Skateboarding - Jackalope - Virginia Beach: Day 1
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CBC
10 minutes ago
- CBC
Venus Williams gets a wild-card entry for the Cincinnati Open after win in Washington
Venus Williams' return to professional tennis will not just be a one-tournament visit: She was awarded a wild-card entry on Wednesday for next month's Cincinnati Open. The 45-year-old Williams is participating in her first event in more than a year this week at the DC Open and won first-round matches in both singles and doubles. Her 6-3, 6-4 victory over 23-year-old Peyton Stearns on Tuesday night made Williams the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match. Martina Navratilova was 47 when she picked up her last singles victory in 2004. Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles — five at Wimbledon and two at the U.S. Open — plus 14 more in doubles with her sister Serena and two in mixed doubles. She'll play Magdalena Frech of Poland on Thursday in Washington. The Cincinnati Open begins on Aug. 5 and is a hard-court tuneup for the U.S. Open.
Globe and Mail
32 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Josh Allen, Bills embrace the ‘Hard Knocks' spotlight in training camp
Josh Allen was reminded how much additional scrutiny the Buffalo Bills are under this summer upon reaching the interview tent and noticing the HBO series Hard Knocks camera crew ready to start filming. 'You guys are everywhere,' the quarterback said with a smile as the Bills opened training camp in suburban Rochester, New York, on Wednesday. No stranger to the spotlight, the reigning NFL MVP, who married Hollywood star Hailee Steinfeld in May and signed one of the league's richest contracts in March, joked being mindful of his language while being mic'd up during the 90-minute practise. 'Yeah, I tried not to cuss as much,' Allen said. 'Just making sure that anything that I say my mom would be OK with.' Allen's trying to keep things rated PG. Canada's diehard Bills fans take over bars and backyards for playoff game that could make Super Bowl history And the Bills are welcoming the opportunity to pull back the curtain and reveal whatever the cameras might capture — warts and all — as insight into what's allowed the franchise to flourish entering its ninth season under coach Sean McDermott and GM Brandon Beane. 'We have nothing to hide. We are who we are,' said McDermott, who ended the team's 17-season playoff drought in his first year in 2017, and guided Buffalo to six consecutive playoff appearances and win five straight AFC East titles. Just don't call the Bills' five-week Hard Knocks series run opening on Aug. 5 a distraction. 'The increased noise, if you will, is maybe in some ways good practice for us to really hone in and get our focus where it needs to be,' McDermott said. The series trailer HBO released Wednesday shows a confident, determined team with a clip of Allen saying: 'We're going to do whatever we can do [to] bring a Lombardi back here to western New York.' Successful as the Bills have been in posting double-digit wins in each of their past six seasons, they've come up short in the playoffs and usually against the Chiefs. Four of Buffalo's past five playoff losses have been against Kansas City, including a 32-29 loss in the AFC championship game in January. 'Ultimately, you got to go out and do it,' Beane said, before noting how Allen and other Bills veterans can build on their experiences. 'I'm a firm believer that you keep swinging the sword, you keep fighting, you do not give in, you work harder and you use that frustration.' Though once again favored to win the AFC East, the Bills enter camp with several subplots beginning with starting running back James Cook's desire to land a contract extension while entering the final year of his deal. After skipping the Bills voluntary spring sessions, Cook explained his reasoning for participating in the team's mandatory sessions last month by saying: 'I like my money. That's why I'm here.' Beane on Wednesday provided no update on contract talks, reiterated how he doesn't have the salary cap space to fit Cook's asking price of US$15-million per season, and credited the player for reporting for camp. 'James is a competitive dude. He's a stud. He is a great teammate. He wants to be here,' Beane said of the NFL's co-leader last season with 16 touchdowns rushing. 'James fits Buffalo. But sometimes you can't get on the same page.' On the injury front, defensive end Joey Bosa resumed practising after the oft-injured free-agent addition missed the spring sessions with a calf issue. The 30-year-old is coming off three injury-shortened seasons, in which he combined for 14 of his 72 sacks over 28 games with the Chargers. Buffalo signed Bosa to a one-year US$12.6-million contract in March in a bid to fill the pass-rushing role after Von Miller was cut. Meantime, the Bills opened camp with tight end Dawson Knox (hamstring) on the non-football injury list and starting right tackle Spencer Brown (back) on the physically unable to perform list. Beane didn't provide a timeline in saying both should be cleared for practice sooner than later. While the Bills offence returns mostly intact, the defence has been retooled. Aside from Bosa, Buffalo revamped its defensive front with the free-agent signings of Larry Ogunjobi and Michael Hoecht — both expected to miss the first six games serving suspensions for violating the NFL's performance-enhancing drugs policy. Cornerback Tre'Davious White is back for an eighth season in Buffalo after splitting last year between the Rams and Ravens. And the Bills will rely on several rookies to make immediate contributions from a draft class that included cornerback Maxwell Hairston, defensive tackle T.J. Sanders and defensive end Landon Jackson. Long snapper Reid Ferguson is Buffalo's lone active player to precede McDermott, having signed in 2016 during Rex Ryan's second and final season. Reflecting back, Ferguson laughed at how different a Hard Knocks series might have been during Ryan's tenure when the colourful coach once munched on dog biscuits during a promotional appearance at camp. Things are different under McDermott, Ferguson said. 'We're not actively trying to not give them drama, not that there's a ton that goes on in the first place,' Ferguson said. 'We're trying to use it as a way to show the Bills in a positive light that I think people have seen us in for the last handful of years.'
CTV News
40 minutes ago
- CTV News
A historic win by 45-year-old Venus Williams resonates and shows there are no limits for excellence
Venus Williams waves to the crowd as she celebrates her win over Peyton Stearns during a match at the Citi Open tennis tournament Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass) WASHINGTON — There are plenty of reasons why this particular victory by Venus Williams in this particular tennis match -- just one of hundreds -- resonated with so many folks. That she's 45, for one thing. Only one woman, Martina Navratilova, ever has won a tour-level singles match while older; her last victory came at 47 in 2004. That Williams hadn't entered a tournament anywhere in 16 months. That she needed surgery for uterine fibroids. And when asked Tuesday night after beating her 23-year-old opponent, Peyton Stearns, 6-3, 6-4 at the D.C. Open what message others might take away from that performance and that result, Williams was quick to provide an answer. 'There are no limits for excellence. It's all about what's in your head and how much you're able to put into it. If you put in the work mentally, physically, and emotionally, then you can have the result,' said Williams, who will face 27-year-old Magdalena Frech on Thursday. 'It doesn't matter how many times you fall down. Doesn't matter how many times you get sick or get hurt or whatever it is. If you continue to believe and put in the work, there is an opportunity, there is space, for you.' Williams -- who received a wild-card invitation on Wednesday for next month's Cincinnati Open -- has been winning at tennis for decades. Her pro debut came when she was 14. Her first Grand Slam title came at Wimbledon in 2000, less than a month after her 20th birthday. She accumulated four major singles trophies before Stearns was born and eventually wound up with seven, five at Wimbledon and two at the U.S. Open, plus another 14 in women's doubles -- all with her sister Serena -- and two in mixed doubles. 'I have so much respect for her to come back here and play, win or lose. That takes a lot of guts to step back onto court, especially with what she's done for the sport,' said Stearns, who is ranked 35th and won NCAA singles and team titles at the University of Texas. 'You have a lot behind you. You have accomplished a lot. And there is a lot of pressure on her and to kind of upkeep that at this age. So massive credit to her for that.' There were challenges along the way for Williams, none more public than the diagnosis in 2011 of Sjögren's syndrome, an energy-sapping auto-immune disease that can cause joint pain. More recent was the pain from fibroids -- noncancerous growths -- and shortly before the DC Open, Williams said: 'Where I am at this year is so much different (from) where I was at last year. It's night and day, being able to be here and prepare for the tournament as opposed to preparing for surgery.' The event in the nation's capital is her first competition in more than a year. Williams also entered in doubles with Hailey Baptiste, and they won their first-round match Monday before losing on Wednesday. As thrilled as the spectators -- 'Who I love, and they love me,' Williams said -- were to be able to watch, and pull, for her, other players were rather excited about it, too. 'I commend her so much for being out here,' said Taylor Townsend. Naomi Osaka's take: 'She's, like, the queen. There's a royal air around her.' 'She's one of the best athletes of all time,' Frances Tiafoe said. 'Her and her sister, they're not only great for the women's game, not only great for women's sports, but they are so iconic.' Yet, there were some on social media who wondered whether it made sense for the tournament to award a wild-card entry to Williams instead of an up-and-coming player. DC Open chairman Mark Ein said it took him about two seconds to respond 'Of course' when Williams' representative reached out in April to ask whether a spot in the field might be a possibility. A reporter wanted to know Tuesday whether Williams took any satisfaction from proving doubters wrong. 'No, because I'm not here for anyone else except for me. And I also have nothing to prove. Zip. Zero. I'm here for me, because I want to be here,' she said. 'And proving anyone wrong or thinking about anyone has never gotten me a win and has never gotten me a loss.' Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press
