The tennis news (but not only) of the week: a diesel-powered Federer and a cobra on the run

We Are Tennis by BNP Paribas brings you the best of the past week, on and off the courts, day after day. A week marked by the start of the US Open, a cobra on the run, and the discovery of what could be the oldest human being to ever live.

Monday, August 26th

The end of the summer is painful for everyone, but nicer for tennis fans, as they can follow the US Open! This year, the tournament will be pretty undecided in the mens, and with a very open draw in the women’s. Serena Williams started things off by defeating her eternal rival, Maria Sharapova. Roger Federer is more of a diesel-powered machine: he started slowly but managed to qualify for the second round. Four top-seeded players were knocked out on the first day: Fognini and Pella in the men’s draw, Kerber and Garcia in the women’s tournament. In other news, the G7, held in Biarritz, France, ended, Indonesia has a new capital, prisoners in Costa Rica used cats to get mobile phones in their cells and you have to sign a disclaimer before eating the spiciest burger in the world, at a restaurant in the UK.

Tuesday, August 27th

In Ireland, a rugby fan is claiming a 60 000 euros-compensation after getting hit by a ball in the face. At the US Open, another female fan took the spotlight after she (not so) discreetly filmed a topless Feliciano Lopez during a change of sides. Boris Becker, who’s 51 years-old, couldn’t buy beers in New York after he failed to show any form of ID at the liquor store. As for results, the new generation crumbled at Flushing Meadows: Tsitsipas lost in the first round after getting angry at the umpire, and Khachanov, Auger-Aliassime and Thiem also lost. The same thing happened in the women’s draw as Stephens, Muguruza, Vondrousova, Suarez Navarro and Strycova were all knocked out prematurely. A good old cleanout.

Wednesday, August 28th

Three animals were the stars of the day: elephants, who are now even more protected thanks to an international law, a venomous cobra, who escaped in the city of Herne, Germany, sending its population into a state of panic, and Meng Meng, the female panda of the Berlin Zoo, who is officially pregnant. Something very rare for an animal which is famous for its very calm libido. Matches being played at the US Open were also rare today, as it was raining in New York. Federer, Nishikori, and Djokovic still managed to qualify, even if the Serb’s physical form raised concerns, as a member of the medical staff was called to heal a painful left shoulder. Another player who got injured is Coric, who had to withdraw, leading Dimitrov to qualify for the following round. In the women’s draw, Serena, Svitolina and Barty all won.

Thursday, August 29th

US Open, Day 4: Nadal qualified without playing after Kokkinakis’ withdrawal, Paire lost and got angry, Goffin is back to his best, Zverev battled to qualfiy, Monfils and Kyrgios were impressive, and the favorites Pliskova and Osaka joined Barty and Svitolina in the third round. Naomi Osaka will face Cori Gauff, in a highly-anticipated confrontation. Meanwhile, at the Mallorca Challenger, Andy Murray was knocked out in the third round by the Italian Matteo Viola, the world number 267… Speaking of patience, Greta Thunberg arrived in New York after spending 15 days crossing the Atlantic on a sailing boat. And while the young Swede is trying to raise global awareness on the future of mankind, archeologists revealed that they have found, in Ethiopia, the skull of a man who is older than Lucy, and who lived 3,8 million years ago.

Friday, August 30th

After the angry Benoît Paire and Fabio Fognini, after the rise of the bad boy Nick Kyrgios, here comes Daniil Medvedev. In great form on and off the courts, the Russian had a lot of fun this Friday at Flushing Meadows, after defeating Feliciano Lopez at the end of an explosive match. We saw him produce some amazing points, but also some fits of rage (he aggressively took his towel from the hands of a ballboy, gave a fan the finger…), and he concluded with an interview in which he thanked the audience for booing him. Some top-class trolling overall. Apart from that, Roger Federer and Serena Williams are playing better and better each day, Goffin and Wawrinka also qualified, unlike Nishikori, who was knocked out by De Minaur. Del Potro, on his side, stated that he will be back on the courts mid-October. In other news, the Bolivian president got lost in the jungle while trying to help firemen stop the fires which are destroying his country, and the TV-adventurer Bear Grills almost died after getting stung by an insect, which provoked an allergic reaction.

Saturday, August 31st

Here’s a new episode of the bad boys of the ATP circuit, and this time, it actually involved the world number 1! While he was practicing on an outside court, Novak Djokovic got angry at a spectator who was telling him to withdraw from the tournament. « I’ll find ou, believe me », said the Serb. Great atmosphere… Rafael Nadal, on his side, didn’t have much to worry about as he carried on his journey and qualified for the fourth round.

Kyrgios’ tournament ended as he was defeated by Rublev. The match of the day was won in five long sets by Monfils, who knocked out Shapovalov the day before his birthday. In the women’s draw, Osaka taught the teenager Cori Gauff a lesson. A good thing, just before the start of the school year. In other news, hurricane Dorian is heading towards Florida, Neymar gave up on returning to Barcelona, protesters are still facing the police in Hongkong and Tokyo has been named the safest city in the world in front of Singapore and Osaka.

Sunday, September 1st

The major information of this September 1st is the withdrawal of the favorite Novak Djokovic, as his shoulder was too painful during his match against Wawrinka. We know at least one spectator who must be happy about that… The public enemy number 1 in Flushing Meadows, Daniil Medvedev, didn’t mind too much about the booing, as he qualified and will face Stan the Man in the quarter-finals. Another quarter-final will see Roger Federer face the revenant Grigor Dimitrov. In the women’s draw, the first four qualified players are Svitolina, Konta, Serena Williams and Wang Qiang. Kobe Bryant was spotted in the stands, while Benoît Paire went clubbing to release some pressure. In less happy news, Ed Sheeran announced that he wanted to take a break in his career, and Meghan Markle, Serena’s good friend (who’s celebrating her daughter’s second birthday), is supposedly homesick and wants to move to Los Angeles with Prince Harry. Shocking!