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CLIJSTERS, OSAKA, VENUS AMONG WILDCARDS IN US OPEN TUNEUP

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Four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters was among four major title winners given wildcards on Thursday (July 30) into the WTA field for a US Open tuneup event next month in New York.

The 37-year-old Belgian was joined in the wildcard field for the Western and Southern Open by Japan’s Naomi Osaka and Americans Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens and Caty McNally.

The event, typically staged in Cincinnati two weeks before the US Open, was moved to Flushing Meadows and will be played Aug 20-28 inside the National Tennis Centre bubble without spectators as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

US Open play will begin there on Aug 31.

Clijsters, a mother of three, returned to the WTA Tour this year after retiring in 2012. She was ousted in her first match at Dubai in February and in Monterrey in March.

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She had first retired in 2007 before making a comeback in 2009, when she won the first of back-to-back US Open titles to go with her first in 2005.

Former world number one Clijsters also captured the 2011 Australian Open and in 2017 was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame with 41 singles titles.

Osaka, 22, won the 2018 US Open and 2019 Australian Open. The 10th-ranked star was listed as the highest-paid female athlete in the world by Forbes magazine in May.

Stephens, 27, was a shock winner of the 2017 US Open after an 11-month absence due to a right foot injury that saw her ranking plunge to 957th in the world.

Venus Williams, 40, has won seven Grand Slam titles and 49 career events overall. The former world number one became only the sixth woman to reach 800 all-time match wins.

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McNally, 18, was a Washington semi-finalist last year and took 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams to three sets at last year’s US Open.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Osaka parts way with her coach

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Naomi Osaka of Japan in action during a match at the U.S. Open in August, 2024. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo 

Naomi Osaka has parted ways with coach Wim Fissette after four years together across two stints, the 26-year-old announced late on Friday.

The former world number one won two of her four Grand Slam titles under the guidance of the Belgian, but is currently 75th in the rankings having returned to the tour nine months ago after a lengthy maternity break.

“Four years, two slams and a whole lot of memories,” Osaka wrote in an Instagram post.

“Thanks Wim for being a great coach and an even greater person. Wishing you all the best.”

Of the 16 tournaments Osaka has played this season, she has made the quarter-finals in only two – Doha and ‘s-Hertogenbosch – and the Japanese player has also failed to go past the second round in each of the four Grand Slams

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-Reuters

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Five US women in top 15 in the world for first time in two decades

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 Coco Gauff of the United States returns a shot during her match against Emma Navarro of the United States (not shown) on day seven of The Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo 

Five players from the United States are ranked in the Women’s Tennis Association’s top 15 for the first time in two decades, the USTA said on Monday.

World number two Coco Gauff led the American charge followed by sixth-ranked Jessica Pegula and Danielle Collins, who climbed two spots to ninth on the list amid a remarkable farewell season.

Madison Keys was ranked 14th while Emma Navarro hopped two spots to a career-high 15th after reaching her first major quarter-final at Wimbledon.

The last time five American women featured in the top 15 was May 24, 2004, when Lindsay Davenport was fourth in the world

-Reuters

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Venus Williams among sporting figures to get own Barbie doll

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 Venus Williams poses with a Barbie doll, in Puerto Rico in this undated handout image. Mattel/WME Sports Studio/Handout via REUTERS

Seven-times Grand Slam champion Venus Williams and Australian soccer player Mary Fowler are among nine athletes to get a Barbie doll in their likeness as toy maker Mattel seeks to shine a light on women sports role models ahead of the Paris Olympics.

Mattel unveiled the dolls on Wednesday, each with their bespoke accessories. Fowler’s wears gloves and holds a football while Williams’ doll, dressed in an all white tennis dress and visor as well as wearing earrings, comes with a miniature racket.

The former world number one said she hoped to motivate young girls into sports with the doll.

“I literally can’t imagine my life without sports and without the game,” Williams said in a video, in which she held the doll.

“I want other young girls to have that invaluable experience of playing a sport and what it teaches you and what you learn and what you take from it, not just that moment (but) for the rest of your life… I think it’s so important for girls to be in sports.”

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Other sports figures to have a doll in their likeness include French boxer Estelle Mossely, Polish sprinter Ewa Swoboda, Spanish doctor and paratriathlon athlete Susana Rodriguez, Italian former swimmer Federica Pellegrini, Canadian soccer player Christine Sinclair as well as Mexican and Brazilian gymnasts, Alexa Moreno and Rebeca Andrade.

The dolls, unveiled as Barbie turns 65 this year, “(recognise) the impact of sport in fostering self-confidence and ambition among the next generation”, Krista Berger, senior vice president of Barbie and Mattel’s Global Head of Dolls, said.

“By shining a light on these inspirational athletes and their stories, we hope to champion the belief that every young girl deserves the opportunity to pursue her passions and turn her dreams into reality,” she said in a statement.

-Reuters

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