US Open: Another win, another record puts Serena in last eight

September 6, 2016

New York, Sep 6: Serena Williams broke through another barrier on Monday, her 308th Grand Slam match win taking her past Roger Federer for the most in major tournaments and into the quarter-finals of the US Open.

Serena 2

"Wow, it's really exciting," Williams said of moving out of a tie with Swiss great Federer for most Grand Slam match wins.

"This is where it all started so it's always so magical out here for me -- 308 sounds pretty good."

Williams was never seriously challenged in a 6-2, 6-3 victory over 52nd-ranked Yaroslava Shvedova as she extended her career record over the Kazakh to 5-0.

In fact, despite the injury fears sparked by the sore shoulder that hampered her at the Rio Olympics she has barely been challenged since arriving at Flushing Meadows, where she claimed the first of her six US Opentitles in 1999.

She has reached the business end of the tournament without dropping a set or indeed even dropping her serve. She has faced just one break point in four matches.

A seventh US Open title would take her past the record she shares with Chris Evert, and would also break the Open Era record she shares with Steffi Graf of 22 Grand Slam crowns.

She'll face Simona Halep for a semi-final berth after the fifth-seeded Romanian dispatched Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 7-5.

Halep, beaten in seven of eight prior encounters with Williams, was already bracing for the challenge.

"She's like the best player in the world. I don't have to be afraid or to have emotions because I have nothing to lose," Halep said. "It's just a huge challenge for me."

Halep will go into the contest against Serena buoyed by a victory over Suarez Navarro, with whom she'd split 10 prior meetings 5-5.

Serving for the match at 5-4 Halep was broken, but she broke back immediately and made no mistake with her second chance.

The tantalizing prospect of a semi-final clash between Williams and her sister Venus evaporated as the elder Williams fell to hard-hitting Czech Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

Venus was unable to convert her lone match point as Pliskova, serving at 5-4 in the third, saved herself with a forehand volley then held to extend the match.

With another break under her belt Pliskova had a chance to close it out at 6-5, but after surging to a 40-0 lead she lost five straight points as Venus forced the decider.

"In the breaker, I went for a little bit more, but I didn't put the ball in enough," said the 36-year-old American, whose seven Grand Slam titles include two US Opens.

"I went for some aggressive shots, didn't necessarily put them in."

For Pliskova it was a breakthrough win, putting her into a first Grand Slam quarter-final. Despite her entrenched position in the top 20 she had never made it past the third round of a major in 17 prior tries.

No. 1 under threat

Happy to have the discussion of her under-performance on the game's major stages behind her, she remained wary of a possible quarter-final meeting with fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska.

Radwanska closed out fourth-round action against Ana Konjuh, the 18-year-old Croatian who held three match points against the Pole before succumbing in the second round at Wimbledon.

Not only is Radwanska trying to reach the US Open last eight for the first time, she has an outside chance of overtaking Serena Williams atop the world rankings if she can go all the way.

Second-seeded German Angelique Kerber is even better placed to nudge Serena off the summit.

Her run to the quarters means the American must at least reach the final to stay top.

If both Kerber and Serena make the championship match, the American will have to win to extend her reign.

Kerber will try to keep the pressure on when the quarter-finals get underway on Tuesday. She takes on seventh-seeded Italian Roberta Vinci -- who shocked Serena en route to a runner-up finish last year.

Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki takes on Latvian Anastasija Sevastova in a quarter-final between two players on the comeback trail.

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June 20,2020

Melbourne, Jun 20: If 15 teams can be allowed to enter Australia for the T20 World Cup then fans will not be stopped from watching live action from the stadiums, Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley said on Saturday.

Hockley replaced under-fire Kevin Roberts, who recently got the boot from Cricket Australia, which is grappling with financial woes.

Different possibilities are being worked out for the T20 World to go ahead as scheduled later this year and one of them is to host the tournament before empty stands in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Hockley said crowds will be allowed, though, hosting 15 teams with players, officials and support staff is "complex" as of now, hinting that probably the ICC flagship event could be pushed back.

"The reality is, and we've got much more understanding about this in recent weeks, is crowds are most likely to come back before international travel. Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country," Hockley told cricket.com.au when asked if he would like to see the World Cup proceed without fans.

"If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise."

When specifically asked whether crowds would be permitted by the time borders have opened to the point that 15 teams will be allowed to travel to Australia, Hockley replied in an affirmative.

"That's the current thinking, yes."

Hockley said it came as a shock when he was asked by Cricket Australia to replace Roberts.

"I've had very mixed emotions. I was very shocked to be asked. I didn't see it coming at all, so I probably haven't had time yet to process it. I feel very sad for Kev (Roberts). On the other hand, I feel this is a massive privilege to be asked, it's a massive responsibility and a massive opportunity even if it's only for the next few months," he said.

Hockey did not commit when asked if he would like to assume the role full time, but he did say that he would quit as CEO of the T20 World Cup Organising Committee.

"My approach throughout my entire career has been to focus on doing the best job I can with what I've been tasked with, and the future will look after itself. And I'll continue the same approach.

"That's (T20 World Cup) been a real priority over the last 48 hours. We're reasonably well progressed and we will be appointing an interim because you just can't do both," he said.

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April 21,2020

New Delhi, Apr 21: India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said people seem to have become more compassionate while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and hoped the sense of gratitude towards frontline workers like doctors and police personnel remains even after the crisis is over.

Speaking in an online class organised by "Unacademy", Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma spoke at length about the challenges they faced before tasting success.

"The one positive out of this crisis that we as a society have become more compassionate. We are showing more gratitude to the frontline workers in this war, be it police personnel, doctors or nurses.

"I hope it stays this way even after we overcome this crisis," said Kohli with Sharma seated next to her.

Kohli said the pandemic has taught the world a very important lesson.

"Life is unpredictable. So, do what makes you happy and not get into comparisons all the time. People have a choice now how to come out of this phase. Life is going to be different after this," said the skipper.

For Sharma, the pandemic has forced people to care about the basics in life.

"There is a learning in all of this. Nothing happens without a reason. If the frontline workers were not there, we would not have access to basics," she said..

"This has taught us that no one is special than the other. Health is everything. We are more connected as a society now," she added.

During the session, Kohli was asked about the moment when he felt most helpless.

"I felt nothing was working for me when I was not picked for the state team initially. I cried the whole night and asked my coach 'why did I not get selected'?" he responded.

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January 27,2020

Hamilton, Jan 27: In awe of Jasprit Bumrah, New Zealand wicketkeeper Tim Seifert says the Indian speedster's subtle variations have been difficult to pick in the ongoing T20 series and his side needs to a learn a thing or two about adapting from the visitors.

India beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the second T20 International in Auckland on Sunday to grab a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Bumrah returned with figures of 1-21 from his four overs as Indian skipper Virat Kohli changed his bowling plans from the first game.

"Even in the first game, Bumrah bowled slower balls that were going wider. Normally, death bowlers get into straighter lines, plus yorkers and mix it with chest height. He kind of changes things a lot and is tougher to play," Seifert said.

"...the ball was holding a lot more which made it tougher. So sometimes as a batsman you have to move away from the stumps and see if they bowl straight. I was backing myself to do something different instead of just standing there at the wicket," said the stumper, who remained unbeaten on 33 off 26 balls.

"It was tricky and the ball was holding a little bit. When Kane (Williamson) got out in the over against Yuzvendra Chahal, we knew it was the over to push because they had Bumrah coming back," he added.

He said New Zealand batsmen need to take a cue from their Indian counterparts on how to adapt to different conditions quickly.

"...Indian batsmen showed how to get under the ball and time it. They showed it a couple of times that and on the slower wickets you just have to keep it like that. Once you lose your shape, you are not in position," he said.

"Try to get them (bowlers) off line or off balance, try to get into that position to hit good balls. That's T20 cricket as well. Sometimes it's going 100 per cent but some times you have to take a breath and re-assess. Indian batters did that well."

Seifert believes New Zealand bowlers did reasonably well in the two games but they have been outplayed by the Indian batsmen.

"To be honest, in the first game they were 110-1 and they had wickets in hand. We didn't bowl too badly in that first game. In the second game, we only got 130 and it is tough to bowl at Eden Park (with that total)," he said.

"170 was the target in mind but once you get 130 on the board, that was going to be very hard at Eden Park against a team that is very strong and playing really well. But our spinners were outstanding. Good balls have gone to boundary.

He said coming into the T20 series on the back of a lost Test rubber in Australia also didn't help New Zealand's cause in the first two games.

"Boys are coming off a Test series (in Australia) and a lot of them haven't played T20 cricket for a while," he said.

"But for some like me, I have had the Super Smash for the last two months, so I have played a lot of T20 cricket. They have two games under their belt now so hopefully they will have a better understanding."

Asked if New Zealand would want to play on India's strength of chasing, Seifert replied, "Even in ODI cricket, India have chased down big totals but I think on that wicket it was going to get slower and slower.

"But with that small target on Eden Park, something special has to happen with top six (for a collapse). One batsman got fifty and the other was batting very well. We needed top five-six in the first 10 overs," he said.

The Black Caps are still confident of bouncing back in the series.

The third T20 will be played here on Wednesday before back-to-back matches in Wellington and Mt Maunganui. Seifert said they would like to replicate the 2019 tour of India, where New Zealand came out 2-1 victorious in the three-match series.

"We have lost the first two games but we haven't played badly. We definitely haven't played our best though while India has played very well. If we lose the series on Wednesday, it is not the end of the world. But if we can turn things around, and win, we will take things from there," he said.

"We won the series 2-1 last time, so we have to treat it like a three match series again. But we have to treat it like the first two are must-win games."

"We are not playing our best at the moment. There are 20-odd games before the World Cup, and that tournament is the pinnacle, so we will get there (in preparation),” he signed off.

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