Bulls v Sharks' URC semi-final: A battle of haves who want what the other has
MIRACLE MAN: Bulls flyhalf Johan Goosen has recovered from what was thought to be a season-ending knee injury to play in the URC semifinal against the Sharks.
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Aryna Sabalenka's ‘terrible' French Open final and the intangibles of tennis
ROLAND GARROS, PARIS — Aryna Sabalenka made no effort to hide her disappointment after losing the French Open final to Coco Gauff Saturday, repeatedly calling her performance 'terrible' and saying it was 'the worst tennis I've played in the last, I don't know how many months.' 'It's just a joke,' she said. Advertisement She offered that analysis once she'd left Court Philippe-Chatrier, after a 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 defeat. In her on-court interview, Sabalenka eschewed the usual platitudes and the customary opening line congratulating the winner and their team, and went straight for self-flagellation. After fighting back tears, she said: 'Honestly guys this will hurt so much, especially after such a tough two weeks, playing great tennis and in these terrible conditions playing such terrible tennis in the final — that really hurts.' 'Coco, congrats in these tough conditions. You were the better player than me. Congrats on a great two weeks,' she said. In her news conference, Sabalenka went for the jugular again. This time, she focused not on her own shortcomings, but on the weather conditions that had defined the type of tennis being played. 'Conditions were terrible, and she simply was better in these conditions than me. I think it was the worst final I ever played.' Advertisement Sabalenka's devastation was understandable. She is the world No. 1 and has now lost two Grand Slam finals in a row, both in three sets, both having been the big favorite. Five months ago, Madison Keys beat her in Melbourne to win her first major, and in Paris Gauff thwarted Sabalenka's bid for the non hard-court slam that would rubberstamp her evolution into an all-court player. The match was on her racket, but Sabalenka hit 70 unforced errors compared to just 37 winners as she struggled to cope with the factors outside of her control. Namely the wind, an inspired Gauff and the pressure of what was at stake. Given the chance to praise Gauff's inspired defensive showing, Sabalenka said that her opponent had won the match 'by running and playing those high balls from the frame,' before saying directly that Gauff had framed, or mishit, numerous shots. 'She was hitting the ball from the frame. Somehow magically the ball lands in the court … Yeah, it's just, you know, like — it felt like a joke, honestly, like somebody from above was just staying there laughing, like, 'let's see if you can handle this.' Advertisement 'I think she won the match not because she played incredible; just because I made all of those mistakes from if you look from the outside, from easy balls.' Tennis is seen as a 50-50 battle, but matchups and gamestyles mean that this is not always the case. Gauff won Saturday's final by assuming the role of supporting actor to Sabalenka the protagonist, knowing that the match was not on her racket and making her greatest assets — her court coverage, lateral movement, and baseline defense — the most important things in the match. She played the conditions. Sabalenka did not, saying afterward that as the match wore on and it got windier, she became 'overemotional.' She compared her unraveling to the last time she played Gauff in a Grand Slam final, at the U.S. Open two years ago. 'Another terrible performance from me against Coco in the final,' she said. Sabalenka added that had the four-time champion Iga Świątek beaten her in Thursday's semifinal, 'I think she would go out today and she would get the win.' Advertisement In her own news conference, Gauff responded. 'I mean, I don't agree with that. I'm here sitting here,' she said. 'Last time I played — no shade to Iga or anything, but I played her and I won in straight sets. Yeah, I don't think that's a fair thing to say, because anything can really happen.' This leaves Sabalenka in a strange place. She remains world No. 1 by a distance, but she hasn't won a Grand Slam title and has been way below her best level in both finals. Throughout the match, she seemed uncomfortable with the shifts in momentum occasioned, in part, by the complicated conditions. But a similar shift happened against Świątek: in both matches, Sabalenka led 4-1, had a point for 5-1, and was pulled back into a tiebreak, one under the roof and one in the open air. Against Świątek under the roof, Sabalenka reset, one less intangible to fight. Against Gauff, the collection of intangibles — the weather, the stakes, the history — appeared to overwhelm her. And for regular watchers of her matches, her reaction to Saturday's defeat was essentially an extension of how she reacts to smaller moments of disappointment within matches: berating herself and not accepting that occasionally her opponents will be too good. This kind of mentality is part of what drives great champions. But is showing it always helpful? Advertisement Her performance coach Jason Stacy was asked this question in a news conference Friday and pointed to one of the team's mantras: 'Don't fight it, don't feed it.' He expanded by saying: 'We don't want to fight this, because the stress, anxiety, the pressure, the mistakes, all those things are going to be there, so you can't pretend it's not going to be a thing, but you don't want to feed it either and give it too much energy or power.' Asked if Sabalenka's frustrations were a boost, Gauff said that she didn't read too much into it, but: 'Obviously when you see your opponent frustrated in any circumstance, if it's tough or not, obviously it does uplift you just because you know that they're frustrated.' Sabalenka will head to the Greek island of Mykonos to recharge and in her words indulge in 'tequila, gummy bears, and swimming.' She laughed as she said that she would be 'like the tourist for couple of days'. But even as she tried to lighten the mood and look ahead to her holiday, she couldn't help but go back to lambasting the events of the previous few hours. Advertisement 'I just need couple of days to completely forget about this crazy world and this crazy — if I could swear, I would swear right now, about this crazy thing that happened today,' she said. 'I think everyone understands. I'm just trying to be very polite right now, but there is no other word that could describe what just happened today on the court.' All things being equal, Sabalenka is undoubtedly the best player in the world. But tennis matches are not equal. It's how she manages the intangibles that can shape them that will define the next phase of her career. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Yahoo
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No let-up for Leicester boss Cheika as Premiership final exit looms
Michael Cheika said only victory in next week's English Premiership final would do after his Leicester side booked their place in the Twickenham showpiece with a hard-fought 21-16 win at home to Sale on Saturday. The Tigers will face old foes Bath at the headquarters of English rugby on June 14 after two fine tries by wing Adam Radwan helped them edge past Sale to spark joyful scenes come the final whistle at Welford Road in what was the last Leicester home game for retiring stalwarts Ben Youngs and Dan Cole. Advertisement But for veteran Australian coach Cheika, who has overseen a revival in fallen English giants Leicester's fortunes since signing a one-year deal before the start of the season, there is still much to do ahead of what will be his last game in charge of the Tigers. "This is not an achievement for me –- winning it (the Premiership) is the achievement," said Cheika, previously in charge of both Australia and Argentina at Test level. The 58-year-old, who steered his native Australia to the 2015 Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham only for the Wallabies to go down 34-17 to New Zealand, added: "I don't want to be a sad sack, but I can't leave any room for complacency around how well we've done to make it (to the final). "I've been doing this for too long. You get to a World Cup final, you think about how good that is and then when you lose, it's the worst feeling you'll ever have. Advertisement 'I want to make sure that I leave no room in my own personal performance to allow anything to derail our preparation." Radwan's two tries were the standout moments from Saturday's semi-final, the 27-year-old England wing evading several Sale defenders for his first score before he crossed Sale's line again after athletically catching an overhit chip from Springbok star Handre Pollard. Cheika, reflecting on Radwan's second try, said: "Adam grew about a foot, I reckon. A foot and a half! He's not the tallest of fellas, Adam, but he got there." He added: "You've got to be brave to go and do that stuff and if you don't try it, you never know if it'll happen or not. I'm not going to rap him (Radwan) up too much, but it was a good try. "Pollard had the courage to make the kick and then Adam had the courage to do that extra little bit to go and get it." jdg/dmc
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Simone Biles calls Riley Gaines 'sick' over criticism of transgender athletes
Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles is going head-to-head with one of the most vocal opponents of transgender girls and women competing in female sports, former college swimmer Riley Gaines. Biles — the most decorated Olympic gymnast is history — called the former college athlete 'sick' and a 'sore loser' in a post on X Friday night. 'You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports,' Biles, 28, wrote. 'Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!' 'But instead… You bully them,' Biles continued. 'One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!' As a college swimmer, Gaines tied for fifth place in a competition with then-University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who is transgender, in 2022. Since then, Gaines has largely built a career as a pundit in conservative media advocating against trans women competing in female sports, arguing that it is unfair to include them in competition and their inclusion is at times unsafe for other competitors. Gaines, 25, has also built an enormous following on social media, with over 1.5 million followers on X, where she regularly lambastes and mocks transgender athletes. On Friday, Gaines posted an image of a Minnesota girls high school baseball team, which supposedly includes a trans player. She appeared to taunt the player, referring to her as a boy, which appears to have elicited Biles' response. Gaines almost immediately responded to Biles' criticism in a series of posts on X. 'This is so disappointing. My take is the least controversial take on the planet,' Gaines wrote. 'Simone Biles being a male-apologist at the expense of young girls' dreams? Didn't have that on my bingo card.' The issues of trans girls and women competing in female sports has become a lightning rod issue in the United States in recent years. In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aiming to prohibit transgender women and girls from competing in female sports. Before that, at least 27 states already had laws, regulations or policies banning transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identities, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank. This article was originally published on
