CELEBRITY
Serena to play first French Open night match as Federer returns
Serena Williams will be part of history again on Monday (May 31) when she plays in the first French Open night-session match, while her fellow veteran Roger Federer also starts his bid to upset the odds at Roland Garros.
The 39-year-old Williams is again looking to equal Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, but arrives in Paris having lost two of her three matches on clay so far this season.
She was beaten by eventual champion Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open semi-finals in February, the sixth time she has reached at least the last four of a major since her last Slam success in Melbourne four years ago.
Williams will face Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu on Monday evening under the lights on Court Philippe Chatrier – the scene of her only first-round major exit against Virginie Razzano in 2012.
The recent signs for Williams, seeded seventh, have not been good, with early defeats in both Rome and Parma earlier this month.
But, unsurprisingly, she has remained confident her form will turn around.
“My season doesn’t usually start this late on clay. But the training isn’t for nothing, so I know that it’s just a matter of time,” said Williams after losing to Nadia Podoroska in the Italian Open second round.
The American star’s match will though be the first of this year’s tournament held behind closed doors as France still has a 9pm curfew in place due to Covid-19.
Just over 5,000 spectators are allowed to attend during the day, although that number will rise to over 13,000 on June 9, the same date the curfew moves to 11pm.
Earlier on Monday, Roger Federer continues his return from a long injury absence as he gears up for Wimbledon and the delayed Tokyo Olympics.
The 39-year-old Swiss, the French Open champion in 2009, is playing the event for only the second time in six years and warned his fans not to expect a title challenge.
“When you’ve played so little and you know where your level is at, how can I think of winning the French Open?” Federer said after losing to Pablo Andujar in Geneva 11 days ago.
“I’m realistic and I know I will not win the French and whoever thought I would or could win it is wrong.”
But Federer did reach the semis on his last Roland Garros appearance in 2019, losing to old rival Rafael Nadal.
“Of course crazier things might have happened, but I’m not so sure in the last 50 years of the French Open, somebody just rocks up at nearly 40 years old, being out for a year and a half, and wins everything straight.”
Federer, Nadal and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic have all been placed in the same half of the draw at a Grand Slam for the first time.
That leaves the path clear for someone to reach a maiden French Open final after fourth seed Dominic Thiem’s shock first-round loss to Andujar on Sunday.
Second seed Daniil Medvedev, who faces Alexander Bublik on Monday, will be one of the men trying to take advantage.
But the Russian, a two-time major runner-up, has won only one match on clay this season and lost eight of his last nine on the surface.
“So far in practice I have been playing amazing. I didn’t feel that it was clay. I was playing like on hard courts,” said the 25-year-old, whose 10 ATP titles have all come on hard courts.
“Most important is to play good, have a player that also doesn’t like clay!” Medvedev has lost in the first round on all four of his previous Roland Garros appearances.
-AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Flamingos Battle France for Survival After Opening Defeat to Canada
Madugu Confident Despite Echegini’s Injury Blow Ahead of WAFCON Qualifier Against Benin
Tiger Street Football Tournament Heads for Grand Finale in Awka After Electrifying Weekend
- World Cup7 days ago
Victor Osimhen qualifies South Africa for World Cup as Super Eagles go for Play-Off
- FIFA RANKING4 days ago
Nigeria Jumps Four Places in New FIFA Rankings; Stirs Optimism in Local Football Circles
- World Cup1 week ago
Super Eagles Stranded in Angola After Aircraft Suffers Cracked Windscreen
- Nigerian Football1 week ago
Serial offenders, Kano Pillars Fined ₦9.5m, Banished to Katsina
- CAF Champions League3 days ago
Two Decades After Their Defeat, Mamelodi Sundowns Return to Abeokuta
- AFCON7 days ago
Tinubu Hails Super Eagles’ Spirit, Assures Support Ahead of World Cup Play-Offs
- CAF Champions League2 days ago
Remo Stars Host Mamelodi Sundowns in Crucial CAF Champions League Showdown
- AFCON1 week ago
Ticket Sales for AFCON Morocco 2025 Kick Off Monday