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WTA Olympics preview: Swiatek close to unbeatable at Roland Garros

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Iga Swiatek

The tennis event at the 2024 Paris Olympics is being held on the clay courts of Roland Garros, which is bad news for anyone not named Iga Swiatek. At just 23 years old, Swiatek is already a four-time French Open champion. She most recently triumphed on the terre battue only two months ago, blitzing everyone in her path aside from a second-round thriller against Naomi Osaka.

That’s not to say that Swiatek is an absolute lock to capture gold. A formidable list of challengers includes Osaka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Jasmine Paolini, and reigning Wimbledon champ Barbora Krejcikova.

Here are my best bets for the women’s side in Paris.

Iga Swiatek (-175)

The men’s side is somewhat up for grabs (even though Carlos Alcaraz has won two consecutive Grand Slams), at least relative to the women’s. Olympic gold on the WTA side would be close to toss-up on any other surface, but on the red clay of Roland Garros it’s a borderline slam dunk for Swiatek. The top-ranked Pole does have a difficult draw at the Paris Games, but you still cannot pick against her at this particular setting.

Jasmine Paolini (+2400)

Paolini has been sensational from start to finish in 2024, and what is especially notable is that she has been getting it done on every surface. The fifth-ranked Italian won the WTA 1000 event in Dubai on hard courts and has finished runner-up at each of the last two majors–on the clay of Roland Garros and the grass of Wimbledon. Clay has generally been her favorite surface over the years, so she should be especially confident in returning to Paris. It’s also worth noting that Paolini has pretty much an ideal draw in the much weaker bottom half, so the door at least to the final is wide open and perhaps she could get lucky with someone like Rybakina or Jelena Ostapenko upsetting Swiatek in the top half.

Naomi Osaka (+2200)

One woman and one woman alone came close to taking down Swiatek at this year’s French Open. In fact, mathematically Osaka could not have come any closer to getting the job done. The Japanese star had a match point to upset the world No. 1 only to succumb 7-6(1), 1-6, 7-5. Even though Osaka has not done much in between these two stops at Roland Garros, she can never be discounted on the big stage. After all, she is a four-time major champion–having won both the Australian Open and U.S. Open twice each.

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TENNIS

Angel Reese Set A Rookie Record In Saturday’s WNBA All-Game

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Angel Reese

Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese’s Rookie of the Year campaign got a boost at this past Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game as she set a rookie record in her team’s 117-109 win over Team USA.

Reese, known for putting up big numbers in the rebounds category along with her consistent scoring, set a record that may not be all that surprising to anyone who has followed her closely this season.

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TENNIS

Angel Reese arrives in Paris — right before 2024 Olympics

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Angel Reese

Stars: they’re just like us!

Angel Reese wrote a curiously timed post on X, in which she noted that her luggage got lost by an unnamed airline en route to Paris.

“They lost our bags & said we only get ‘$100 in euros’ to shop until they find them but we made it to Paris,” Reese tweeted, adding two tears emojis.

Aside from 100 euros not being nearly sufficient relative to cover Reese’s typical attire, it was interesting timing because the Olympics kick off in Paris this weekend.

If Reese were getting stealthily added to the Team USA women’s basketball roster, when there has been much controversy that longtime rival Caitlin Clark got left off, it would be a bombshell story.

Nevertheless, Team USA plays Germany in a tune-up game in London on Tuesday, so one would reckon that’s where Reese would’ve headed if she were joining the team.

It’s also likely that Team USA would’ve sought to quiet Reese about being in Paris before they could make an announcement.

Therefore, at this juncture it seems more likely that Reese is just enjoying a jaunt to Paris, perhaps coupled with some international marketing opportunities.

The WNBA season is on pause for the Olympics until mid-August.

Reese has impressed as a rookie on the Chicago Sky this season, having had a WNBA-record 15-game streak in which she compiled a double-double.

In the All-Star Game this past weekend, Reese had 12 points and 11 rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench as the WNBA All-Stars defeated Team USA, 117-109.

Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale stole the show in the game, scoring 34 points, all in the second half, and winning the All-Star Game MVP.

This was a case of history repeating itself, as Ogunbowale also won the All-Star MVP when she was snubbed from Team USA for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

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TENNIS

Rafael Nadal teaches Emma Raducanu lesson in class after pulling out of Bastad

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Rafael Nadal and Emma Raducanu

Rafael Nadal has shown Emma Raducanu exactly how you pull out of a doubles event. The Spaniard was competing alongside Casper Ruud as they reached the semi-finals of the Swedish Open.

But Nadal withdrew from their final four showdown just hours before the match was due to take place.

Earlier in the day, the 38-year-old came from a set down to beat Duje Ajdukovic to reach the singles final in Bastad.

So he openly and honestly admitted that he was withdrawing from the doubles to preserve his fitness after a torrid time with injuries recently.

That’s fair enough, nobody can begrudge Nadal the chance to compete for an ATP singles title in his first tournament back, especially when he was so up front with his excuse.

Raducanu could learn a thing from the legendary 22-time Grand Slam winner.

She also withdrew from the Wimbledon mixed doubles event with Andy Murray just hours before their match.

But Raducanu claimed she woke up with a “stiff wrist” the morning after beating No.9 seed Maria Sakkari in the third round of the singles.

In reality, she probably did not expect to beat the Greek star and progress to the second week.

Her excuse of an ‘injury’ rightly riled Andy Murray’s mum Judy, who wrote on social media that she was “astonished.”

Even more surprisingly, Raducanu’s wrist was back to normal the following day when she lost to Lulu Sun in three sets.

The backlash wouldn’t have been as harsh if Raducanu had just been upfront in the first place.

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TENNIS

Paris Olympics 2024: Rafael Nadal ‘not comfortable’ ahead of Summer Games

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Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal will head into the Paris Olympics chasing a third gold medal but admitted his “level was so far from what it should be” after losing in the Bastad final on Sunday.

Paris Olympics Complete Coverage: Click here for news, schedule, explainers and more

The 38-year-old legend went down in straight sets to Portuguese journeyman Nuno Borges in his first final since capturing a 14th French Open title in 2022.

“The level was so far from what it should be. Probably the energy too,” said Nadal.

“It has been a long week with long matches. Even if my body, I don’t have damage, that’s important — but mentally and physically, I am not used to playing four days in a row and playing long matches.”

Nadal was playing his first tournament since suffering an opening round exit at the French Open in May.

He skipped Wimbledon, played on grass, to maintain focus on his clay-court bag of tricks ahead of the Olympics which are being played at Roland Garros, the site of 14 of his 22 Grand Slam triumphs.

At the Games, Nadal will be keen on adding to his singles gold from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and doubles victory at Rio in 2016.

As well as singles, he will team up with French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz in Paris.

Rafael Nadal

“I played the final, that’s positive. I was able to play long matches without having an injury, that’s good,” added Nadal of his week in Sweden.

The former World No. 1 has played just six tournaments this year due to injury while his ranking has dropped to 261.

“In some way I felt that I arrived here practising much better than what I played on the tournament during the whole week. That’s something that I am not satisfied with,” he explained.

“I arrived here with the feeling that I was playing a good level and I was not able to show that during the whole week. That is something that I am not happy with.

“Anyway it’s a final, so I can’t say it’s a bad result because it’s the first final since a long time ago. But I was not able to feel myself comfortable enough during the whole week to be satisfied with the week of tennis that I played.”

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Nadal not happy with Bastad level, but ‘no damage’ to body in marathon final run

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Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal has always analysed his performances with great perspective. After a disappointing 6-3, 6-2 defeat to Nuno Borges on Sunday in the Nordea Open final, the Spanish legend saw both sides of the coin when looking back on his week in Bastad.

While the 38-year-old was not happy with his tennis overall, despite grinding his way to his first final since Roland Garros in 2022, Nadal was boosted by the way his body handled the heavy load of match play on the ATP 250’s clay courts.

“The level was so far from what it should be,” he said of his display on Sunday. “Probably the energy too. It has been a long week with long matches. Even if my body, I don’t have damage, that’s important — but mentally and physically, I am not used to playing four days in a row and playing long matches.”

After beating fifth seed Cameron Norrie in straight sets on Thursday, Nadal won three-set marathons against fourth seed Mariano Navone and Duje Ajdukovic over the next two days. Those battles appeared to take their toll on Sunday, when Nadal was flat against Borges.

“I need to analyse well and find the reason why I played that way, even if the energy was not right,” he said. “A lot of things that can’t happen on court if you want to play at the level that I want to play. Things like this can happen today, and that’s the situation. I don’t have to lie or hide anything.”

Rafael Nadal

 

Despite his disappointment, Nadal gave full credit to Borges, who will move to a career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 42 his first ATP Tour title: “I have to give the credit to him,” Nadal said after their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. “He did a lot of things well, missed not much, returned well. He converted opportunities, so well done for him, happy for him. He deserved it more than the rest of the players who played in this tournament. I wish him to enjoy this great moment.”

As he looks ahead to the Paris Olympics at Roland Garros, where Nadal will play singles and compete in doubles with Carlos Alcaraz, the Spaniard is hopeful that he can translate his high level in practice to the match court. Even when he was winning in Bastad, he was not fully happy with his tennis.

“I played the final, that’s positive,” he said, looking at the big picture this week. “I was able to play long matches without having an injury, that’s good.

“In some way I felt that I arrived here practising much better than what I played on the tournament during the whole week. That’s something that I am not satisfied with. I arrived here with the feeling that I was playing a good level and I was not able to show that during the whole week. That is something that I am not happy with.

“Anyway it’s a final, so I can’t say it’s a bad result because it’s the first final since a long time ago. But I was not able to feel myself comfortable enough during the whole week to be satisfied with the week of tennis that I played.”

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TENNIS

Angel Reese’s No-Show at WNBA All-Star Orange Carpet Had Some Fans Very Worried

By
Angel Reese

The WNBA’s All-Star weekend kicked off Thursday with an Orange Carpet event featuring the league’s top players, with one very noticeable absence — Angel Reese.

The Chicago Sky rookie opted to stay in Las Vegas following her team’s win over the Aces and took in an NBA Summer League game. While Reese is still set to travel to Arizona for Saturday’s All-Star Game, her Orange Carpet absence led some fans to worry that she could be skipping out on the game.

“Does anyone know if there is any truth to Angel Reese saying she wasn’t gonna even go to the all-star game?” a fan asked on X. “Sounds crazy but she didn’t show up on the carpet and is still in Vegas. It’s her rookie year and she’s an all-star why not enjoy every moment crazy crazy.”

Others saw it as a missed opportunity for Reese, who turned heads at the Orange Carpet back at the WNBA Draft.

Angel Reese

“It’s so odd that #AngelReese would skip out on the #OrangeCarpet to be in #lasvegas lol,” wrote a fan. “It’s so many players who dream of being an #WNBAAllStar and walking the carpet. She had the opportunity and passed up on it lol. Interesting move, but maybe it’s more to the decision.”

And some fans skipped the conspiracy theories altogether and lamented that they didn’t get to see Reese at the Orange Carpet event.

“no angel reese wnba red carpet look ?!?!? my night is ruined,” one fan wrote on X.

Some also defended Reese, pointing out that she’ll still be in Arizona to play in this weekend’s game.

“Y’all chill on Angel not showing up to the carpet tonight,” one person wrote on X. “She’ll be where she needs to be, right on time. A flight from Vegas to AZ is less than an hour, no biggie!”

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Angel Reese Makes Powerful Announcement About Biggest Life Goal

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Angel Reese

Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese has surprised many fans and detractors with her individual WNBA success this season.

The “Chi Barbie” is currently leading the league in rebounds per game (with 12), set a WNBA record for consecutive double-doubles in a season (with 15), earned Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors last week, and will be taking part in the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game this weekend.

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Angel Reese’s net worth: A look at her earnings & endorsements

By
Angel Reese

Angel Reese is one of the most promising basketballers in the WNBA after joining the Chicago Sky in the 2024 draft as a forward. She is currently one of the front-runners for the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Award. This article highlights Angel Reese’s net worth and how much she earns in salary and endorsements.

Prior to joining the WNBA, Angel Reese’s net worth had already crossed the $1 million mark because of her lucrative NIL deals with major companies. Her basketball star power is attributed to her family’s athletic background: her mom played basketball at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and her dad played college ball.

Angel Reese’s profile summary Full name Angel Reese Other names Bayou Barbie Date of birth May 6, 2002 Age 22 years old in 2024 Birth sign Taurus Place of birth Randallstown, Maryland, United States Nationality American Height 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m/191 cm) Weight Approx. 75 kg (165 lb) Gender Female Sexual orientation Straight Relationship status Single Ex-boyfriend Basketballer Cam’Ron Fletcher (2023) Parents Angel and Michael Reese Siblings Julian Education St. Frances Academy, University of Maryland (2020 to 2022) Louisiana State University (2022-2024) Profession WNBA basketball athlete WNBA draft 7th overall pick in the first round (2024) Teams Chicago Sky (2024 to date) Player position Power forward Social media Instagram X (Twitter) YouTube TikTok

What is Angel Reese’s net worth in 2024? The WNBA star is estimated to be worth between $1.8 million and $3 million, according to various sources, including Sportzhive and Sportskeeda. Her main source of income is her basketball salary and brand endorsements. Angel Reese’s salary Angel Reese’s contract with the Chicago Sky includes an average annual salary of $81,096. The 4-year rookie contract signed in 2024 is worth $324,383. She will earn a salary of $73,439 in 2024, $74,909 in 2025, $82,399 in 2026, and $93,636 in 2027, according to Spotrac.

Angel Reese

Angel Reese’s NIL worth and earnings Angel Reese’s name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals were worth $1.8 million by the end of her collegiate career, placing her at number 8 on the On3 NIL 100 list. She was working with top brands like SI Swimsuit, Starry, Mielle Organics, Caktus AI, Raising Cane’s, Campus Ink, Intuit TurboTax, Mercedes-Benz, Tampax, Beats by Dre, Airbnb, Amazon, and Goldman Sachs.

Angel Reese’s endorsements After being drafted into the WNBA in April 2024, Angel Reese’s NIL deals became sponsorships. She has continued her partnership with Reebok after becoming the brand’s face for female basketball in October 2023. Reese became the first athlete to be signed by Shaq O’Neal after he was appointed Reebok’s president of basketball. Angel Reese’s Reebok contract amount has yet to be made public. She revealed in a past video that many shoe companies wanted to work with her, but she chose Reebok for various reasons, saying,

What was it about Reebok? One, they don’t have a women’s basketball player (as) a face. So I wanted to be that. Two, Shaq. You know my relationship with Shaq. And three, I like how they’re rebranding everything and they’re letting me be the creator behind everything I want to do.  In April 2024, Angel inked a deal with sports and entertainment collectables company Panini America in an exclusive partnership for autographed trading cards and memorabilia. The multi-year contract includes a wide variety of products featuring Reese.

Angel Reese’s basketball career Reese attended Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore, where she excelled as a four-year varsity basketball player, leading her team to championships and playing in the McDonald’s All-American Game. She began her college basketball at the University of Maryland, where she spent two years.

In 2022, the basketball athlete transferred to LSU, where she received significant recognition. She led them to their first national championship and was named the Most Outstanding Player.  The Chicago Sky drafted her in the 2024 WNBA Draft as the 7th overall pick. Angel Reese’s career achievements as of July 2024 include the following;  WNBA All-Star (2024)  NCAA champion (2023) NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (2023)  Unanimous first-team All-American (2023)  First-team All-American – USBWA (2024)  Second-team All-American – AP (2024)  WBCA Coaches’ All-American (2023)  Third-team All-American – AP (2022)  SEC Player of the Year (2024)  2-time First-team All-SEC (2023 and 2024)  First-team All-Big Ten (2022)  2-time SEC All-Defensive Team (2023 and 2024)  Big Ten All-Defensive Team (2022)  Big Ten All-Freshman Team (2021)  McDonald’s All-American (2020)

Angel Reese

Angel Reese foundation The WNBA forward established the Angel C. Reese Foundation in her hometown in Maryland in August 2023. The NGO’s main objective is to ensure equal opportunities for all girls in areas where they have been overlooked, like education, sports, and financial literacy. Her mother revealed that giving back had always been Reese’s dream.

Angel has always wanted to give back, and we thought what better way to do that than by starting a foundation so we could directly control the charitable giving and facilitate how we would help others. Our two main objectives are to ensure equity and equal opportunity for girls in sports. We feel that those are intertwined, and we chose these because of Angel’s position. FAQs Since her college days at LSU, where she led the SEC in scoring and rebounding, Reese has been a rising star. Here are some of the frequently asked questions about her earnings;

What does Angel Reese do for a living? The Maryland native plays professional basketball in the WNBA. The Chicago Sky drafted her in the 2024 WNBA Draft as the 7th overall pick.  How much money does Angel Reese make? Angel’s average annual salary in the WNBA is $81,096. She also made $1.8 million in NIL deals by the end of her collegiate career in early 2024. How much is Angel Reese worth? The Chicago Sky forward is estimated to be worth between $1.8 million and $3 million. She is currently one of WNBA’s best rookie players.

Angel Reese’s net worth is expected to increase as her WNBA career soars. She continues to make waves both on and off the court. READ ALSO: Caitlin Clark’s net worth & earnings: The fortune of a basketball star  Briefly.co.za shared all you need to know about Caitlin Clark’s net worth. The 3-time USA Basketball Gold Medalist was chosen by the Indiana Fever as the 1st overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Caitlin broke many records during her collegiate career with the Iowa Hawkeyes and had one of the highest-paying NIL deals. Check the article for more on her current WNBA earnings. Source: Briefly News

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Sky’s Angel Reese takes aim at ‘delusional’ fans who ask to be flown out to games

By
Angel Reese 

Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese appeared to have a message for anyone who thinks she or any of her teammates are flying people out to their games – they are “delusional.”

Reese made her remarks in a video on social media.

“Let me just say something … I just want to say one thing. The delusion of thinking of gonna fly any of y’all out … Yeah, that’s all I’m gonna say,” Reese said. “The delusion of thinking any one of us are flying y’all out … be for real. Thank you.”

The rookie finished with eight points and 16 rebounds. The Sky tried to get Reese the ball in the closing moments of the game, but she was guarded by four Liberty players as the team fell 81-67.

Reese is the lone WNBA rookie averaging a double-double with 13.5 points and 12 rebounds per game. She is also averaging 1.5 steals and 0.4 blocks per game as well.

Reese was named the WNBA Rookie of the Month for June and was voted to the All-Star Game. She will team up with fellow Rookie of the Year candidate Caitlin Clark for the first time as the All-Stars face off against Team USA.
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