Maria Sharapova in action during her second round defeat to Daria Gavrilova at the Miami Open on March 26. Rhona Wise / EPA
Maria Sharapova in action during her second round defeat to Daria Gavrilova at the Miami Open on March 26. Rhona Wise / EPA

Maria Sharapova sure to welcome Europe’s clay after a tough spell on American hard courts



A few years ago, Maria Sharapova likened her movement on clay courts to that of a “cow on ice”. That surface is now her sanctuary, and the Russian is sure to be looking forward to getting back on the red courts of Europe after a disappointing stint in North America.

Knocked out by Flavia Pennetta in the fourth round at Indian Wells, the world No 2 was stunned in straight sets by world No 97 Daria Gavrilova in her opening match in Miami last week. Those two losses must have dented her confidence and a return to the clay courts of Europe, where she lost only once in 20 matches last year in winning the Stuttgart, Madrid and French Open titles, could provide a much-needed boost.

Her disappointing stint in North America followed yet another grand slam tournament final defeat to her great rival Serena Williams, at the Australian Open in January, her 16th straight loss to the American.

Sharapova has previously struggled after losing a grand slam title to Williams. She failed to go beyond the second round at Wimbledon after losing the 2013 French Open and then a shoulder injury cut short her season.

In 2007, the Russian failed to string together three wins on the trot after losing the Australian Open final until she reached the last four at Roland Garros.

Sharapova has been known to be tough on herself after defeats to Williams, but returning to a surface where she has had so much success in recent times should clear the mind.

She has got plenty of time as well, with the next tournament on her schedule being Stuttgart, which starts on April 20.

Sharapova has won that tournament three times in a row, so there are sure to be plenty of good memories to give her morale a boost.

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AT4 Ultimate, as tested

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Valencia 3

Kevin Gameiro 21', 51'

Ferran Torres 67'

Atlanta 4

Josip Llicic 3' (P), 43' (P), 71', 82'

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Director: Tom Tykwer

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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara

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