Rafael Nadal took another step closer to a double gold medal haul at the Rio Olympics on Friday when he quelled the fierce resistance of Brazilian number one Thomaz Bellucci to reach the men’s singles semi-finals.
The third seed triumphed 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to secure a sixth win in six matches against his fellow left-hander who was carried to a shock first set success by the raucous centre court crowd who were in a carnival mood.
Nadal, the 2008 singles champion, goes on to the semi-finals, one win away from a place in Sunday’s gold medal match.
Other Olympics tennis action
Andy Murray battled through a second successive three-setter to reach the Olympic Games semi-finals Friday while Monica Puig was one win away from delivering Puerto Rico a first ever gold medal.
Defending champion Murray clinched a 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (7/2) win over Steve Johnson of the United States and goes on to face either Japanese fourth seed Kei Nishikori or France’s Gael Monfils for a place in the gold medal match.
Murray had been 0-3 down in the final set to Fabio Fognini in the third round 24 hours earlier and he was a break down at 3-4 in the decider to the 12th seeded Johnson on Friday before his big-hitting game saw him through.
Murray finished with 31 winners but also 36 unforced errors.
“I expected a tough match. The court is very lively, there’s a lot of wind, so it makes it hard to play,” said world number two Murray.
“If I win tomorrow I am guaranteed a medal. If I lose, I have to come back and play for a bronze. As tennis players we are not used to that.”
Puig, 22, reached the women’s singles final and is already guaranteed at least a silver — only her country’s ninth medal at a Games.
She reached Saturday’s final by beating two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in a rollercoaster match which featured 10 breaks of serve.
Puig, the world number 34, will face either German second seed, and Australian Open champion, Angelique Kerber or American seventh seed Madison Keys for the title.
“It would be unbelievable to win the gold and it would be the biggest honour in the world,” said world number 34 Puig.
“But the Olympics isn’t about me, it’s about Puerto Rico and I know how bad they want this.
“The island is full of such bad news all the time, so every time there’s a Games and somebody from the Island wins a medal everything stops and I know how happy people get. So this one is not for me.”
Kvitova faces the prospect of having to return Saturday and battle for a bronze medal in the third-place play-off.
“I’m very disappointed I have to say. I think this feeling, I haven’t really had for a very long time,” said the Czech 11th seed.
“It was a match I could’ve won but for sure I didn’t take my chances.”
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Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
SPECS
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START-UPS IN BATCH 4 OF SANABIL 500'S ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME
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Joy: Delivers car services with affordable prices
Karaz: Helps diabetics with gamification, IoT and real-time data
Medicarri: Medical marketplace that connects clinics with suppliers
Mod5r: Makes automated and recurring investments to grow wealth
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UAE
Eighty6: Marketplace for restaurant and supplier procurements
FarmUnboxed: Helps digitise international food supply chain
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Amwal: A Shariah-compliant crowd-lending platform
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Monak: Provides financial inclusion and life services to migrants
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
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The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
Profile Idealz
Company: Idealz
Founded: January 2018
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Size: (employees): 22
Investors: Co-founders and Venture Partners (9 per cent)
