French Open Social Slice: Williams speaks out; Spaniard waves goodbye
On today’s Social Slice, Venus Williams speaks out about how she deals with the media and players pay tribute to Carla Suarez Navarro as she bows out at the French Open.
Following Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal, several players have given their verdict on how they deal with the media.
Seven-time Grand Slam champion made her statement during a press conference, addressing the media as she states ‘you’ll never light a candle to me’.
Venus dropped the mic 👑
(via @Tennis) pic.twitter.com/Krm1JitnM3
— espnW (@espnW) June 1, 2021
Rafael Nadal made his first appearance on Tuesday as he looks to defend his Roland Garros title yet again and lift trophy number 14.
New York Times correspondent Christopher Clarey said it becomes more and more difficult for the stadium announcer every year!
The pre-match introduction of Nadal's French Open titles gets longer every year. Hard for the announcer to do it in a single breath
"2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, Breath, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020"
#getty pic.twitter.com/zuUDPnDsyY
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) June 1, 2021
Carla Suarez Navarro made a stunning return at Roland Garros after she was declared cancer-free.
Despite going down to Sloane Stephens in three sets, the Spaniard played remarkably well given her lack of match practice before waving goodbye to an 18-year career.
American stars Shelby Rogers and Coco Vandeweghe were amongst the many players to pay tribute to the talented clay-courter.
Incredible! @CarlaSuarezNava We all give you a standing ovation! Thank you for your inspiration & fight! Honored to have lost to you…twice…at Roland Garros 😂💞
— Shelby Rogers (@Shelby_Rogers_) June 2, 2021
Everyone loves Carla 💪🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 https://t.co/3aDtsjxllB
— CoCo Vandeweghe (@CoCoVandey) June 2, 2021
Novak Djokovic opened up on his serve superstitions when questioned on the Eurosport cube following his victory over Tennys Sandgren.
The Serbian then joked ‘Why are you revealing my secrets? That’s not fair!’
"Why are you revealing my secrets? That's not fair!" 😳🤫#RolandGarros
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) June 2, 2021
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