Seasonal; Team; Individual; Extreme; Gear;

For the first time in history, Stefanos Tsitsipas will hold a top-three ranking. By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday August 6, 2021

For the first time since 2017, Rafael Nadal will drop out of the ATP’s Top-3. The Spaniard, who lost in the round of 16 at the Citi Open on Thursday evening, will be surpassed by Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monday’s ATP rankings, the Greek star becoming the 13th active player to reach the top three.

Tsitsipas, the first Greek ever to reach this high in the rankings, will join a list of active player that have claimed a Top-3 ranking, which includes Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, Stan Wawrinka, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem, Milos Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev

Tsitsipas made hit Top-5 debut on March 8, 2021, then hit No.4 after his run to the Roland-Garros final, on June 14.

🇬🇷 Stefanos Tsitsipas at 22y 362d will join for the 1st time the Top 3 on @atptour rankings

🇺🇸 Andre Agassi was the youngest to do it at 18y 192d pic.twitter.com/79eSn1ZwPV

— TennisMyLife (@TennisMyLife68) August 6, 2021

Nadal was last ranked No.4 on May 29, 2017.

Rising American Coco Gauff hopes to bounce back this summer after missing the Tokyo Olympics due to COVID-19.
By Erik Gudris | Thursday, August 5, 2021

Rising American Coco Gauff hopes to bounce back this summer after missing the Tokyo Olympics due to COVID-19.

The 17-year-old Gauff is in Washington DC this week for the Citi Open Women's Invitational, an exhibition series of three round-robin matches. It's the first appearance for Gauff since reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon. Gauff was set to compete in Olympic tennis for the United States. But before she could get vaccinated, she tested positive for COVID and had to withdraw.

More: Fernandez, Marino, Zhao Awarded Montreal Wild Cards

"I mean, I was obviously disappointed," Gauff said. "I mean, you all know I have talked about the Olympics pretty much since Australian Open when I realized I had a chance to make the team, but, I mean, I think I'm very hopeful I will have many other opportunities to qualify for the team and hopefully actually get to the Olympics before any unforeseen circumstances happen.

"But I'm just happy that I didn't have really many symptoms. I was pretty much asymptomatic, I still have a loss of smell, but other than that, a-ok."

Gauff added that she could not get the vaccine earlier in the year while in Charleston because she was under 18 at the time. She hopes to get it soon after playing in Cincinnati.

With player "bubbles" planned for upcoming events, including in Montreal, Canada, Gauff looks forward to playing in front of a crowd again.

"It definitely means a lot to be out here on the court even if it's just an exo, just to play in front of the crowd, especially since we are going back to Canada which will be a bubble, so it will be nice just to get some crowd experience and be in the crowd before it's time to go back to the bubbles."

Gauff is joined in the exhibition by two-time major winner Victoria Azarenka and 2019 Citi Open women's champion Jessica Pegula.

"It's disappointing for me; I was in the driver's seat for a set and a half and had a break, but I have to give him huge credit," said world No. 1.
By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, July 30, 2021

Novak Djokovic could see his path to the gold-medal match as clearly as the baseline.

Then Alexander Zverev stepped closer to the line and took a wrecking ball to the world No. 1's Golden Grand Slam dream in a monumental Olympics upset.

Gold Shoulder: Zverev Stuns Djokovic in Olympic Upset

Riding his explosive serve, Zverev streaked through 10 of the last 11 games shocking Djokovic 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 to power into the Tokyo Olympics gold-medal match.

Playing declarative first-strike tennis empowered Zverev, who hit 21 more winners—37 to 16—than Djokovic and unleashed an eight-game surge transforming a 1-6, 2-3 deficit into a 4-0 lead in the final set.

Djokovic was pragmatic confronting the pain of a defeat that came five years after his emotional opening-round loss to Juan Martin del Potro at the 2015 Rio Games.

"It's disappointing for me; I was in the driver's seat for a set and a half and had a break, but I have to give him huge credit," Djokovic said of Zverev. "He took it. He took the match he took every oportunity and he deserves to win."

The defeat ends Djokovic's quest to become the first man in history to claim the Golden Grand Slam—win all four Grand Slam crowns and the Olympic singles gold medal in the same season—though he will resume his hunt for the calendar Grand Slam at next month's US Open.

“He just upped his level and I just wasn’t serving anymore as well as I did for a set and a half and he didn’t miss too many first serves from the 2-3 down in the second set all the way to the last point,” Djokovic told Olympic Channel’s Trenni Kusnierek. “He was serving huge and taking every opportunity from the back of the court to attack. “He just wasn’t missing at all. He didn’t give me any free points.

"I didn’t get any free points on my serve. That’s tennis at the highest level.”

A day that began with golden allure degenerated into double misery. Credit Djokovic for showing his commitment to the cause returning to court to partner Nina Stojanovich in mixed doubles.

The Serbian pair played for a spot in the mixed doubles gold-medal match, but came up short bowing to Roland Garros finalists Aslan Karatsev and Elena Vesnina 7-6(4), 7-5.

Instead of realizing the golden dream, Djokovic will settle for a pair of bronze-medal matches tomorrow, including the day’s first bronze clash against Pablo Carreno Busta, who fell to 12th-seeded Karen Khachanov in the day's first semifinal.

Tennis is a humbling sport even for the elite. Djokovic was coming off a quarterfinal demolition of Japan's Kei Nishikori in what he called one of his best performances of the season. Three games from the finish line today, the world No. 1 watched Zverev take his game to a higher level he simply could not match.

“Tough day; that’s sport,” Djokovic said. “Obviously playing at the Olympics and reaching the semis in singles and mixed we have high hopes to at least win one to guarantee the one medal for the country. “It wasn’t to be today. Two very tough exhausting matches both physically and mentally. I will try to do my best to rejuvenate for tomorrow.” 

It was Zverev's first win over the world No. 1 since the 2018 ATP Finals championship match.

During an emotional embrace at net, Zverev told Djokovic he was "sorry" for ending his dream. Djokovic praised Zverev, who played on his Adria Tour last summer, as a worthy winner.

"If there's anyone I would lose to it's him; he's a very nice guy, we get along very well off the court," Djokovic said. "We're friends. Obviously rivals on the court. We just had a nice friendly exchange. I wish him all the best in the finals."

US Open finalist Zverev has split four career clashes vs. Karen Khachanov, his opponent in Sunday's gold-medal match.

Photo credit: Getty

The heat was oppressive on Wednesday at Tokyo, and players were suffering. By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday July 28, 2021

With temperatures in the high eighties and humidity over 70 percent, the heat took a toll on players at the Olympic tennis venue in Tokyo today. Daniil Medvedev was out of sorts and only survived due to the 10-minute extreme heat break that allowed him to get off court and cool off his system before returning to close out his 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win over Fabio Fognini.

At one point during the match, Medvedev told umpire Carlos Ramos: “I can finish the match but I can die,” Medvedev replied. “If I die, are you going to be responsible?”

This is how the Russian left the court:

.@DaniilMedwed is off to the beach 🏝 pic.twitter.com/YRdFIO45Zy

— ‎‎‎‎‎ . (@Ashish__TV) July 28, 2021

Spain’s Paula Badosa was not so lucky. She was forced to retire against Marketa Vondrousova after dropping the opening set (6-3), and had to be carted off in a wheelchair, which means her mixed doubles match, scheduled for later in the day is probably a withdrawal.

Absolutely heartbreaking as Paula Badosa retires due to heat. Vondrousova is into the semis. pic.twitter.com/BNksT22RmZ

— ‎‎‎‎‎ . (@Ashish__TV) July 28, 2021

No way Badosa is coming back to play mixed doubles with Carreño later today. Tough scenes to watch. pic.twitter.com/SEZiZ7gYNy

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) July 28, 2021

These are tough conditions for players, and they have been all week in Tokyo. It is something that Medvedev called to attention early in the tournament. Before the tournament Medvedev suggested moving matches back by four hours to start at 3 PM, and World No.1 Novak Djokovic agreed with the plan.

"To be honest I don't understand why they don't start matches at say 3 pm,” he said. “I heard for tennis there's some kind of curfew for them to finish by midnight. If that's the case I just finished the last match. It's not even 5pm.

"We still have like seven hours to play. They have the lights on all the courts, they're going to make life much easier for all of us players. I just don't understand why they don't move it, I sincerely don't understand."

Medvedev had also complained about the 60-second changeover time during matches.

"The fact that we have only one minute between changeovers is a joke," he said. "I think if you ask, let's say 200 tennis players that are here, I think 195 will tell you that one minute is a joke and it should be 1:30 like it is in ATP tournaments."

Naomi Osaka and Ash Barty are first up on Centre Court as Day 2 of Olympic action begins. By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday July 24, 2021

Centre Court starting at 11:00

WS 1 (1) BARTY Ashleigh (AUS) vs SORRIBES TORMO Sara (ESP) Chair Umpire: TOURTE Aurelie (FRA)
WS 1 ZHENG Saisai (CHN) vs (2) OSAKA Naomi (JPN) Chair Umpire: HUGHES Alison
(GBR) MS 1 MURRAY Andy (GBR) vs (9) AUGER-ALIASSIME Felix (CAN) Chair Umpire: HELWERTH Nico (GER)
MS 1 KOHLSCHREIBER Philipp (GER) vs (3) TSITSIPAS Stefanos (GRE) Chair Umpire: KEOTHAVONG James (GBR)

Court 1 starting at 11:00

WS 1 (3) SABALENKA Aryna (BLR) vs LINETTE Magda (POL) Chair Umpire: BLEY Miriam (GER)
MS 1 (4) ZVEREV Alexander (GER) vs LU Yen-Hsun (TPE) Chair Umpire: VELJOVIC Marijana (SRB)
WS 1 SIEGEMUND Laura (GER) vs (4) SVITOLINA Elina (UKR) Chair Umpire: ABSOLU Manuel (FRA)
MS 1 NISHIKORI Kei (JPN) vs (5) RUBLEV Andrey (ROC) Chair Umpire: RAMOS Carlos (POR)

Court 2 starting at 11:00

WS 1 (5) PLISKOVA Karolina (CZE) vs CORNET Alize (FRA) Chair Umpire: RASK Christian (DEN)
MS 1 FUCSOVICS Marton (HUN) vs (7) HURKACZ Hubert (POL) Chair Umpire: JOSEPH Emmanuel (FRA)
WS 1 KUDERMETOVA Veronika (ROC) vs (7) MUGURUZA Garbine (ESP) Chair Umpire: ROBEIN Alexandre (FRA)
MS 1 (8) SCHWARTZMAN Diego (ARG) vs (ITF) VARILLAS Juan Pablo (PER) Chair Umpire: JANZEN Timo (GER)

Court 3 starting at 11:00

MS 1 NISHIOKA Yoshihito (JPN) vs (12) KHACHANOV Karen (ROC) Chair Umpire: ZHANG Juan (CHN)
MS 1 (10) MONFILS Gael (FRA) vs IVASHKA Ilya (BLR) Chair Umpire: SWEENEY Thomas (AUS)
WS 1 (10) KVITOVA Petra (CZE) vs PAOLINI Jasmine (ITA) Chair Umpire: ZHANG Juan (CHN)
MS 1 KWON Soonwoo (KOR) vs TIAFOE Frances (USA) Chair Umpire: DUMUSOIS Damien (FRA)

Court 4 starting at 11:00

WS 1 ALEKSANDROVA Ekaterina (ROC) vs (12) MERTENS Elise (BEL) Chair Umpire: ABSOLU Manuel (FRA)
WS 1 JOROVIC Ivana (SRB) vs van UYTVANCK Alison (BEL) Chair Umpire: RAMOS Carlos (POR)
MS 1 GOMBOS Norbert (SVK) vs GIRON Marcos (USA) Chair Umpire: EL JENNATI Mohamed (MAR)
MS 1 (ITF) MACHAC Tomas (CZE) vs SOUSA Joao (POR) Chair Umpire: HUGHES Alison (GBR)

Court 5 starting at 11:00

WS 1 (ITF) CEPEDE ROYG Veronica (PAR) vs (ITF) WANG Qiang (CHN) Chair Umpire: ROBEIN Alexandre (FRA)
WS 1 SUAREZ NAVARRO Carla (ESP) vs JABEUR Ons (TUN) Chair Umpire: KJENDLIE Julie (NOR)
WD 1 BENCIC / GOLUBIC (SUI) vs (2) AOYAMA / SHIBAHARA (JPN) Chair Umpire: BLEY Miriam (GER)
MD 1 DANIEL / NISHIOKA (JPN) vs CILIC / DODIG (CRO) Chair Umpire: KJENDLIE Julie (NOR)

Court 6 starting at 11:00

WS 1 FERRO Fiona (FRA) vs SEVASTOVA Anastasija (LAT) Chair Umpire: CINKO Adelka (CRO)
WS 1 OSTAPENKO Jelena (LAT) vs VESNINA Elena (ROC) Chair Umpire: THOMSON Kelly (GBR)
WS 1 SHVEDOVA Yaroslava (KAZ) vs TOMLJANOVIC Ajla (AUS) Chair Umpire: ROCHA Aline (BRA)
WD 1 PEREZ / STOSUR (AUS) vs OSTAPENKO / SEVASTOVA (LAT) Chair Umpire: JOSEPH Emmanuel (FRA)

Court 7 starting at 11:00

WS 1 PUTINTSEVA Yulia (KAZ) vs (ITF) PODOROSKA Nadia (ARG) Chair Umpire: CAMPISTOL Jaume (ESP)
MS 1 KUKUSHKIN Mikhail (KAZ) vs CORIA Federico (ARG) Chair Umpire: BALMFORTH Robert (GBR)
MS 1 KOEPFER Dominik (GER) vs BAGNIS Facundo (ARG) Chair Umpire: CAMPISTOL Jaume (ESP)
MD 1 GERASIMOV / IVASHKA (BLR) vs DANIELL / VENUS (NZL) Chair Umpire: BALMFORTH Robert (GBR)

Court 8 starting at 11:00

MS 1 CERUNDOLO Francisco (ARG) vs (ITF) BROADY Liam (GBR) Chair Umpire: EL JENNATI Mohamed (MAR)
WS 1 GARCIA Caroline (FRA) vs VEKIC Donna (CRO) Chair Umpire: JANZEN Timo (GER)
MD 1 ANDUJAR / CARBALLES BAENA (ESP) vs MUSETTI / SONEGO (ITA) Chair Umpire: TOURTE Aurelie (FRA)
WD 1 (3) BERTENS / SCHUURS (NED) vs GARCIA / MLADENOVIC (FRA) Chair Umpire: RADWAN CHO Katarzyna (POL)

Court 9 starting at 11:00

MS 1 KLEIN Lukas (SVK) vs DUCKWORTH James (AUS) Chair Umpire: AZEMAR ENGZELL Louise (SWE)
WD 1 (1) KREJCIKOVA / SINIAKOVA (CZE) vs HSIEH / HSU (TPE) Chair Umpire: DUMUSOIS Damien (FRA)
MD 1 (4) KARATSEV / MEDVEDEV (ROC) vs KLEIN / POLASEK (SVK) Chair Umpire: BLOM John (AUS)
WD 1 PLISKOVA / VONDROUSOVA (CZE) vs DUAN / ZHENG (CHN) Chair Umpire: SWEENEY Thomas (AUS)

Court 10 starting at 11:00

WS 1 GIORGI Camila (ITA) vs (11) BRADY Jennifer (USA) Chair Umpire: BLOM John (AUS)
MS 1 GALAN Daniel Elahi (COL) vs (ITF) SAFWAT Mohamed (EGY) Chair Umpire: RADWAN CHO Katarzyna (POL)
MD 1 CARRENO BUSTA / DAVIDOVICH FOKINA (ESP) vs (3) CABAL / FARAH (COL) Chair Umpire: AZEMAR ENGZELL Louise (SWE)
WD 1 OLMOS / ZARAZUA (MEX) vs BADOSA / SORRIBES TORMO (ESP) Chair Umpire: THOMSON Kelly (GBR)

Court 11 starting at 11:00

WD 1 KICHENOK / KICHENOK (UKR) vs MIRZA / RAINA (IND) Chair Umpire: HELWERTH Nico (GER)
MD 1 MILLMAN / SAVILLE (AUS) vs MARACH / OSWALD (AUT) Chair Umpire: KEOTHAVONG James (GBR)
WD 1 LINETTE / ROSOLSKA (POL) vs (4) MATTEK-SANDS / PEGULA (USA) Chair Umpire: CINKO Adelka (CRO)
WD 1 JURAK / VEKIC (CRO) vs (8) MELICHAR / RISKE (USA) Chair Umpire: VELJOVIC Marijana (SRB)
MD 1 PEERS / PURCELL (AUS) vs KRAJICEK / SANDGREN (USA) Chair Umpire: RASK Christian (DEN)

Iga Swiatek kicks things off on Centre Court, with Novak Djokovic up fourth. Centre Court starting at 11:00

WS 1 (6) SWIATEK Iga (POL) vs BARTHEL Mona (GER)
MS 1 BUBLIK Alexander (KAZ) vs (2) MEDVEDEV Daniil (ROC)
WS 1 DIYAS Zarina (KAZ) vs (8) KREJCIKOVA Barbora (CZE)
MS 1 (1) DJOKOVIC Novak (SRB) vs DELLIEN Hugo (BOL)

Court 1 starting at 11:00

WS 1 (ITF) FRIEDSAM Anna-Lena (GER) vs WATSON Heather (GBR)
MS 1 DANIEL Taro (JPN) vs (13) SONEGO Lorenzo (ITA)
WS 1 (9) BENCIC Belinda (SUI) vs PEGULA Jessica (USA)
MS 1 (6) CARRENO BUSTA Pablo (ESP) vs SANDGREN Tennys (USA)

Court 2 starting at 11:00

MS 1 SOUSA Pedro (POR) vs (16) DAVIDOVICH FOKINA Alejandro (ESP)
WS 1 (ITF) STOSUR Samantha (AUS) vs (15) RYBAKINA Elena (KAZ)
MS 1 (11) KARATSEV Aslan (ROC) vs PAUL Tommy (USA)
WS 1 (16) BERTENS Kiki (NED) vs VONDROUSOVA Marketa (CZE)

Court 3 starting at 11:00

WS 1 (ITF) ERRANI Sara (ITA) vs (13) PAVLYUCHENKOVA Anastasia (ROC)
WS 1 (14) SAKKARI Maria (GRE) vs KONTAVEIT Anett (EST)
MS 1 (15) FOGNINI Fabio (ITA) vs SUGITA Yuichi (JPN)
MS 1 CILIC Marin (CRO) vs (ITF) MENEZES Joao (BRA)

Court 4 starting at 11:00

WS 1 STOJANOVIC Nina (SRB) vs HIBINO Nao (JPN)
MS 1 BASILASHVILI Nikoloz (GEO) vs CARBALLES BAENA Roberto (ESP)
MS 1 (14) HUMBERT Ugo (FRA) vs ANDUJAR Pablo (ESP)
WS 1 DOI Misaki (JPN) vs ZARAZUA Renata (MEX)

Court 5 starting at 11:00

MD 1 KRAWIETZ / PUETZ (GER) vs BAGNIS / SCHWARTZMAN (ARG)
MD 1 MURRAY / SALISBURY (GBR) vs (2) HERBERT / MAHUT (FRA)
WD 1 HIBINO / NINOMIYA (JPN) vs (6) BARTY / SANDERS (AUS)
MD 1 (HCP) MCLACHLAN / NISHIKORI (JPN) vs SOUSA / SOUSA (POR)

Court 6 starting at 11:00

WS 1 FERNANDEZ Leylah Annie (CAN) vs YASTREMSKA Dayana (UKR)
MS 1 STRUFF Jan-Lennard (GER) vs MONTEIRO Thiago (BRA)
WD 1 CORNET / FERRO (FRA) vs SVITOLINA / YASTREMSKA (UKR)
MD 1 STRUFF / ZVEREV (GER) vs (5) HURKACZ / KUBOT (POL)

Court 7 starting at 12:30

WS 1 (ITF) SHERIF Maiar (EGY) vs PETERSON Rebecca (SWE)
MS 1 MAJCHRZAK Kamil (POL) vs KECMANOVIC Miomir (SRB)
WD 1 XU / YANG (CHN) vs KRUNIC / STOJANOVIC (SRB)

Court 8 starting at 11:00

WD 1 (7) DABROWSKI / FICHMAN (CAN) vs PIGOSSI / STEFANI (BRA)
MS 1 CHARDY Jeremy (FRA) vs (ITF) BARRIOS Tomas (CHI)
MS 1 GERASIMOV Egor (BLR) vs SIMON Gilles (FRA)
MD 1 BUBLIK / GOLUBEV (KAZ) vs CHARDY / MONFILS (FRA)

Court 9 starting at 11:00

MS 1 MUSETTI Lorenzo (ITA) vs MILLMAN John (AUS)
WS 1 BADOSA Paula (ESP) vs MLADENOVIC Kristina (FRA)
WD 1 MUGURUZA / SUAREZ NAVARRO (ESP) vs MERTENS / VAN UYTVANCK (BEL)
WS 1 (ITF) BUZARNESCU Mihaela (ROU) vs RISKE Alison (USA)

Court 10 starting at 11:00

WS 1 OSORIO SERRANO Maria Camila (COL) vs GOLUBIC Viktorija (SUI)
MS 1 (ITF) NAGAL Sumit (IND) vs (ITF) ISTOMIN Denis (UZB)
MD 1 (6) KHACHANOV / RUBLEV (ROC) vs RAM / TIAFOE (USA)
MD 1 (1) MEKTIC / PAVIC (CRO) vs DEMOLINER / MELO (BRA)

Court 11 starting at 11:00

MD 1 (8) KOOLHOF / ROJER (NED) vs GILLE / VLIEGEN (BEL)
WD 1 (5) CHAN / CHAN (TPE) vs NICULESCU / OLARU (ROU)
MD 1 MOLTENI / ZEBALLOS (ARG) vs (7) MURRAY / SKUPSKI (GBR)
WD 1 KUDERMETOVA / VESNINA (ROC) vs FRIEDSAM / SIEGEMUND (GER)

The star of the new series opens up about it on social media.

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday July 17, 2021

There’s an ear-catching line from the trailer for the new Netflix docuseries, “Naomi Osaka,” which officially became available on Netflix on Friday July 16. As the video cuts between sequences, Osaka says: “I’ve always had this pressure to maintain the squeaky image, but now I don’t care what anyone has to say.”

If that’s a proper indication of level of honesty that the series (and Osaka) is operating at, viewers should be in for a spell-binding look into the mind of the four-time major champion.

Given the fact that Osaka has not played since the first round of Roland-Garros, it’s a well-timed release, with the Japanese megastar set to resume her tennis career, and an extraordinary life lived in the public eye, next week at the tennis portion of the Tokyo Olympics, which commence on July 24.

“So this has been in the process for the past two and a half years,” Osaka wrote in a Twitter post, explaining her feelings of anticipation on the day the docuseries was released. “In light of everything that has happened recently I was terrified of this being released. This is isn’t like a tennis match where I win or lose and from there people can say whether I did well or not. This is a look into my life from certain time periods and I can’t fight the feeling of wondering how it will be received.”

pic.twitter.com/ebdBIOaMzb

— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) July 16, 2021

The three-part series, which became available on Netflix on Friday July 16, is dubbed as an “Intimate series follows Naomi Osaka as she explores her cultural roots and navigates her multifaceted identity as a tennis champ and rising leader.”

Osaka, herself, calls it her “soul”.

“This is in some ways my soul and a reflection of who I am. I hope there are pieces that people can relate to and maybe other pieces that would help people understand why I make the choices I make. If it doesn’t that’s cool too, it took me a while but I realize that I can’t please everyone and I’m really not trying to. When I go to sleep at night I can only hope I am at peace with myself and I hope the same thing rings true for anyone reading this. I’m excited/ nervous for you guys to see t and I hope you enjoy it.”

Venus Williams' EleVen launches classic collection of eco-friendly fashion staples.
Venus Williams is bringing back the classics—and honoring the environment—with her new collection.

The five-time Wimbledon champion unveiled her new eco-friendly Essentials Collection.

The EleVen by Venus Williams line features the fashionable, functional staples Venus designed for every player from newcomer to Williams' sister level champion.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Venus Williams (@venuswilliams)

In classic colors including black, navy and white, the 40-year-old superstar said she designed the new collection "with performance in mind so you can sweat, stretch, and play all day long."

Venus recently wore the the Love to Love Rib tee and Can’t Stop Won’t Stop skirt from the collection during her Wimbledon matches.

The former world No. 1 designed the pieces with Repreve fabrics made of recycled water bottles gathered from the ocean. Williams says EleVen strives to always design with environmental integrity giving the classics cool functionality as well.

Photo Credit: EleVen by Venus Williams

The Italian is knocking on the door and considers it a privilege to face the Big Three, even in defeat.

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday July 11, 2021

After falling to Novak Djokovic in four sets in the Wimbledon final, Italy’s Matteo Berrettini stood on court and watched as Novak Djokovic talked about how Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer made him the player he is today.

“I have to pay a great tribute to Rafa and Roger, they are legends of our sport and they are the two most important players that I ever faced in my career – they are the reason that I am where I am today,” he said on court.

“They’ve helped me realize what I need to do in order to get stronger mentally, physically, tactically; when I broke into the top-10 for the first time I lost for three, four years, most of the big matches that I played against these two guys, and something shifted at the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011, and the last ten years has been an incredible journey that is not stopping here.”

Berrettini hopes that one day he can make the same type of speech about learning and developing his game through tough struggles with the legends of the sport.

Berrettini: I couldn't ask for more…well, maybe a little bit more. #wimbledon pic.twitter.com/i0Knu2Lm52

— Tennis GIFs 🎾🎥 (@tennis_gifs) July 11, 2021

“In order to win against him, I have to improve more,” Berrettini admitted after the final. “Like he said, he was losing against Rafa and Roger, and thanks to them he improved. That's what I'll try to do. Thanks to him, I'm going to try to get better.”

Immediately after, the 25-year-old Italian was asked if he felt privileged to face the Big Three early in his career, and if he felt that they would help him grow as a player.

“It's an honor for me,” Berrettini said. “I mean, I grew up watching these guys battling and fighting for the big titles. Now I'm the guy that is trying to take the titles away from them. US Open I lost against Rafa, and he won the title. Like I said in Paris, quarters against Novak.”

Berrettini believes he is on the cusp of his Grand Slam breakthrough, even if it didn’t happen today.

“It means that I'm there,” he said of his near misses against the Big Three in the past. “It means that I deserve to be here. I feel it. Today, again, Novak was the better player on court, but I'm getting closer. Every match that I'm playing against them helps me to get closer. Obviously they're improving. It's tougher and tougher to get there.

“I just need matches like this. I just need experiences like this. That's what we said to my team. Obviously, also this kind of anger, disappointment that I have now, it's really helpful, is going to be helpful for the next events.”

The World No.1 is in line to achieve the Golden Slam, but Tokyo may not happen for Novak Djokovic. By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday July 11, 2021

After winning Wimbledon and becoming the first male player to win the first three major titles of a tennis season in 52 years, Novak Djokovic tells reporters that he may skip the Tokyo Olympics due to the strict protocols in place.

Djokovic, who defeated Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 to claim his sixth Wimbledon and 20th major title, says he just learned the news a few days ago that the Tokyo Games will be played without spectators.

Here is his response:

“I received that news yesterday or two days ago. That was really disappointing to hear,” he said. “I also hear that there's going to be a lot of restrictions within the Village. Possibly you would not be able to see other athletes perform live. I can't even have my stringer that is very important part of my team. I can't have a stringer. I'm limited with the amount of people I can take in my team as well.”

The Serb hinted that there is a possibility that he will skip the Olympics and stay focused on the US Open, which begins at the end of August.

“I'll have to think about it,” he said. “Right now, as I said, my plan was always to go to Olympic Games. But right now I'm a little bit divided. It's kind of 50/50 because of what I heard in the last couple days.”