导出博客文章RIO DE JANEIRO -- She was two points from winning her opening match at the Rio Olympics in straight sets against underdog Kristen Flipkens of Belgium, and two points from overcoming a virus that had plagued her since her last tournament in Montreal.
Cheap 49ers Hoodies . But it was bad news for Venus Williams when Flipkens fought back and dragged her into a third set. Now nearly another hour had passed since then, and Williams was clearly reeling in the sticky 80-degree heat.This is how life is now for Venus at age 36. She can beat anyone or lose to anyone on a given day. Flipkens is the 62nd-ranked player in the world. Venus is No. 6 -- her highest world ranking since 2011 -- after a very nice summer. But Saturday night she and Flipkens found themselves in a dogfight for every point. Williams had already taken a long break between the second and third set -- to get sick off court, as it turned out, according to U.S. coach Mary Joe Fernandez.In the end, it was all too much for Williams to overcome. She missed another chance to serve out the match at 5-3 in the third, and Flipkens -- after a couple of hiccups herself -- almost certainly ended Williams Olympics singles career with her 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) win.The question now is whether Williams, who remained too sick and wracked by cramps after the match to meet the press, can rebound in time to play her doubles match with her younger sister Serena Sunday. The Williams sisters have won three of the past four womens doubles gold medals awarded, and Serena is also the defending Olympic singles champ.Id be highly surprised if Venus didnt play, just because its been her goal for the last four years, Fernandez said. Shes really ill right now. Shes dehydrated. She fought so hard tonight, its just too bad she couldnt find a way to get to the finish line. Shes still processing this, but of course its going to be disappointing. Shes been such a terrific champion, to win so many medals. But hopefully she can recover in time and get another one here [with Serena].Knowing Venus, Fernandez said, I think she will.Venus is at the point in her two-decade-long pro career when any year could be her last. Yet something changes about her when she touches down at the Olympics. She has been to five Summer Games now -- more than any tennis player ever. Shes the Grand Dame of her sport. When she showed up here Wednesday with some bright red streaks in her braided hair and enthused about how much she still likes pin trading, she sounded as if she were a giddy kid at her first Olympics.She has talked all summer about how much fun its been to point toward Rio and resume playing doubles again with Serena, something they rarely do on the regular tour anymore because of the toll it can take, and she talked about looking forward to meeting the virtuoso athletes here in other sports. But the reality is many of them swoon when they encounter the Williams sisters. I got to meet Venus and Serena today -- changed my life, American fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad volunteered with a laugh earlier this week, adding it had always been a wish of hers.Until Montreal, it seemed as if Venus had been rejuvenated all summer just knowing the Olympics were sitting out there, waiting. It didnt seem like a coincidence that she had been playing some of her best tennis in years over the past few months.Her advance to the fourth round of the French Open was her deepest run at Roland Garros in six years, and she followed that up a few weeks later by rolling to the semifinals at Wimbledon, her best finish there since 2009.Had she beaten Angelique Kerber instead of losing to her in straight sets, she wouldve set up her first Grand Slam finals showdown against Serena in seven years as well. Which is yet another reason this loss, for Venus, will feel like a blow.She had every reason to like her medal chances coming into Rio, even if French Open champ Garbine Muguruza wouldve awaited her in the quarters, and then Serena in the semis after that. (The Muguruza match wouldve been harder to predict than you might think. Muguruza competes for Spain but she could be especially motivated to win in South Americas first Olympic Games because she was born in Venezuela, and still has plenty of family there. On the other hand, she has been streaky since winning her first career Slam and Venus owns a 3-0 career record against her. Now shell have to wait to see if she can push it to 4-0 somewhere else.)Williams still suffers from Sjogrens syndrome, an unpredictable, fatigue-causing autoimmune disease, though she rarely talks about it much anymore and Fernandez insisted it wasnt what ailed Williams Saturday. Venus never knows when her energy will spike or crash because of the disease. And she never knows when her game will spike and crash just because the years are catching up to her.A few weeks ago, Venus advanced to the final at Stanford. What happened next -- a three-set loss to unheralded Johanna Konta -- underscored the same thing this loss to Flipkens did. Venus can look great and Venus can look highly vulnerable, often within the same match.The difference Saturday was this is the Olympics. Fernandez was right: This defeat hurt worse. If someone as decorated and successful as Venus keeps coming back to the Olympics as often and enthusiastically as she has, it cant be all out of duty or obligation.It must be love.
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Kentavius Street Hoodie . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve.
http://www.cheap49ershoodiesjerseys.com/ .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. CALGARY, Alberta -- After falling behind early on the road, the Tampa Bay Lightning were pleased with the way they responded.Brian Boyle scored two first-period goals and the Lightning beat Calgary 6-3 on Wednesday night to snap the Flames six-game winning streak.Thats a really good team over there. A lot of speed, a lot of skill. Theyre tough to play at home, and theyve been hot, Boyle said. Its never a perfect game, but we made some strides tonight.Alex Killorn also scored twice, the second into an empty net, and Braydon Coburn and Andrej Sustr added goals. Victor Hedman and Valtteri Filppula each had three assists, and Ben Bishop made 19 saves to help Tampa Bay win for only the second time in nine games (2-6-1).I give them credit. I thought they were the hungrier of the two teams and the margins were small and they deserved to get points out of there, Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said.Troy Brouwer, TJ Brodie and Micheal Ferland scored for Calgary.Brouwer had a power-play goal 3:06 into the game before the Lightning tied it at 10:04, converting their first man advantage. With Dougie Hamilton serving a double-minor for high-sticking, Boyle neatly re-directed Hedmans point shot past goalie Chad Johnson.Tampa Bay took the lead for good less than 4 minutes later when Boyle got behind Brodie with a nifty give-and-go with Filppula and beat Johnson with a deke to his backhand.(Hedman) was a monster tonight. Hes such a huge part of our team. Head up on the first one. I just kind of had my stick out in the air and he hits it, sandlot style, Boyle said.Trailing 2-1, the Flames had a couple of good chances to tie it early in the second but Johnny Gaudreau hit the post and good defending from Anton Stralman prevented Ferland from getting away a shot on a breakaway.
Jimmy Garoppolo Hoodie. hortly after, Coburn put the Lightning up 3-1 when his slap shot from the blue line beat Johnson. It was Coburns first goal in 102 games.Sustrs first of the season at 18:47 made it 4-1.It wasnt the start we wanted, but Im pretty happy with the resiliency of our group coming back, Killorn said. You cant always control the way that the game starts, but you can control how you respond to that and I think we responded really well.Gulutzan replaced Johnson with Brian Elliott to open the third. Killorn scored a short-handed goal 37 seconds into the period.There are going to be games where you just dont have it, Brouwer said. Its a shame, because I actually thought we were pretty good to start the game and I liked where we were at, but then we let a couple floater shots from the point get through -- things that are uncharacteristic of us.Game notes The Lightning were without leading scorer Nikita Kucherov (undisclosed), who joined Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan on the sidelines. Then they lost Ondrej Palat (undisclosed) in the second period. ... Cory Conacher, recalled earlier in the day from Syracuse of the AHL, took Kucherovs spot on the line with Tyler Johnson and Palat.... Hedman played in his 500th NHL game. ... Calgarys Sean Monahan had an assist to extend his career-best scoring streak to eight games. He has four goals and six assists during the run, the second-longest active streak in the NHL behind Sidney Crosby (nine games).UP NEXTLightning: Complete their four-day, three-game Canadian trip at Vancouver on Friday night and Edmonton on Saturday night.Flames: Host Columbus on Friday night.
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