Elina Svitolina edges Laura Siegemund in three sets at Tokyo 2020

Elina Svitolina from Ukraine serves during her opening round match with Laura Siegemund of Germany at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 

Elina Svitolina of Ukraine had a lot to deal with in her opening round match at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Sunday. The fourth seed went the distance with Germany’s Laura Siegemund, who forced three sets to be played, losing a close one 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 on Court 1 at the Ariake Tennis Park. 

The two met once back in 2016 with the Ukrainian handling the German in straight sets. This marked Svitolina’s second Olympic appearance in tennis and Siegemund’s first. With experience getting deep into the tournament, the 26-year-old eyed capturing a second win over the German while ending a slump in her game. The world number six struggled in two grand slams and two warm-ups before Wimbledon. With the need to shine on the world stage, Svitolina needed her best to come out against the opposition. 

She and Siegemund tested the waters with one another by forcing deuce with the Ukrainian. They played two breaks where a failed attempt from the German allowed Svitolina to hold serve. She scored a break in the second jumping ahead on the fifth point, but blew her chance for a 3-0 lead. Siegemund hoped to change the tide and consolidate the break with a hold. The Ukrainian notched the double break, but saw herself giving one up as well. 

Despite the loss, she added another for the triple and managed a hold in the seventh to lead 5-2. Siegemund scored a shutout in the eighth, but the damage had been done by the fourth seed, who opened the ninth with three set points. She let two get away, but held onto the one that counted and gave her the first set in 46 minutes. 

The second set saw Siegemund rush through her service game before putting the brakes on Svitolina. It was in the second that the two got into a fight for control with the game going to deuce. Six breaks were played, with Svitolina saving four breakpoint attempts from the German. After much hard work, she got out of a jam and got the notion that the set was going to be a competitive one. 

Siegemund stayed in the lead through seven games with the Ukrainian following closely behind. It was in the eighth that the German made a serious push that gave her a 5-3 lead and a break. Svitolina responded by breaking her back and consolidating it with a hold in the tenth. The German remained strong and took the 11^th after overcoming a 0-40 position and winning it on the first break. With plenty of fight still left, she went on to rack in a break of the Ukrainian to force a third set after 1 hour and 18 minutes. 

Svitolina knew that she couldn’t let Siegemund continue to dictate the match on her terms. After a short break, she turned things up by taking the German for a ride that she had no control over. After three games, it was the 26-year-old well out front right before Siegemund called for the trainer about her lower back. After being taken care of, play resumed with Svitolina serving in the fourth. 

Siegemund came out with a much needed break that got her on the board. Consolidating was an accomplishment the fourth seed didn’t want her to possess. With the break back, Svitolina went for a hold in the sixth and kept Siegemund to a point on her way to a 5-1 stand. The German served to stay alive in the match with a serve to love, but the balls were in the hand of Svitolina, who had a shot to end it. A miscue at the net, a double fault and two good returns from Siegemund only extended the match for the 33-year-old. 

She gained another win on serve, hoping that she could achieve a double break while her opponent struggled. On serve in the tenth, it was Svitolina fighting for control of her serve which came through for her in the late stages of the game that watched her win a place in the second round on Siegemund’s error into the net. It was the 48^th made by the German while Svitolina came close behind with 41. It was a battle that saw both of them struggle to dig in against one another. With the German behind her, Svitolina would try to work out the kinks before her next battle on Tuesday. 

Elena Vesnina outlasts Jelena Ostapenko in three setter at Tokyo 2020

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia gave it her best shot in her Olympic debut but came up short at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics Sunday. Elena Vesnina of the Russian Olympic Committee delivered the blow to the former French Open champion in a three-set win 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-4 on Court 6 at the Ariake Tennis Park. It was the third win for the Russian against Ostapenko and one that moves her forward in singles action. 

The two met twice three years ago with the Russian winning both of their meetings. This was Vesnina’s fourth Olympic appearance and the Latvian’s first. With nerves bound to be a factor for Ostapenko, she’ll hope that her aggressive style of play can work in her first match on the Tokyo courts. Vesnina never made it past the Round of 16 in the WTA tournament but looked to take care of business first having played at the venue in the past. 

Vesnina opened the match with a hold but watched as Ostapenko topped her with a serve to love in the second. They remained locked on each other’s service games, but in the fifth, the Latvian captured a break to take the lead. Consolidating the break in the sixth allowed her a 4-2 hold on the Russian, who knew that another game from her end couldn’t be allowed. She nearly had a serve to love, but the 24-year-old answered with a big crosscourt return. She saved another point, but getting to deuce was foiled on a forced error that brought Vesnina back to a game down. 

She managed to improve her push to fight every ball in the eighth that scored her a break to even the score at four-all. Vesnina achieved a three-game winning streak with a strong service game that put her in a position to try and take the set. Ostapenko tried to fend off the 34-year-old on serve in the tenth, but a second double fault allowed Vesnina to close out the first in 35 minutes. The Russian had a terrific second serve that saw her score on 11 of 12 and only five unforced errors compared to her opponent’s 16. 

With serious leverage going forward, Vesnina opened the second stanza with a hold over Ostapenko. The Latvian struggled on serve, committing another pair of double faults, but getting to deuce to fight for the key point. The two fought through six breaks until it was Vesnina continuing to stay out ahead of Ostapenko. The Latvian wouldn’t let her get a jump and made sure to hold the fourth. 

Vesnina answered with a shutout in the fifth but the Latvian responded with a win that leveled the score at three-all. The Russian kept her best foot forward, scoring another serve to love that gained her back the lead. Ostapenko returned the favor and kept the score even as they reached the business end of the set. Vesnina continued to press forward to set the bar for the Latvian to either clear or trip over with elimination on the line. 

Ostapenko refused to go down on serve and clinched a win in the tenth to press the match onward. Though she kept going, Vesnina was still on a mission and made it 6-5. The Latvian continued to have the right answers against the Russian and held to love to press into action a tiebreak. It was the moment that Ostapenko had her opponent beat when errors began to show more than points won. 

The Latvian had her opponent under pressure with breaks achieved in the tiebreak that led her to four set points and a decider on the horizon after 57 minutes. 

After both players left the court to beat the heat for a short time, they returned with Vesnina earning a quick break from the Latvian. She made it 2-0 fast before Ostapenko reached deep and served the Russian to love. The 24-year-old added a break before winning her third straight on serve with another shutout. Vesnina fought back to keep things level before Ostapenko added another serve to love that gave her the lead. 

Just when it looked like the Latvian would have the moxie to get the win, she fumbled a chance for a breakpoint in the eighth that kept the Russian even once more. Her efforts allowed her to break the 24-year-old and conduct a strong finish in the tenth. Vesnina built up three match points only to watch two of them slip away. Three was the charm for the tennis gold medalist, who clinched it on a ball that ended a 2 hour and 20-minute fight that put her into the second round.  

Garbine Muguruza survives first round onslaught by Veronika Kudermetova at Tokyo 2020

Garbine Muguruza of Spain clenches her first during a first round match against Veronika Kudermetova of the Russian Olympic Committee at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

Spain's Garbine Muguruza somehow found a way to continue at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics Sunday. The Spaniard came out swinging early but ran into a long-lasting fight with Russian Olympic Committee athlete Veronika Kudermetova, who pressed the issue in straight sets but went down 7-5, 7-5 on Court 2 at the Ariake Tennis Park. 

The two met once this year where the Spaniard captured her second win over the Russian and remained hot during the Doha tournament. In her second run at the Olympics, Muguruza eyed doing better on the hard courts of Tokyo, where she had experience playing. Despite her success being years ago, the former world number one looked to have no trouble getting warmed up. 

Muguruza jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the Russian who had struggles with her serve. With her opponent feeling and looking vulnerable, the seventh seed attacked on serve and broke the Russian for the double and a 4-0 grip of the set. Kudermetova did not want to give up another game and in the fifth, gave Muguruza a tremendous challenge. After forcing deuce, the Russian fought with all her might producing two breakpoints in a row. 

The seventh seed fought them off but struggled on the next pair of AD points to close it out. Kudermetova gained a third, but Muguruza fought it off continuing her search. After a total of seven breaks and four break point attempts, the Russian achieved victory with her tenacity paying off and ending the shutout. Kudermetova had a lot to be happy with that led to her consolidating the hard effort with a hold of serve. 

Getting a third from the seventh seed was not in the cards as Muguruza made a statement on serve to make it 5-2. The Russian tried to extend the set further in the eighth and succeeded with big forehand shots that put her two games down. A massive break of the Spaniard gave Kudermetova a lot of force, getting within reach of leveling the seventh seed, who hadn’t given it her best in the last four games. 

The 24-year-old completed the comeback that made it five-all with her running the show against the Spaniard. After five straight losses, Muguruza managed to etch out a win in the 11^th to take the lead and hope to close out the set for her benefit. She had to fight well in the 12^th and on the final point, the Russian made a forehand error that finished a tough first set that lasted 65 minutes. Both players committed 20 unforced errors, but the late push from Muguruza ended a tough outing and a chance to turn her game around for the better. 

Kudermetova didn’t give her anything close to that satisfaction, keeping the heat on to former world number one that earning a place in the second round would prove difficult. The Russian held well in the second and after Muguruza took the step ahead in the third, she pulled off a serve to love in response. By the seventh game, she had taken the edge off Muguruza, who looked to even up in the eighth. 

She gained three break points before two of them got away from her. It was a key error from Kudermetova that clinched another tie between the two. Muguruza had her moment to strike on serve and gain the penultimate 5-4 stand. Gaining a 40-0 run, the Spaniard let a point go before Kudermetova erred to make the score go in favor of the seventh seed. Muguruza had a match point attempt in the tenth but a rally the two ended with the Russian firing a backhand out of the reach of Muguruza to force deuce. After two breaks, it was Kudermetova denying Muguruza another match point opening the door for her to press a third set into play. 

The Spaniard found a way to get out front once more in hopes that she could keep the Russian back and finish her day on the court. An opportunity came to her in the 11^th when the 24-year-old suffered an unforced error that brought up a second match point for Muguruza. She didn’t let it go to waste as the Spaniard clinched the win that was hard-fought, taking two hours and three minutes to accomplish.  

US Women's Rowing Eight make final at Tokyo Olympics

The US Women outdid the men at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic games Saturday. The eights crew from the United States made their way into the final while the men were forced to try again in repechage at the Sea Forest Waterway. New Zealand joined the US women while Germany and the Netherlands were the winners on the men’s side. 

The US Men competed in the first heat with Germany fighting with them for the lead early. At the 500 meter mark, they lead by two tenths with a high stroke rate. The Americans tried to keep a seat lead while trying to add another on the reigning world champions. At the halfway point, they had three seats on Germany and an eight-tenth lead. With 500 meters to go, the Americans kept three seats against Germany, who suddenly picked it up late. 

Germany moved forward and took a seat and more before crossing the line in first, winning by almost a boat length. Team USA’s loss forced them into the repechage once more despite putting a good fight on the water. Following Germany into the final were the Netherlands,  who went wire to wire in the three-boat heat. The defending champions from Great Britain finished third and were forced to fight for a return in the repechage with New Zealand. 

The American women competed in heat two with Romania and Australia. The defending champions trailed as both the Aussies and the European champions came out with a higher stroke rate. After crossing the 500-meter mark, the Americans got into another gear to press the issue. They leveled with the Romanians prior to the halfway point. With a slight lead, Team USA picked up wonderfully gaining two seats. 

Australia was trailing back enough to make it a two-boat race with 500 to go. The US had a two-second lead on Romania with 500 to go, who moved faster than the Americans but were too far back. The United States women managed to finish comfortably with a three-seat lead to qualify for the final. The world champions from New Zealand, who were out of it during a majority of the race but overtook China and Canada in the final 500 meters. 

China picks up first gold medal of Tokyo 2020 in Womens 10m Air Rifle

China's Qian Wang focused her breathing and aiming to secure the Tokyo 2020 Olympic's first gold medal. 

The Women’s 10m Air Rifle had quite a close finish at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Saturday. China’s Qian Yang won the gold medal, setting a new Olympic record scoring 251.8 at the Asaka Shooting Range. Anastasiia Galashina of the Russian Olympic Committee took second, with Nina Christen of Switzerland taking the bronze. 

In qualifications, eight women made it through to the final, with Norwegian Jeanette Duestad leading the competition with 632.9 points setting a new Olympic qualifying record. South Korea’s Heemon Park finished second 1.2 points behind, and American Mary Tucker coming in third. Tucker and teammate Alison Weisz made the final two for Team USA that kept out defending Olympic champion Ginny Thrasher, who came up short and was designated an alternate. Weisz didn’t make the top eight and finished 14^th scoring 626.9 points. 

After the first knockout, Galashina finished first, with Duestad down by four-tenths of a point. With Park out of the competition, Tucker sat on the bubble to make it into the next round or fall out of the fight for a podium finish. She shot a 10.9 while Eunji Kwon shot a 10.3 that tied them at 145.4 for a shoot-off. The two both shot a 10.4 that forced them to do it again to determine a winner. Tucker shot a 10.8 while Kwon scored 10.5, taking another South Korean shooter out of the running. 

While it was a thrilling fight, Tucker came up short in the third elimination to finish sixth. Yang stayed at the top through two rounds, with Christen trailing in second. 18-year-old Oceanne Muller was the last teen to be out of the competition, with Galashina taking back the lead as one of four left shooting. Duestad was on the bubble and scored 10.4 to end up in the fourth position. 

Galashina, Yang, and Christen remained with four shots left to determine which one received a color medal. Christen took the bronze with a final score of 230.6 with Yang trailing Galashina by a tenth. With two shots to go, it was still very close with a tenth of a point differential on shots. It came down to the last one and with a two-tenths lead, Galashina blew it with an 8.9, and Yang scoring a 9.8 to take the gold medal. 

Tokyo 2020 opens with stunning opening ceremony

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Japan welcomed the world with a fantastic performance at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium Friday night. Honoring the heroes that saved lives during the pandemic and the athletes who made it to the Olympics, the opening ceremony was filled with Japanese tradition, extreme technology, and a beautiful finish with the Olympic cauldron lit. 

The Opening ceremony began with a video montage showing the years between when the city was awarded the games in 2013 to when everything stopped. The last section showed athletes working out in their homes for the past 17 months leading to the traditional countdown that opened up the show. 

The ceremony began with men and women on exercise equipment and some doing exercises manually. The performance changed to a group that used red strings to express connecting the dots and the strings of a human heart. 

The Japanese flag was brought into the stadium as well as the introduction of IOC President Thomas Bach and Japanese Emperor Naruhito. Misia earned the honor to sing the country’s national anthem as the flag was raised. A noteworthy moment occurred when the IOC made a tribute to acknowledge the loss of life due to the Coronavirus and the tragedy that occurred at the 1972 Olympics when 11 Israeli athletes were killed by the terrorist group Black September. 

The ceremony turned into the creative portion with Japan showing its traditional styles beginning with its love for ancient Japanese wood carving. It led to a significant moment where the wood on center stage was from seeds that athletes of the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo planted and grew. Giant wooden circles were rolled out that soon led to the traditional formation of the Olympic rings. Embed from Getty Images  

The parade of athletes began with Greece coming in first even though the remaining 205 nations would come in using the Japanese alphabet. As a sign of gender equality, each country had a man and a woman carry in the flag if both genders had competitors representing. Embed from Getty Images  

Preceding the oath of fair judging and play, the show continued with children moving colorful blocks into the center to create the logo of the Tokyo Olympics. In the sky flew 1,800 drones in the same shape as a logo before taking colors as a globe in the sky. Back down below sang a chorus of young Japanese people singing John Lennon’s Imagine. Videos then showed an individual from every continent taking part in the song. Representing North America was John Legend and Keith Urban representing Oceana. Alejandro Sanz sang as part of Europe and Angelique Kidjo for Africa.

Speeches from the Tokyo organizing committee and IOC President Thomas Bach express their appreciation that the youth of the world made it to Tokyo for the Olympics in the middle of a pandemic. The honor then went to Emperor Naruhito, who opened the games of Tokyo with a fireworks display soon after. 

The Olympic flag was carried in by six athletes who were essential workers of Japan as an honor of their hard work during the pandemic. A high school choir from the region of Fukushima that was devastated a decade ago from an earthquake and tsunami sung the Olympic Anthem while the flag was raised by armed services of Japan.

We're obsessed with these human pictograms! 😂

Which sport was your favourite? #Tokyo2020 #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/WgArDJEJGF

— Olympics (@Olympics) July 23, 2021

 

The peace symbol of doves was flown in digitally while paper doves fell upon the athletes. A video followed that up with the origin of the pictograms that were created to represent the sports of the Olympics back in 1964. After showing pictograms from every summer Olympics since performers made every pictogram live on stage. 

Japanese comedians then took over before lights were turned on in some of Tokyo’s famous venues in a welcome to the world. The show then spotlighted Kabuki with famous jazz pianist Hironi playing solo to the world. A video of the Olympic torch’s journey from Olympia in Greece through the Japanese countryside to the stadium. 

The circle around the stadium with the torch was represented by Olympians, Paralympians, former baseball stars of Japan. A doctor, nurse, and children from the region of the 2011 earthquake helped with bringing the Olympic flame closer to its rightful place. Tennis star Naomi Osaka was given the biggest honor of lighting the cauldron that concluded the nearly four-hour ceremony.  

Ons Jabeur flushes Garbine Muguruza in three set upset

Garbine Muguruza saw the fire in her game doused at the Championships Wimbledon Friday. After two quick wins, it was Ons Jabeur, who had the moxie to fight her through every game and come through in three sets 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 on center court at the All England Tennis Club. 

The two met back in Hobart in January 2020 for the first time. The Spaniard got the best of the Tunisian, giving her a shot at doing so again. Muguruza was on fire on the grass courts of SW19, allowing six-game wins to her opponents in the first two rounds. During the first week of the tournament, the rain hadn’t affected her pace as she finished her conquest before it could fall. Facing Jabeur this year saw a different output as the 26-year-old grabbed her maiden WTA title before the slam. With magnificent work on grass, her skills had the ability to knock down the former champion. 

Muguruza opened with a break to love of the Tunisian before her service game was challenged in the second. Jabeur pressed the Spaniard with a breakpoint for herself before deuce was forced by the server. The 11^th seed denied her another one before she locked down the service on the second break. The 21^st seed followed suit with a hold of serve, but her attack of Muguruza’s second serve opened a chance to level in the fourth. Muguruza answered to force deuce and hold back the 26-year-old for a 3-1 lead. 

Jabeur held in the fifth and added a break of the Spaniard to level the score through six games. Backing up the break on serve in the seventh gave the Tunisian a 4-3 hold of Muguruza, who was on a three-game slide. She ended the offensive run of her opponent by maintaining service in the eighth that leveled them once again. The 11^th seed scored a key break that put her in a position to serve for the set with Jabeur making small mistakes. 

Muguruza slipped and fell twice in the tenth that led to Jabeur gaining breakpoints. The 27-year-old attempted to fight them off and achieved deuce, but it was her opponent still holding the reins. Jabeur produced four more breakpoints through the game that saw them play out 13 points in the longest competition of the set. Muguruza managed to break back in the 11^th, hoping to avoid a tiebreak and make her second try to close the set out. 

Reaching two set points, Muguruza comfortably had her serve in check and took the set in 56 minutes. Each one did better than the other on serve with Muguruza besting from the first and Jabeur from the second. It remained even with the Tunisian making just a little bit more errors in the set. 

She opened the second with a hold of serve against Muguruza, who was set to push the 21^st seed. They remained on serve through seven games until the eighth when Jabeur stayed composed to go for the break. Muguruza made a critical error that brought a breakpoint for the Tunisian, who went on to take a 5-3 lead. She served for the set in the ninth but trailed 0-40. Jabeur found a way to force deuce and reached a set point where a long ball return from Muguruza clinched a decider into play after 46 minutes. 

The 21^st seed was the better player when scoring points from the first and second serves. Playing from the net was a comfortable position for Jabeur, who tallied ten winners and only six unforced errors. The Tunisian had Muguruza rattled when she broke her to open the third set. The 26-year-old consolidated the break with a hold, taking a 2-0 stance. The Spaniard tried to avoid going down a double break, but the effort put in by Jabeur made it so difficult. Jabeur produced six breakpoints, but Muguruza denied her each time before her fight paid off to hold serve. 

Jabeur held to make it 3-1 but it took all the energy possible when it came to fighting the Spaniard on serve. The 21^st seed brought up a breakpoint at 40-15, but Muguruza fought back to force deuce. She was once again fighting to hold from her end but struggled to keep Jabeur back. After four breaks and three more chances for the Tunisian to break, she captured the break on Muguruza to go up 4-1.

The 26-year-old found some comfort knowing that she had Muguruza down by a sizable margin. Her short attempt to break back failed as an error made it 5-1 and Jabeur playing for the match. Muguruza refused to give the win on serve, holding her off with brilliant shots. The 21^st seed had her chance to serve for a place in the round of 16. The nerves got to Jabeur, who had a match point, and went to the back of the court to vomit. She quickly recovered to play on deuce, reach a second match point and play a long rally to win on a winner that gave her the big victory in 2 hours and 25 minutes.