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      When and Where to Watch Serena Williams Play Before She Retires

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      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

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      in Soccer

      West Ham announce Gianluca Scamacca with silhouette of new signing… and fans think it all looks like same sportsman

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      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.”
      .css-16e4f55{margin:16px 0;}.css-1546w7m{background-color:rgba(237,245,242,1);margin:16px 0;}.css-1tapza8{padding:20px 15px;}.css-1bk4jdt{padding:20px 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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

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      in Tennis

      With Tennis Style, It’s Hard to Ace the Classics

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      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

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      in Soccer

      Lionel Messi and Rafa Nadal’s homes on criminal gang’s hitlist after police find chilling note at suspect’s house

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      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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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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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;}BITTER PILL .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;}The medicines which are BANNED in some holiday hotspots & could see you jailed
      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

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      in Soccer

      England 8-0 Norway LIVE RESULT: Beth Mead bags HAT-TRICK as Lionesses destroy fancied Norwegian side in Euro 2022

      by

      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.
      Load more entries… More

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      in Tennis

      Wimbledon Needs More Arthur Ashe Moments, On and Off the Court

      by

      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

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      in Soccer

      Jack Grealish fumes at England pal Bukayo Saka for not inviting him to Wimbledon.. despite being on holiday in Greece

      by

      JACK GREALISH has jokingly quizzed England team-mate Bukayo Saka on where his invite to Wimbledon was.Arsenal ace Saka, 20, was at SW19 for Novak Djokovic’s semi-final against Brit Cameron Norrie.
      Saka was at Wimbledon watching DjokovicCredit: Instagram / BukayoSaka87
      Grealish felt left out but Saka reminded the City ace of his love for holidaying in GreeceCredit: Instagram / jackgrealish
      Saka looked smart in black, with a nice watch and shades.
      But Grealish, who is currently holidaying in Greece with his girlfriend Sasha Attwood, felt left out.
      The Manchester City ace responded to Saka’s Instagram post, saying: “No invite?”
      Saka quipped: “The final’s tomorrow 🤔 or you prefer to stay in Greece?”
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      Djokovic is taking on tennis bad boy Nick Kyrgios in the final on Main Court.
      Grealish’s love for Greece is no secret.
      The 26-year-old says he has “fallen in love” with the country as he finishes his holiday in Athens before returning to England for pre-season.
      City will travel to the US this month to play some friendlies.
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      The Sky Blues will first face Mexican side Club America in Houston in the early hours of Thursday, July 21, before meeting Bayern Munich in Green Bay on Sunday, July 24.
      City will also play rivals Liverpool at the end of the July to contest the Community Shield. More

    • 150 Shares199 Views

      in Tennis

      Tennis Is Done With Covid-19, but the Virus Isn’t Done With Tennis

      by

      With testing, quarantine and isolation requirements all but gone, tennis finally seems to have entered a stage of pandemic apathy, much like a lot of society.WIMBLEDON, England — With the final match looming, this year’s edition of Wimbledon has already proven many points.Rafael Nadal can play top-level tennis with a zombie foot and a tear in an abdominal muscle, but only for so long. Iga Swiatek is beatable, at least on grass. With the Moscow-born, Kazakhstan-representing Elena Rybakina making the women’s singles final, barring Russian players does not necessarily make a competition free of Russian players.But perhaps most surprisingly, after 27 months of tournament cancellations, spectator-free events, constant testing and bubblelike environments, tennis may have finally moved past Covid-19.For nearly two years, longer than just about every other major sport, tennis struggled to coexist with the pandemic.Last November, when the N.F.L. the N.B.A., the Premier League and most other sports organizations had resumed a life that largely resembled 2019, tennis players were still living with restrictions on their movements, conducting online video news conferences, and having cotton swabs stuck up their noses at tournaments.A month later Novak Djokovic, then the No. 1 men’s singles player, contracted a second case of Covid just in time to secure, he thought, special entry into Australia to play the Australian Open, even though he was unvaccinated against Covid-19 and the country was still largely restricted to people who had been vaccinated. Australian officials ended up deporting him because they said he might encourage other people not to get vaccinated, a drama that dominated the run-up to the tournament and its first days.The episode crystallized how tennis, with its kinetic international schedule, had been subjected to the will and whims of local governments, with rules and restrictions shifting sometimes weekly. The frequent travel and communal locker rooms made the players something like sitting ducks, always one nasal swab away from being locked in a hotel room for 10 days, sometimes far from home, regardless of how careful they might have been.Tennis, unlike other sports that surged ahead of health and medical guidelines to keep their coffers filled, has had to reflect where society at large has been at every stage of the pandemic. Its major organizers canceled or postponed everything in the spring and early summer of 2020, though Djokovic held an exhibition tournament that ended up being something of a superspreader event.The 2020 U.S. Open took place on schedule in late summer without spectators. To be at the usually bustling Billie Jean King National Tennis Center those weeks in New York was something like being on the surface of the moon. A rescheduled French Open followed in the chill of a Paris fall with just a few hundred fans allowed. Australia largely subjected players to a 14-day quarantine before they could take part in the 2021 Australian Open.As vaccinations proliferated later in the year, crowds returned but players usually had to live in bubbles, unable to move about the cities they inhabited until the summer events in the U.S. But as the delta variant spread, the bubbles returned. Then came Australia and Djokovic’s vaccine confrontation, just as disputes over mandates were heating up elsewhere.In recent months though, as public attitudes toward the pandemic shifted, mask mandates were lifted and travel restrictions were eased, even tennis has seemingly moved on, even if the virus has not done the same.Matteo Berrettini wearing a mask after his quarterfinals match at Wimbledon in 2021.Alberto Pezzali/Associated PressThere was no mandatory testing for Wimbledon or the French Open. People are confused about what they must do if they get the sniffles or a sore throat, and tennis players are no different. Many players said they were not sure exactly what the rules were from tournament to tournament for those who started not to feel well. While two widely known players, Matteo Berrettini and Marin Cilic, withdrew after testing positive, without a requirement to take a test, they, and any other player, could have opted not to take a test and played through whatever symptoms they were experiencing.“So many rules,” Rafael Nadal said. “For some people some rules are fine; for the others rules are not fine. If there are some rules, we need to follow the rules. If not, the world is a mess.”After nearly two years of bubble life though, hard-edge complaints about a don’t-ask-don’t-tell approach and safety mandates were virtually nonexistent.Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia, whose country had some of the strictest pandemic-related policies, said she remained cautious, especially at the bigger events, but she had reached the point where she needed to find a balance between safety and sanity.“I just try to take care of myself as much as I can where I’m still not completely isolating myself, where it’s not fun to live,” said Tomljanovic, who lost to Rybakina in the quarterfinals.Paula Badosa, the Spanish star, said she has stopped worrying about the virus.“I had all type of Covids possible,” said Badosa, who first tested positive in Australia in January 2021 and has had it twice more. “I had vaccination, as well. So in my case, if I have it again, it will be very bad luck.”Officials with the men’s and women’s tours said regardless of infection levels, their organizations had no intention of resuming regular testing or restricting player movements. They said they will follow the lead of local officials.With testing, quarantine and isolation requirements having all but disappeared, or merely existing as recommendations, tennis finally seems to have entered stage of pandemic apathy, much like a lot of society, Omicron and its subvariants be damned.There is, of course, one major exception to all of this, and that is Djokovic, whose refusal to be vaccinated — unique among the top 100 players on the men’s tour — will seemingly prevent him from playing in the U.S. Open.U.S. rules require all foreigners entering the country to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Djokovic has said he believes that individuals should be allowed to choose whether to do so without pressure from governments.Also, because he was deported from Australia, Djokovic would need a special exemption to return to the country to compete in the Australian Open in January. He has won the men’s singles title there a record nine times.Unless the rules change, he may not play in another Grand Slam tournament until the French Open next May, something he said he was well aware of but would not shift his thinking about whether to take the vaccine.In other words, Covid really isn’t done playing games with tennis. More