400 Years Since 1619

Monday, July 1, 2019

Next Up: Venus Williams Upset By 15-Year-Old Newcomer At Wimbledon [WATCH]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Coco Gauff grew up admiring the Williams sisters. Picked up a tennis racket as a little girl because of them. And on Monday at Wimbledon, still just 15, Gauff beat one of them.

Gauff, the youngest competitor to qualify at the All England Club in the professional era, showed the poise and power of a much older, much more experienced player, pulling off a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the first round over Venus Williams, who at 39 was the oldest woman in the field.

When it ended, Gauff dropped her racket and put her hands on her head. After a handshake and exchange of words at the net with Williams, Gauff knelt by her sideline chair and tears welled in her eyes. Up in the stands, her father leaped out of his seat.

“Honestly, I don’t really know how to feel. This is the first time I ever cried after a match. Or winning, obviously; I’ve cried after a loss before,” said Gauff, who is based in Florida. “I don’t even know how to explain how I feel.”

This was her third tour-level match; Williams has played more than 1,000. This was Gauff’s first match at Wimbledon, where Williams has played more than 100 and won five titles. By the time Gauff was born in 2004, Williams already had spent time at No. 1 in the rankings and owned four of her seven Grand Slam singles trophies.

“It didn’t really seem real, for a moment,” said Gauff’s father, Corey, between handshakes and slaps on the back and requests for selfies from spectators leaving No. 1 Court. “On the walk to the court, I was walking behind her. She was excited. I was excited. She seemed confident, but I wasn’t sure if it was false confidence or she really was. I just said to her: This match is really magical. Just enjoy it. Your first Wimbledon main draw and you’re on a main court against somebody you looked up to from the beginning.”

It was by far the most anticipated match of Day 1 at the grass-court tournament, but hardly the only upset. Two-time major champion Naomi Osaka, who was No. 1 until a week ago, lost 7-6 (4), 6-2 to Yulia Putinseva, joining two young members of the men’s top-10, No. 6 seed Alexander Zverev and No. 7 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, on the way out.

This one, though, was special, potentially the sort of changing-of-the-guard moment that people could remember for years.

Gauff certainly has the mindset of someone who intends to go far.

“I’ve said this before: I want to be the greatest. My dad told me that I could do this when I was 8. Obviously you never believe it. I’m still, like, not 100 percent confident. But, like, you have to just say things. You never know what happens,” she said. “If I went into this match saying, ‘Let’s see how many games I can get against her,’ then I most definitely would not have won. My goal was to play my best. My dream was to win. That’s what happened.”

How far does she think she can fare this fortnight?

“My goal,” she said, her face expressionless, “is to win it.”

Well, then …

Gauff came into the week outside the top 300 but was granted a wild card by the All England Club to enter qualifying. She rolled through those rounds at a nearby site, knocking off the event’s top seed.

But this was a whole other task.

Gauff was sensational and showed zero signs that the moment or the matchup was too daunting for her. It’s the sort of unusual calm and steady way she has progressed through the various levels of youth tennis, including reaching the U.S. Open junior final at 13 and winning the French Open junior title at 14.

The first set was remarkable: Gauff had 10 winners to only two unforced errors, all the while trading powerful groundstrokes at the baseline with Williams, and never facing a break point.

“The sky’s the limit,” Williams said. “It really is.”

Gauff, who is black, idolized Williams and her younger sister, Serena, the first African American women since Althea Gibson in the 1950s to win a Grand Slam singles championship.

Serena has said Gauff reminds her of Venus.

After Monday’s match, Gauff said she thanked Venus “for everything she did.”

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her,” said Gauff, who joined the crowd in applauding for Venus as she walked off the court. “And I was just telling her that she’s so inspiring. Like, I always wanted to tell her that. And even though I met her before, I guess now I have the guts to.”

She showed plenty of grit in this match, particularly after getting broken to make it 4-all in the second set. Gauff steadied herself right there, though, breaking right back with a pair of forehand passing shots that drew errant volleys.

And then in the final game, Gauff needed to erase the disappointment of wasting her initial three match points. She did just that, converting her fourth when Venus put a forehand into the net.

Many 15-year-olds might spend an early summer day at the beach or at a mall. This one played a tennis match at Wimbledon against Venus Williams — and won.

“People just kind of limit themselves too much. Once you actually get your goal, then it’s like: What do you do now?” Gauff said. “I like to shoot really high.”

PHOTO: AP

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Regardless Of Cost, Trump Wants Tanks In July 4th Celebration

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump isn’t taking “no tanks” for an answer on the Fourth of July.

He said Monday that a display of U.S. military tanks will be part of a special event he’s headlining July 4 in Washington — and an Associated Press photographer saw at least two M1A1 Abrams tanks and two Bradley Fighting Vehicles on flatcars in a railyard at the southeastern edge of Washington.

Military police were guarding the vehicles, which were visible to passersby on nearby paths.

A U.S. official told the AP that the military vehicles to be used in the July 4 event were being stored at the railyard.

Trump had wanted a military parade of tanks and other equipment in the District of Columbia after he witnessed a similar parade on Bastille Day in Paris in 2017. That plan eventually was scuttled, partly because of cost, though Trump apparently held on to the idea.

Local officials had also objected because of the damage the heavy armored tanks could do to city streets.

“We’re going to have some tanks stationed outside,” Trump said Monday from the Oval Office, appearing to acknowledge local officials’ earlier concerns. He offered no specifics on where the vehicles would be located.

“You’ve got to be pretty careful with the tanks because the roads have a tendency not to like to carry heavy tanks,” he said. “So we have to put them in certain areas, but we have the brand new Sherman tanks and we have the brand new Abrams tanks.”

Sherman tanks were the tank most widely used by the U.S. during World War II, but they have been out of service for decades. The M1A1 Abrams tank is currently the main U.S. battle tank.

Two M1A1 Abrams tanks and two Bradley Fighting Vehicles will be on display as part of Trump’s “Salute to America” event, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the exhibits have not been made public.

The Abrams tanks weigh more than 60 tons apiece and have been shipped on railroad freight cars, from Fort Stewart, Georgia, the nearest Army base that has them. The White House declined to release more specific information.

Trump recalled his visit earlier this year to a plant in Lima, Ohio, where M1A1 Abrams tanks are refurbished. The plant had been at risk for closure but remained online due to Trump’s investments in defense spending.

“We have some incredible equipment, military equipment on display — brand new,” Trump said. “And we’re very proud of it. You know we’re making a lot of new tanks right now. We’re building a lot of new tanks in Lima, Ohio — our great tank factory that people wanted to close down until I got elected and I stopped it from being closed down, and now it’s a very productive facility.”

Thursday’s events are also expected to include a military demonstration by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and other aircraft.

“We’re going to have a great Fourth of July in Washington, D.C. It’ll be like no other,” Trump said. “It’ll be special and I hope a lot of people come. And it’s going to be about this country and it’s a salute to America.”

“I’m going to say a few words and we’re going to have planes going overhead, the best fighter jets in the world and other planes, too,” he said.

Trump plans to deliver a speech at the Lincoln Memorial during his “Salute to America,” which has been added to the regular schedule of Independence Day events in the nation’s capital. The annual fireworks display will go off closer to the Lincoln Memorial instead of the Washington Monument, as has been the long-standing tradition.

The event is open to the public and free of charge, but a ticket-only area in front of the memorial is being set aside for VIPs, including members of Trump’s family, friends and members of the military, the White House said.

Last year, Trump and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, hosted service members and their families at a picnic on the White House lawn and the president addressed guests from the balcony. No similar event is being planned this year.

Federal lawmakers, local officials and others have voiced concerns that Trump could alter the tone of what traditionally is a nonpartisan celebration of America’s independence from the British by delivering a political speech. Trump formally announced his bid for re-election in June.

Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who oversees the National Mall and has helped orchestrate the president’s vision, and other officials have said Trump’s remarks will be patriotic.

___

Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor and Associated Press photographer Patrick Semansky in Washington contributed to this report.

PHOTO: AP

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