Serena withdraws from French Open quarters
Paris, June 4: American tennis great Serena Williams pulled out of her French Open Round-of-16 clash on Monday due to injury, sending Russian Maria Sharapova into the quarter-finals.
Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion, said at a press conference that the muscle pain began during her straight-set win over Germany's Julia Goerges in the previous round and that she was planning to undergo a MRI scan on Tuesday," reports Efe.
"I've unfortunately been having some issues with my pectoral muscle," Williams said. "Right now I can't actually serve, so it's kind of hard to play when I can't physically serve."
"It's very difficult because I love playing Maria (Sharapova). It's a match I always get up for. It's extremely disappointing but I made a promise to myself that if I'm not at least 50 percent, I shouldn't play," she added.
The French Open was only the third tournament appearance for Williams, 36, since claiming the 2017 Australian Open title, as she had been on maternity leave for the birth of her daughter in Sept.
"I'm beyond disappointed. I gave up so much from time with my daughter and time with my family, all for this moment. So it's really difficult to be in this situation," she admitted.
Williams said she had unsuccessfully tried different solutions during her women's doubles third round defeat on Sunday, when she and her elder sister Venus 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 lost to Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Slovenia's Andreja Klepac.
Next up for Sharapova, a two-time French Open champion, is either Spain's Garbiñe Muguruza, the third seed, or Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
