Serena sharp in reaching doubles semifinals at Eastbourne
Serena Williams might yet win a title in her first comeback event.
The American star moved into the semifinals of the women’s doubles at Eastbourne, England, by partnering Ons Jabeur to a 6-2, 6-4 win over Shuko Aoyama and Chan Haoching on Wednesday.
And, ahead of playing in the singles at Wimbledon next week, there were signs that the 40-year-old Williams is regaining some sharpness after nearly a year out.
Like the back-to-back pick-up shots off her toes early in the first set. Like the three straight aces on break points in the second game of the second set.
Indeed, Williams’ serve — the biggest the women’s game has ever seen — was increasingly impressive when under the pump, and it was the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion who served out the match.
On the five break points she faced, she sent down four aces and one unreturnable serve.
So, her competitive preparation for Wimbledon will take in at least one more match. In the semifinals, Williams and Jabeur will face Magda
Linette and Aleksandra Krunic, who dispatched
the second-seeded pair of
Gabriela Dabrowski and
Giuliana Olmos 6-1, 6-3.
Elsehwere: Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep booked their places in the quarterfinals of the Bad Homburg Open while Sabine Lisicki continued her winning comeback. Defending champion Kerber, seeded third, defeated Lucia Bronzetti 6-2, 6-3 to set
up a meeting with Alize Cornet, who won 7-6 (4),
6-4 against Tatjana Maria. Halep powered past
Tamara Zidansek 6-0, 6-3 to continue her solid start to the grass-court season after reaching the semifinals in Birmingham last week. Next up for the
Romanian player is Amanda Anisimova, who needed just 50 minutes to beat fellow American Ann Li 6-0, 6-2.
ETC.
Obituary: Tony Siragusa, a Super Bowl-winning NFL defensive tackle and television personality whose massive physique was matched by his outsize public persona, has died at age 55. The Baltimore Ravens, for whom he starred from 1997 to 2001, said that he passed away “unexpectedly” Wednesday morning. A cause of death was not immediately made known. … Ravens linebacker Jaylon Ferguson died Tuesday evening at the age of 26. The cause of death has yet to be determined. “This is a tremendously sad day for the Baltimore Ravens,” the team said of the two deaths.
Swimming: Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh won the women’s 200 butterfly for her first title at the world swimming championships before 17-year-old Romanian
David Popovici claimed his second. They still have some way to go to match
Katie Ledecky, who claimed her 18th gold at a worlds by helping the United States win the women’s 4x200 freestyle. The 25-year-old Ledecky now has 21 medals, extending her record for the most among female swimmers in the competition.