williams’s legacy as the greatest female tennis player, one of the greatest players, and one of the best athletes in any sport.“When Serena steps away from tennis, she will leave as the sport’s greatest player,” said Billie Jean King, the champion and pioneer of sports. “After a career that has inspired a new generation of players and fans, she will forever be known as a champion who won on the court and raised the global profile of the sport off it.”Beyond all the championships — Williams has won 73 singles titles, 23 in doubles, two in mixed doubles and has played on four Olympic teams, winning four gold medals — her impact on how the world perceives female athletes and inspiring the younger Black girls who now lead American women’s tennis may be her greatest legacies.With a unique mix of power, strength, speed, touch and the tennis intelligence that produced her dominance, Williams made irrelevant the distinction between great male and female tennis players as no woman had done. Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, the great male tennis players of the 21st century — and the greatest the men’s game has ever produced — spoke of Williams as one of them.Last year at the U.S. Open, as the pressure mounted on Djokovic to win a rare calendar year Grand Slam, he said only Williams could understand what he was going through.Williams came to the U.S. Open in 2015 having won the year’s first three Grand Slam singles titles but lost to the unseeded Roberta Vinci of Italy in the semifinals. Winning the title that year would have given her a fifth consecutive Grand Slam singles championship, since she had already won four consecutive Grand Slam singles titles for the second time, a feat now known as the “Serena Slam.”Williams signing autographs after a workout at the U.S. Open in 2015.Earl Wilson/The New York TimesNone of this has surprised Rick Macci, the famed professional coach who three decades ago evaluated Serena and Venus Williams playing in a rundown park in Compton when Black girls, especially poor ones, rarely pursued tennis. At first Macci was not impressed, but when the girls started playing points everything changed.“There was a rage inside these two little kids once we kept score,” Macci said in an interview Tuesday. “They ran so fast they almost fell down. I took a huge chance because of what I thought I saw on the inside, and I haven’t seen it since.”Coco Gauff, the rising 18-year-old who is the latest Black American player to bear the burden of being labeled “the next Serena,” said Williams was “the reason why I play tennis,” after her win Tuesday in Toronto.“I saw somebody who looked like me dominating the game,” Gauff, ranked 11th in the world, “It made me believe that I could dominate, too.” More
Those interested in watching Serena Williams on her road to retirement will have opportunities to do so in at least three tournaments.“I don’t know if I will be ready to win New York,” Williams said in a Vogue cover story announcing her retirement, referring to the U.S. Open. “But I’m going to try. And the lead-up tournaments will be fun.”Her next match is set for Wednesday in the round of 32 of the National Bank Open in Toronto against Belinda Bencic, a Swiss player ranked 12th who defeated Tereza Martincova on Tuesday. Williams will be scheduled for a night match, the tournament said on its website. Bencic, 25, last faced Williams at the 2017 Australian Open.National Bank Open matches are televised by its official broadcasters Sportsnet and TVA Sports. In the United States, the Tennis Channel is broadcasting the Canadian tournament, and some matches are available on Bally Sports.After the National Bank Open, which ends on Sunday, Williams is expected to play in Mason, Ohio, a Cincinnati suburb, at the Western & Southern Open, which runs Aug. 13-21. The tournament said on Twitter that it was “honored to be a small part of” Williams’s career.“We’re so excited to watch her at our tournament this year,” the tournament said.Williams is expected to play outside Cincinnati with a protected ranking that has yet to be determined. The tournament, which has tickets available online, is set to feature a number of formidable players, including Iga Swiatek, the No. 1-ranked player on the women’s tour, and Emma Raducanu, the reigning U.S. Open champion.After the Western & Southern Open, there are two more tournaments before the U.S. Open — Tennis in the Land in Cleveland and the National Bank Championships in Granby, Quebec. Player lists for the tournaments, which run concurrently Aug. 21-27, have not yet been released, and it was unclear whether Williams will play in either.The U.S. Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, begins Aug. 29 and runs through Sept. 11. The tournament will be televised by ESPN, and has tickets available online. The women’s final is scheduled for Sept. 10.While the U.S. Open draw has not been set, the first chance for fans to see Williams would be during the first round of the tournament on Aug. 29 or 30, a match that would most likely be played inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.“I’m not looking for some ceremonial, final on-court moment,” Williams told Vogue. “I’m terrible at goodbyes, the world’s worst. But please know that I am more grateful for you than I can ever express in words. You have carried me to so many wins and so many trophies. I’m going to miss that version of me, that girl who played tennis. And I’m going to miss you.”Williams was vague about her plans after the U.S. Open, and did not pinpoint exactly when she would wind down her time in the sport. More
WEST HAM found a a creative way to announce summer signing Gianluca Scamacca.The Hammers landed Scamacca, 23, on a five-year deal following a £30.5million deal with Sassuolo.
West Ham announced the signing of Gianluca Scamacca from SassuoloCredit: Rex
West Ham presented Gianluca Scamacca with a silhouette sketch of the strikerCredit: https://twitter.com/WestHam/status/1551968088228122624/photo/1
Many West Ham fans think that silhouette looks like tennis legend Novak DjokovicCredit: Getty
And the East Londoners decided to present him in a unique way as they issued a picture of his silhouette on Twitter and asked the fans to guess who their new arrival is.
But a raft of West Ham supporters agreed that this sketch looks more like tennis legend Novak Djokovic than any other footballer they could imagine.
A fan tweeted: “Genuinely looks like Novak Djokovic.”
Another posted: “Djokovic.”
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A third wrote: “Djokovic ain’t it?”
This supporter said: “Giving Djokovic a shout.”
And that one tweeted: “Novak Djokovic signing for West Ham?”
West Ham confirmed Scamacca’s transfer on Twitter with a fabulous clip done in the style of iconic Channel4 show Football Italia.
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The striker stood out last season for Sassuolo with a total of 16 goals and one assist in 38 matches across all competitions.
The Italy international was the Serie A’s sixth top scorer ahead of former team-mate Domenico Berardi and Napoli star Victor Osimhen.
The Italian is a much-needed addition for manager David Moyes who spent most of last season with only one centre-forward in Michail Antonio. More
While Grand Slam season often forecasts men’s wear innovations, the elegance of a crisp white look is tough to beat.For at least some watching Novak Djokovic win his seventh Wimbledon title and 21st Grand Slam crown on Sunday (surprising almost no one), there was one largely unacknowledged pleasure in the experience.Sure, there were his bulletproof defensive skills and wizardly return of serve. Add to that the eye-candy thrill of watching Mr. Djokovic, a 6-foot-2 Serb, flaunt his Gumby-like flexibility and shredded physique (achieved with a no-gluten diet and a state-of-the-art training regimen) in a three-hour, four-set final. Yet for those who care about these things — fashion critics, for instance — the elegance of Mr. Djokovic’s play benefited from an anachronism dating to the tournament’s beginning in 1877. That is, the strict white dress code still enforced by the storied All England Club.Modern players tend to bristle at the tennis whites that were originally conceived to curb or conceal evidence of perspiration — considered unseemly among the society sorts who long had the lock on this sport — and that are required to be worn by players at Wimbledon from the moment they enter the court area. Andre Agassi famously so disliked the Wimbledon dress code (“Why must I wear white? I don’t want to wear white,” he wrote in his 2009 memoir) that he refused to play in the tournaments from 1988 to 1990, holding out for his preferred raucous, colorful sportswear before caving and then going on to win his first and only Wimbledon title in 1992.Far from obscuring players on camera, regulation whites outline their moves more crisply, as Novak Djokovic proves in the Wimbledon final on July 10.Alastair Grant/Associated PressRule creep is common. A degree of pushback is understandable in light of a rigid dress code that forbids nonwhite elements except in trim on outseams, necklines and shorts legs, as well as in logos that are wider than a centimeter. Even cream or ivory is considered beyond the pale, and orange-soled sneakers landed Roger Federer in trouble when he wore a pair to the 2013 tournament.Tradition trumps comfort at Wimbledon. Look to the controversy that greeted Rafael Nadal when he wore one of his trademark sleeveless white quarter-zip tops in 2005. Gentlemen, the thinking goes, don’t show off their guns. (For present purposes, it is the male athletes who are the focus.)Still, what fascinates this observer is the question of why — aside from paid branding opportunities or a dubious assertion that took hold in the late 20th century that color reads better on TV — an athlete would want to deviate from a uniform that is simultaneously practical and sartorially foolproof, one with a rich history of influence on style outside the sport.Even a cursory survey of its 20th-century history demonstrates how potent an effect tennis has had on fashion. From the 19th century on, the courts have been both a laboratory for innovation and, more often than you might imagine, a mirror of social change. Take the elegance of players like René Lacoste, the French tennis player of the 1920s nicknamed the Crocodile, who replaced the woven or woolen tennis whites that were then customary with cooler and more efficient long-tailed, short-sleeved cotton polo shirts with the ubiquitous crocodile monogram. The shirts would become a popped-collar staple of preppy wear.Fred Perry, left, looking runway ready in a signature polo, in 1935. Popperfoto/Getty ImagesRafael Nadal flexes his big guns in a controversial sleeveless top at Wimbledon in 2005.Phil Cole/Getty ImagesConsider, too, the unfortunate case of Fred Perry. A stylish former world No. 1-ranked player, Mr. Perry won eight Grand Slam singles titles in the 1930s, including three consecutive Wimbledon titles from 1934 to 1936. He went on to found a brand best known for white polo shirts trimmed with a yellow and black band, and the company came perilously close to foundering in 2020 when its polos were co-opted as a militia uniform by the far-right Proud Boys and it was forced to withdraw sales of its polo shirts in the United States and Canada.Paragons of tennis elegance appear in every era. At one end of the 20th century, there is, for example, an International Tennis Hall of Fame fixture like Budge Patty — one of only three Americans to win the French Open and Wimbledon men’s singles championships in the same year (1950) — and a sophisticate renowned for his easy tailored style both on and off court. Further along the arc stands Arthur Ashe, the only Black man to have won the singles titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open, and a canny image manipulator who underscored his cerebral style of play with a Black Ivy cool — tailored shorts, snug polos, horn-rimmed glasses or oversize shades — intentionally engineered to counter racial stereotypes that still plagued the sport in the ’70s.Always restrained, Arthur Ashe brought graphic flourish to his tennis white at the U.S. Open, circa 1978.Focus on Sport/Getty ImagesStyle in that bad old era tends to get an unfair rap. And yet, while it is true we’re unlikely to see the lawn-trousered, Fred Astaire elegance of an athlete like Bill Tilden — an American champion whom The Associated Press once voted the greatest player of the first half of the 20th century — that is no reason to forget or dismiss the contributions of players as well remembered for their sex appeal or wild antics as for their sartorial savvy.We are talking here about John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, rivals both on center court and in the ’80s fashion arena. With his bum-hugging short shorts and banded track tops, Mr. McEnroe became a poster boy for the Italian sports apparel maker Sergio Tacchini; Bjorn Borg, the sexy Swedish longhair in a headband, helped put another Italian heritage label, Fila, on the map. And suddenly, those retro looks and those brands — with their taut proportions and overtly sexy celebration of the athletic male anatomy — look fresh again both for sports aficionados and for those who wouldn’t know an ace from an alley.Once deemed the greatest player of the early 20th century, Bill Tilden is style personified at the Davis Cup in 1927. Bettmann/Getty ImagesBjorn Borg, here defeating Jimmy Connors at Wimbledon in July 1978, snuck color onto center court in wristbands striped like the Swedish flag.Leo Mason/Popperfoto – Getty ImagesAt other Grand Slam events, Messrs. McEnroe and Borg both pushed their Fila-Tacchini looks to the limits, with banded sleeves, tone-on-tone jackets, pinstriped patterns, colored tab waistbands, terry wristbands in national colors or details that may never have passed official muster at the All England Club.The truth is, though, that nothing additive was really needed. Whether on clay, grass, synthetic or cracked urban concrete, it is largely pointless trying to improve on tennis whites. More
THE criminal gang accused of a £2.5 million break-in at Paris Saint-Germain star’s Marco Verratti’s holiday home had set their sights on the mansions of Lionel Messi and Rafa Nadal, it emerged today.Police confirmed last week they had arrested seven suspects following the raid at the villa in Ibiza belonging to former Brazilian international Ronaldo which Verratti had rented for his summer break.
Lionel Messi’s property has reportedly been targetedCredit: Getty
Rafa Nadal pulled out of Wimbledon last weekCredit: Splash
Detectives went public with the arrests after recovering most of the stolen property when they held two men as they disembarked from a car ferry in the Costa Blanca port of Denia which had come from Ibiza.
They also confirmed they had found evidence linking the gang to another 15 burglaries at luxury villas in Alicante, Malaga and Murcia.
Today a local paper in Ibiza published extracts of hand-written notes seized at one of the suspect’s homes which includes the names of Messi and Nadal as well as those of Real Madrid legends Guti and Fernando Hierro and former Spanish PM Jose Maria Aznar.
The notebook, mentioned in a police report leaked to respected Ibizan newspaper Diario de Ibiza, said: ‘PortoCristo. Nadal Mallorca’ in reference to the stunning £3m beachfront home where the tennis star lives with wife and mum-to-be Mery Perello.
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FOOTBALL.css-1gojmfd{margin-bottom:16px;}.css-gmec1d{display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;height:auto;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-align-content:center;-ms-flex-line-pack:center;align-content:center;-webkit-box-flex-wrap:nowrap;-webkit-flex-wrap:nowrap;-ms-flex-wrap:nowrap;flex-wrap:nowrap;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:flex-start;justify-content:flex-start;margin-left:calc(-20px/2);margin-right:calc(-20px/2);}.css-fh9577{display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;margin-left:calc(20px/2);margin-right:calc(20px/2);}.css-65fvqt{max-width:302px;max-height:294px;}.css-1exhbll{box-sizing:border-box;overflow:hidden;background-color:rgba(237,245,242,1);-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;position:relative;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;max-width:302px;max-height:294px;}.css-bk55po{box-sizing:border-box;display:block;position:relative;margin-bottom:0;}.css-1shocxe{box-sizing:border-box;}.css-1a2irou{box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;}.css-1a2irou 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.nk-headline-heading{color:rgba(71,30,121,1);}.css-1uyse24:before{content:”;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;left:0;overflow:hidden;position:absolute;z-index:1;}.css-n392go{border-width:0 1px 1px 1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgba(155,201,183,1);padding:12px;max-height:104px;min-height:98px;}.css-1p5s3t0{padding:0;border-width:0 1px 1px 1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgba(155,201,183,1);padding:12px;max-height:104px;min-height:98px;}.css-124tga5{overflow:hidden;-webkit-line-clamp:3;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;display:-webkit-box;word-wrap:break-word;line-height:1;}.css-5jzxpx{overflow:hidden;-webkit-line-clamp:3;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;display:-webkit-box;word-wrap:break-word;line-height:1;}.css-i1acvs{margin:0;padding:0;color:rgba(34,99,73,1);text-transform:uppercase;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;font-family:The Sun;font-size:18px;line-height:1.333;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0%;font-stretch:normal;display:inline;}.css-i1acvs:hover:not(:disabled){-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}A WORLD AWAY .css-8h3gc3{margin:0;padding:0;color:rgba(34,37,38,1);-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;font-family:The Sun;font-size:18px;line-height:1.333;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0%;font-stretch:normal;display:inline;}.css-8h3gc3:hover:not(:disabled){-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}Wayne & Coleen are ‘oceans apart’ after he jets to US for DC United job
Messi’s name was listed in the notebook but no address information was included.
The handwritten notes, seized from the home in Malaga of a Spaniard said to have been working with several Albanians who allegedly carried out the raids, read: “Can Rimbau (Guti) Ibiza and Talamanca. Ibiza (Hierro) although both had been crossed out in the notebook according to Diario de Ibiza.
The word OK had been scrawled against two areas of Ibiza – San Jose where Verratti holidayed and Es Cubells – in a message detectives have interpreted as a sign the robberies had been carried out successfully.
Spanish police released video footage last week showing them surrounding an Audi at gunpoint and ordering the two men inside out of the vehicle before handcuffing them as they lay on the ground.
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The cash, jewellery and other valuables stolen from Verratti’s holiday villa in the early hours of June 26 were found in the car.
Five arrests subsequently took place in the province of Malaga.Spain’s National Police said in a statement confirming the arrests:
“Officers have smashed an itinerant criminal organisation specialising in breaking into luxury villas following a robbery at the house of a well-known footballer.
“Seven people belonging to a criminal gang of Albanian origin which had allegedly just stolen £2.5m in designer watches and jewellery, have been arrested.
“The belongings stolen during the raid on the footballer’s villa were recovered in the car two of the suspected members of the gang were using after they were arrested.
“Three searches were subsequently carried out in Malaga and one in Ibiza and evidence found linking the gang to another 15 raids on luxury villas in the provinces of Alicante, Malaga and Murcia.”
The statement was released before the names of Lionel Messi and Rafa Nadal emerged. Police have not yet reacted officially to the latest reports.
Nadal had to withdraw from this year’s Wimbledon ahead of the semi-finals because of an abdominal injury.
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Messi holidayed with his family and friends including ex-Liverpool striker Luis Suarez in the Balearic Islands over the summer, staying on a £250,000 a week private island called Sa Ferradura off the north coast of Ibiza.
He still owns a mansion in Castelldefels near Barcelona. The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner bought the mansion for £3.5m in 2009 with wife Antonela Roccuzzo and they have spent more than £5m on renovations. More
ENGLAND have routed a much fancied Norway side at the Amex Stadium.Ellen White went down in the box early on to earn a controversial penalty which Georgia Stanway converted.
Lauren Hemp then netted from close range to double the Lionesses lead.
White then bullied the Norwegian defence to put England three goals in front.
On 34 minutes, Mead popped up with a header to extend the lead to four goals.
And she then produced a crafty run bag a sixth goal for the team.
In the second half, Alessia Russo headed in a seventh for the Lionesses before Mead completed her hat-trick with a close range finish.
That’s all from the Amex Stadium
What a night for the Lionesses!
England have booked their place in the quarter-finals with a record-breaking 8-0 win over Norway.
They will now face Northern Ireland in their final group stage game on Friday.
Meanwhile, Norway will battle it out with Austria for the final place in the knockout stages.
Thank you for reading, and goodnight!
Harry Kane reacts to England’s win
Mead makes history
Beth Mead is now one of England’s all-time top goalscorers at the Euros.
Ellen White reacts
When speaking to BBC Sport, White said:
“Wow. Incredible. I don’t even know how to describe it.
“You could probably see on our faces in the first half. It was just unreal.
“The noise, the atmosphere. Scoring six goals, yeah, it was incredible.
“Then, obviously another two goals and a clean sheet.
“It’s just crazy!”
“It’s amazing to score for England. It’s a real honour for me. I’m surrounded by phenomenally talented players. I feel so lucky.
“Beth Mead is unbelievable. She’s such a lovely person. She’s English so we’re very happy. I’m super proud of the squad and hopefully everyone watching is proud of this England team as well.
“Obviously 8-0 is a big statement, but we’re staying cool and collected.
“We’re focused on our own task but delighted to come away with an 8-0 win, a clean sheet and three points.
“The noise and the atmosphere is absolutely insane. We’re so thankful for that support.
“Hopefully we can continue to grow as a team but I hope everyone’s proud of us.
“It’s not going to be easy to sleep. We’ll enjoy it tonight then look forward to facing Northern Ireland.”
Credit: Reuters
Sarina Wiegman reacts
When speaking to BBC Sport, Wiegman said:
“It was a very special night. We didn’t expect to make such a big win as we did, but we played really well, we exploited their weaknesses.
“But at the same time it’s just a win, just one win. We have to stay really grounded.”
When asked about her reaction to the 6-0 lead at half-time, she said:
“What’s going on here?
“Norway didn’t have the answers on our game.
“It was very enjoyable to watch.”
Credit: Getty
Beth Mead awarded Player of the Match
Beth Mead reacts
When speaking to BBC Sport, Mead said:
“I can’t put it into words. I’m really enjoying my football, it’s an incredible feeling to feel how I do right now.
“I don’t think I’ve even ever dreamed of this.
“The girls need to enjoy this one.
“These are the moments we need to enjoy”
Credit: Getty
History makers
The Lionesses have become the first side in European Championship history (both men’s and women’s) to score eight goals in a single game.
Full Time – England 8-0 Norway
The Lionesses record the biggest win in Euros history!
AND they’ve booked their place in the quarter-finals!
What a night for Sarina Wiegman and her team!
Credit: Getty
90. England 8-0 Norway
Three minutes have been added on.
Norway are just running down the clock now, it’ll be a night to forget for Martin Sjogren and his team.
87. England 8-0 Norway
Maanum brings down Toone on the edge of the box and England have a free kick in a dangerous position.
Greenwood steps up to take, but her effort flies wide.
83. England 8-0 Norway
Pettersen makes a save but parries the ball into the direction of Mead, who taps it into the back of the net with ease!
Credit: Reuters
81. GOOOOAAAALLLLLL ENGLAND!
Of course, it’s Beth Mead!
She completes her hat-trick!
80. England 7-0 Norway
Fans rise to their feet as England make another substitution.
Stanway is replaced by Jill Scott, who is making her tenth appearance in a major tournament!
77. England 7-0 Norway
One minute after entering the pitch, Ildhusoy is booked for kicking out at Williamson after a challenge.
76. England 7-0 Norway
Norway make a double substitution.
Hegerberg is replaced by Ildhusoy.
Hansen is replaced by Eikeland.
75. England 7-0 Norway
Huge chance for England!
Toone sets the ball back to Greenwood on the edge of the box, who takes a shot with her first touch.
But, her effort rattles the crossbar!
73. England 7-0 Norway
Mead comes agonisingly close to claiming her hat-trick.
The ball falls to her in the box, but she cannot get it out of her feet to make the shot.
70. England 7-0 Norway
England make another change.
Hemp is replaced by Kelly.
67. England 7-0 Norway
Stanway receives the ball in midfield.
She passes it out to Bronze on the right, who crosses it in with her first touch and Russo heads it down into the bottom left corner.
Poor defending from Norway with three surrounding defenders failing to challenge.
Credit: AFP
66. GOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLL ENGLAND!!!!
It’s seven!
Super-sub Russo is on the scoresheet!
64. England 6-0 Norway
Stanway attempts a shot from distance, but her effort flies wide.
61. England 6-0 Norway
Toone sends a lifted through ball to Mead, who makes a run towards the six-yard box.
But, the winger cannot get a touch on it.
60. England 6-0 Norway
Another substitution for Norway.
Maanum replaces Boe Risa.
58. England 6-0 Norway
Triple change for England.
Toone replaces Kirby.
Greenwood replaces Daly.
Russo replaces White.
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Nick Kyrgios and Ons Jabeur brought a fresh diversity to the men’s and women’s singles finals.WIMBLEDON, England — For the first time in nearly a half-century, a weekend at Wimbledon felt, and looked, different.Nick Kyrgios and Ons Jabeur brought a fresh diversity to the men’s and women’s singles finals. Jabeur, of Tunisia, became the first North African player to make it to a singles final. Kyrgios, an Australian with Malaysian roots and a well-documented swagger that marks him as something wholly different from his peers, was playing in his first Grand Slam final. Jabeur and Kyrgios each ended up losing, but that is beside the point.Not since 1975, when Arthur Ashe and Evonne Goolagong made it to their finals, had both championship matches combined to be as diverse. Tennis evolves in fits and starts, and nowhere does that feel more true than at Wimbledon.To look at the Centre Court crowd these past two weeks was to see how hard change is to pull off, especially when it comes to race.In the stands, an all-too-familiar homogeneity. Aside from a dappling of color here and there, a sea of whiteness. To me, a Black guy who played the game in the minor leagues and always hopes to see it move past its old ways — to see a lack of color always feels like a gut punch, particularly at Wimbledon in London.After Saturday’s women’s final, I stood beside a pillar near one of the Centre Court exits. Hundreds walked by. Then a few thousand. I counted roughly a dozen Black faces. This grand event plays out in one of the most diverse metropolises in the world, a hub for immigrants from across the globe. You wouldn’t know that by looking at the spectators. There were some Asian faces. A few Muslims in hijabs. The Sikh community is huge in London. I saw only one of the traditional Sikh turbans at the court.When I pulled a few of the Black fans aside and asked them if they felt aware of how rare they were in the crowd, the reply was always as swift as a Jabeur forehand volley or a Kyrgios serve. “How could I not?” said James Smith, a London resident. “I saw a guy in a section just above me. We smiled at each other. I don’t know the man, but there was a bond. We knew we were few and far between.”The fans see it.And the players, too.“I definitely notice,” said Coco Gauff, the American teen star, when we spoke last week. She said she is so focused when she plays that she barely notices the crowd. But afterward, when she looks at photographs of herself at Wimbledon, the images startle. “Not a lot of Black faces in the crowd.”Gauff compared Wimbledon with the U.S. Open, which has a more down-to-earth feel, like the world’s greatest public parks tournament, and a far more varied crowd.“It’s definitely weird here because London is supposed to be such a big melting pot,” Gauff added, pondering for a while, wondering why.Going to Wimbledon, like going to big-time sporting events across North America and far beyond, requires a massive commitment. Tried and traditional Wimbledon pushes that commitment to its limits. You can’t go online to buy tickets. There’s a lottery system for many of the seats. Some fans line up in a nearby park, camping overnight to attend. The cost isn’t exactly cheap.“They say it is open for all, but the ticket system is designed with so many hurdles that it’s almost as if it’s meant to exclude people of a certain persuasion,” said Densel Frith, a Black building contractor who lives in London.He told me he’d paid about 100 pounds for his ticket, about $120. That’s a lot of money for a guy who described himself as strictly blue collar. “Not coming back tomorrow,” he added. “Who can afford that? People from our community cannot afford that. No way. No way. No way.”There’s more to it than access and cost. Something deeper. The prestige and tradition of Wimbledon are its greatest assets, and an Achilles’ heel. The place feels wonderful — tennis in an English garden is not hyperbole — but also stuffy and stodgy and stuck on itself.“Think about what Wimbledon represents for so many of us,” said Lorraine Sebata, 38, who grew up in Zimbabwe and now lives in London.“To us it represents the system,” she added. “The colonial system. The hierarchy” that still sits at the foundation of English society. You look at the royal box, as white as the Victorian era all-white dress code at this tournament, and you cannot miss it.Sebata described herself as a passionate fan. She has loved tennis since the days of Pete Sampras, though she does not play. Her friend Dianah Kazazi, a social worker who came to England from Uganda and the Netherlands, has an equal passion for the game. As we spoke, they looked around — up and down a corridor just outside the majestic, ivy-lined Centre Court — and could not find anyone who appeared to have the African heritage they shared. They said they had many Black friends who enjoyed tennis but did not feel they could be a part of Wimbledon, situated in a luxurious suburb that feels exclusive and so far from the everyday.“There is an establishment and a history behind this tournament that keeps things status quo,” Kazazi said. “You have to step outside of the box as a fan to get around that.” She continued: “It is the history that appeals to us as fans, but that history says something to people who don’t feel comfortable to come.” For many people of color in England, tennis is simply not seen as “something for us.”I understood. I know exactly where these fans were coming from. I felt their dismay and bitterness and doubt about whether things would change. Honesty, it hurt.Maybe it helps to know what Wimbledon means to me.I get goose bumps whenever I enter the gates, off leafy, two-lane Church Road. On July 5, 1975, when Arthur Ashe defeated Jimmy Connors, becoming the first Black man to win the Wimbledon singles title and the only Black man to win a Grand Slam tournament title except Yannick Noah at the French Open in 1983, I was a 9-year-old whose sports love was the Seattle SuperSonics.Seeing Ashe with his graceful game and keen intelligence, his Afro and skin that looked like mine, persuaded me to make tennis my sport.Wimbledon didn’t alter the trajectory of my life, but it did change the direction.I became a nationally ranked junior and collegiate player. I spent a little over a year in the minor leagues of the professional game, reaching No. 448 on the ATP rankings list. Nonwhite players were nearly as rare in my time as in Arthur’s.Today, as we just witnessed this weekend, there is a budding new crop of talent. Serena and Venus Williams combine as their North Star. And yet there’s a lot of work to be done. Not only on the court, but in drawing fans to the game and getting them into the stands at a monument to tennis like Wimbledon. A whole lot of work that will take a whole lot of time. More
