45-year-old Venus Williams makes stunning comeback in Washington Open
Also Read: Carlos Alcaraz joins list of marquee withdrawals from Canadian OpenAfter the match, Venus joked that she wished she could have teamed up with her sister Serena instead of Baptiste, who is ranked No. 50 in the world.'I think from the first point I could see that we were going to be a good team. We just should have started playing earlier, years ago, right? I think Serena was just in the way,' Venus added.Venus, making her return to doubles after three years, has previously won 14 Grand Slam titles in women's doubles alongside her sister Serena, with the Williams sisters dominating the sport for many years.On Tuesday, July 22, Venus will face fellow American Peyton Stearns in the opening round of the women's singles.She's also set to compete in the upcoming edition of the US Open. On Monday, the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) released the list of 25 teams entered in the reimagined 2025 US Open mixed doubles championship, scheduled for August 19-20, just before the main singles tournament begins.Amongst the entrants, Venus has teamed up with fellow American Reilly Opelka, with the pair aiming to make the final cut for the mixed doubles' event.- EndsMust Watch
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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Following Venus Williams' comment on health insurance, here's what to know about athlete coverage
Venus Williams' recent singles win at the D.C. Open showcased her longevity and brought attention to health coverage for aging athletes following a joking comment she made in an on-court interview. Following Venus Williams' comment on health insurance, here's what to know about athlete coverage 'I had to come back for the insurance,' the five-time Wimbledon champion said after Tuesday's match, her first in 16 months. 'They informed me this year that I'm on COBRA, so it's like, I got to get my benefits on.' The 45-year-old Williams, who has won seven major singles titles in her career, became the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match in professional tennis with Tuesday's victory. After losing on Thursday, she acknowledged that her comment on health insurance was a 'fun and funny moment.' The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, more commonly referred to as COBRA, allows Americans to stay on their employer's insurance plan for a limited amount of time after leaving their job. It comes with high costs. Williams' comment led to questions about health insurance in the sports world. For most active professional athletes, partially or fully subsidized health insurance is provided by their league or governing body and guaranteed in their collective bargaining agreement. A CBA is an agreement reached between a league and its players that guarantees certain levels of player compensation and benefits, and can be renegotiated every few years. So when athletes are playing, they're usually covered. But Williams, coming back to the sport after a 16-month hiatus, brought to light how long that insurance lasts — or doesn't last — for athletes when they're not playing. In the WTA, the governing body of the women's tour, players are eligible to enroll in the health insurance plan if they are ranked in the top 500 in singles or top 175 in doubles and have played a minimum of three WTA 250 level or above tournaments that year. If players are in the top 150 in singles or top 50 in doubles, the WTA will pay a portion of the premiums. If a player is no longer eligible under those requirements, they can enroll in COBRA for up to 18 months, which is likely the situation that Williams was referencing. That is also the WTA's only option for retiring players. 'Nobody wants to be on COBRA, right?' Williams said after her second-round loss on Thursday night. 'That remains an issue in my life … Obviously a fun and funny moment, but it's an issue that people are dealing with, so it is serious.' The ATP provides health insurance to men's tennis players who rank in the top 250 in singles or top 50 in doubles. All other players with a ranking point are given the opportunity to purchase health insurance through the ATP's provider. For retired players, the only option is COBRA for up to three years. As an individual sport without a CBA, golf tours vary. They do have a group insurance plan that is available to active members of the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champions and the Korn Ferry Tour . For players who meet certain 'performance criteria,' including how many tournaments they played and how often they won, the PGA will partially subsidize the plan. In retirement, players are responsible for their own insurance. Some players join the PGA Tour Champions after the PGA Tour and play into their mid-60s, during which they maintain coverage. Top players can receive a subsidy from the PGA in retirement. The LPGA Tour, the women's professional golf tour, started offering its players fully funded health insurance for the first time this year. Before this year, players were given a $4,000 stipend. NBA players have access to one of the most inclusive insurance plans in retirement. If they played at least three years in the league, retired NBA players are eligible for fully-funded health insurance in retirement, and if they played at least 10 years, they will have healthcare covered for their entire family. WNBA players are fighting for retirement healthcare as part of their new CBA, which they are currently negotiating with the league. Those negotiations have been heated, and the most recent meeting between the two sides last weekend did not result in an agreement. One unique facet of the W's healthcare is that athletes who have spent more than eight years in the league can be reimbursed up to $20,000 a year for costs related to adoption, surrogacy, egg freezing or additional fertility treatments. The NFL has less long-term coverage for retirees than most other team sport leagues — athletes who played in the league for at least three years can remain on the NFL health insurance plan, but only for five years into retirement. NHL players who have played more than 160 games with the league, which is about two seasons, are eligible to buy NHL health insurance for their retirement. The retirement insurance plan is eligible for partial subsidization from the league. Baseball players who spent at least four years in the league have the option to pay premiums to stay on the MLB's healthcare plan indefinitely. Minor League Baseball has its own separate CBA, which also guarantees health insurance for active players. In the minors, however, players who get cut or leave the league lose coverage at the end of that month. sports: /hub/sports This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
These stats show decline in Bumrahs bowling speed during day 3 at Manchester
Manchester [UK], July 26 (ANI): India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah's bowling has evidently seen a decline in speed in the Test series against England. Bumrah had a largely forgettable day on the field during day three of the match. He finished the day with 15 overs bowled, 48 runs conceded and just one wicket of wicketkeeper Jamie Smith to show for. His overall spell reads, 1/95 in 28 overs taking into account his bowling on day two. Notably, during this series, there has been a decline in the number of 140-plus kmph balls delivered by Bumrah. The pacer, who is only featuring in three Tests of the series, bowled 106 such deliveries out of 266 total deliveries bowled at Headingley, 39.84 per cent of his total balls were above 140-plus kmph. He took a five-wicket haul in the first innings, but went wicketless in the second while defending 371 runs unsuccessfully. At Lord's during the third Test, 69 of Bumrah's 257 balls (26.84 per cent) were 140-plus kmph. In this Test, he took a first innings fifer, following it with two more wickets in the second innings. But India lost by 22 runs, failing to chase 193 runs. Now, during the fourth Test at Old Trafford, Bumrah could bowl only one ball above 140-plus kmph out of a total of 173, barely (0.57 per cent). While he had missed the Edgbaston Test after playing at Leeds to prepare himself for Lord's, Bumrah has pulled a back-to-back with Lord's and Old Trafford Tests, with eight days in between the Tests. Bumrah notably struggled with his fitness during the second session. After the new ball was taken in the 91st over, Bumrah could bowl only one over with it, going for 11 runs before walking off the field. As per Sky Sports, Bumrah returned to the field in the 98th over, which was bowled by Shardul Thakur, but was hobbling a bit, after jolting his left ankle while coming down the stairs earlier on. Even ex-Indian coach Ravi Shastri pointed out Bumrah's struggles while walking. Later Shastri said in his live commentary that Bumrah would be back to bowling after second session."Bumrah is out in the middle but he will be able to bowl only after tea," Shastri said on air, according to Cricbuzz. Bumrah was in fact back to bowling during the final session, opening the bowling and got Jamie's wicket. Despite being the third-highest wicket-taker in the series with 13 scalps in five innings at an average of 26.69, with two five-wicket-haul, the numbers still look underwhelming as he was coming back to Tests after a long injury lay-off, which happened during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 against Australia away from home, during which he took a record-shattering 32 wickets at an average of 13.06, with two four-fers and three five-wicket hauls to his name. Will Bumrah be back at his best on day four? Is there indeed something up with his fitness? Only time will tell. (ANI)
Mint
2 hours ago
- Mint
Raducanu and Fernandez beat the heat to reach DC Open semis
Britain's Emma Raducanu reached the brink of her first WTA final since winning the 2021 US Open, ousting Greece's Maria Sakkari 6-4, 7-5 on Friday at the DC Open. And the woman she defeated four years ago in that Flushing Meadows championship match, Canada's Leylah Fernandez, could be her opponent for the Washington hard court crown. Raducanu, who missed most of 2023 after hand and ankle surgery and part of last year with a left foot injury, reached her first WTA semi-final since last year at Nottingham by dispatching Sakkari in sweltering conditions of 95F (35C). "It was one of the toughest matches conditions-wise I've ever played in," Raducanu said. "Those points in the second set, I was getting a bit wobbly I'm just happy I could close it out and it was two sets. "I think the humidity here, as well, it just makes it feel completely like you have just opened an oven and it just stayed open and your head is in there. That's how it feels." Raducanu, in her only tour-level final, won the 2021 US Open as a teen qualifier over teen Fernandez, who advanced to the DC Open semi-finals by battling through leg cramps in the second set and saving a set point to oust American Taylor Townsend 6-4, 7-6 (7/4). Left-hander Fernandez will next face the winner of a later match between third seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and Polish fifth seed Magdalena Frech. In Saturday's other semi-final, Raducanu will face the later winner between Danish fourth seed Clara Tauson and Anna Kalinskaya. Raducanu, Britain's first women's Grand Slam singles champion since Virginia Wade in 1977 at Wimbledon, beat four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the second round before downing Sakkari in the quarter-finals, but not before a medical timeout in the second set. "Brutal conditions. Right in the peak heat of the day. It was incredibly difficult," Raducanu said. "I had to call a doctor on. Wasn't feeling too good in the second set. "When it's at that stage you know you're going to suffer and you have to just go until you physically can't anymore. It could be a little dangerous but you just leave it all out there on the court as an athlete." Raducanu rallied to win the final five games of the match. "You get to a point where you're so tired that you don't really know what you're doing anymore, and I think maybe that helped," Raducanu said. "I just really had to be smooth and conserve energy.... You just have to really be so focused." Raducanu said reaching the semis was a "big benchmark" after years of injury. "I have played three great matches to be here in the semifinals, and it is the first semis in a long time," she said. "I'm really proud of that and just happy that all the hard work I've been doing is starting to pay off." Fernandez surrendered a break with a double fault to trail Townsend 3-4 in the second set and despite leg cramps broke the American on her eighth opportunity in the 10th game to level matters at 5-5 on the way to the tie-breaker. Fernandez has won three WTA titles, the 2021 and 2022 Monterrey Opens and the 2023 Hong Kong Open. Her most recent final was last year at Eastbourne.
