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

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      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 đŸ€” 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

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      in Tennis

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

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      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

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      Djokovic vs. Kyrgios: How to Watch the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final

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      Djokovic, a six-time Wimbledon champion, plays Nick Kyrgios, who is appearing in his first Grand Slam singles final.Sunday, the final day of Wimbledon, features the men’s singles championship at 9 a.m. Eastern between Novak Djokovic, a six-time Wimbledon champion, and Nick Kyrgios, who is playing in his first Grand Slam singles final.Kyrgios earned a spot in the final with some ease, after Rafael Nadal pulled out of the tournament with an abdominal injury the day before their scheduled semifinal.How to watch: In the United States, on ESPN with the pre-match show beginning at 8 a.m. and streaming on ESPN.com and the ESPN app. In Canada, on TSN1 and TSN4, with the pre-match show beginning at 8 a.m. More

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      Elena Rybakina Wins Wimbledon and Her First Grand Slam Title

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      Rybakina, who was born and raised in Russia, started representing Kazakhstan after the Russian tennis federation gave up on her. She beat Ons Jabeur in three sets to win the women’s singles title.WIMBLEDON, England — There was no way anyone could have known four years ago, when the Russian-born-and-raised Elena Rybakina decided to play tennis for Kazakhstan that the move would pay off as fortuitously as it did in the summer of 2022.Rybakina beat Ons Jabeur to win the Wimbledon singles title Saturday, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, giving the native Russian the sport’s most prestigious championship a little more than two months after tournament organizers barred players representing Russia from participating.Rybakina, who began representing Kazakhstan four years ago after the former Soviet republic agreed to fund her career, overpowered Jabeur, who faltered and succumbed to inconsistency after taking an early lead.Rybakina, 23, was nervous and shaky early on, missing seemingly easy rally balls long and struggling to get her dangerous first serve into the court, but she settled down as the match stretched on. Once she found her rhythm, Jabeur had few answers. She had a chance to draw even in the third set as Rybakina fell behind 0-40 serving at 3-2, but Jabeur couldn’t finish the game and Rybakina cruised over the finish line from there.On the final point, Rybakina watched Jabeur, the No. 2-ranked player in the world, send one last backhand return wide and strutted to the net with barely a celebration. A few minutes later she climbed the stairs to her box to embrace her team.It was Rybakina’s first Grand Slam title and the first for a singles player representing Kazakhstan, which has recruited several men and women from Russia to represent it in tennis in the last 15 years, financing their development as part of an effort to make the country more appealing to the West.It was a match that was never going to lack for a story no matter who won.Jabeur, a 27-year-old from Tunisia, was the first Arab and the first African woman to reach the Wimbledon final, and the first Arab woman to make any Grand Slam final. She is Muslim and the match fell on, Eid al-Adha — the feast of the sacrifice. The holiday commemorates the story of Allah asking Abraham to sacrifice his son, as a sign of faith.There was a time when it seemed like every year an American would play for this championship on July 4. But the sport and its calendar have shifted. The Wimbledon final happens a week later, and American players, and those from every other country that dominated tennis for most of the last 100 years, face far more competition from places where the sport has only recently taken hold.“I feel really sad, but it’s tennis. There is only one winner,” Jabeur said while holding the runner-up trophy. “I’m trying to inspire many generations for my country.”The ease Jabeur showed early in the match disappeared in the second set.Alastair Grant/Associated PressRybakina told the Centre Court crowd that it had been an honor to play in front of the royal box. She also thanked Bulat Utemuratov, the billionaire who is the president of the Kazakhstan Tennis federation for believing in her.“I never felt anything like this,” she said, with Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, standing a few feet away. Prince William did not attend the match. Kate was accompanied onto the court by Ian Hewitt, the chairman of the All England Club, and the man in charge of explaining the decision to bar Russian and Belarusian players back in April.Rybakina, the 23rd-ranked player in the world, had never before this week advanced past the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam tournament. Tall and long and powerful with one of the most dangerous serves in the game, she was born in Russia and lived there until she became an adult. Her parents still live in Russia.After turning 18, she accepted an opportunity to receive funding for her tennis career from Kazakhstan. She represented Kazakhstan at the Olympics in Tokyo last year.Her run to the final made for an awkward tournament, bringing politics into the fray after tournament organizers had tried to keep them at bay by barring Russian and Belarusian player because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Organizers made the move at the behest of the British government and the royal family. The Duchess of Cambridge traditionally hands the trophy to the winner of Wimbledon. Few in Britain wanted to see her giving it to a Russian while Britain has been among the leaders in providing aid and weapons to Ukraine.Asked about her feelings on the war at her post-match news conference, Rybakina said her English was not good enough to understand the question, the only time during 30 minutes of questioning she made that claim.Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, left, giving the Venus Rosewater Dish trophy to Rybakina.Sebastien Bozon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesOn the court, Jabeur and Rybakina also promised one of the sport’s ultimate contrasts in styles. Jabeur’s name rarely is mentioned without “crafty” following it a few words later. Her game is filled with just about every kind of tennis shot there is.At any moment, she can cut the ball on an angle and with a spin that makes it knuckle as it clears the net and finds the unguarded area of the court or smack a forehand down the line. Tennis, for her, is a profession and a sport but also a game and a means to express her innate creativity.The question was whether Rybakina would give Jabeur the chance to hit her shots or whether the power of her serve and her slingshot strokes would hit Jabeur off the court.Early on, finesse prevailed over power. Jabeur drew first blood, forcing a nervy Rybakina to hit from deep in the court. Rybakina struggled with her forehand as Jabeur danced across the grass showing off the array of her arsenal. In the fourth game, she cut one of her signature slicing backhands past Rybakina, who had closed in at the net. A game later, she jumped on a second serve and sent a searing forehand that had Rybakina backpedaling.Jabeur is not a fist-pumper, but when she likes a winner she has just hit, especially one on the move, she jogs across the grass like a basketball player who has just sunk a three pointer. She did a lot of jogging in the first set, which she won when Rybakina sent a forehand into the middle of the net.“I was going to fight to the end,” Rybakina said after the match. Gerald Herbert/Associated PressJabeur rarely plays complete matches, though, even when she appears headed for a quick afternoon. Especially in pressure situations, there is often a wobble, sometimes a fatal one, and it arrived early in the second set on Saturday.Whether the idea of being a set away from becoming Wimbledon champion suddenly seemed too big only she knows. She focused on this tournament since January, even putting a picture of the Wimbledon winner’s trophy on the lock screen of her phone. But in an instant, the ease and steadiness that she had displayed in the first set disappeared.“I told myself, ‘Don’t lose the second set,’” Jabeur said after the match.She didn’t get the message.Rybakina broke Jabeur’s serve in the first game of the second set, and Jabeur never truly recovered. She tried to lighten the atmosphere, heading one errant ball to a ball boy at the end of a game and trying a between-the-legs shot while chasing a lob, but she grew more erratic as the set wore on.Rybakina, meanwhile, shook off her early jitters, telling herself something different from what Jabeur did.“I was going to fight to the end,” she said.She began to fire her first serve. Forehands that had sailed long at the beginning began diving into the corners and hitting the edges of the lines. She charged the net to close out points, running as she had never before in a match and sealed the set with an ace that Jabeur could only stare at.The third set brought more of the same, even as the crowd roared each time she began a service game, and when she got three chances to even the set midway through, desperately trying to lift her and keep the Duchess sitting in the front row of the royal box in the brightest yellow dress in all of Centre Court from her starring role in the oddest of post-match trophy ceremonies.“She was super nice,” Rybakina said of the Duchess.Nothing was going to stop Rybakina this year at Wimbledon: not Jabeur, not the crowd and not even an edict from the government to keep players from Russia from participating. More

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      For Sunday’s Wimbledon Final, ‘Fireworks’ and a Contrast in Style

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      Despite their previously contentious relationship, Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic have developed “a bit of a bromance,” Kyrgios said. They meet for the Wimbledon men’s singles title on Sunday.WIMBLEDON, England — With the Wimbledon title at stake, it will be the maximizer versus the man who seemingly makes it up as he goes along.Both Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios were identified early as players of surpassing talent and great potential. But while Djokovic, long the No. 1 player in the world, has turned over stones and sifted through the gravel in his restless quest for enduring excellence, Kyrgios has struggled to find the motivation, equanimity and clarity of purpose to challenge for the game’s biggest prizes.But on Sunday, they will share, however briefly, the same objective as they clash — the verb seems just right — on the grass of the All England Club.“Well, one thing is for sure, there are going to be a lot of fireworks emotionally from both guys,” Djokovic said on Friday.This final, the capstone to one of the weirdest of Wimbledons, will be a contrast in styles.Kyrgios, with his huge and hard-to-read serve, can undoubtedly bring the heat. Djokovic, the premier returner in the game, is an expert at extinguishing such flames.Kyrgios can make any shot look spectacular, turning routine strokes into between-the-legs performance art. Djokovic has long been underappreciated because he can make an excruciatingly difficult shot look routine and smooth.But the starker contrast is in their rĂ©sumĂ©s. This will be Djokovic’s 32nd appearance in a Grand Slam singles final, breaking his tie for the men’s record with his longtime rival Roger Federer.It will be Kyrgios’s first, which he said was a big reason he had a nearly sleepless night on Thursday after Rafael Nadal, his would-be opponent, withdrew from the tournament with an abdominal tear. That allowed Kyrgios to skip the semifinal phase altogether on a journey to uncharted territory for him.Kyrgios beat Djokovic in their two previous matches.Ryan Pierse/Getty Images“I was just restless, so many thoughts in my head about a Wimbledon final; that’s all I was thinking about,” Kyrgios said, estimating that he got just one hour of sleep. “That’s where Djokovic has the advantage from the get-go. He can draw from experience. He’s done it so many more times. He knows the emotions he’s going to be feeling. I don’t know that. I don’t know anything like that.”Kyrgios does know what it is like to defeat Djokovic, however. They faced off twice in 2017 in back-to-back tournaments on hard courts, and Kyrgios, serve and big game clicking, won both matches without dropping a set: He prevailed, 7-6 (9), 7-5, in the quarterfinals in Acapulco, Mexico, and won, 6-4, 7-6 (3), in the round of 16 in Indian Wells, Calif.Djokovic was in a slump at that time, falling back because of an elbow injury and personal problems after a long period of dominance. Kyrgios was just 21 and seemingly on an upward trajectory.But the past five years have been full of surprises, and while Djokovic, 35, recovered his mojo and resumed piling up major titles before his vaccination standoff in Melbourne, Kyrgios continued to bedevil his elders on court, including chair umpires. Yet he has failed to get past even the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam singles draw until now.He has faced, by his own account, mental health challenges, including self-harm, suicidal thoughts and abuse of alcohol and drugs. But his upside was never in doubt for the champions who had faced him.“I think, between us players, we always know how dangerous he is, on grass particularly, because of his game, because of his attitude on the court being so confident, just going for it, being a very complete player,” Djokovic said.Djokovic joked that he would start by trying to win a set, and said that he was well aware that this final, despite the yawning gap in achievement, had the potential to be something spectacular.“Honestly, as a tennis fan, I’m glad that he’s in the finals, because he’s got so much talent,” Djokovic said. “Everyone was praising him when he came on the tour, expecting great things from him. Of course, then we know what was happening throughout many years with him mentally, emotionally. On and off the court, a lot of different things were distracting him, and he was not being able to get this consistency.”Djokovic then finished the thought on a welcoming note.“For the quality player that he is, this is where he needs to be and he deserves to be,” he said.The Djokovic-Kyrgios relationship was once publicly tense, but it sounded more like a mutual-admiration society on Friday, and Djokovic made it clear that he appreciated that Kyrgios, an Australian, offered him support in January when he was deported from Australia before the Australian Open. He had arrived in Melbourne convinced that he would be given a waiver to enter because he had recently recovered from the coronavirus — even though he hadn’t been vaccinated.“We definitely have a bit of a bromance now, which is weird,” Kyrgios said. “I think everyone knows there was no love lost for a while there.”Though Djokovic was not quite prepared to second the bromance, Kyrgios said they had begun exchanging Instagram direct messages. “Earlier in the week, he was like, ‘Hopefully, I’ll see you Sunday,’” Kyrgios said.So it has turned out, but win or lose, Kyrgios’s ranking will not reflect the breakthrough. Kyrgios arrived at Wimbledon ranked 40th in the world, and his ranking will actually drop next week because of the ATP Tour’s decision to strip Wimbledon of ranking points this year in response to the tournament’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.On Monday, the points from last year’s Wimbledon will also fall off players’ rankings, dropping Kyrgios to about 45. Djokovic, who has won 27 straight matches at Wimbledon and is on the verge of a fourth straight title here, will also drop back: from No. 3 to No. 7.It is unprecedented and, frankly, unjust. Though the men’s and women’s tours made their move to mark their territory and try to discourage future bans over political issues, the point stripping has clearly been more of a short-term hit to the players than to Wimbledon, which has been bustling with full crowds after a lighter-than-usual first few days and has continued to generate global buzz. (Kyrgios vs. Djokovic won’t hurt there.)But it also has been a Wimbledon full of odd twists and big letdowns, with three leading men’s players, including Matteo Berrettini, withdrawing after testing positive for the coronavirus, and with Nadal unable to play his semifinal against Kyrgios and continue his quest for the calendar-year Grand Slam. One of the twists: Elena Rybakina, born and raised in Russia and often still training there, is in the women’s final and now representing Kazakhstan. Even the British government was unable to finish the tournament, with British ministers resigning en masse before Prime Minister Boris Johnson took the hint.Djokovic did have to play his semifinal, however, and the suspense did not last much more than a set and a half on Friday before he found his flow against Cameron Norrie of Britain and accelerated to the finish with a victory, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.It was, as it so often is with Djokovic involved, two against one: Norrie and a partisan Centre Court crowd versus Djokovic.It was loud, often thunderously loud, in the early stages as Norrie took the lead, but it is much less clear which way the crowd will blow on Sunday. Kyrgios’s often-confrontational approach and foul-mouthed dialogues (and monologues) run counter to the codes that are typically embraced at the All England Club, whose crowd trends older, particularly on Centre Court.Kyrgios, who leads the tournament in fines, is also facing legal trouble, having been summoned to appear in court in Australia on Aug. 2 in relation to an assault allegation from his former girlfriend. He has declined to address the allegations at Wimbledon, and on Friday, when his name was mentioned in Djokovic’s on-court interview, there was a brief flurry of cheers followed by a much louder round of boos.“I believe that the crowd are going to support Novak in the final,” said Mark Petchey, a British coach, television analyst and former player. “It will be interesting to see how that affects Novak, who is so used to being the underdog.”Sunday’s duel will be interesting indeed and just maybe transcendent. Kyrgios, after three full days of waiting, could either rise to the most significant opportunity of his career or fall flat after too many restless nights of anticipation.“It’s definitely a shock to the system because I’ve been playing so many matches,” he said of his unexpected break.But it certainly appears that Kyrgios has a game and a temperament made for the sport’s biggest occasions. We already know that Djokovic does. More

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      Despite a Wimbledon Ban on Russian Players, a Russian Woman Might Win

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      Elena Rybakina was born and raised in Russia but started representing Kazakhstan after the Russian Tennis Federation gave up on her. Does she see herself as Russian? “It’s a tough question.”WIMBLEDON, England — After all the debate over whether to bar Russian and Belarusian players from Wimbledon, and under pressure from the British government, the women’s singles title may be won on Saturday by a player born in Russia after all.Elena Rybakina is the 23rd-ranked player in the world, and before this week she had never advanced past the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam tournament. She is tall (6 feet) and powerful, an imposing presence on the tennis court. She has long appeared to lack the consistency required to win the six consecutive matches needed to contend for one of the most important titles, and in her late teens, her national tennis federation told her she was going to have to make it on her own.That tennis federation was Russia’s. Rybakina was born in Russia and spent her first 18 years there. Her parents still live in Russia.But four years ago, with Russia not willing to invest in her career, Rybakina did what several other Russian players before her had done. She cut a deal with Kazakhstan.“It’s already a long journey for me,” Rybakina, 23, said during one of her increasingly tense news conferences this week, when she was asked if she viewed herself as Russian or Kazakhstani. “I got so much help and support.”Rybakina’s journey to Saturday’s women’s final against Ons Jabeur of Tunisia has brought politics and questions of what it means to represent a country to a tournament that would prefer to avoid them. It has also highlighted what many in sports have long viewed as the fruitlessness of punishing athletes for the behavior of their governments.“Exclusion is fraught with issues, not least as far as from a certain legal base, never mind the precedent it sets,” said Michael Payne, the former director of marketing and broadcasting for the International Olympic Committee, which has long favored participation over politics.Kazakhstan’s citizens have typically preferred sports that involve hand-to-hand combat — wrestling, kickboxing, taekwondo, judo and karate. But 15 years ago, Bulat Utemuratov, a Kazakhstani billionaire, partnered with his government to finance an effort to make tennis a mass sport, in part to improve the remote former Soviet republic’s standing in the western world.Elena Rybakina will face Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in the Wimbledon final on Saturday.Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated PressThat has included offering talented young Russian players citizenship and funding if they agreed to represent Kazakhstan when they play. Qatar has done the same thing for athletes in track and field and soccer. Russia has done it, too, collecting gold medals at the Olympics won by the South Korean-born speedskater Viktor Ahn.Russians’ playing for Kazakhstan has long been one of those accepted details of the sport, like the worn-out, brown grass around the baseline in the second week of Wimbledon. And no one thought much of it when the tournament’s organizer’s barred Russian players in April.Britain, which has provided weapons and money to Ukraine and condemned the invasion, did not want to give Russia the opportunity to claim one of its most treasured trophies right now, which might give President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a propaganda opportunity, or to have a member of the royal family celebrating Russians during an awards ceremony.“The U.K. government has set out directional guidance for sporting bodies and events in the U.K., with the specific aim of limiting Russia’s influence,” Ian Hewitt, the chairman of the All England Club, said in explaining the move. “We have taken that directional guidance into account, as we must as a high-profile event and leading British institution.”He said the combination of the scale and severity of Russia’s invasion of a sovereign state, the condemnation by more than 140 nations through the United Nations and the “specific and directive guidance to address matters” made this a “very, very exceptional situation.”Players from Ukraine applauded the move. Lesia Tsurenko said last week she has been far more comfortable playing a tournament without worrying about bumping into Russian players who she said have not reached out to express empathy for her or her country.No one asked about the Russian-born players who represent Kazakhstan, until this week, when everyone began asking Rybakina about it.Does she still feel Russian?“It’s a tough question,” she said.Has she communicated with any of the barred Russian players? She has not checked her phone much, she said.Where does she live?“I think I’m based on tour because I’m traveling every week,” she said. “I think most of the time, I spend on tour. I practice in Slovakia between the tournaments. I had camps in Dubai. So I don’t live anywhere.”Perhaps, but everyone is from somewhere. Rybakina is from Russia — and also, for now, in some way from Kazakhstan. More

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      Ons Jabeur, an Entertainer Who May Soon Be a Wimbledon Champion

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      Jabeur, the first Arab or African woman to reach a Grand Slam singles final in the Open era, will face Elena Rybakina in Saturday’s women’s final.WIMBLEDON, England — In Tunisia, her home nation and inspiration, Ons Jabeur has acquired the nickname “The Minister of Happiness.”Though there have been plenty of dark and down times along her rare and winding path to Saturday’s Wimbledon singles final, she was spreading the joy around the All England Club on Thursday.Up on Henman Hill, the Guizanis, a Tunisian family living in London, cheered from their picnic blanket on the sloping lawn as Jabeur defeated Tatjana Maria of Germany, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, to become the first Arab or African woman to reach a Grand Slam singles final in the Open era, which began in 1968.“It’s very important for women to be successful, to play sports,” said Ibtissem Guizani, who was attending Wimbledon for the first time with her husband Zouhaeir and their 4-year-old son, and was dressed in red in honor of Jabeur and Tunisia.“We see ourselves in Ons,” she continued. “And she makes us proud of her and proud of us.”The Guizani family after watching the match. “We see ourselves in Ons,” Ibtissem Guizani said. “And she makes us proud of her and proud of us.”Christopher Clarey/The New York TimesThe second-ranked Jabeur and the 103rd-ranked Maria had used the whole grand canvas in their semifinal match on Centre Court: They ventured frequently into the lush, underutilized grass in the forecourt as they chopped approach shots and rushed the net; pounded overheads; or caressed deft drop volleys.It was old school but hardly passĂ©, and the crowd responded with roars and murmurs, not only because of their element of surprise and novelty, but because of their panache.Jabeur, in particular, relishes exploring the range of shotmaking possibilities in a manner reminiscent of Roger Federer, to whom she has been compared since she was 12 years old. Like Federer, Jabeur does not simply play the ball. She plays with it and not only with her strings. Let a tennis ball land near her feet, and her soccer juggling skills quickly become apparent, too.She is an entertainer who may soon be a Grand Slam tournament champion if she can get past Elena Rybakina in Saturday’s final, but she was not so wrapped up in her win on Thursday to forget about Maria, her good friend.Moments after Jabeur’s victory, she insisted on sharing the spotlight instead of taking the normal tack and saluting the crowd on her own. She clasped Maria by the wrist and pulled her back onto the court despite her protestations and pointed appreciatively in her direction to acknowledge Maria’s own unexpected journey to this semifinal as an unseeded 34-year-old mother of two young children.“She’s such an inspiration for so many people, including me, coming back after having two babies,” Jabeur said. “I still can’t believe how she did it.”Jabeur, right, with Tatjana Maria, her opponent and good friend.Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesJabeur, 27, has worked hard on believing in herself. She came from a country and region that had produced some professional women’s players — including Selima Sfar, a Tunisian who reached a top ranking of 75 in 2001 — but had never produced a talent capable of challenging for the biggest prizes.Jabeur has worked with sports psychologists since her teens and has developed a particularly fruitful connection in recent years with Melanie Maillard, a Frenchwoman introduced to her by Sfar, who has worked with French tennis players and other athletes for more than 20 years.“I’m very lucky that I found the right person that could push me through and know me much better,” Jabeur said. “It’s all about the connection. We did a great job, and we’ve come a long way.”Maillard was not at this year’s French Open, where Jabeur, one of the favorites, was upset in the first round. But Jabeur has long planned on having Maillard back with her at Wimbledon. She was with Jabeur last year when she reached the quarterfinals, finally fell in love with grass-court tennis and told Maillard, “I’m coming back for the title.”Now, she is just one match away.“It’s rare that someone dares to say it and dares to accept it,” Maillard said on Thursday at Wimbledon. “Ons was once a shy young woman. She matured through effort and by questioning herself and searching constantly for better approaches and solutions. She is very open in spirit and has a family who support her a lot. She has a husband who accepted to leave everything behind for her, to follow her everywhere, and that’s powerful, too.”Jabeur, born in the coastal town of Ksar Hellal in Tunisia, grew up in a family of four children playing on courts at local hotels and a local club. Though her all-around athletic talent had coaches in other sports like soccer and team handball trying to lure her away, she stuck with tennis and left to train and study at a sports school in Tunis, the capital, at age 13.Jabeur, with her quick wit, was a fan in her youth of Andy Roddick and used to pretend as she trained that she was Kim Clijsters or Serena or Venus Williams.She won the French Open junior title at 16 and has spent time training in Belgium and France but has long been back in Tunisia, where she lives with her husband, Karim Kamoun, who is also her fitness trainer. She remains deeply connected to the country.“Now tennis is like soccer in Tunisia, people are following my matches,” Jabeur said in a recent interview. “And that I appreciate so much, and I appreciate that tennis is becoming more popular. What has always been missing is the thing that we have to believe more we can do it, no matter where you come from.”Her lifelong attachment to Tunisia is quite a contrast with Rybakina, her surprise opponent in Saturday’s final. Rybakina, born in Moscow and long considered a promising Russian junior, began representing Kazakhstan four years ago while continuing to train regularly in Moscow.A vast former Soviet republic, Kazakhstan has recruited several top-flight Russian players since gaining independence and provided talents like Rybakina with the major funding and support they were often lacking.Though Wimbledon has barred Russian and Belarusian players from this year’s tournament because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the ban does not apply to Rybakina, a 23-year-old who became Kazakhstan’s first Grand Slam singles finalist on Thursday by overwhelming the 2019 Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, 6-3, 6-3.“I’m playing already for Kazakhstan for a long time,” Rybakina said, pointing out that she has represented the country at the Olympics and in the Billie Jean King Cup team competition.“I’m really happy representing Kazakhstan,” she said. “They believed in me. There is no more question about how I feel.”Asked if she still felt Russian in her heart, Rybakina responded, “What does it mean for you to feel? I mean, I’m playing tennis, so for me, I’m enjoying my time here. I feel for the players who couldn’t come here, but I’m just enjoying playing here on the biggest stage, enjoying my time and doing my best.”With her huge serve, long reach and penetrating baseline power, the 17th-seeded Rybakina could be a formidable obstacle for Jabeur. This will be the first Wimbledon women’s final in the Open era between two players without a Grand Slam singles title, and neither Rybakina nor Jabeur had been past the quarterfinals at a major in singles until now.Saturday’s final comes on the same day as much of the Muslim world, including Tunisia, begins celebrating the holiday of Eid al-Adha.“If I make it on that special holiday, one of my favorite actually, it’s going to be great,” Jabeur said.The Guizanis, part of her growing Tunisian fan club, plan to be back on Henman Hill on Saturday.“We’re going to celebrate with Ons, inshallah,” Ibtessem Guizani said. More

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      Rafael Nadal Withdraws From Wimbledon Ahead of Semifinal Match

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      The 22-time Grand Slam champion tore a muscle in his abdomen earlier in the tournament. “I am very sad.”WIMBLEDON, England — In the end, after a day of contemplation and consideration for what mattered most, health prevailed over the temptations of yet another title.On Thursday evening, 24 hours after one of the gutsiest and most grueling efforts of his career, Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, pulled out of his semifinal match against Nick Kyrgios set for Friday.“I believe I can’t win two matches under these circumstances,” he said. “I can’t serve.”Nadal made the announcement at a news conference just after 2 p.m. Eastern in the main media conference room at the All England Club, explaining that he was withdrawing because of a tear in his abdominal muscle.“I was thinking the whole day about the decision,” he said. “I think it doesn’t make sense to go.”“I am very sad,” he said.Nadal, who entered the tournament halfway to a Grand Slam and with concerns about his chronically injured foot, said he began to feel soreness in his abdomen roughly one week ago. The pain grew worse, and it became clear that he had most likely torn the muscle early in his five-set win over Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals Wednesday.In that match, Nadal took a medical timeout in the second set. From the stands, his father and other members of his family motioned for him to stop playing rather than risk further injury, but Nadal ignored their pleas and pulled off one of the more remarkable comeback wins of a career that has seen many of them.After the match, Nadal warned that he might not be able to play in the semifinal and that he planned to have a scan to determine the extent of the injury.“The decision at the end — all the decisions — are the player’s decision, but at the same time I need to know different opinions and I need to check everything the proper way, no? That is even something more important than win Wimbledon, that is the health,” he said. Still, few thought that Nadal, who has played through pain for so much of his career, would not at least try to play the semifinal.The withdrawal — the first from a Wimbledon semifinal in the modern era of tennis — was especially disappointing because Nadal’s game had been improving with each match, something he noted Thursday and after his win over Fritz, despite this being his first tournament on grass in three years.“I’m in the semifinals, so I am playing very well the last couple of days, especially yesterday, at the beginning of the match, playing at a very, very high level,” he said.With Nadal’s withdrawal, Kyrgios receives a pass to his first Grand Slam singles final. Kyrgios, 27, had never made a Grand Slam singles semifinal previously during a career filled with controversy.“Different players, different personalities,” Kyrgios wrote of Nadal in a post on Instagram after the announcement. “@rafaelnadal I hope your recovery goes well and we all hope to see you healthy soon đŸ—ŁđŸ™đŸœ till next time.”Nadal had won the first two Grand Slams events of the year, the Australian Open and the French Open. The win against Fritz put him just nine wins away from a calendar-year Grand Slam, something no male player has pulled off since Rod Laver in 1969.The withdrawal is the latest blow for a tournament that has followed a rocky road since April, when organizers announced that they would bar Russian and Belarusian players from competing because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Organizers made the move amid intense pressure from Britain’s government and royal family, which is closely associated with the tournament and did not want Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, photographed carrying out her traditional duty of presenting a trophy to a Russian or Belarusian champion.No tournaments outside of Britain, including the U.S. Open, followed Wimbledon’s lead. The decision also sparked a battle with the men’s and women’s professional tours, which decided not to award any rankings points for victories at Wimbledon, turning the sport’s most prestigious tournament into something of an exhibition.The situation grew even more awkward Thursday when Elena Rybakina, who was born and raised in Russia but began representing Kazakhstan four years ago after its tennis federation offered to fund her development, qualified for the women’s final.Thursday evening, though, all else seemed to pale in comparison with the disappointment that Nadal wouldn’t be able to take the court for his showdown with Kyrgios, and if he had prevailed, a possible 60th match against Novak Djokovic.Nadal said the injury had caused discomfort for several days but the pain became severe in the fifth game of the match while he was leading 3-1. It got even worse a few games later as Fritz broke Nadal’s serve to pull ahead.Nadal said he then changed the way he served, slowing and shifting what is normally a violent twisting motion — the torque of his torso and the power of his legs — to serve at roughly 120 miles per hour. During lengthy segments of the match, Nadal struggled to serve at triple digits.Still, he resisted his family’s pleas for him to quit, wanting to finish what he started. He defended that decision Thursday even though it ultimately deprived the tournament of one of its semifinals.He called it the right decision “because I won the match. I finished the match. I won the match. I did the things I felt in every single moment.”Nadal with tape on his stomach after a medical timeout during his match against Taylor Fritz.Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated PressHowever, his willingness to risk his health shifted Thursday, he said, when he saw and felt the extent of the tear. He reasoned that winning two more matches would be impossible and that trying would only make the injury worse and cause him to miss more matches this summer.“Very tough circumstances,” he said tightening his lips with that slight tilt of his head he so often does when conveying unfortunate news.He said he would not be able to compete for at least three or four weeks but he would be able to begin hitting from the baseline in as little as a week, then begin serving once he can do so without discomfort. That is important to Nadal, since his chronically injured foot often becomes a problem when he does not play for long periods. He can begin serving sometime after that, assuming he can play without pain.That timetable, he said, will not interfere with his normal summer schedule, which generally includes hardcourt tournaments in Canada and Cincinnati before the start of the U.S. Open in late August.As of now, Djokovic will not be able to play the U.S. Open because of his refusal to get vaccinated for Covid-19. U.S. policy currently prohibits unvaccinated foreigners from entering the country.In recent years, Djokovic has become obsessed with finishing his career with the most Grand Slam singles titles. He began the year tied with Nadal and Roger Federer at 20.Nadal then won the first two Grand Slams of the year to pull ahead in a race that he said he cared little about, something that was slightly hard to fathom given how competitive he is on the court.“As always, the most important thing is happiness more than any title, even if everybody knows how much effort I put to be here,” he said.He also said Thursday evening that he never gave consideration to the withdrawal ending his chance for the calendar year Grand Slam, a quest that Djokovic also has obsessed about and came within one match of pulling off last year when Nadal missed the second half of the year because of his ailing foot.“Never thought about the calendar slam,” he said. “I thought about my daily happiness.” More