NEW YORK // Two-times defending champion Serena Williams rode her big serve to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Kaia Kanepi of Estonia to advance to the quarter-finals of the US Open on Monday.
Williams won all her first-serve points in the opening set, including six aces, as she pounded them in at 63 per cent and never faced break point in the set.
The second set saw both players struggle on serve with a total of six breaks registered as Williams, who belted eight aces, won with her fourth service break in the final game of the 65-minute match between the ferocious hitters.
“She hits the ball incredibly hard and moves the ball around,” said Williams, who hopes to make up for a disappointing recent run in grand slam tournaments, which has seen her fail to advance past the fourth round in any of the previous majors this year.
“I just keep fighting and I relaxed. I said, ‘Serena, whatever happens, you’re still in doubles’.
“I finally made a quarter-final this year,” she shouted to the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd with arms upraised.
“I think I felt [the pressure] in my serving game, ‘Can I please make it to the quarters once this year’. I’m glad to do it in New York.”
In the last eight, Williams will face 11th seed Flavia Pennetta, who is having another good run at Flushing Meadows.
The Italian has only made one quarter-final at all the other grand slam tournaments combined but is through to her fifth in New York after a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Casey Dellacqua from Australia.
When asked to explain her success at the US Open, Pennetta said. “I don’t know. I just like to play here and maybe that’s why I play good here.”
Dellacqua has had a remarkable rise over the past year, from outside 180 in the rankings to 32, but 35 unforced errors cost her dearly against Pennetta’s consistency.
The Italian has lost all her five matches against Williams, her fellow 32 year old, but will head into the clash with a positive attitude.
“You just have to play your tennis and do your best,” Pennetta said. “Of course, she’s better than me, but if I believe I can beat her, maybe if she doesn’t have a good day I can do that. If I get on the court and just play and try not to lose 6-0, 6-0, I’m going to lose 6-0, 6-0.”
World No 1 Novak Djokovic was the first player through to the quarter-finals in the men's draw, after sweeping past Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
Djokovic, who has reached the final at Flushing Meadows each of the past four years and won in 2011, has been in storming form.
The top seed needed just 19 minutes to race to a 5-0 lead before the 22nd seeded Kohlschreiber finally held serve to halt the slide.
But that small win could not stop the inevitable as Djokovic took the first set and then claimed the match in a touch over two hours without surrendering a break.
Djokovic, who has not dropped a set, will play the winner between No 8 seed Andy Murray and ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Americans Bob and Mike Bryan advanced to the quarter-finals of the men’s doubles competition, defeating countrymen Bradley Klahn and Tim Smyzek 6-3, 7-6. The 36-year-old twins are chasing a 100th career doubles title together and a 10th year in a row in which they have won a major title.
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Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
Can NRIs vote in the election?
Indians residing overseas cannot cast their ballot abroad
Non-resident Indians or NRIs can vote only by going to a polling booth in their home constituency
There are about 3.1 million NRIs living overseas
Indians have urged political parties to extend the right to vote to citizens residing overseas
A committee of the Election Commission of India approved of proxy voting for non-resident Indians
Proxy voting means that a person can authorise someone residing in the same polling booth area to cast a vote on his behalf.
This option is currently available for the armed forces, police and government officials posted outside India
A bill was passed in the lower house of India’s parliament or the Lok Sabha to extend proxy voting to non-resident Indians
However, this did not come before the upper house or Rajya Sabha and has lapsed
The issue of NRI voting draws a huge amount of interest in India and overseas
Over the past few months, Indians have received messages on mobile phones and on social media claiming that NRIs can cast their votes online
The Election Commission of India then clarified that NRIs could not vote online
The Election Commission lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to clamp down on the people spreading misinformation
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MATCH INFO
Burnley 0
Man City 3
Raheem Sterling 35', 49'
Ferran Torres 65'
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What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million