to move up and down
The giants of men’s tennis are not happy about the Madrid Open’s blue court. No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic lost to Janko Tipsarevic on Friday, vowing never to return to the tournament unless they get rid of the controversial surface.
Rafael Nadal is not the first player to complain about the blue-clay court, but today he blamed it for his third-round exit from the Madrid Open. Is he being a sore loser?
We can’t do this. Can you? Students stretch during a training session at a gymnastic course at Shenyang Sports School in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China. Some 60 students, between the ages of 6 to 15, undergo a nine-year gymnastics program which includes foundation courses and gymnastic training courses at Shenyang Sports School, and those who are outstanding may be selected to join the national team.
The blue clay at the Madrid Open makes for a great photo, but a few tennis stars have complained about the swap.
“The only thing that is a little bit disappointing from a player’s standpoint is that this is decided without players agreeing on it,” Novak Djokovic said Monday. “If you don’t have, especially, top players testing the court and agreeing for this change, that should mean something. They should have value in what they say.”
After a few days of play, the main criticism has been that the surface is too slippery.
The ATP said it approved the move after all necessary tests were performed on the Madrid court, and that the surface’s future will be evaluated after it receives feedback from players this week. The ATP calls the change “innovative” and says the color makes it easier for players, fans and TV viewers to follow the ball.
Canada’s golden couple: Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir
Let’s make a bet, I suggest to Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. How many people will notice them if they walk down the street in downtown Toronto?
“Nobody,” says Moir, from Ilderton, Ont., with a snarky grin. “How many people do you think?”
At least a half dozen should stop, smile and say something, I think. They are walking to the Eaton Centre shopping mall. It is sunny and it is lunchtime.
“It should be zero to three,” says Virtue, from London, Ont., trying to figure out the terms. “No, zero to two people.”
It is unclear what the terms are, and it is unfair to Virtue and Moir. After winning the gold medal in ice dancing at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, their faces were everywhere. It felt like they belonged to Canadians. (Photos: Peter J. Thompson/National Post, Reuters)
Meet Mary Spencer: Canada’s best shot at Olympic gold in women’s boxing. But it wasn’t easy for her to get here:
It was the best when it rained, when the sewers backed up and the water in the parking lot crept high on her boots, almost to her knees. Those were the best days, because those were the days Mary Spencer knew she would make the money to fund her dream.
She wanted a new pair of shoes, ones without gaping holes near the toes like the ones she had to wear every day. There were other uses for the money, too. It cost $3 in bus fare to get to basketball practice. And when the funds were especially tight at home, she needed to buy milk for her cereal. But she dreamed about the shoes, and so she prayed for rain.
Around the time she turned 11, a local grocery store began charging a 25-cent deposit for use of its carts. Customers inserted a quarter into a mechanism near the handle to release the cart. Only a few extra steps were needed to retrieve the quarter, but those were steps nobody wanted to take in a downpour. At least, nobody except Spencer, who learned the value in taking the steps others avoided.
In two months, she had her new shoes.
They cost $120, or 480 safely returned grocery carts.
Click through to read Sean Fitz-Gerald’s full story on her journey to the top. Photo: Dax Melmer for National Post
We, also, cannot contain our excitement for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. Here are five horses to watch.
Cool idea for a race: About 3,000 women laced on their sneakers and ran into Australian night, without a man in sight. Actually, men were not allowed to join Nike’s ‘She Runs the Night’ female-only 13 kms running event. Last night’s race in Sydney’s Centennial Park was the first of its kind in Australia.
It looks like this herd of cows has taken the lead at the Tour of Romandie, to these riders’ udder astonishment. (We couldn’t help ourselves.)
The Post’s Ben Kaplan, who is our very own Marathon Man, raced in Boston on Monday. Read about his battle with the heat. (Photo by MarathonFoto)
