Tennis News

From around the world

Every Day Is National Taco Day For Serena Williams

Every Day Is National Taco Day For Serena Williams

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

If there’s one thing that Serena Williams probably loves more than winning, it’s tacos.

Despite holding a record-tying number of Grand Slam titles and consecutive weeks at the WTA’s top spot, it’s tacos – not trophies – that are on her mind all day, every day.

 Good thing for Serena that there’s a whole holiday dedicated to her favorite food: National Taco Day. But if you’re Serena Williams, clearly every day is National Taco Day.

Her love for tacos runs deep, as USA Today’s Nick McCarvel uncovered earlier this year.

Before she had her first taste of Grand Slam victory, Serena had already developed a taste for the delicious Mexican dish.

“I’m from Compton and there is a big mixture of cultures there,” Serena said before the US Open. “I grew up next to all of these Mexican families and we were close with them when I was little, we were friends. I think that’s where my love for tacos comes from.”

Serena's tacos  Serena's tacos
Whenever she’s not eating or thinking about tacos, Serena spends her free time lovingly photographing them for her Instagram account.

Serena’s been around the world and obviously has tried many a taco, but the quest for finding the perfect one is lifelong.

Happy National Taco Day, Serena!

Taco Talk With Serena:

Q: What’s your favorite taco place?

Q: Who makes the best taco?

“I make the best taco,” Serena claimed. “Or my sister Lyn. If you ever watch my Snapchat, you know I don’t talk about my taco recipes.”

“I don’t taco about it.”

Q: What’s your favorite kind of taco?

Serena's tacos

Source link

News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Elina Svitolina has moved into the Top 10 of the WTA rankings on the back of her sensational victory last week at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The new WTA World No.10 moved up three places from No.13, overtaking Britain’s Johanna Konta and becoming the first Ukrainian ever to break into the Top 10.

Speaking after her straight-sets win over Caroline Wozniacki, the 22-year-old said: “It’s big relief, because I knew that if I was going to win this match, I would be in the Top 10. There was extra pressure.”

Svitolina’s rise – the only movement in the Top 10 – is reward for a run of 12 straight victories, which have seen her lift two titles already this year. Her win in Dubai follows success at the Taiwan Open in Taipei and she is now looking to defend her title at the Alya WTA Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, where she is the No.1 seed. Her streak also includes successive Fed Cup wins.

Here are more of the biggest ranking moves this week after Dubai and Budapest:

Timea Babos +6 (No.33 to 27): Hungary’s Timea Babos climbed to No.27 thanks to her success at the Hungarian Ladies Open on Sunday. The 23-year-old entered the tournament with an 0-5 win-loss record in 2017, and rediscovered her best tennis to beat Lucie Safarova in a three-set thriller in Budapest and claim her second WTA title.

Wang Qiang +16 (No.76 to 60): China’s Wang Qiang continues her steady rise up the rankings, backing up her appearance in the Shenzhen quarterfinals in January with a stunning run to the quarterfinals in Dubai. She posted wins over Jelena Ostapenko and Kristina Mladenovic, two Top 50 players, along the way.

CiCi Bellis +14 (No.70 to 56): 17-year-old Cici Bellis’ dream run to the Dubai quarterfinals – her first ever Premier 5 quarterfinals – have rocketed the American to No.56, her career-highest ranking. Bellis backed up her first round upset of No.17 seed Yulia Putintseva by completing the shock of the tournament over World No.6 Agnieszka Radwanska in the round of 16.

Click here to see the full updated WTA rankings, as of February 27.

Source link

Halep Races Into Third Round, Chinese No.1 Zhang Up Next

Halep Races Into Third Round, Chinese No.1 Zhang Up Next

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

BEIJING, China – No.4 seed Simona Halep overcame Yanina Wickmayer and the worst of the Beijing weather to take her place in the third round of the China Open.

Watch live action from Beijing on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

On a day disrupted by heavy rain, Halep made the most of a brief respite to swat aside Wickmayer, 6-2, 6-2. In the third round she will face Chinese No.1 Zhang Shuai.

After an even start, Halep took control of proceedings with a run of three straight games to close out the opening set. This grip tightened when Wickmayer threw in a couple of errors to surrender serve at the start of the second set, going on to wrap up victory after just 59 minutes.

Next she takes on her conqueror at this January’s Australian Open, Zhang. Unlike Halep, Zhang enjoyed the luxury of playing underneath the roof, eventually seeing off Alison Riske, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4), in a match lasting over two and a half hours.

Also advancing in the bottom half of the draw was Svetlana Kuznetsova. A semifinalist last week in Wuhan, Kuznetsova continued her good form by beating Misaki Doi, 6-1, 7-5.

WTA Finals: Get Your Tickets!

 

Source link

Cunningham Loses Inspirational Battle With MND

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MELBOURNE, Australia – Angie Cunningham, the WTA’s former Vice President of Player Relations and On-Site Operations, has passed away after a long battle with Motor Neurone Disease.

A staunch campaigner in raising awareness of the disease, Angie died at her Melbourne home on Tuesday, surrounded by family.

As a teenager Angie was a leading junior player, going on to work at the WTA for eight years before moving back to Australia with husband Pat to raise their two children, Maggie and Sophie. In 2012, she was diagnosed with MND, but even as her condition deteriorated she continued the fight.

Not only fight the disease, for which there is no known cause, or effective treatment, but also to raise funds and awareness for other sufferers.

Serena Williams, Martina Navratilova, Rennae Stubbs, Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt were among those who rallied behind the cause, many of whom took to social media to mourn the passing of an inspirational figure in the tennis community.

Motor Neurone Disease is a group of neurological diseases that affects the voluntary muscles in the body, which control activities like speaking, walking, swallowing and general movement. It progresses over time, causing debilitating disability and eventually death. The life expectancy is two to three years.

There is no known cause for the disease, although many sufferers are athletes. In the US the disease is also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, after the famous baseball player who died from it.

Source link