Which is more difficult: The fierce, furious journey to the top — or trying to stay there?
Caroline Garcia, the 29-year-old from France, has a better understanding of that conundrum than most. Twice, five years apart — against the great odds of professional tennis — she willed herself into the Top 10. And now, after winning last year’s WTA Finals in Fort Worth, she will try to defy gravity a little bit longer than last time.
“It’s obviously a new season, and I can keep all the positive of what happen last year, all the improvement I made,” the World No.4 told reporters before this Australian Open began. “Yeah, get experience I got from two years back, from that point, that place, the ranking and everything, to manage everything better and to keep improving.”
More from Day 3:
On Thursday afternoon at Melbourne Park, Garcia faces Leylah Fernandez in a highly anticipated second-round match in Rod Laver Arena. Fernandez is still only 20 years old, but she, too, knows what it’s like to break through and take a few steps back.
In the wake of her 2021 US Open finals appearance, the Canadian reached as high as No.13. Currently, No. 40, this is a marvelous chance to show that she is, indeed, an elite player.
Hard to believe, but Monday’s 7-5, 6-2 win over Alize Cornet was her first career victory at the Australian Open. Garcia, by contrast, has won 13 matches here, reaching the fourth round in 2018.
Australian Open: Garcia sails into second round
2023 Australian Open
“I see it as a great opportunity, to see where my tennis is at, and to see where I am mentally and physically,” Fernandez said after beating Cornet. “She’s a great tennis player. I feel like she has found her groove once again, and I think it will be an interesting matchup, and I can’t wait to play her.”
The 2022 season was a struggle for Fernandez. She suffered a stress fracture in her foot at Roland Garros, missed all of the grass events and never quite recovered her fitness — and her confidence. She’s healthy again, coming off a pair of victories in Auckland. She’d like to revert to the form of that 2021 US Open, when she beat three Top 5 players.
“I don’t know what my best level is,” Fernandez said. “I just know I want to improve and I want to get better every day and I want to see what my body and mind can do. I just feel ready for the challenges that’s coming in the next round.”
If aggressive, first-strike tennis is your thing, this should be fun. Both players like to step inside the baseline and swing hard.
Garcia looked sharp in a 6-3, 6-0 first-round victory over Canadian qualifier Katherine Sebov. It required only 65 minutes and featured 22 winners, compared to one for Sebov. Last year, ranked No.70, Garcia lost her first-round match to another overlooked qualifier, Hailey Baptiste.
Garcia has that retro look about her. Those three dropped games were her fewest in a major match since 2018 Roland Garros. And, with a win over Fernandez, she could advance to the third round in her third consecutive Grand Slam — a career first.
“It’s a great second round obviously,” Garcia said. “She did great in the Slams in the past, and she’s very young player, very talented lefty, so you don’t play as much as lefty. Yeah, it’s a good challenge. Try to take the second set of today, a good practice tomorrow, and then just go for it and try to be more aggressive than her.”
Here are some more notable second-round matches on Day 4:
No.2 Ons Jabeur vs. Marketa Vondrousova
Jabeur showed some rust in her opener, needing three sets (one of them a tiebreak) to beat Tamara Zidansek. Vondrousova — a former finalist at Roland Garros — also required the maximum, to prevail over Alison Riske-Amritraj. Jabeur holds a 3-1 head-to-head edge, including last year’s three-setter in Stuttgart.
No.5 Aryna Sabalenka vs. Shelby Rogers
Sabalenka began her 2023 season by winning her first four matches in Adelaide — and the first serve at the Australian Open was an ace. She’s the early Hologic WTA Tour leader, with 39 and counting. Sabalenka defeated Tereza Martincova, 6-1, 6-4 in the first round, while Rogers was a 6-4, 6-3 winner against qualifier Arianne Hartono. The head-to-head is 2-0 for Sabalenka, both last year, in S’Hertogenbosch and Cincinnati; two of those five sets went to a tiebreak.
No.9 Veronika Kudermetova vs. qualifier Katie Volynets
Kudermetova pulled out of the Adelaide semifinals a week ago with a left hip injury but managed to get past Maryna Zanevska in straight sets. Volynets, and American qualifier, defeated Evgeniya Rodina. They’ve never met.
No.19 Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Taylor Townsend
Townsend won her first Grand Slam match in three years — and the first since she became a mother — defeating Diane Perry 6-1, 6-1. Alexandrova was a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Ysaline Bonaventure. The two have never met.
No.26 Elise Mertens vs. Lauren Davis
Mertens scored a nice three-set victory over two-time major champion Garbiñe Muguruza in the first round, while Davis came back to beat Danka Kovinic 1-6, 7-5, 6-1. The two have never met, but this could be interesting. In a span of eight days, Davis went 7-0, including qualifying, to win the title in Hobart. She’s already won nine of 10 matches this year.
Varvara Gracheva vs. qualifier Lucrezia Stefanini
Gracheva, ranked No.97, pulled off the biggest upset on the women’s side so far, beating No.8 seed Daria Kasatkina by the emphatic count of 6-1, 6-1. Stefanini also had a surprising win, over Tatjana Maria, a Wimbledon semifinalist last year. They’ve never met in a main-draw match, but Stefanini has a 2-0 career edge, going back to a 2017 ITF event in Tunisia and 2018 qualifying for Prague.
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
