Jon Rahm, Wyndham Clark, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods were among the stars packing their golf bags and leaving the famed Kentucky course after a testing second round on Friday
sports3 hours ago
Dubai — Defending champion Venus Williams saw her 16-match winning streak at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium snapped by Czech Lucie Safarova as the three-time Dubai victor suffered a straight-sets defeat here on Centre Court. Williams, who last lost in the emirate a decade ago against Italy’s Silvia Farina Elia 7-5, 7-6 (6), was broken in her first and last service games of an opening set that Safarova went on to claim 6-4.
Things didn’t subsequently improve for the 34-year-old either, with her Czech opponent breaking twice more in the second set for a 5-1 and Williams had thus reached the point of no return; Safarova sealing a 6-4, 6-2 win to go through to a quarter-final tie against fellow countrywoman Karolina Pliskova.
“She played awesomely,” Williams admitted afterwards. “There were a couple of games there where I couldn’t get my racquet on the ball. What can I say to that? I just needed to hang in there with the rallies and find a way to win. I had a couple of chances where I had openings, but today was one of those days where — if you missed one or two chances — then the match was done. Some days are like that.
“I don’t think I played badly, but I couldn’t afford to make any errors today (Wednesday); the errors that I made were really costly, so credit to her. She played really well. Every time she comes out against me, she’s just relaxed and simply swings. I wish her the best of luck for the rest of the tournament.”
Safarova’s style of play — with her lefty serve and fast and flat groundstrokes — can soften prove problematic for right-handers, especially with someone of Williams’ height and stature. Mixing up her service seemingly did the trick this time, with Williams struggling to find a remedy to the various different trajectories that came her way.
“I play really fast and I have a good game to give her trouble,” Safarova explained. “My lefty serve into her body and then mixing it up with really flat and fast serves seems to give her a little trouble. I put the pressure on right away from the first point. I was just trying my best to get the win. I felt really good on the court; I was firing the ball and serving really well. I’m happy with my performance.” On her forthcoming encounter with Fed Cup team-mate Pliskova, Safarova added: “We just played recently in Antwerp (where Pliskova prevailed 7-6 (5), 6-3).
“It’s never nice to play a friend and team-mate from the Czech Republic, but it is what it is. It’s a match, a new challenge for me and I will try to win.”
Jon Rahm, Wyndham Clark, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods were among the stars packing their golf bags and leaving the famed Kentucky course after a testing second round on Friday
sports3 hours ago
The breach occurred during one of the busiest travel periods for the airport in southern Germany
aviation3 hours ago
Top players can compartmentalize their lives, shut out all other outside distractions and can just focus on their game, says renowned golf coach Peter Cowen
sports3 hours ago
Here's a nudge to all the recruiters out there: Do not ghost job hunters, close the loop
jobs5 hours ago
Most residents can expect a fair to partly cloudy weather
uae6 hours ago
Called 'SafeSeat', the product will likely be launched by year-end
uae6 hours ago
In a short, heartfelt video, Dr Welch expressed his deep affection for the UAE, particularly Abu Dhabi
uae7 hours ago
The maverick West Indies' wicketkeeper-batsman hit eight sixes in his 29-ball 75 to set-up a comfortable win over the pre-tournament favourites
sports13 hours ago