Singles draw shows mothers on tour now more common.
LONDON — When Serena Williams steps out on Centre Court to play Evgeniya Rodina in Wimbledon’s fourth round today, it will be a rare meeting of mom vs. mom.
Such matchups could happen with greater frequency as parenthood becomes increasingly popular on the women’s tennis tour. There were a half-dozen mothers in the singles main draw at the All England Club this year: 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams; another former No. 1 and two-time major champ, Vic- toria Azarenka; plus Rodina, Kateryna Bondarenko, Tatjana Maria and Vera Zvonareva.
Two more moms entered the doubles event, Mandy Minella and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. A ninth, Patty Schnyder, lost during qualifying for singles.
“At different points, we’ve had one or two mothers at a time. And then it’s grown to three or four mothers. And now we’ve seen that we have more, at present, than we’ve had in the past. There was Margaret Court.Evonne Goolagong. (Kim) Clijsters,” said Kathleen Stroia, WTA senior VP for sport sciences and medicine, naming mothers who won Grand Slam titles.
“The difference,” she said, “is that now it’s certainly something that is becoming common.”
Williams is competing in her second major tournament since having a daughter, Olympia, last September. Motherhood is an important part of who she is now.
The 36-year-old American has spoken openly about a health scare during childbirth. About gaining weight while breast-feeding. About the joysofbringing her child onsite to a tournament for
Wimbledon
mentality.
“We’re not scared of anyone,” Pavard said. “We’ve been confident from the start and we’re not asking any questions of ourselves.”
Confident coaching: Deschamps made bold decisions to start Pavard on the right and Lucas Hernandez on the left. The pair, both 22, have only 20 international appearances between them but are playing with good composure.
In Belgium, there were doubts about Roberto Martinez’s ability to transfer the country’s individual talent into a collective force. Fans welcomed his arrival in August 2016 with lukewarm enthusiasm because he’d only recently been fired by Everton in the Premier League.
His tenure began with a 2-0 home loss to Spain, but since then Belgium is unbeaten in 23 games and has scored 78 goals — being held scoreless in only one of those games. With former France striker Thierry Henry as an assistant coach, Belgium leads the scoring in Russia with 14 goals in its five World Cup matches.
“He’s given the team the desire to attack,” French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet said of Henry’s influence on the Belgian team. “The forwards go to see him. He’s held in high esteem.”
Martinez’s tactics have stood out, too.
With Belgium trailing Japan 2-0 in the round of 16, Martinez replaced two wide players with two midfielders and they both scored.
Lloris vs. Courtois: Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and France No. 1 Hugo Lloris could be busy.
Lloris has been criticized during the past year after errors for France and Tottenham.
In France’s World Cup opener against Australia, he let a long shot go past him and watched in relief as it hit the crossbar. But Lloris appeared to be at his commanding best in the quarterfinal win over Uruguay, rushing off his line to push away a low cross and later making a superb low save.
Belgium has height and heading ability in defenders Vincent Kompany and Jan Vertonghen and Marouane Fellaini.
Courtois entered the tournament as one of the top goalkeepers and has enhanced reputation with an outstanding quarterfinal performance against Brazil.
French striker Olivier Giroud thinks Lloris has the edge over Courtois, his club teammate at Chelsea.
“They’re both very good on their line, but Hugo is more explosive,” Giroud said. “The best is Hugo. Sorry, Thibaut.”
Meunier out: Belgium must cope without defender Thomas Meunier, whose runs down the flank are a key part of Belgium’s attack. Meunier is suspended after tripping Brazil star Neymar and earning a second yellow card of the tournament. In Meunier’s absence, Martinez may scrap his 3-5-2 formation with wingbacks, and instead switch to a back four in a more compact defense.