Bartoli routs Lisicki to win first Wimbledon title

July 7, 2013

Wimbledon_titleLondon, Jul 7: Marion Bartoli romped to her first Grand Slam title as the French 15th seed thrashed Germany's Sabine Lisicki 6-1, 6-4 in the Wimbledon final today.

Bartoli, 28, is the fifth oldest woman to become a first-time Grand Slam winner in the Open Era.

Six years after losing to Venus Williams in the Wimbledon final, Bartoli returned to Centre Court and finally ended her long wait for a major crown with a supreme display of power hitting.

She took just 81 minutes to rout 23rd seed Lisicki, who broke down in tears as the match slipped away in the second set.

By finally winning her maiden major title in the 47th Grand Slam appearance of her career, Bartoli surpassed the previous record set by Jana Novotna, who won Wimbledon in 1998 after 45 appearances at the majors.

Bartoli, who will climb to seventh when the latest world rankings are released on Monday, didn't drop a single set in her seven matches and is the first Frenchwoman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Amelie Mauresmo at Wimbledon in 2006.

Ironically, Mauresmo has played a key role in Bartoli's remarkable renaissance over the last two weeks.

Bartoli's career had been on a downward spiral in recent years and she hit rock bottom in February when she struggled with the emotional decision to move on from her dad Walter, who had coached her since childhood.

She eventually turned to Mauresmo for help after failing to strike up a rapport with a series of coaches.

Her compatriot has brought a calmer approach to Bartoli's preparations, to the extent that the 28-year-old was even willing to sleep up to 30 minutes before her semi-final win over Kirsten Flipkens on

Thursday, and her influence was clear to see in the final as Bartoli recovered from a potentially disastrous start.

Bartoli was broken in the first game, but Lisicki then surrendered her own serve in error-strewn fashion.

Lisicki, 23, was a shadow of the bold stroke-maker who stunned defending champion Serena Williams in the fourth round.

But Bartoli had shaken off her early anxiety and took advantage of Lisicki's nerves to break again for a 3-1 lead.

Throughout her career Bartoli's game has been marked by bizarre routines as she jumps, skips, shuffles and twirls her racket before serving or returning.

And her quirky routine was on full display as she took the attack to Lisicki in the sixth game, breaking to seal the set thanks to a series of punishing forehands.

Lisicki had every reason to hang her head as she trudged off court to gather her thoughts during a bathroom break before the start of the second set.

The German finally held serve for the first time in the match when she returned to start the second set.

She then mounted her only serious threat to Bartoli's dominance, earning four break points in the second game, only to see the Frenchwoman come up with a series of blistering winners.

Bartoli had scented Lisicki's discomfort and landed the decisive blow with a break to move 2-1 ahead.

Liskci's beaming smile and all-action style had made her the darling of the Centre Court crowd this year, but this was a miserable end to her fairytale run and she was in tears when she served at 3-1 down.

Bartoli showed no mercy, breaking again as she took a 5-1 lead.

With the title within touching distance, tension crept into Bartoli's game and Lisicki was able to prolong the battle longer than expected.

But Bartoli eventually settled back down and sealed the biggest win of her life with an ace before climbing into stands to share a joyous embrace with Mauresmo and her father.

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Agencies
January 6,2020

Washington D.C., Jan 6: 'The Irishman,' and 'Two Popes' were shut out from the winners list despite getting multiple nominations, the movies didn't win a single award at the Golden Globes Award held on Sunday (local time). Other movies in the list include 'Bombshell,' 'Dolemite Is My Name,' 'Harriet,' 'Jojo Rabbit,' 'Knives Out' and 'Little Women.'

According to The Hollywood Reporter, 'The Irishman' may have gone into the 2020 Golden Globes with the second-highest number of film nominations, tied with 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' with five nods, but Martin Scorsese's highly anticipated mob epic for Netflix was completely shut out at the award ceremony.

Netflix landed the most film nominations of any company with 17 mentions, but it won only one award which is the best-supporting actress for 'Marriage Story's' Laura Dern. Netflix's nominated films 'Dolemite Is My Name' and 'The Two Popes' was tied with 'Joker' with four mentions each and failed to grab any awards.

'Dolemite Is My Name' star Eddie Murphy was expected by a number of pundits to win for best actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy.

'Bombshell', 'Harriet',' Frozen 2', 'Jojo Rabbit', 'Knives Out', 'The Lion King', 'Little Women' and 'Pain and Glory' are among the other films that received multiple nominations but didn't win a single award.

On the TV side, Netflix's 'Unbelievable' tied in the race to most small-screen nominations with 'Chernobyl' and 'The Crown' with four nominations, and 'The Crown' won only one award, for star Olivia Colman.

The three-time nominees 'Barry', 'Big Little Lies', 'The Kominsky Method' and 'The Morning Show' also didn't grab any award. 'Catch-22', 'Killing Eve', 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' and 'The Politician' who were two-time nominees that were also iced out.

'Hustlers' star Jennifer Lopez failed to take home the best-supporting actress award as she was predicted to win the award by a number of pundits. Billy porter also failed to make history with the best drama actor win for his role on 'Pose,' if he would've won the award, he reportedly would have been the first openly gay African-American to win that award.

'Chernobyl' won two of its four nominations. Despite that, star Jared Harris didn't win the best actor in a limited series Globe which was predicted by many prognosticators. The award was bagged by Russell Crowe for his portrayal of Roger Ailes in 'The Loudest Voice.' But the star was absent from the ceremony.

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News Network
February 24,2020

Wellington, Feb 24: Indian batsmen's inadequacies in adverse conditions were laid bare as they crashed to an embarrassing 10-wicket defeat against a ruthless New Zealand side that wrapped up the opening Test in just over three days here on Monday.

Starting the day on 144 for four, India were all out for 191 in their second innings. This was only a shade better than their dismal 165 in the first innings, which eventually proved to be decisive.

Trent Boult (4/39 in 22 overs) and Tim Southee (5/61 in 21 overs), the most under-rated new ball pairs in world cricket, showed that when it boils down to playing incisive seam and swing bowling, this batting line-up is still a work in progress.

The required target of nine runs was knocked off by New Zealand without much ado for their 100th Test win.

India's last defeat was against Australia at Perth during the 2018-19 series but the loss at the Basin Reserve would hurt them more because the visitors have not surrendered in such a fashion of late.

There was no resistance from a star-studded line-up and more than intent, the failure was due to poor technique on a track that had something on the third and fourth day as well.

This is a team that plays fast bowling much better than their predecessors, the reason for their success on the bouncy Australian tracks.

But when it comes to facing conventional seam and swing bowling in testing conditions, they are yet to learn the art of saving a Test match.

India had lost the mental battle on the first day itself when they saw the moisture on the wicket.

The toss became a factor and not for one session did they look comfortable. Mayank Agarwal was the only batsman, who felt at home in patches, as New Zealand showed what a Test match strategy is all about.

If the first innings was about mixing back of length deliveries with fuller length balls, the second innings saw the pacers coming from round the wicket and targeting the rib-cage. The line was disconcerting and it stifled them for good.

It affected their mindset and once Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari stepped out on the fourth morning, defeat was written all over as both looked ill-equipped to handle such high quality seam bowling.

Rahane (29 off 75 balls) and Vihari (15 off 79 balls) are players who only play long-form cricket at the international level and both are known for their patience.

But little would have the Indian vice-captain apprehended that he would get a delivery from Boult, which he thought would move away after pitching but it held its line and he had no option but to jab at it, and all he got was an edge.

Southee, who bowls a lovely classical outswinger, then bowled an off-cutter from the other end and before Vihari could comprehend, it came back sharply to peg the stumps back.

Within first 20 minutes, the two seasoned practitioners of swing had knocked the stuffing out of India's resistance.

Rishabh Pant (25 off 41 balls) batted only in the manner he can and played one breathtaking shot off Southee, a slog sweep off a 130 kmph-plus delivery to the deep mid-wicket boundary.

But there was too much left to do with too little support from the other end. Bending on one knee, he tried another audacious slog scoop but couldn't clear.

Southee, who had a terrific match, deservingly completed his 10th five-wicket haul and all it took was 16 overs to end the innings and the match.

New Zealand now have 120 points in the World Test championship and India stayed on top with 36 points.

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News Network
May 5,2020

May 5: Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar says he is interested in becoming India's bowling coach if there is an offer, asserting that he is capable of grooming "more aggressive, fast and talkative" pacers.

Akhtar expressed his willingness in an interview on social networking app 'Helo'.

Asked if he would like to be associated with the Indian bowling unit in future, he responded in the positive. India's current bowling is Bharat Arun.

"I will definitely. My job is to spread knowledge. What I have learned is knowledge and I will spread it," Akhtar said.

One of the fastest bowlers to have played the game, he added, "I will produce more aggressive, fast and more talkative bowlers than the current ones who will tell-off the batsmen in a way that you will enjoy a lot."

He said he has always wanted to share his knowledge among budding cricketers and that he is looking to produce more aggressive bowlers.

He also added that he would like to "coach" IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, for whom he has played in the cash-rich T20 league's inaugural edition.

The former pacer also spoke about his early interactions with Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar in the 1998 series.

"I had seen him but didn't know how big a name he was in India. In Chennai, I got to know that he was known as a god in India.

"Mind you, he is a very good friend of mine. In 1998, when I bowled as fast as I could, Indian public celebrated with me. I have a big fan following in India," Akhtar said.

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