Fans barred from Tour de France stage finishes
Azarenka and Osaka have unfinished business at U.S. Open final
CLERMONT FERRAND, France, (Reuters) - No spectators will be allowed at any of the finishes of the Tour de France’s stages as the race heads through regions labelled as coronavirus “red zones”, organisers said yesterday.
“The system will sensibly be the same as on Paris-Nice,” Yann Le Moenner, the director general of Tour owners Amaury Sport Organisation, told Reuters.
In March, no spectators were allowed at the finish of the Paris-Nice race, with a no-spectator line drawn 300 metres from the finish line, and within 100 metres from the start podium.
The measure is intended to prevent mass gatherings as fears grow in France of a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. French administrative regions, known as departments, are classified as red zones when the spread of COVID-19 infections is high, with more than 50 new cases recorded per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days.
The number of new, confirmed COVID-19 cases in France rose by 9,406 over the last 24 hours, the country’s health ministry said yesterday, to stand at a total of 363,350.
The number of COVID-19 deaths also climbed by 40 over the last 24 hours, to reach a total of 30,893.
France’s has the seventh- highest COVID-19 death toll in the world.
NEW YORK, (Reuters) - Victoria Azarenka and Naomi Osaka were set for a title clash two weeks back before the Japanese withdrew due to injury but the former world number ones will have another chance to establish supremacy during today’s U.S. Open women’s singles final.
A left hamstring injury forced the 22-year-old Osaka to pull out from the final of the Western & Southern Open, which was played at the Grand Slam venue at Flushing Meadows this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Very excited about that (final). I’m as excited as I was last time,” Azarenka told reporters after taking down Serena Williams in Thursday’s semi-final at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“I’m sure this time we’re going to get to play and it’s going to be a great match. I think it’s going to be an amazing final, I hope it will be. I’ll have fun.”
There has been no lack of fun for Azarenka at this year’s U.S. Open even without the presence of fans as she has smiled and bobbed her head along to music during changeovers while maintaining a high intensity on the court.
On the other hand Osaka, who has a 2-1 lead over Azarenka in completed matches, has displayed lasersharp focus, perpetuated by her activism for the Black Lives Matter protests.
During the last two weeks, she has walked out on court for each of her matches wearing a different facemask carrying the name of a Black American to highlight racial injustice in the United States.
“I do think it’s a very big motivating factor for me just to try to, like, get the names out to as many people as I can,” she said after Thursday’s win. “So I’m not sure if that’s giving me extra power. Definitely I want more people to talk about it.”
Azarenka and Osaka are unbeaten since the resumption of tennis after a lengthy shutdown due to COVID-19 but that run will end for one of them on Saturday.
Both players have repeatedly spoken about approaching games with a new mindset at this year’s U.S. Open and Osaka was expecting a tough final.
“She seems really confident now. She’s moving well,” the Japanese said of her opponent, who picked up her first win of the year at the Western & Southern Open.
Azarenka, who is nine years older than Osaka, won her two Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013 - the same years she finished runner-up at the U.S. Open to Williams.
The Japanese, who moved to the U.S. as a three-yearold, has also won the same number of major titles - the first at Flushing Meadows in 2018 and a second consecutive Grand Slam in Melbourne the following year.
“She’s a very, very powerful player. She’s a great champion,” Azarenka said of Osaka. “She’s won two already. Aren’t we both looking for a third one?”