US Open: Sabalenka beats Pegula to clinch women’s singles title
No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka captured her third Grand Slam singles title, and her first in New York City, defeating American Jessica Pegula, 7-5, 7-5 to win the US Open title.
In the wake of George Floyd’s tragic death which has caused a nationwide protest in the US, social media is falling back on a Serena Williams video clip from last year where the tennis legend had said she would fight for equality all her life.
Floyd, aged 46, died last week shortly after Derek Chauvin, a police officer, held him down with a knee on his neck though he repeatedly pleaded, “I can’t breathe,” and “please, I can’t breathe”.
In July 2019, tennis legend Billie Jean King had said Serena should focus on tennis and stop behaving like a celebrity and fighting for equality.
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“Well, the day I stop fighting for equality and for people that look like you and me, will be the day I’m in my grave,” Serena had shot back in response to the question.
A popular Twitter handle, “Now This” shared the moving video of Serena with the caption: “Serena Williams has a message for those who think she should just ‘focus on tennis’ and stop fighting for equality.”
Recently, India’s top ranked men’s singles tennis player Sumit Nagal said sportspersons should be vocal about issues related to all types of racism.
Nagal said that he himself has experienced racism all the time whenever he travelled abroad and in Germany, where he trains.
“I understand from my experience how people feel about it because I have been there,” he wrote in a column for Hindustan Times where he expressed his thoughts on the murder of George Floyd and the protests it has sparked accross USA.
“I have often been asked different things and singled out in a group merely because I’m darker. I have been questioned more every time I get out of the plane in a few countries because of my colour. These things have happened to me frequently. I’m very, very sure I will be picked again and again—because I know this is seen as normal.”
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