Poland end Euro 2025 on high note with historic Padilla-Bidas goal, win over Denmark
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Al Arabiya
4 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Iga Swiatek wins wimbledon after a difficult year that included a doping case and a title drought
For weeks while back home in Warsaw last year, Iga Swiatek hung out with friends and made new ones but didn't dare tell them about a doping case that was hanging over her. 'Obviously in the back of my mind,' she said Saturday evening at the All England Club, 'I had this thing.' There was more going on, too, and she only opened up to her family and her team. A coaching change. A long-for-her title drought. A ranking drop. Her grandfather's passing. 'It all (happened) together,' Swiatek said. 'It wasn't easy.' And so in some ways, the Wimbledon championship Swiatek claimed Saturday with a 6-0, 6-0 victory — yes, read that score again — in 57 minutes over Amanda Anisimova could be viewed as more than merely a significant on-court result. Swiatek's the youngest since Serena Williams with majors on 3 surfaces It mattered, of course, that she finally conquered grass courts in general and that venue in particular. That the 24-year-old from Poland became the youngest woman with at least on major trophy on all three surfaces since 2002, when Serena Williams did it at age 20. That Swiatek now needs only an Australian Open title to complete a career Grand Slam. For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. In the bigger picture, though, this triumph followed a difficult 12-plus months and provided the following takeaway in Swiatek's words: 'The lesson is just that even when you feel like you're not on a good path, you can always get back to it if you put enough effort and you have good people around you.' There was a not-long-ago stretch in which she was considered far-and-away the best in women's tennis. 'She's an unbelievable player,' Anisimova said. Swiatek adds Wimbledon to 4 French Open titles, 1 at the US Open Swiatek held the No. 1 ranking for most of the past three seasons. She put together a 37-match winning streak in 2022 that included six tournament titles until it ended — where else? — at Wimbledon. She won five Grand Slam titles, four on the red clay at the French Open and one on the hard courts at the US Open, and established herself as a bona fide star. Except there was always the matter of what went on when she played on grass. Zero titles. Zero finals. One quarterfinal run at the All England Club. The questions kept arising from herself and from others. Then those doubts spread to other events and other surfaces. She left the 2024 Olympics held at Roland-Garros with a bronze medal after losing in the semifinals. She departed Wimbledon last year in the third round, the US Open in the quarterfinals. She exited the French Open last month in the semifinals, ending her bid for a fourth consecutive championship there. In all, Swiatek went more than a year without reaching a final anywhere. Swiatek's doping ban weighed on her Then there was the matter of a one-month doping ban she accepted after failing an out-of-competition drug test. The International Tennis Integrity Agency accepted her explanation that the result was unintentional and caused by the contamination of a non-prescription medication she was taking for issues with jet lag and sleeping. 'The second half of last year was extremely challenging for me, especially due to the positive doping test and how circumstances completely beyond my control took away my chance to fight for the highest sport goals at the end of the season,' Swiatek wrote in a social media post in March, adding that the episode 'forced me to rearrange certain things within myself.' Eventually Swiatek was able to Saturday 'I came back to being my old kind of self,' even if she still is 'way more scared about eating something that will be contaminated.' On June 12 — a month to the day before facing Anisimova — Swiatek checked her phone's calendar to be sure — and a week after her 26-match French Open winning streak came to a close, it was time to get to work. Swiatek headed to the Spanish island of Mallorca to practice on grass. Next was a trip to Germany for more training before entering a tournament there. She made it all the way to that final before losing and tearing up during the post-match ceremony. Two weeks later at Wimbledon, Swiatek was all smiles, and as she left her last interview of the day, she joked: 'That was a good therapy session.'
Al Arabiya
5 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Fifa says it has an agreement with soccer players' unions for minimum rest standards
FIFA says players' representatives and the sports governing body have reached a consensus on the need for a period of rest of 72 hours between matches and agreed that players should enjoy a minimum of 21 days of holidays at the end of each season. The discussions took place on the eve of the Club World Cup final between PSG and Chelsea. The tournament was held during the European offseason and has faced criticism from unions as an increased focus on player welfare has been leading to calls for mandatory rest periods and a greater emphasis on player safety during matches. Days before the start of the month-long Club World Cup soccer chiefs faced renewed calls to safeguard players over growing fears of injuries and burnout. Last month France's union of professional soccer players launched a scathing attack on the competition saying it 'is urgent to stop this massacre' amid ongoing concerns about extreme player workloads. FIFA president Gianni Infantino and other officials from soccer's governing body met with representatives of players' unions from around the world in New York. FIFA hailed the discussions as progressive adding that players' health is a top priority. 'There is a consensus that there must be at least 72 hours of rest between matches and that players should have a rest period / holiday of at least 21 days at the end of each season' FIFA said. 'This period should be managed individually by each club and the respective players also depending on their match calendars and taking into account applicable collective agreements.' Enforcing a 72-hour period strictly could mean big adjustments to some game schedules and TV deals. FIFA didn't indicate how it would work in practice. European teams playing in the Europa League late Thursday evening routinely play domestic league games on the following Sunday. With a strict 72-hour break they might have to wait until Monday to play again. That would be a major headache for the German Bundesliga. It abolished Monday evening games in 2021 after years of protests by fans who wanted easier-to-attend weekend kickoffs. When it introduced the unpopular Monday kickoffs four season earlier the German league argued it would mean more rest for Europa League teams. The new Bundesliga TV deal starting next season doesn't include any Monday games either. FIFA added that a rest day per week should also be allowed and that travel demands as well as climate conditions will also factor into future competition planning. The Club World Cup involving 32 of the world's top teams has faced pushback since FIFA announced it would be added to an already saturated calendar. The tournament should be played every four years sandwiched in between the men's World Cup European Championship and Copa America. It went ahead against the backdrop of legal challenges in Europe strike threats and repeated concerns over players' mental and physical welfare due to too many games.
Arab News
7 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan's Nadeem, India's Chopra to reignite javelin rivalry in Poland in August
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's javelin star Arshad Nadeem and India's Neeraj Chopra will reignite their rivalry in August when the two sportsmen compete at the Silesia Wanda Diamond League 2025 competition scheduled to be held in Poland, the official website of the Olympics said this week. This will be the first time Nadeem and Chopra will face each other since their charged encounter at the Paris 2024 Olympic final, where Nadeem clinched gold ahead of Neeraj with an Olympic record-shattering throw of 92.97 meters. The Wanda Diamond League is an annual sports competition featuring elite athletes across sprints, jumps, throws and distance events. The competition is set to take place next month in Silesia on August 16. 'Neeraj Chopra will face Arshad Nadeem,' the Olympics website said, quoting the Diamond League organizers. 'The Indian-Pakistani battle awaiting the Polish fans will be the first opportunity for revenge after the Paris Olympics.' Chopra has had an impressive year so far, kicking off his season with a win at the Potch Invitational in South Africa before finishing second at the Doha Diamond League, where he breached the coveted 90-meter barrier with a massive 90.23m throw — a new national record. The Indian athlete then had to settle for a second-place finish again at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Poland but returned to winning ways at the Paris Diamond League. Since then, he has logged back-to-back wins at the Ostrova Golden Spike in Czechia and the NC Classic in India. Nadeem, meanwhile, recently marked a triumphant return to action by winning gold at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, Korea. He hadn't competed since his Paris 2024 exploits. Rivalries, particularly between athletes or teams from bitter rivals India and Pakistan, have always been one of the most intriguing aspects of sports. However, next month's competition will have added flair to it, considering the militaries of the two countries engaged in the worst fighting between them in decades in May. An attack in Indian-administered Kashmir triggered a conflict between the two states that saw them target each other with missiles, drones, fighter jets and artillery fire before agreeing to a ceasefire on May 10.
