Page 18 - aruba-today-20180824

A18 SPORTS
Friday 24 august 2018
Serena, Venus Williams could meet in U.S. Open 3rd round

By BRIAN MAHONEY total of 29 times — Serena
NEW YORK (AP) — Serena leads 17-12 — and that in-
and Venus Williams could cludes nine all-in-the-fam-
be headed toward their ily Grand Slam finals, most
earliest Grand Slam meet- recently at the 2017 Aus-
ing in 20 years, facing a po- tralian Open. In the men's
tential third-round match- field, No. 1-ranked and de-
up at the U.S. Open. fending champion Rafael
If the sisters do play each Nadal opens against David
other, the winner might Ferrer in an all-Spanish re-
face No. 1-ranked Simona match of their 2013 French
Halep in the fourth round. Open final. No. 2 Federer
That section of the wom- plays Japan's Yoshihito
en's bracket, and a pos- Nishioka in the first round.
sible Roger Federer-Novak Federer lost in the quarter-
Djokovic quarterfinal show- finals last year and this time
down in the men's, provid- in that round could face
ed the most intrigue when No. 6 seed Djokovic, the
the brackets were revealed Wimbledon champion who
at Thursday's draw for the beat him two weeks ago in
last major of the year. a tuneup and is considered
This marks Serena's return Defending champions Rafael Nadal and Sloane Stevens pose with the tournament's trophies dur- a tournament favorite after
to Flushing Meadows af- ing the reveal of the 2018 U.S. Open draw in New York, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018. having to miss it last year
ter missing the hard-court Associated Press because of injury.
tournament in 2017 — she Nadal, however, isn't sure
gave birth to her daughter Venus, who won five of her Kuznetsova was given a they would play each oth- there is one.
last Sept. 1. seven Grand Slam singles wild-card entry for the tour- er at a Grand Slam tour- "Of course Novak and Rog-
The 36-year-old American trophies in New York, is nament, where main-draw nament sooner than they er, they are doing very well
has won six of her 23 Grand ranked and seeded 16th. play begins Monday. have since Venus beat Ser- and especially they like the
Slam titles at the U.S. Open She faces a tricky first- Serena's opener comes ena in the second round at hard courts," he said during
and was given the No. 17 round match against Svet- against 60th-ranked Mag- the 1998 Australian Open the draw ceremony by the
seed by the U.S. Tennis As- lana Kuznetsova, whose da Linette of Poland. Should — their very first head-to- Hudson River in Lower Man-
sociation — nine places two major championships the Williams siblings both head match on tour. hattan. "Let's see. Let's see
above her current ranking. include the 2004 U.S. Open. make it to the third round, They've gone on to play a what's going on."q

URBAN MEYER "As I reflect, my loyalty to ed Smith and threatened
Continued from Page 17 his grandfather likely im- to fire him if Meyer found
Urban Meyer treating Zach pacted the way I treated out he hit Courtney Smith.
Smith like family almost Zach Smith," Meyer said Charges were never filed.
cost one of the most ac- Wednesday night, part of Last month, Meyer final-
complished coaches in a dispassionate reading of ly fired Zach Smith after
college football his job. A a statement. "I should have Courtney Smith received
case can be made that it demanded more from him a protective order against
should have. Instead, Mey- and recognized red flags." her ex-husband. Accord-
er is suspended for the first The red flags started in ing to investigators, Meyer
three games this season. 2009 when Zach Smith was texted his agent that his
It's OK to run your football arrested in Gainesville, Flor- plan for Big Ten media day
program as a family right ida, where he was working was to keep the reasons in-
up until the point when it for Meyer and the Gators. house. "I will not tell media,"
gets dysfunctional. When Smith allegedly picked up Meyer wrote.
families are confronted his pregnant wife, Court- Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, right, answers questions The text Meyer got back
as athletic director Gene Smith and university President Michael
with a troubled or trouble- ney, and threw her against Drake, left, listen during a news conference in Columbus, Ohio, from his agent: only "a
some relative, they tend to a wall. He denies that. Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. matter of time before he
close ranks. They search for The family closed ranks. Associated Press did something that did
solutions within and often Courtney decided not to substantial harm to you or
look to mom and dad to press charges. Meyer and bling behavior." no-showed on some re- the program."
clean up the mess. his wife sent the couple Smith brought a high sponsibilities, the report Too late.
Meyer thought he knew for counseling and came school coach to a strip said. Meyer's boss, athletic "While we do not doubt
best how to handle Smith, away doubtful of her al- club while on a recruiting director Gene Smith, rec- that Coach Meyer re-
a former player for him and legations, according to trip. Meyer warned him to ommended Smith be fired. spects women and is dedi-
the grandson of his mentor, the report delivered by in- not do it again. He wasn't. cated to fostering an en-
the late Ohio State coach dependent investigators Smith had credit cards In 2016, Meyer directed vironment of respect for
Earle Bruce. into Meyer's handling of declined when setting up Zach Smith into a drug women in his program," the
Instead of acting like the domestic violence allega- recruiting trips and was de- treatment facility. Meyer report said, "his apparent
vice president in charge tions against Zach Smith. linquent in paying for other did not tell Gene Smith blind spot for Zach Smith
of football for THE Ohio After Meyer hired Smith expenses. Meyer said he about this — or that 2009 seems to have impaired
State University, and pro- at Ohio State in 2011, one vaguely remembered arrest in Florida. his judgment and his man-
tecting the employer that thing after another could those issues. So it should be no surprise agement of the behavior
pays him millions to be the have led to Smith being While Smith's marriage when confronted with al- of at least one of his assis-
face of a $7 billion institu- fired for simply being bad was falling apart, his per- legations Zach Smith physi- tants." That blind spot now
tion, Meyer's instinct was to at his job. The investigation formance at work suf- cally assaulted his wife in leaves a permanent mark
shield his family. called it a "pattern of trou- fered. He was late and 2015, Meyer merely scold- on Meyer's legacy.q