Serena Williams remains the "queen" of women's tennis but don't be surprised if she's no longer No 1 by the end of the year, Martina Navratilova said Thursday.
Speaking in Singapore to promote this year’s WTA Finals, the 59-year-old Czech said she was pleased to see stronger competition in the women’s game.
“Right now there is competition but not quite rivalry yet. But certainly, a lot of players are stepping on Serena’s heels for the year,” Navratilova said.
“It’s not a foregone conclusion. The last couple of years by now, we pretty much knew Serena would end up world No 1 at the end of the year but this year it’s up in the air.
“It’s going to be difficult for her to keep that cushion but at the same time, she’s still the queen.”
Williams has not won a tournament since her triumph at Cincinnati in August.
Navratilova, an 18-time major champion, said that Williams was under added pressure after last year’s scintillating run, when she won three grand slam titles.
“The gap has gotten smaller and it may keep getting smaller because Serena won so many grand slams last year. She has a lot of points to defend.
“She’s not exactly floundering, it’s just the standard that she has set is so high, it’s hard to live up to that. You cannot write her off, (it’s) way too soon for that,” Navratilova added.
Last year, the 34-year-old American came within two matches of a calendar-year grand slam, falling to Roberta Vinci in the US Open semi-finals.
This year, she lost to Angelique Kerber in the Australian Open final, to Victoria Azarenka in the Indian Wells final and in the fourth round at Miami to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Her current form notwithstanding, Navratilova has backed Williams as she looks to reach the all-time record of the most career singles grand slam trophies.
Williams has won 21 majors, one shy of Steffi Graf’s career total and three behind Margaret Court’s all-time record.
“It’s all becoming about grand slams now and that seems to be the only measuring stick that anybody cares about,” Navratilova said.
“Every time she plays a grand slam, she’s got a chance to do it ... Chances are it will happen, whether she can get to 24, that’s a long way away.”
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Set-jetting on the Emerald Isle
Other shows filmed in Ireland include: Vikings (County Wicklow), The Fall (Belfast), Line of Duty (Belfast), Penny Dreadful (Dublin), Ripper Street (Dublin), Krypton (Belfast)
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
