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It’s no secret that Naomi Osaka’s results on hard courts are superior to her results on other surfaces but the former world No.1 has a plan to up her game on clay this campaign and it involves a secret tip she picked up from none other than the ‘King of Clay’ Rafael Nadal.
In the build-up to this week’s Madrid Open, Osaka spent some time training on the red dirt in Mallorca and is keen to debut some new parts of her game when she kicks off her clay-court season in the Spanish capital.
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In Miami earlier this month, Osaka said she will be watching “a lot of Nadal videos to see how he moves” on clay, and it seems the Japanese star is ready to showcase some new tricks after doing her homework and closely studying the 13-time Roland Garros champion.
“I changed a couple of things, I think you guys will be able to tell when I play, I don’t want to spoil the surprise. I would say I did change a couple of things to suit myself more for clay,” Osaka said on Wednesday.
“Yes, I think I stole one of the things that he did and I’ve been practicing it recently,” she added, referring to Nadal.
“It’ll either go really good or really bad. There’s like no in between. But I think as I’ve been doing it, it’s been going pretty well.”
Osaka, a four-time major winner, considers herself a student of the game and says she plans on utilising her time at tournaments by following player practices.
“Honestly I’ve been wanting to watch the really good clay-court players practice because I feel like I’m the type of person that learns really fast if I see it up close and honestly it’s a bit of a waste to have all these really good professional tennis players and not watch them,” said the 24-year-old.
Naomi Osaka à Madrid en 2022
Image credit: Getty Images
“I’ve kind of wanted to see (Carlos) Alcaraz, so it’d be cool to watch everyone practice.”
One journalist joked that maybe Osaka will start playing left-handed like Nadal.
“Imagine?” she said with a laugh.
“I’ve actually been warming up kind of left-handed but I don’t think that’s a skill that’s going to show itself anytime soon.”
Iga the superhero?
She may have pulled out of the Mutua Madrid Open citing a right shoulder injury but Iga Swiatek still dominated conversations on Media Day.
The world No.1, who has won four consecutive titles and is on a 23-match winning streak, has her competitors and peers in awe of what she’s been able to do over the past two months and has inspired some interesting responses from players when they were asked to describe what is special about Swiatek.
Maria Sakkari likened the 20-year-old Pole to the fictional character ‘Eleven’ on the supernatural TV series ‘Stranger Things’.
“You can tell she’s a very, very nice girl, she’s a very good person; you can tell from her eyes, and from her aura and everything,” said world No.5 Sakkari.
“I’m pretty sure she likes ‘Stranger Things’ right? I could tell she has that kind of, not superpower, but something different. Like the character ‘Eleven’. Maybe it’s the short hair as well. I don’t know, she has something.
“Obviously she’s been having great results since Doha and she deserves it. I’ve been telling you guys that she has been doing the right things. You don’t win four tournaments in a row if you don’t deserve it and it’s exciting.”
Asked what fictional character she would associate herself with, Sakkari was stumped for a while before saying: “A lot of people say I look like Daisy Ridley from Star Wars, because she has a bun as well.”
Osaka picked ‘Snorlax’ from ‘Pokemon’ as a character she could relate to before adding: “Or something that’s just like a big bear that’s like kind of sleeping the most of the time but then when it wakes up it’ll wake up but then it’ll go back to sleep.”
‘Magical Swiatek’ deserves to be here
Tunisian world No.10 Ons Jabeur joked that it is “annoying” having Swiatek dominate so much on tour at the moment, before setting the record straight and heaping praise on the former French Open champion.
“She deserves to be here, it didn’t happen just over a day. Whether we want it or not, she’s an inspiration to a lot of players, me included. I hope I can achieve that level because I don’t know what she’s doing right now but what she’s doing is right. I hope she can continue that way but not against me,” Jabeur added with a laugh.
Iga Swiatek
Image credit: Getty Images
World No.2 Paula Badosa, a frequent practice partner of Swiatek’s, said the young Pole “has special hands; she has magic”.
Badosa continued: “From the middle she opens the court very easily. She moves amazing. So yeah, she has everything to be world No.1. She totally deserves it. And I’m even more happy, because she’s a humble person and she’s very normal. That’s sometimes is tough to see. It’s nice.”
Weighing in on Russians/Belarusians Wimbledon ban
After announcing she was withdrawing from the Madrid Open, Swiatek still came to press to talk to on-site journalists and fulfil her media commitments.
Already one of the first players to voice their support for Ukraine, Swiatek was asked to weigh in on recent news that Wimbledon has banned Russians and Belarusians from competing at SW19 this summer, and Rome potentially enforcing a similar suspension at the Italian Open next month.
Swiatek feels it would be better if all of tennis’ governing bodies were united when it came to such decisions, and admits she doesn’t know what the right course of action should be.
“The situation is getting like more and more chaotic, I would say,” said Swiatek. “But I feel like it would be nice to have all these bodies making the proper decision so that we’re not going to have that kind of chaos.
“I feel like people are expecting us players to make the decision, but it’s pretty hard for us to make one because we know these people. We know each other. We are spending so much time on tour that it feels like we’re family. I would say I’m seeing more the other players than my sister when I’m back home. So for sure it’s a tough situation.
“And that’s why I think the actual people who are kind of responsible for making this decision, they should make one decision that is going to last. I don’t know what decision is right, because honestly, I’m 20 and it’s not like I’m saying that because I want to stay in a safe bubble. But honestly, I’ve never been involved in politics and it’s not like I know everything. It’s more like I still need to educate myself and I feel like I should educate myself a little bit more in that.
“So I can’t tell what’s the best decision, that’s for sure. But making some moves that are going to help stop the war a little bit would be better.”
– –
Stream the 2022 French Open live and on demand on discovery+
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SAN DIEGO – Spring break has commenced and San Diego is starting to fill up with tourists as leisure travel is predicted to be busier than 2019 before the pandemic.
“We are seeing more passengers,” said Sabrina LoPiccolo, a spokesperson for San Diego International Airport. “We’re expecting between 60 to 70,000 passengers approximately on average each day,”
She said even though air travel is down some 20% compared to 2019, it’s up about 50% compared to last year as more flights are available and COVID-19 restrictions lessen.
“We are continuing to see an increase in passengers,” she said.
President and CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority Julie Coker said leisure travel this spring break is actually higher than it was in 2019 before the pandemic.
“What we typically see is a boost anywhere between 12 to 17 percent in terms in demand,” Coker said. “We defintely see a higher visitor spend.”
She said San Diego is 70% small businesses, calling the spike in tourism a big win after the winter business lull. She said pre-pandemic levels typically bring in up to $1 billion, though it’s difficult to track exact tourist spending.
For those traveling at the San Diego International Airport, don’t forget about construction. If you plan to park your car there, it’s recommended you make a reservation.
SAN YSIDRO, Calif. (Border Report) — During recent visits to Carolin Shoes along San Ysidro Boulevard, manager Olivia Campos always had plenty of time to sit down and discuss the pandemic-related financial woes at her store and others in the area.
But as Border Report checked in Friday morning, Campos found herself running back and forth in the store helping customers.
Olivia Campos manages Carolin Shoes in San Ysidro, Calif. (Salvador Rivera/Border Report)
Gladly, our interview would have to wait, and it would have to be quick.
… Finally, she stopped and turned her attention to this reporter.
“We better do it now because I won’t have time to stop and talk later,” she said.
Since Nov. 8, when essential travel restrictions were lifted to those who are vaccinated for COVID-19, merchants just north of the San Ysidro Port of Entry had been eagerly anticipating the return of shoppers from Mexico.
As it turned out, the wait was longer than anyone could’ve thought.
“I was expecting a lot more people,” Campos said.
She admitted that after a few dismal weeks, there is room now for optimism.
“Slowly, slowly I see it getting a little bit better. Last Saturday everything started to pick up,” she said.
Visitors from Tijuana are said to be returning to San Ysidro, Calif. to shop some even bring empty suitcases to fill them up with clothes that will be resold south of the border. (Salvador Rivera/Border Report)
According to Campos, her store saw a surge in customers two Saturdays ago and it’s been steady ever since.
“Hopefully, it keeps going the same way,” she said.
And with one more full weekend of shopping before Christmas, she is hoping to finish the holiday season and start the new year on a strong note.
“I hope we can see more, to be honest with you, I really hope so.”
Campos told Border Report it looks like things are getting back to normal; she said most of her neighboring businesses were also doing better.
“It’s good, I just hope they don’t close the border again,” she said.
On the west side of the San Ysidro Port of Entry, where there is a large outlet mall, two workers at a shoe store and one at a suitcase discounter said they were seeing a lot more people from Mexico and that their sales were “way up.”
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, and essential travel restrictions were put in place, more than 200 businesses in San Ysidro closed their doors permanently due to the lack of customers from Mexico.
The area, according to its chamber of commerce, also sustained more than $1.3 billion in losses.
Holiday travel picking up ahead of Thanksgiving holiday
– video made by the YouTube channel with the logo in the video’s upper left hand corner. OaklandNewsNow.com is the original blog post for this type of video-blog content.
It’s the holiday season, which means an increase in holiday travel!
Note from Zennie62Media and OaklandNewsNow.com : this video-blog post demonstrates the full and live operation of the latest updated version of an experimental Zennie62Media , Inc. mobile media video-blogging system network that was launched June 2018. This is a major part of Zennie62Media , Inc.’s new and innovative approach to the production of news media. What we call “The Third Wave of Media”. The uploaded video is from a YouTube channel. When the YouTube video channel for WGN News Chicago uploads a video it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our is smartphone-enabled, real-time, on the scene reporting of news, interviews, observations, and happenings anywhere in the World and within seconds and not hours – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. The secondary objective is faster, and very inexpensive media content news production and distribution. We have found there is a disconnect between post length and time to product and revenue generated. With this, the problem is far less, though by no means solved. Zennie62Media is constantly working to improve the system network coding and seeks interested content and media technology partners.
DENVER (CBS4) – An increase in vaccinations and loosened travel guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention resulted in busier airports and airspace in recent weeks. As Coloradans grow more comfortable with traveling amid the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines are adding additional flights to their schedules.
Nearly 1.6 million Americans took to the skies on April 18, 2021. A little more than 105,000 Americans flew on the same day in 2020.
While the return of more passengers is promising news for those in and around the airline industry, many of whom were furloughed or laid off, others said they feared the return to travel was going too quickly.
“I’ve been on a bunch of flights,” said Ledoniea Nisbeth, a frequent traveler.
Nisbeth said the pandemic didn’t scare her from traveling. She flew from Colorado to destinations like New York, Maryland and even Jamaica.
“I don’t feel like I need to panic,” Nisbeth told CBS4’s Dillon Thomas.
However, she said she wasn’t a fan of the flights growing more packed. As more people grow comfortable with flying, airlines are filling middle aircrafts.
“Usually there is no person in the middle seat, but now every seat is full,” Nisbeth said. “It was uncomfortable.”
Others, like Robbi Cunningham of Windsor, said they still didn’t feel overly comfortable with flying. She said she didn’t fly during the pandemic out of fear of contracting COVID-19.
However she decided to get on a flight to Boston after a family member needed help after a medical procedure.
“I would have had to think twice,” Cunningham said. “It was a full flight coming home today, which was a little unnerving. With the vaccination I felt pretty good.”
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – After more than a year of staying home, San Francisco International Airport leaders say they’re starting to see more people booking flights.
Some people said they’ve been waiting to travel for a long time and many people are flying to tropical places for leisure.
“This is the first time that I’ve traveled since the pandemic,” Antonio Perez said.
Perez says it’s been more than a year since he’s checked in for a flight and he’s not alone in his decision to fly.
“Last month there were probably 10,000-11,000 people per-day going through our security checkpoints, that number is now up to 14,000-15,000 a day and continues to climb,” Doug Yakel said.
Doug Yakel with San Francisco International Airport says many of these people are taking vacations.
“We’re not expecting much in business travel for the remainder of this year so we do think that as travel is starting to recover and it is, it’s really that leisure sector that is leading the recovery,” Yakel said.
Airport leaders are trying to keep people safe — They have reminders for people to social distance, hand sanitizer available, and partitions up.
“Masking is still a requirement. Although a lot of states around the country have lifted their masking requirement at any airport on any aircraft in the united states it’s now a federal requirement that you wear a face mask at all times,” Yakel said.
Still, Perez says he’ll be taking extra precautions on his flight.
“I cannot say that I feel very safe — That’s why I brought this one because I want to wear this on the plane because I think the air in the plane can be more contaminated than outside,” Perez said.
Airport officials are looking into creating a digital health app that will be able to certify that people have been vaccinated or have had a negative test recently.
European Union countries clash over unequal vaccine distribution
Six European Union countries — Austria, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia — have raised concerns over how the bloc is distributing Covid-19 vaccines after AstraZeneca cut its delivery targets once again.
They are worried that without any changes, some EU nations “would be able to reach herd immunity in a few weeks while others would lag far behind,” they said in a letter.
Their complaint follows news that AstraZeneca will not meet its delivery targets in the coming months. The Swedish-British pharmaceutical firm confirmed to CNBC that it will deliver 30 million doses to the EU by the end of the first quarter and another 70 million doses during the second quarter.
These numbers are below what the bloc was expecting to receive.
—Silvia Amaro
Facebook to start labeling all posts about Covid vaccines
Facebook’s logo displayed on a phone screen and keyboard.
Jakub Porzycki | NurPhoto via Getty Images
Facebook will start adding labels to posts about the safety of the Covid-19 vaccines and will soon label all posts about the shots, Reuters reported.
The social media giant has been criticized for allowing misinformation about the vaccines to spread on the company’s platforms, according to Reuters.
Facebook said it is also launching a tool in the U.S. to give users information about where to get Covid vaccines and adding a Covid information area to its photo-sharing site Instagram, the wire service said.
—Terri Cullen
Ireland, Netherlands join growing list of countries to suspend use of AstraZeneca vaccine
Ireland and the Netherlands have become the latest countries to suspend the use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford over safety concerns.
Several European countries, including Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Bulgaria, have already paused the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine following reports of blood clots in some vaccinated people. Thailand became the first Asian country to halt the use of the jab last week.
The Dutch government has said the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine would not be used nationwide until at least March 29, while Ireland said earlier in the day that it had temporarily suspended the shot as a precautionary step.
The World Health Organization has sought to downplay ongoing safety concerns, saying last week that there is no link between the shot and an increased risk of developing blood clots.
—Sam Meredith
JetBlue says bookings are picking up as industry turns a corner
JetBlue Airways Airbus A320 passenger aircraft landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
Nik Oiko | LightRocket | Getty Images
JetBlue Airways says air travel demand has picked up in recent weeks, a trend that will help narrow the carrier’s losses, as passenger numbers climb to the highest levels in a year.
“Although booking trends remain choppy, in recent weeks JetBlue has experienced an improvement in bookings by leisure and visiting friends and relatives…” JetBlue says in a filing.
New York-based JetBlue says it expects its EBITDA to be a negative $490 million and $540 million, down from a previous estimate of losses of $525 million to as much as $625 million. First-quarter revenue will still be down 61% to 64% from 2019 in the first quarter of the year, it estimated, after previously forecasting a decline of as much as 70%.
POLAND, Ohio (WKBN) – The travel industry is starting to pick up as more states loosen their COVID-19 health orders.
According to Kathy Pahanish, owner of Executive Tour and Travel, she’s already seen an uptick.
“Booking more in the fall than I’ve ever booked in all 22 years,” Pahanish said. “More people are comfortable with the fall.”
Pahanish said the removal of mask mandates in Texas and Mississippi is giving travelers confidence, and she’s seeing more trips booked for April than ever before.
“I think probably 80% of my customers have definitely commented on Texas,” Pahanish said.
Texas isn’t the most popular domestic destination for her clients, as most prefer Florida because of the weather and beaches.
Internationally, Mexico is a hot spot for travel and doesn’t require a COVID-19 test to get in.
Pahanish said many resorts met with experts at Clorox and Ecolab to learn the proper way to clean in order to keep employees and guests safe. She said her clients often comment about the precautions that have been taken.
“Whenever you arrive at resorts, you stand on a mat to sanitize your shoes. They take your luggage over, they clean your luggage,” Pahanish said. “Then, you go to the room. The room has sat empty for 48 hours prior to your arrival, most destinations, some are 24. Then, whenever they go in to clean, they go in and diffuse the room. The maid comes in and cleans. They diffuse it again.”
When it comes to international travel, her biggest tip to clients is to have a current negative COVID-19 test and print out the results.
“It has definitely been a very, very hard year, so it is a relief that we can see that travel’s picking up,” Pahanish said.
