Monthly Archives: August 2021

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Sporting Life: Grand Slam immortality beckons Djokovic at the US Open - The Straits Times

Serena Williams plays a return during a match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich at Wimbledon in June. Williams will not compete in the U.S. Open because of a hamstring injury. (Kristy Wigglesworth / Associated Press)

In the end, it wont really matter if Serena Williams wins another Grand Slam singles title and matches Margaret Courts recognized record of 24.

Williams, who spent part of her childhood playing on public tennis courts in Compton alongside her sister Venus, has won so many championships so decisively and on so many surfaces that her superiority is beyond dispute. Shes chasing a number, not immortality. She earned immortality long ago, when her power game allowed her to dominate the court and redefine what womens tennis could be.

The same drive that propelled her to the pinnacle of the sport has kept her going when her body balks under stress and strain, as it has done with sadly increasing frequency.

A hamstring injury she suffered at Wimbledon led her to withdraw from the U.S. Open, which will begin Monday in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Her thigh was heavily taped during the French Open, where she lost in the round of 16, and she had to retire during the first set of her first-round match at Wimbledon after slipping and injuring her hamstring. It has become a familiar and frustrating refrain for Williams, who will turn 40 on Sept. 26.

Its been a tough year because out of the four Grand Slams, shes been able to play only the Australian Open, her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou said in a phone interview. First of all, shes sad because its a Grand Slam, and second its the home Grand Slam. So, two main reasons for being sad.

For a long while, Williams did well at fending off times inevitable toll. She pulled off a near miracle to reach the finals of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2018, and again in 2019 after enduring a perilous 2017 pregnancy that was complicated by a caesarean section and blood clots. She reached the semifinals of the Australian Open this year, where she lost to eventual champion Naomi Osaka.

But then came the injuries and the uncertainty over when she will return, much less whether she can return to top form. Its no consolation, but shes not alone in facing medical issues that have limited her match play: Roger Federer, newly 40, said two weeks ago he would need a third surgery on his right knee and will be out of tennis for many months. Rafael Nadal, a relatively spritely 35, withdrew from the U.S. Open because of a chronic foot problem.

Story continues

Without them, the bright lights of New York will be undeniably dimmer. Each time they play is an occasion to be celebrated. Each time they withdraw or retire is a wish unfulfilled.

Hopefully she goes out on her terms, retired tennis star John McEnroe, now an ESPN commentator, said during a conference call held before Williams' withdrawal from the Open. Either way, she's the greatest female player in my book that has ever played, one of the greatest athletes, period, that's ever played. I don't think she's got to worry about whether she wins another one. But I'm sure that she would love to be able to do that, if possible.

Mouratoglou said the calendar didnt allow Williams enough time to heal and prepare for the Open after she slightly tore her hamstring at Wimbledon, and a setback cost her two additional weeks of recovery time. They were reluctant to push her for fear of doing long-term damage.

Serena Williams waves as she leaves the court after retiring from the women's singles first round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich at Wimbledon in London on June 29. (Kirsty Wigglesworth / Associated Press)

He says he believes shes best left alone for now to adjust to missing the Open and accepting that her body will no longer obey her commands. First of all, it is going to work out. We know its just a question of weeks, he said. We know also that if the U.S. Open would take place maybe three weeks later, she would be ready. So its just a question of time, so no particular stress there.

The only question is whats next, and in order to answer that question I think its important to digest what just happened because its still a big shock and a disappointment for her, and we decided that well take a bit of time and within the next month, we will sit down again and discuss about the future.

That could put the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, which was rescheduled for Oct. 4-17, on her radar. For the moment all the options are possible, Mouratoglou said. We have to just know what are the goals for the future and then, when we know what the goals are, we can go with a plan. Without a goal we cannot make a plan.

He acknowledged that he didnt ask her if those goals include returning to elite level play. Again, we didnt speak about it, so its difficult for me to answer that question, he said. We didnt discuss it because we had a plan, and that was to play this U.S. Open, and we were focusing on that. And then we just discussed playing it or not and we took the decision.

And again, you know, to think about the future, whether its with or without tennis, I dont know, she needs to again digest and take some distance with tennis to think right. She needs that time. She will get that time, and then well talk.

McEnroe, who retired from tour singles play at 33, marveled at Williams longevity but wondered if she has experienced the duress he felt late in his career. I noticed at least with myself that the older I got in a way I felt more pressure and felt like my days were numbered. It ended up, like, hurting me as opposed to that experience you can use to your advantage, he said.

It seems that that wasn't an issue until maybe Serena came back from having her child, maybe sensing she wasn't going to have a lot of opportunities. Even though she's had four [Slam final berths], she wasn't able to play to the level that she normally plays at. Why that was, that's difficult to say.

Given the depth on the womens tour which is loaded with players who consider her an idol its difficult to imagine Williams will win another Slam singles title. All good fortune to her while she chases her dreams, but she should know she doesnt have to chase a record to be considered the greatest in the game. Shes already there, proudly, fiercely, immovably.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Elliott: Serena Williams' coach on recovery from her latest injury: 'It's going to work out' - Yahoo News

You are a product of all who came before you, a wise woman tells Shang-Chi in the movies trailer, and she doesnt know how right she is: Shang-Chi is another shrink-wrapped Disney product, and it could only exist after a busload of white superheroes got their turn first. On the outside, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a Marvel-tinged ode to wuxia, the enduring Chinese subgenre of martial arts fantasybut on the inside, its just another compromise between underrepresented talent and overpaid producers.

The closest Shang-Chi gets to the movies its pretending to honor is the casting of Tony Leung, frequent muse of Wong Kar-wai and one of the greatest actors alive. He plays Wenwu, otherwise known as the Mandarinno, not Iron Man 3s fakeout villain, the real one this timean immortal warlord whos spent thousands of years conquering everything he pleases. He gains his immortality from ten magical rings that he wears like bracelets, a fact he doesnt seem to mind sharing with the world, given that he names his army the Ten Rings. Eventually, he has a sonShang-Chi himselfwho he trains to take his place, but Shang-Chi elects to abscond to the U.S. and live the American dream: working as a valet with Awkwafina.

READ ALSO: 4 upcoming Marvel movie releases to watch in 2021

The film introduces us to Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) at this stage in his life. Hes happy shooting the breeze with his best friend Katy (Awkwafina), but their lives are thrown into chaos when the Ten Rings comes looking for Shang-Chi, and Katy refuses to leave his side. Their journey kicks off with a crackerjack action sequence on a moving bus, where both Katy and the audience get to see Shang-Chis martial arts prowess for the first time. Simu Liu, who worked as a stuntman before finding success as an actor, brings real, physical weight to the action, throwing his body around with visible but practiced exertion. The fighting is impressive in general, thanks in part to the choreography of Brad Allen, a veteran Jackie Chan choreographer who died weeks before Shang-Chis release. His work features plenty of clever moves thatll ingrain themselves firmly in the popular imagination. The camera does its best to capture it all, swiveling around the action on a pre-visualized path, but Shang-Chi never comes close to the intricately edited action of authentic wuxia films. The cinematographer and editors are a little out of their depth here, which is clearer than ever when they slot into their comfort zones for a third-act CGI slugfest. The more planning an action scene requires, the less creative itll be.

The action descends into Marvels business-as-usual as the film progresses, but the screenplay is choked up in a suit and tie from the start. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is as lazily written as these things get. The worst offender is the protagonists case of Captain Marvel syndrome: he doesnt have a real arc. From the moment we meet Shang-Chi, hes a Chosen One with a heart of gold, having chosen to leave his vices behind before the story even started. His path to heroism is a mere matter of being The Guy at The Right Time. The screenplayonce again overfocused on the retrieval of conflict-solving artifactsis replete with decisions that rob us of chances to get to know the characters better. Wenwu gets an effective, small-scale rationale for his villainy, but Shang-Chi and Katy are stock characters from head to toe. This is another adventure of the (initially) reluctant hero and his plucky comic relief. And they definitely dont have feelings for each other.

The most distinctive element of Shang-Chi is its score. Director Daniel Cretton made the shrewd choice to collaborate with composer Joel P. West, who scored Crettons infinitely smaller (and highly recommended) debut, Short Term 12. The result is a score that, like Short Term 12s, buries deeper into a single motif over time, rejecting epic bombast in favor of subtle melodic developments. Its beautiful, and it makes you wish the rest of the film followed suit. The Asian myths that Shang-Chi draws from have incredible storytelling potential. But Disney doesnt really draw from myths; it literalizes them, flattening bits and pieces into command-findable lore for their latest property. Marvel Studios doesnt have a sense of the reciprocal interplay between myth and culture. It does, however, know how to appropriate cultures to build its own. The cast and crew of Shang-Chi might have put genuine care into the movie, but the business directive of expanding the Marvel kingdom is the supreme creative force.

(3/5)

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Review: 'Shang-Chi' is another shrink-wrapped Disney product - AZ Big Media