Sports
Serena knew she had no chance at French Open, says Coach
Serena Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou had written off her chances of winning this year’s French Open even before she lost to fellow American Sofia Kenin in the third round on Saturday.
“Honestly, if Serena didn’t lose this one she would probably lose next round, or when the top players would have been the other side of the court,” said Mouratoglou, talking in an interview with broadcaster Eurosport.
“Of course it’s a disappointment, but in a way, it had to happen. She knew she had little chance of winning this year’s French Open,” he added.
Williams’ time on the court has been limited to a handful of matches since the Australian Open because of a knee injury.
“First of all, she knew she was not coming to this tournament being prepared the way she wanted to because of the big injury in Miami,” Mouratoglou said.
“For many weeks she was not able to do anything because she had to recover.
“So the time she had to prepare was much too short. She did her best, she really tried hard and she really wanted to compete.
“People who know tennis can well see that from the first round she was not moving well enough to possibly be a winner here,” the coach stated.
Had she won, 10th seed Williams would have faced Australian Ashleigh Barty who is the seeded eighth.
Williams has hinted that she could take a wildcard for one of the Wimbledon warm-up events on the grass.
Sports
CAF Crowns Ademola Lookman As African Footballer of the Year
Super Eagles winger, Ademola Lookman, has been named the CAF Footballer of the Year for the past year.
Lookman was announced as the winner at an elaborate event in Marrakech, Morocco on Monday night.
The Atalanta star won the prize ahead of Ivory Coast’s Simon Adingra and PSG’s Achraf Hakimi, Guinea striker Serhou Guirassy and South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.
It has been an incredible year for Lookman, who became the first player to score a hat-trick in the Europa League/UEFA Cup final since 1975, netting the three goals within 26 minutes against Bayer Leverkusen.
Lookman was included in the Team of the Year for the Europa League, and ended the season having had a direct hand in 18 top flight goals for La Dea.
The 27-year-old was ranked the 14th best player during the Ballon d’Or gala on October 28.
Sports
Panel Clears Mbappe of Rape Allegation
The Swedish Prosecution Authority announced today that the inquiry into rape allegations against French footballer Kylian Mbappé has been closed due to a lack of sufficient evidence to proceed.
This is according to multiple reports on Thursday morning.
The allegations had drawn international attention, casting a shadow over the football star’s career.
Mbappé, who had consistently denied the allegations, has yet to make an official statement regarding the decision
His legal team had previously emphasised his commitment to due process.
Mbappe was “linked to rape investigation in Sweden” and that he intended to reserve any explanations for the Swedish justice system “if necessary,” according to his lawyer, Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard.
“He prioritises providing his explanations, if required, to the Swedish judiciary,” Canu-Bernard told AFP, while strongly condemning “media allegations suggesting that Kylian Mbappé had commented on the events of his trip to Stockholm.”
The case, which began earlier this year, involved accusations stemming from an alleged incident in Stockholm. The prosecutor’s decision not to press charges marks the end of months of scrutiny and speculation.
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