CELEBRITY
Serena Williams retirement on hold after win over world number two
Playing more like a world number one than a player ranked outside the top 600, Serena Williams turned back the clock on Wednesday to stun world number two Anett Kontaveit 7-6(4) 2-6 6-2 and move into the third round of the U.S. Open, putting her retirement plans on pause.
Defeat has always been hard to swallow for the fiercely competitive Williams and the 40-year-old American’s relentless will to win was on full display during an absorbing two-hour 27 minute contest of unexpected high quality, breathless intensity and drama.
Williams had signalled her intention to retire earlier this month, saying she was “evolving away from tennis” but never confirming the U.S. Open as her final event.
Any farewell has now been put on hold with Williams back on centre court on Thursday for a doubles match with older sister Venus, followed by a third round clash with Australian Ajla Tomljanovic who was a 1-6 6-2 7-5 winner over Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina.
“I’m a pretty good player,” said Williams with a sly grin when asked how she downed the world number two. “This is what I do best – I love a challenge, I love rising to a challenge.”
“The last couple matches here in New York it’s really come together.
“I’m super competitive – honestly I’m just looking at it as a bonus.
“I have absolutely nothing to prove.”
With 23 Grand Slam titles and widely regarded as the greatest women’s player of all time, Williams indeed has done it all on the tennis court.
But after two wins and now safely through to the third round the once-unthinkable dream of a Hollywood ending to Williams’ career just might be in the cards, walking off into retirement with an elusive 24th major that would put her level with Margaret Court at the top of the all-time list.
Having been world number one for 319 weeks, Williams arrived in New York ranked below 600, unseeded and with just a single match win from three events coming into the season’s final Grand Slam.
It had been over a year – at the 2021 French Open – since Williams last posted back-to-back wins. She faced a daunting challenge in 26-year-old Kontaveit, a player whose game was built for the hardcourt and who won five of her six career titles on the surface.
With none of the pre-match festivities that took place ahead of her first round match to distract her, Williams stepped onto the court with her game face on and delivered a performance that had a packed Arthur Ash Stadium on its feet.
Williams claimed the first break to go 5-4 up but faltered serving for the set and Kontaveit broke back to ensure a tie-break.
The tie-break was of no less quality, Williams clinching it 7-4 in classic fashion with a thundering ace.
But the Estonian would not be intimidated by either Williams or a frothing crowd, grabbing two early breaks in the second set to jump 3-0 in front and easily take the set.
The third got off to a scrappy start with three breaks in the opening four games but two of those would go to Williams. She got in front 4-1 and never let go.
-Reuters
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
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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
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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
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