PARIS // Venus Williams saved a match point before beating her Czech opponent, and Jelena Jankovic joined the seven-time Grand Slam champion in the third round of the French Open today.
Williams began her match against Lucie Safarova on Wednesday, but play was suspended because of darkness after the third-seeded American lost the first set.
She faced a match point while trailing 5-4 in the final set, but managed to hold serve, break Safarova and hold again for the 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-5 win.
Jankovic had an easier time, moving a step closer to her third straight semi-final appearance at Roland Garros by beating Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1, 6-2.
"I think I'm coming back," said Jankovic, who started this season as the top-ranked player in women's tennis.
"This is the most important thing for me, especially when you saw me playing a few months ago. It was really disastrous."
The fifth-seeded Jankovic won 15 of the first 17 points, and then broke her opponent in the final game of the first set.
In the second, she recovered from an early break to win four straight games, and closed out the match with her sixth break of service.
Jankovic has lost in the semi-finals at Roland Garros in each of the last two years. She made her first Grand Slam final at the 2008 US Open.
The seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia also advanced, beating Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 6-0, 6-2.
No 10 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and No 24 Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada also won, but No 13 Marion Bartoli of France lost to Tathiana Garbin of Italy 6-3, 7-5.
On the men's side, Tommy Robredo of Spain advanced. Later today, the second seed Roger Federer will play on centre court, while No 4 Novak Djokovic and women's No 2 Serena Williams were also scheduled to play.
On Wednesday, veteran players Marat Safin and Fabrice Santoro said goodbye to the French Open, both departing from the clay-court tournament in the first week.
Safin, the former world No 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion, lost a back-and-forth marathon to French wild-card entry Josselin Ouanna 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 3-6, 10-8 in the second round.
Santoro played only eight minutes in the completion of his 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 first-round loss to Christophe Rochus of Belgium.
"I didn't draw the heart, and I didn't lay down and I didn't cry," said Safin, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros only once in his 11 appearances in 2002.
"Terrible way to finish with the French Open, but anyway ..."
Maria Sharapova nearly joined Safin and Santoro on the sidelines, but the unseeded Russian escaped the second-round by hanging on to beat 11th-seeded Nadia Petrova 6-2, 1-6, 8-6.
The top-seeded Dinara Safina and defending champion Ana Ivanovic also advanced. In the men's tournament, four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal stretched his record to a perfect 30-0 on the red clay of Roland Garros, and No 3 Andy Murray also advanced.
*AP
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Match info
Bournemouth 0
Liverpool 4 (Salah 25', 48', 76', Cook 68' OG)
Man of the match: Andrew Robertson (Liverpool)
The biog
Name: Capt Shadia Khasif
Position: Head of the Criminal Registration Department at Hatta police
Family: Five sons and three daughters
The first female investigator in Hatta.
Role Model: Father
She believes that there is a solution to every problem
Youth YouTuber Programme
The programme will be presented over two weeks and will cover the following topics:
- Learning, scripting, storytelling and basic shots
- Master on-camera presence and advanced script writing
- Beating the algorithm and reaching your core audience
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
ICC T20 Team of 2021
Jos Buttler, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, David Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mustafizur Rahman, Shaheen Afridi
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
T20 SQUADS
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shinwari, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood, Faheem Ashraf.
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
