French youngster beats No 7 seed 6-3, 6-4 in Cincinnati Jessica Pegula battles past Swiatek to reach women’s final In the middle of a tense, erratic start to a rain-delayed semi-final day in Cincinnati, Arthur Fils found himself locked in defence and miles behind the baseline on his serve at 3-3. He scurried from sideline to sideline, lunging toward the ball at full stretch, seemingly with no real chance of turning things around. As Flavio Cobolli swept to the net with the intention of finishing Fils off, however, the Italian soon learned that his opponent had another gear to reach. From far wide of the court, Fils pulverised a forehand passing shot winner beyond his astounded opponent, drawing a roar from the crowd. That one point alone provided evidence of the athleticism, explosiveness and sheer audacity that have long marked Fils as such a rare, exciting talent, and it also set the tone for a monumental victory. From that moment onwards, Fils took control of the match and he marche...
‘So much more respect for myself’: NZ ultrarunner Sophie Woods on smashing a 2,000km alpine run record
Sophie Woods speaks about the challenges she overcame while completing the notorious Via Alpina across eight European countries A couple of weeks into her record-breaking 2,000km run through Europe’s alps, Sophie Woods feared she might die. Woods and her photographer had just scaled a peak in Switzerland, when a severe thunderstorm engulfed them. “The lightning was going off around us ... there was nowhere to shelter in place [and] all the rocks around us were conductive,” Woods tells the Guardian, from her home in Andorra, nearly two weeks after she became the fastest person ever to run the Via Alpina, a 2,000km network of alpine trails through eight countries. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/TtUvu89 via IFTTT