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Serena Williams into U.S. Open quarterfinals for 10th straight time

By OlympicTalkSep 2, 2018, 5:49 PM EDT
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Esports has no Olympic future with violence, Thomas Bach says Indonesia bids for 2032 Olympics New USOC CEO calls for another shakeup at USA Gymnastics

NEW YORK — Serena Williams reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals in her 10th straight appearance, topping Estonian Kaia Kanepi 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 on Sunday.

Williams finished the first set in just 18 minutes and nearly rallied from two breaks down in the second.

“It wasn’t an easy match at all,” she said. “I was just happy to get through it, to be honest.”

Williams next gets former No. 1 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, the last woman to beat her at the U.S. Open, in the semifinals in 2016.

“I know she has a big game, but I have a big game, too,” Pliskova said after her 6-4, 6-4 win over Australian Ash Barty on Sunday. “There is always a chance for me.”

Williams could then face defending U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens in the semifinals.

The 36-year-old is trying to tie Margaret Court‘s record 24 Grand Slam singles titles with her seventh U.S. Open crown. She dropped her first set of the tournament Sunday, two days after routing sister Venus 6-1, 6-2 in the third round.

Williams played Sunday one day after daughter Olympia‘s first birthday. She missed the 2017 U.S. Open due to that pregnancy, which was followed by complications and multiple surgeries.

“I want [Olympia] to sleep in the bed with me every night,” Williams said. “I heard that’s an awful thing to do. We’re already best friends.”

Williams returned to tournament play in February. She returned to Grand Slam tennis at the French Open in May, withdrawing before a fourth-round match with Maria Sharapova due to a pectoral muscle injury.

Then in July, Williams was runner-up at Wimbledon to German Angelique Kerber.

She is ranked No. 26 after missing tournaments for maternity leave. She was bumped up to the No. 17 seed at the U.S. Open.

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U.S. OPEN: Scores | Men’s Draw | Women’s Draw

Roger Federer rolls at U.S. Open with shot of the tournament around net

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By OlympicTalkSep 1, 2018, 5:50 PM EDT
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NEW YORK — Roger Federer hit a shot so unbelievable that his U.S. Open opponent wanted to Instagram it.

The highlight of Federer’s 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 win over Nick Kyrgios in the third round was a third-set flick around the side net post that topped out at about a foot off the ground.

The winner caused the talented-but-unpredictable Aussie Kyrgios to raise his eyebrows, pop his eyes and drop his jaw.

“I was trying to tell him that the shot wasn’t that good,” Kyrgios said later, smiling. “I’m probably going to place it on Instagram.”

Federer, on course for a quarterfinal showdown with Novak Djokovic, put it among the most spectacular shots of his career.

“Yeah, I mean, it was definitely one of the more unique ones,” he said. “You don’t get an opportunity to hit around the net post very often, because in practice, you — I mean, you can’t really train them.”

The other memorable ones? Federer reeled them off.

“I definitely think it was a special one, no doubt about it,” Federer said of the Kyrgios shot. “I do believe the smash off the smash against Roddick was special just because it was way back in the court, as well. And then there was one more in Dubai against Agassi on break point. I was able to flick a ball. I still don’t know how I did it today. It went for a lob over him. I don’t know. It was just a massive point on top of it, and it was against Andre. And then the one through the legs here against Novak, just because of the magnitude of the shot, as well. I think it was 6-5, love-30. It was just also a big-time moment in the game, which obviously always matters, as well.”

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U.S. OPEN: Scores | Men’s Draw | Women’s Draw

Esports has no Olympic future with violence, Thomas Bach says

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Associated PressSep 1, 2018, 9:58 AM EDT
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Indonesia bids for 2032 Olympics New USOC CEO calls for another shakeup at USA Gymnastics USA Gymnastics USA Gymnastics asks coordinator to resign after contacting Aly Raisman

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach isn’t certain if, or when, esports might be incorporated into the Olympic Games.

But he was clear in an interview with The Associated Press at the Asian Games on Saturday about the need to meet some conditions before being considered.

“We cannot have in the Olympic program a game which is promoting violence or discrimination,” he told the AP. “So-called killer games. They, from our point of view, are contradictory to the Olympic values and cannot therefore be accepted.”

Esports is being held for the first time at the Asian Games as a demonstration sport, and could be a full-medal event in four years in Hangzhou, China.

Could the Olympics be next?

The IOC has been mulling over many of these questions since holding an esports forum in July at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Bach still needs convincing. He won an Olympic gold medal in fencing, which uses swords, and tried to draw a distinction.

“Of course every combat sport has its origins in a real fight among people,” he said. “But sport is the civilized expression about this. If you have egames where it’s about killing somebody, this cannot be brought into line with our Olympic values.”

Asian Games organizers several days ago expressed sympathy for victims of the deadly shooting at a video games tournament in a Florida shopping mall.

They faulted U.S. gun laws, not esports.

“But I think this is a bigger issue of gun control and access to guns,” said Kenneth Fok, president of the Asian Electronic Sports Federation, following the shooting.

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