#rooting for ash and matteo

[evita-shelby]

Incantatrice

Chapter 19

Cw: offscreen murder

*Spoilers* rip Arthur

Taglist: @thegreatdragonfruta @wandawiccan60 @zablife @call-sign-shark @cljordan-imperium

The negotiations with Polly Gray had gone well.

For letting them live and move to Boston with Ada or Australia with Polly, all she had to do was hand over Tommy Shelby. They’d give up their life of crime and never bother again.

Tommy had damned them all, it was only right that he gives up his life for them. It wasn’t like he lived anymore, he merely existed.

One man in exchange for many.

Well, two actually.

Polly didn’t know about Arthur, but Edward Ross needed to be avenged. It was the least they could do for Mrs. Ross and the other mothers of the other boys he’s maimed and killed in the boxing ring.

But that wouldn’t be traced back to them, after all, was it Changretta’s fault that Mrs. Ross had bought a gun for the occasion? Was it her fault that Arthur killed her Edward?

“I’ve seen you before, haven’t I?” Ada Thorne asks as they meet each other for a third time in the library.

“Yes, I was one of your investors, and a guest at a charity gala my family invited you to. Don’t worry, your company will be in good hands, we Rileys got a Midas Touch when it comes to business.” Eva kept her back to her and perused the shelf some more.

Shelby had spies everywhere, Eva had rooted most of them out and now there were several here watching them. Good, she thinks as she sows seeds of suspicion between Tommy and his only sister.

Especially after it’s just them and Finn left.

“I’d ask why you are doing this to us, but I already know the answer.” The woman took the book next to hers and wisely didn’t ask for what she already knew. “What do you gain from this?”

“Justice for my husband’s father and brother, a kingdom ripe for the taking.” Eva answered honestly, no need to lie about it now. It was all going to end soon, very soon.

February 3, or near that date.

Tommy would be dead, every Shelby scattered to the wind and the Changrettas building an empire from Tommy Shelby’s ashes.

All because the man didn’t verify if the shooter had even been Italian.

“The Spiniettas fear you, don’t they?” Ada asks something even her brother and aunt didn’t seem to piece together. “They know you are the reason Luca is on a whole other level, and they know he isn’t satisfied with following orders anymore. So the two of you took your chance to leave and carve out your own place here.”

“Even your brother didn’t put two and two together, Mrs. Thorne, color me impressed.” The witch comments and yet refused to turn around. “My husband will stop once Tommy is dead. As long as you keep away from this you and your son and your little brother will live. You can even keep your share of the company.”

“I won’t betray him, if that’s what you’re asking.” The communist turned businesswoman caught her drift very well. No wonder the legal part of Shelby Company was doing so well.

But Tommy won’t trust her word either, not when Polly is betraying him and Arthur dying in an hour.

“Not asking you to, just asking you to focus on other things.” Eva smiled and gestured to Benjamin Younger waiting to meet with her just on the other side of the aisle. “You could be happy again, Ada, happy with your son and perhaps a daughter. All you have to do is step aside.”

Ada doesn’t speak, but Eva hears her agree to it anyways.

“I didn’t think the woman had it in her.” Matteo laughs in surprise when the decoys deliver the news.

It had not been planned by this, but Luca knew better than to deny a mother long overdue justice.

Arthur Shelby had been dead the moment he came into her parlor and sat there while the boy in the photograph was cold in the ground. Mrs. Ross had been told how he hurt his wife, how her sweet Edward wasn’t his last victim and given the push needed to buy herself a gun.

Only Thomas was left and soon enough he’d be joining his brothers in hell.

“No one knows rage like a mother,” Luca said taking a new matchstick into his mouth. He’d been warned of this chance in plans, of the wagon in his path and how this helped seal the deal with Polly.

A nephew is not a son, the witch had said as she kissed him goodbye this morning. You will have your enemies at your feet before the first flowers even bloom, my love.

“What makes you think your old whore will keep her word, Luca?” his right hand asked knowing Arthur was part of Polly Gray’s deal.

“She won’t want me to kill her little boy. I didn’t run out of bullets by accident, you know.” The capo couldn’t wait for Polly to know just who she was dancing with.

She’d thought herself safe believing they didn’t know she was spying for her nephew, but after today, she’ll know better.

Polly Gray overestimates herself, he knows that very well. After all, she’d thought he’d never find out about her dalliances with Gray while he was in America. Luca had to teach her a lesson, teach him a lesson too.

Perhaps after this is over Luca will tell her how he killed her husband and had her children taken away for cheating on him all those years ago.

She could hold a grudge, just not as good as he did.

“Salvatore, take us to London. I have a meeting with Sabini.” Luca ordered as he made plans to take over London even if little Aurora Sabini lives long enough to marry his son.

#luca changretta x oc #luca changretta x eva smith #evacore #incantatrice fic #luca wins the vendetta au #peaky blinders fanfiction

[rockislandadultreads]

Libby Spotlight: eAudiobook Fiction Picks for Hispanic Heritage Month

L.A. Weather by María Amparo Escandón (read by Frankie Corzo)

L.A. is parched, dry as a bone, and all Oscar, the weather-obsessed patriarch of the Alvarado family, desperately wants is a little rain. He’s harboring a costly secret that distracts him from everything else. His wife, Keila, desperate for a life with a little more intimacy and a little less Weather Channel, feels she has no choice but to end their marriage. Their three daughters—Claudia, a television chef with a hard-hearted attitude; Olivia, a successful architect who suffers from gentrification guilt; and Patricia, a social media wizard who has an uncanny knack for connecting with audiences but not with her lovers—are blindsided and left questioning everything they know. Each will have to take a critical look at her own relationships and make some tough decisions along the way.

With quick wit and humor, Maria Amparo Escandón follows the Alvarado family as they wrestle with impending evacuations, secrets, deception, and betrayal, and their toughest decision yet: whether to stick together or burn it all down.

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton (read by Kyla Garcia)

After the death of her beloved grandmother, a Cuban-American woman travels to Havana, where she discovers the roots of her identity--and unearths a family secret hidden since the revolution...

Havana, 1958. The daughter of a sugar baron, nineteen-year-old Elisa Perez is part of Cuba's high society, where she is largely sheltered from the country's growing political unrest--until she embarks on a clandestine affair with a passionate revolutionary...

Miami, 2017. Freelance writer Marisol Ferrera grew up hearing romantic stories of Cuba from her late grandmother Elisa, who was forced to flee with her family during the revolution. Elisa's last wish was for Marisol to scatter her ashes in the country of her birth.

Arriving in Havana, Marisol comes face-to-face with the contrast of Cuba's tropical, timeless beauty and its perilous political climate. When more family history comes to light and Marisol finds herself attracted to a man with secrets of his own, she'll need the lessons of her grandmother's past to help her understand the true meaning of courage.

This is the first volume of "The Perez Family" series.

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González (read by Almarie Guerra)

It's 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro "Prieto" Acevedo, are bold-faced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan's powerbrokers.

Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the 1%, but she can't seem to find her own...until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets...

Twenty-seven years ago, their mother, Blanca, a Young Lord-turned-radical, abandoned her children to advance a militant political cause, leaving them to be raised by their grandmother. Now, with the winds of hurricane season, Blanca has come barreling back into their lives.

Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico's history, Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife and the very notion of the American dream--all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (read by Sandra Cisneros)

Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero.

Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous–it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers.

#hispanic heritage month #audiobooks #fiction #libby app #reading recommendations #book recommendations #reading recs #book recs #library resources #tbr pile #tbr #to read #booklr #book tumblr #book blog #library blog #readers advisory

[bboonni]

Layered Worlds - Research (in progress)

Films

•Blade Runner. (1982). [Film] Ridley Scott. dir. USA: Warner Brothers.

- Set in LA, November 2019

- Utopia become Dystopian

- Flying cars

- Despite it being futuristic, there is still a presence of the ‘past’: things are broken

- About replicants (fish,snakes)

- revolves around ‘eyes’

- Replicants take revenge because of mistreatment

•The Fifth Element. (1997). [Film] Luc Besson. dir. France: Gaumont Buena Vista International

- Starts in Egypt 1914

- Aliens (good and bad)

- 300 years later (2214)

- Aliens can transform into humans (shapeshift)

- Very high tech medical equipment

- Flying cars

- The Fifth Element can save the world (love is the fifth element)

- “Everything you create is used to destroy”

Exhibitions

Anne Imhof - Avatar II

NFT Gallery

After visiting these galleries and looking at the works, they’ve helped me get an idea of what I would like my project to be focused on.

Essays and Articles

Read: ‘Socialising artificial intelligence’ and ‘When AI makes art’

Artists

Cauleen Smith

- interdisciplinary filmmaker

- reflects upon the everyday possibilities of the imagination

- Roots her work firmly within the discourse of mid-twentieth-century experimental film

- Drawing from structuralism, third world cinema, and science fiction

- She makes things that deploy the tactics of the disciplines

Works:

- Give it or Leave it (I like the layout of the work as well as the colours)

- We already have what we need ( — II —)

Rachel Maclean

-artist

- works predominantly with digital videos

- Her films combine a variety in f references to popular culture, and of genres such as children’s television programmes, horror movies, British comedy, video games, reality TV and Youtube videos

- Work is defined by a constant back and forth between seductive and unsettling

- Hides a darker reality behind bright coloured works

- Works revolves around the theme of consumption in a wester capitalist society

Works:

- We Want Data! (2016)

- Make Me Up

Jinhwa Jang

-illustrator

- Inspired by Japanese comics, anime and games

- neon-hued, sci-fi screen that we may soon be living in

- varying metropolis, where fish offer you food and it’s normal for the sky to be filled with planets

- Works are undeniably bizarre, cyberpunk

Works:

- Anxiety is The Dizziness of Freedom

Beeple

-graphic designer

- known for using various mediums in creating comical, phantasmagoric works that makes political, social commentary while using pop culture figures as references

- Created ‘Everydays’ series of images done and posted online everyday for 5000 days

- Use of futuristic views over current or passed events

- Everydays was sold as an NFT

Works:

- Everydays

- Novaclustr

- Tatooine Hydroponics

Matteo Loglio

-interior designer

- Shape emerging technologies into an approachable, everyday and sustainable reality

- Works to break down complex subjects into simple and accessible pieces of information

- Loglio’s work shines a human light on the future of AI

Works:

- Roby (first non-human AI creative director, it helps to come up with new ideas and products, moderates the Discord community and runs its own instagram account)

- Alto (is a little teachable object, used to introduce the basic concepts of machine learning in a simple way)

Daniel Arsham

-interdisciplinary artist

- architecture is a prevalent subject throughout his work; environments with eroded walls and stairs going nowhere, landscapes where nature overrides structures, and a general sense of playfulness within existing architecture

- Makes architecture do things it is not supposed to do, to confuse and confound our expectations of space and form

- Simple yet paradoxical gestures dominate his sculptural work

Works:

- Blue Calcite Eroded Busy of Laocoön, (2020); thinking about a thousands of years from now, how the distance between trashed computers and statues would be closer together

- Ash and Rose Quartz Eroded Televisions (2014) (—||—)

Suzanne Treister

-contemporary artist

- works known for being conceptually oriented around emerging technologies

- Focus of the works is the relation between technologies, society, alternative belief systems and the potential futures of humanity

- Has evolved a large body of work which engages with eccentric narratives and unconventional baddies of research to reveal structures that bind power,identity and knowledge

Works:

- SURVIVOR (F)/Entangled Star Net, (2019); oil on canvas

- HEXEN 2.0/Tarot/Wands, (2009-2011); archival giclée prints with watercolour on Hahnemuhle bamboo paper

[exmakina]

Another weekend of grand slam finals. :>

#karolina pliskova #ash barty #matteo berrettini #Novak Djokovic #atp #wta #tennis #wimbledon 2021 #m'art #digital #rooting for ash and matteo #but pliskobot finally getting one #and ofc seeing djoker tie the grand slam record #would also be cool outcomes

[your-dietician]

British 18-year-old debutant Emma Raducanu beats Marketa Vondrousova to reach Wimbledon third round

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/sports/british-18-year-old-debutant-emma-raducanu-beats-marketa-vondrousova-to-reach-wimbledon-third-round/

British 18-year-old debutant Emma Raducanu beats Marketa Vondrousova to reach Wimbledon third round

Wimbledon debutant Emma Raducanu knocks out Marketa Vondrousova to reach third round – GETTY IMAGES

A new star is among us. Move over Sir Andy, there is another Brit clamouring for a share of the Wimbledon headlines and the former men’s champion would be the first to salute the magnificent achievement of 18-year-old wildcard debutant Emma Raducanu making a mockery of form and status in defeating Marketa Vondrousova 6-2, 6-4, a player ranked 296 places above her to go through to the third round, the lone British woman flag-bearer.

And she will fulfil that honour with nerve and gusto as well as the occasional cheery smile as was seen flashing across her face during her one hour and 12 minutes out on court, toppling to the turf in exultation at the finish as well she might.

Two months ago Raducanu was sitting her A-levels, unknown and unheralded. Those days of anonymity are gone. This was her sporting matriculation. From sixth-former to prodigy in the spotlight. The wheel is turning and Raducanu is enjoying the ride as well she might given that her hobbies include go-karting and motocross. As with tennis, so with her life, multi-layered.

She was asked afterwards if she would rather A* in her exams or round four.

“That would have to be round four,” laughed Raducanu. “It feels quite incredible, like as if I’m on a holiday and I want to stay here as long as I can. I’ve got high standards of myself and go out there feeling as if I’ve got nothing to lose. I play every point as if it were to be my last at Wimbledon. This is my opportunity to show that I’m here. I’m so appreciative of the support and I want to do everyone proud. I’m trying to make the most of it.”

She had wandered onto court in the watery early evening sunshine on her own, giving a self-conscious wave to the scattering of fans who had gathered on Court 12, a late switch of courts from No 18 so as to ensure that the game got played. As she waited for a few minutes for her opponent to appear she sat in her chair all alone, ear-buds in, a study in nonchalance.

As Coco Gauff has shown, it is up to us to get used to precocity, not the other way around. These are youngsters, self-evidently, but they are here on merit. Even if Raducanu benefitted from a wildcard, it was her prowess that got her to that point, not nepotism. Appearances only matter out in the middle and Raducanu’s body language was positive, even affording herself a rueful smile as she leathered the first point way over the baseline from the back of court. At least she was up for the fight. And it soon showed, Raducanu securing an early break of serve in the third game with a delightful whipped cross-court forehand.

Story continues

There was nothing flighty or naïve in Raducanu’s game. If you knew nothing of the CVs of the two players, you would have assumed that the British player was the higher ranked and more experienced. She dictated play, pounding shots, dinking others, showing the nerve of a veteran. The opening game went to Vondrousova on serve, an unsurprising state of affairs given that the Czech is ranked 42 in the world and has been as high as 14.

But that was pretty much it for the 22 year-old, a bracing, serve-breaking start to the second set apart but Raducanu dealt with that too, scrapping to overcome that 0-3 deficit.

The early nerves didn’t last long. Rudacanu survived a couple of break points in her first service game but fought to hold, levelling at 1-1, the first of five games in a row that she took. It was supremely impressive stuff, a young talent with faith in her ability and the strength of character to put it all out there. Why should we be surprised given the exploits of the likes of teenagers Jadon Sancho or Jude Bellingham in England football colours? At this rate it won’t be long before Raducanu is operating at a similar commercial level to the footballers.

Emma Raducanu leaves the court after her victory – PA

Her season’s prize money coming into this tournament was barely into four figures although she does benefit from LTA support. Winning through to the third round guarantees her £115,000. Wimbledon was probably also echoing last night to the sound of agents and sponsors beating a path to her door.

Saturday’s likely showcourt contest with another surprise winner, Sorana Cirstea of Romania, who knocked out two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka, will be a far more public affair.

There will be no clash of loyalties for her Romanian father who moved his Toronto-born daughter and Chinese wife to London when Emma was aged two. It was a shrewd move. Prepare to cheer Raducanu to the rafters.

Vacuum at summit of women’s tennis crying out to be filled

By Oliver Brown

World No 1 Ash Barty is forced to work hard for her victory – SHUTTERSTOCK

Ashleigh Barty is a world No 1 yet to reach a Wimbledon quarter-final, and one who toiled here to vanquish a Russian Centre Court debutant better known for her chess prowess. Aryna Sabalenka is a No 2 seed making her maiden third-round appearance on these lawns, having struggled to overcome a British wildcard. In just four days, six of the top 10 seeds have been scattered to the wind, sparking no little concern about what life after Serena Williams will look like.

This state of flux was in stark evidence at last month’s French Open, where Barbora Krejcikova, once known primarily as a doubles specialist, was the last woman standing. It is becoming a recurrent theme at Wimbledon, too, with Williams’ withdrawal through injury, allied to the absences of Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep, producing arguably the most open draw in living memory. Barty, long mentored by Evonne Goolagong Cawley, the last ladies’ champion from Australia, will never have a better chance to end her country’s 41-year wait for a repeat.

She is the most deferential of proteges, wearing a scallop dress to honour the outfit chosen by Goolagong for her first Wimbledon triumph half a century ago. The two also share indigenous heritage, with Goolagong a celebrated trailblazer for her remote Aboriginal community and Barty tracing roots to the Ngarigo people of New South Wales through her father, Robert.

There, perhaps, the similarities end. Where Goolagong was famously outgoing by nature, dubbed by Londoners as the “Sunshine Supergirl”, Barty is an instinctive introvert, betraying negligible emotion on court and even less off it. Her fellow Australians adore her for her lack of pretension, but she shows limited warmth in post-match interviews, using the royal “we” to describe her performances and leaning on phrases that belong more in a self-help manual. Twice this week she has spoken of “going out there and putting your dreams out to the universe”.

Barty has held her sport’s No 1 spot for two years, a reflection both of her surprise French Open title in 2019 and of a decision by the women’s tour to freeze the rankings once the pandemic struck. But she scarcely looked like the alpha female against Anna Blinkova, the precocious Muscovite renowned also for her chess skill and her mastery of six languages. During an error-strewn 6-4, 6-3 win, she committed 33 unforced errors and nine double faults, raising doubt as to whether the hip injury she sustained at Roland Garros had fully healed.

“A few things didn’t feel quite right,” Barty acknowledged. “It wasn’t my best serving day, and I felt like I was out of rhythm a little. Some days you feel like you’re eight-foot-tall and can’t miss the box. Other days, you feel like you’re three-foot-nothing, where just getting over the net is a bit of a battle.”

While this transition phase for the women’s game might be bewilderingly unpredictable, it is still producing matches of lustrous quality. The latest highlight was a riveting, 3hr 20min duel between Angelique Kerber and Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo, edged by the German 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. Rarely can the 2018 champion have been forced to grind so relentlessly at her strongest tournament.

Given the dearth of multiple champions left, the stage could yet be seized by 17-year-old Coco Gauff, already proving decisively that her inspired run to the fourth round in 2019 was no false dawn. She was poise personified against Elena Vesnina, dismantling the former semi-finalist with her power and accuracy, weapons that the leading contenders have still to demonstrate with any consistency this week.

On her Centre Court return, Gauff was no longer the giddy sensation, but the versatile talent who recognised that she belonged. “Walking out here feels like you’re walking through a museum,” she said. “I don’t really like the word ‘expectations’. I use the word ‘belief’. I believe that I can win. My goal is always to win the tournament, regardless of my ranking or what people think of me. Everything is much clearer than it was in 2019. My belief is a lot stronger now – the feeling that I can go far.”

03:21 PM

Gael Monfils is out

02:58 PM

Daniil Medvedev a set to the good

Against Carlos Alcaraz. The world No.2 takes the first set 6-4.

Daniil Medvedev

02:49 PM

It’s taken her 70 minutes…

…But Angelique Kerber has finally taken the first set against Sara Sorribes Tormo.

02:28 PM

Queen’s champion Matteo Berrettini is through

The Italian No.7 seed beat Botic Van De Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4, 7-6.

02:25 PM

Can Barty go all the way?

02:20 PM

Cam Norrie speaks after his straight sets win over Alex Bolt

On being through to the the round for the first time…

“Unbelievable to be back here – the fans were amazing it made it feel more special. I couldn’t be more pleased to be through to the third round.”

On beat Alex Bolt…

“It was a tricky start, he came out firing. But I could trust the foot today and I was pleased with everything and there was a lot of improvement [compared with first round win].”

On possibly playing Roger Federer in the third round – he faces Richard Gasquet later today…

“Come on, Gasquet! It will be special to play Roger or Richard, they’re both experienced players. I suppose now is the best time to play Roger, [but] he’s still a decent player. He can play!”

02:13 PM

Ash Barty speaks

On playing again at Wimbledon…

“I love the surface and happy to be back.”

On Blinkova…

“She pushed me incredably hard. She played a great match today so I am happy to get through.”

On her season so far…

“It’s been a great year so far and it’s nice to have the fans back in the stands.”

02:11 PM

BARTY WINS THE MATCH 6-4, 6-3!!

Barty has two match points on the Blinkova serve and plays a winner on the second of those – it was called out but Barty successfully challenges. They replay the point and Barty wins the match.

Barty was well bellow her best but she’s through. Blinkova played her part in the match and gave the world No.1 plenty to think about.

02:06 PM

Barty 6-4, 5-3 Blinkova* (*denotes next server)

Blinkova’s backhands are deep into Barty and from 40-15 up the world No.1 is up against it on her serve at deuce. Again Blinkova goes deep with a backhand, setting up an excellent crosscourt winner. That earns her a break point which she cannot take. She earns another break point with a delightful forehand crosscourt winner which again she cannot take. On the third deuce Barty serves up another double fault to gift Blinkova her third break point. Again Barty plays a backhand winner to save and take it to another deuce. Blinkova has another break point and it’s deja vu all over again as she cannot capitalises. From there Barty holds. That was a nine-minute game.

Blinkova will now serve to stay in the match.

01:56 PM

Barty* 6-4, 4-3 Blinkova (*denotes next server)

Blinkova’s serve is on the blink again as Barty earns a break point. The Russian is under pressure but throws down a good second serve to save the break point. Barty gets another break point thanks to a wonderful lob – brilliant shotmaking. The world No.1 then makes no mistake with a backhand winner on the run to take control of the second set.

01:50 PM

Confirmation Svitolina is out

The third seed’s championship is over.

01:49 PM

Barty 6-4, 3-3 Blinkova* (*denotes next server)

Better service game from Barty but the errors elsewhere remain – a sliced backhand into the net an uncharacteristic mistake from the Australian. She does just enough to hold to 30 and the second set stays on serve.

01:46 PM

Classy Cam

From 0-3 down in the first set the Briton has dominated against Alex Bolt and has won in straight sets.

01:45 PM

Barty* 6-4, 2-3 Blinkova (*denotes next server)

Much better from Blinkova on her serve – she’s been under pressure most of the match on serve but holds to 15. That’s three games in a row for the Russian.

01:43 PM

Barty 6-4, 2-2 Blinkova* (*denotes next server)

Barty is taken to deuce after a fine forehand passing shot from Blinkova. Under pressure the first seed then plants a forehand into the net and her opponent has a break point. Another double fault (her seventh) gifts Blinkova the game. Just when you think Barty is about to go up a gear she falters…

01:36 PM

Barty* 6-4, 2-1 Blinkova (*denotes next server)

Barty has had 22 unforced errors so far – a sign that she’s well below her best at the moment. But Blinkova’s serve is even more erratic than some of Barty’s groundstrokes and at deuce is in danger of being broken once again. She wins the next two points, though, and holds.

Barty

01:31 PM

Barty 6-4, 2-0 Blinkova* (*denotes next server)

Barty is brilliant when on song and she’s showing signs of that the further this match goes on. She moves Blinkova around the court with some powerful groundstrokes before coming into the net for a volleyed winner. That gets her to 40-0. But the errors are lingering and her sixth double fault allows Blinkova to get back into the game at 40-30. A forehand winner, however, gets her the 2-0 second-set lead.

01:27 PM

Barty* 6-4, 1-0 Blinkova (*denotes next server)

Barty is dominating the Blinkova serve and has three break points. Blinkova, though, is a battler and gets in back to deuces – the errors are still coming from Barty. The Aussie then earns her fourth break point of the game and this time a drive backhand is backed up with a forehand winner down the line and she’s got the early break in the second set.

01:22 PM

Third seed Elina Svitolina is out

Linette beats one of the favourites 6-3, 6-4.

01:19 PM

BARTY TAKES THE FIRST SET 6-4

Barty’s well below her best but she’s managed to find the shots when she’s needed them this afternoon. She holds to love and takes the first set.

01:16 PM

Barty* 5-4 Blinkova (*denotes next server)

It’s Blinkova now forcing the errors from Barty – the Aussie missing a sliced backhand (one of her weapons) early on. At 4-4 30-30 Blinkova has a great chance to put some scoreboard pressure on the world No.1 but sends a forehand wide. Barty then can’t capitalise on the break point as another backhand hits the net. The Australian earns another break point and this time a blistering forehand does the trick and the first seed will serve for the first set.

01:11 PM

Barty 4-4 Blinkova* (*denotes next server)

Barty has already had four double faults (during her first round win she only had three all match). She’s down 0-30 early on in this game BUT a Blinkova error and another forehand winner allow her to reach parity. 30-30 soon becomes deuce and the Russian has a break point thanks to a Barty long forehand. She converts it and both players are looking on edge and unsettled.

01:06 PM

Cam is in control

01:05 PM

Barty* 4-3 Blinkova (*denotes next server)

Both players are proving to be error-prone at the moment – Barty is showing the better touch and a delicate drop shot gets her to 0-40. She had three break points last Blinkova service game and couldn’t convert any of them. She makes no mistake this time and breaks to love. She’s just starting to settle.

01:02 PM

Barty 3-3 Blinkova* (*denotes next server)

Barty is making a few uncharacteristic errors, but she has a fine forehand. It’s a heavy shot that takes opponents out of position and two forehands back-to-back allow her to hold to 30.

12:58 PM

Barty* 2-3 Blinkova (*denotes next server)

Barty is hitting some good groundstrokes from the back of the court and waiting for Blinkova to make the error, which she does twice on the way to the Aussie getting three break points. The Russian is under pressure but two wayward forehands gets Blinkova back into the game at 30-40. And Barty then uncharacteristically plants a backhand into the net. The Russian wins five points in a row for a gutsy hold.

12:52 PM

Barty 2-2 Blinkova* (*denotes next server)

Barty is starting to look more comfortable after that nervy start. She sends down the first ace of the match to get to 30-15. She follows that up with the second two points later and holds to 30.

12:50 PM

Norrie has taken the first set having been 0-3 down

12:49 PM

Barty* 1-2 Blinkova (*denotes next server)

Blinkova has strapping on her right hand (the one the holds the racquet) that cannot be good. It’s not obvioulsy affecting her but Barty, thanks to some unforced errors, earn two break points. And another wide forehand from Blinkova allows the Aussie to break straight back.

12:46 PM

Barty 0-2 Blinkova* (*denotes next server)

Barty’s golf swing has been praised by Tiger Woods and it’s no shock that her serve is also efficient and effective as well. She mixes her serves and makes her opponent think. She does just that while show a lovely touch – playing a backhand drop shot winner. However, she’s looking a bit nervous and a double fault gifts Blinkova a break point. The Russian had a fine chance to go 2-0 up but fires a forehand on the run into the net. She, however, earns another break point next up and a double fault from Barty gives the Russian the early break.

Barty looked edgy in that game.

12:41 PM

Barty* 0-1 Blinkova (*denotes next server)

The Russian serves first and misses her first two first serves – not a great omen. Barty is a fine strokemaker and she hits a wonderful forehand winner to take the second point of the match. The first few games are always about trying to settle into rhythm and Blinkova has done just that holding to 15. She looked at ease there – a solid start.

12:34 PM

Barty and Blinkova are out on court

How will US Open semi-finalist Blinkova deal with the world No.1?

12:32 PM

French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova into the third round

12:27 PM

John McEnroe on Norrie

The BBC commentator (and all-time great) has just said…

The pressure is on Norrie – the seed, the favourite, the Brit. Bolt’s tricky though – I have watched play a number of times – he’s not a guy that’s going to beat himself.

As I type that Norrie has broken back and it’s now 3-2 to Bolt.

12:21 PM

Norrie down a break already

Bolt has stormed to a 3-0 first-set lead. Plenty of time to go, though, so no need to panic.

12:15 PM

Fourth seed Zverev is through

12:13 PM

Cam Norrie is having a great year and…

…he’s just got his match against Australian and fellow lefty Alex Bolt under way on Court One. He’s up to a career high of 34th in the rankings and I’ll keep you posted on how the Brit is doing. The winner of this match could face Roger Federer in the third round…

Cam Norrie

12:10 PM

So let’s talk about the slippery Centre Court surface

It’s dominated much of the talk surrounding these championships so far having claimed the title tilt of Serena Williams and helped Roger Federer through to the second round after his opponent Adrian Mannarino fell and hurt his knee.

So what is going on? It’s apparently more slippery than usual and the number of falls we’re seeing – Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are just two two big names to fall on the lush turf – must be making players, coaches and fans worry ahead of every point.

Our very own Tom Morgan looked into the slippery shame…

“There has been speculation that Centre Court’s state-of-the-art ventilation system may have been a factor in failing to dry the surface. Over 600 air distributors pump dry air into the space when the roof is closed as part of a roof design led by Populous, which also led the regeneration of Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium.”

READ: Wimbledon Q&A: What is causing players to slip on court? And how can it be stopped?

Novak Djokovic falls on Centre Court – PAUL GROVER

12:01 PM

Who is Anna Blinkova?

The Russian is ranked No. 89 in the world and hasn’t been able to translate her great junior form on the senior circuit. The 22-year -old was runner-up at the 2015 Wimbledon Championships in girls’ singles and was ranked the No. 3 junior tennis player in the world in August 2015. She has a career high ranking of 54 back in February last year.

11:29 AM

The talented Ash Barty is the one to beat at SW19

Ash Barty is one of those really annoying people. Not because of her personality, or any grating habits, no, she’s really annoying as she’s one of those people who can turn their hand to any sport and seemingly be very, very, very (I could carry on, but that too would be annoying…) good at it.

During lockdown she got her golf handicap down from 10 to four and became the Brookwater Golf Club women’s champion in the process. Louis Dobbelaar, a two-time Queensland amateur champion, is in no doubt Barty could make it as a professional. “She’s got all the tools if she wants to pursue it. If she put her mind to it, I’m sure she could,” she said. Barty also had a certain Tiger Woods gushing about her swing – I am not jealous, not at all.

Added to that she’s also played for the Brisbane Heat in the women’s Big Bash League – multi-talented doesn’t really do her justice.

Why do I mention this other than to remind myself it doesn’t seem fair that someone can be world-class in three sports? Well, the world No.1 faces Anna Blinkova on Centre Court this afternoon and it’s clear that the Russian will need all the luck she can grab on to.

Barty is the No.1 seed and, in the absence of Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka, favourite to win her second grand slam. Her first round match will have done her title bid no harm at all.

Having been given the “honour” of opening the women’s singles in the absence of reigning champion Halep, Barty came through a nervy start against Carla Suarez Navarro before really finding her stride in the third set. Whether she can carry that momentum over into her second round clash with Blinkova remains to be seen.

But the ultra talented Australian says she’s feeling good and is fully recovered from the hip injury that blighted her Roland Garros title defence.

”I think there was a little bit of nervousness, probably not knowing exactly how my body was going to feel genuinely. I know that I had full trust that we’d done absolutely everything that we could [but] you just never know. To be able to go out there today and play the way that I did was really nice.” Good luck to Blinkova, she may need it.

Stay here for all the action.

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My predictions for Wimbledon and what I want to see most

As Wimbledon starts soon, there is plenty to talk about while we go to two weeks of top tennis action.

Boris Becker will be there as always, and here,

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One of the most famous of all,

<img id = "i-d575a6bfc339ae58" src = "https://ift.tt/2YnJMUt" height = "410 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-d575a6bfc339ae58" src = "https://ift.tt/2FIjepD -79_1561927651176.jpg "height =" 410 "width =" 634 "alt =" The other is Naomi Osaka v Yulia Putintseva, the second game in midfield on Monday the other is Naomi Osaka v Yulia Putintseva, the second game o p the midfield on Monday

The other is Naomi Osaka v Yulia Putintseva, the second match in the middle

Stefanos Tsitsipas against Thomas Fa

This is an interesting test for the player that I consider to be the precursor of those who can challenge the big three of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal.

Stefanos Tsitsipas seems to have all the equipment to reach the top. I would just like to say whether the 20-year-old Greek has found his way on the grass in terms of movement, especially in the early stages of the tournament when it can be slippery.

Some practice courts at Wimbledon are already very worn out, so if you go on the fresh new surfaces for your current competition, it can be very different. Tsitsipas is more at home on clay or on a hard court, but I love his attitude and his ability to come forward and learn.

Fabbiano, who is part of a boom of top players from Italy, has had many grass court games under his belt last month, and made the last four at Eastbourne.

Naomi Osaka v. Yulia Putintseva

Naomi Osaka and Yulia Putintseva

I find it fascinating to see how the new superstar of it becomes women's tennis these two weeks, because a lot has happened to Naomi Osaka in the past year. After winning the US and Australian Opens, everyone expected to go through the opposition, but of course there will be pressure and it is never that simple.

After Melbourne, she also split with her coach, Sascha Bajin, and has not looked the same since. The younger you are, the more important the coach is.

It may help that Osaka only places number 2 here, unlike Roland Garros. But this is a hard opener against a very fierce competitor in Yulia Putintseva, who is not afraid of big competitions.

The British

I really like people who have come back from lows, so I especially admire Jo Konta and Dan Evans. They ran out for various reasons and then lost their way – Konta struggled after making the semi-finals here two years ago, but it looks like she worked hard to restore her best.

I rooted for Evans. He is the naughty boy of the family but seems to have learned his lessons. I really like the way he plays, which fits well with the grass. It requires character to come back from where he was. Good for him.

<img id = "i-66e1ead2f33c0760" src = "https://ift.tt/2YnDiVF image-a-74_1561927395316.jpg "height =" 411 "width =" 634 "alt ="

The British Dan Evans is the bad boy of the family but seems to have learned his lessons "<img id =" i- 66e1ead2f33c0760 "src =" https://ift.tt/2FGRa5O "height =" 411 "width =" 634 "alt = "The British Dan Evans is the bad boy of the family but seems to have learned his lessons"

I'm tired of talking about the & # 39; next generation & # 39; to talk in men's sweaters – I want to know how to do it. the chance to comment on them in large semi-finals and finals, starting these two weeks. I know it's a different era in which I played (when we had teenagers like Mats Wilander, Michael Chang and myself who knew Majors), but I don't buy the argument that none of these generations is ready. They should deliver because they are good enough.

It is not about backhands and forehands. The difference is that the older boys go to the second week and think: & # 39; OK, the tournament has started. & # 39;

It's not about tennis, it's about mindset, and some started to believe it correctly and make it right.

My Wimbledon

An arrival at the All England Club feels like when you come home after a long journey abroad. I love the place, the feeling and the familiarity. It is my favorite fifteen of the year but also the most intense, partly because of the memories it inspires, such as when I first won the title in 1985, and also because people want the most from me, including friends I never knew I had cards after!

I will not only write for Sportsmail but also for the BBC team of which I have been a member for 15 years. I enjoy the friendship of people such as Tim Henman, Andrew Castle and Sue Barker. The point is that we have worked together for so long that we trust each other and that there is an excellent team spirit.

It is also the same in my work for Fox in Australia. Fortunately I count myself in the front row every year at Wimbledon. Boris Becker writes for Sportsmail and works for the BBC during Wimbledon "

<img id =" i-d28b30098aa8972b "src =" https://ift.tt/2UINeHc /2019/06/30/21/15455456-7198331-image-a-75_1561927448189.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" Boris Becker writes for Sportsmail and works for the BBC during Wimbledon Becker writes for Sportsmail and works for the BBC during Wimbledon "

Boris Becker writes for Sportsmail and works for the BBC during Wimbledon

My Dark Horse

Felix Auger – Aliassime. I just call him Felix AA. I really like his game – there's nothing you look at and think & # 39; he really needs to improve this or that & # 39 ;.

Matteo Berrettini, the 23-year-old world No. 20. His results were very impressive this year, also on grass, and he has a big game – watch out for him – 23-year-old world number 20 Matteo Berrettini is one to watch out for during Wimbledon "

<img id =" i-ba8f626412854e71 "src =" https://ift.tt/2NyDsEw /1s/2019/06/30/21/15455510-7198331-image-a-76_1561927506767.jpg "height =" 396 "width =" 634 "alt =" 23-year-old world number 20 Matteo Berrettini is one to watch out for during Wimbledon "<img id =" i-ba8f626412854e71 "src =" https://ift.tt/2FLXOIi " height = "396" width = "634" alt = "<img id =" i-ba8f626412854e71 "src =" https://ift.tt/2YwYV5G -image-a-76_1561927506767.jpg "height =" 396 "width =" 634 "alt =" My predictions

I liked to see how Ash Barty won the French Open Berrettini is one to watch out for during Wimbledon

With her somewhat old school game that does not depend on power, she is a great addition to the list of top women's stars. It is not easy to choose someone, but she won in Birmingham, suggesting there is no hangover from Paris.

Her game will be a pleasure to look at on grass. I don't think we've seen enough of Serena Williams or title defender Angelique Kerber this season to make them go ahead.

It is terribly difficult to split Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. I am reluctant to go against the defending champion, but Roger plays so well – forget his past, he has been so impressive this year and it looks like he sees the clay physically erect.

Naturally, Rafael Nadal is not far behind and he could easily come back as title defender. His potentially big second round match against Nick Kyrgios is something everyone wants to see and has a more difficult first week.

<img id = "i-237a63bf63316f77" src = "https://ift.tt/2FIaU9w image-a-77_1561927565536.jpg "height =" 421 "width =" 634 "alt =" It is difficult to split Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, but the Swiss is currently playing "

<img id =" i -237a63bf63316f77 "src =" https://ift.tt/2Yj9GIV "height =" 421 "width =" 634 " alt = "It is difficult to split Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, but the Swiss now plays so well Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, but the Swiss now play so well

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#My predictions for Wimbledon and what I want to see most"

[alamante]

Trump reprised his role as a cheerleader for Brexit and complained that everyone was taking advantage of the US. Negotiating with Putin would be easier than dealing with allies, he said. It was all transactional, about price tags and deals. Values found little airtime.

At almost every step, in tweet after tweet, he sneered at the liberal international order built from the ashes of World War II, underwritten through institutions like NATO and the UN and protected under the US nuclear umbrella, an order that has given much of the world unrivaled peace and prosperity.

Former US Vice President Joe Biden said last week that Trump was (wittingly or otherwise) helping with Putin’s agenda, which is above all to break the liberal international order that faced down the Soviet Union and stands for everything the Russian leader despises.

But is that order really in danger, and if so what might replace it? Some hark back to the 1930s, when the aftermath of economic crisis, protectionism, hostility to minorities, the collapse of international institutions and a sense that democracy had failed, allowed fascism to take root.

This parallel can be overdone of course: we live in an age of relatively full employment. We appear not to be on the brink of war, with fascist powers re-arming. Paramilitary groups don’t stalk the streets, most nation-states are stronger than they were in the 1930s, and the concept of human rights is now entrenched in democratic societies.

But when in doubt, quote Mark Twain, who is reputed to have said that “History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.”

And if some echoes of the 1930s are faint today, there are many contemporary trends that are equally alarming.

Trade wars

The most obvious parallel is a resurgent economic nationalism. Trump called the Trans Pacific Partnership a fraud, attacked the North American Free Trade Agreement as the worst deal in American history and imposed tariffs on imports from China, Europe and elsewhere — with more promised.

He said the US would remain in the World Trade Organization, whose mission is to advance a free and fair trading system, but added: “We’ve been treated very badly … It’s an unfair situation.” WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo warned that if the U.S. were to leave the organization, the law of the jungle would prevail.

It’s hardly surprising historians recall the infamous Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 which imposed steep tariffs on America’s trading partners. The arguments of the act’s supporters — that American industry and agriculture needed protection from unfair competition — are similar to those used by Trump today. In each case, US action prompted retaliatory tariffs.

As yet unknown: whether today’s trade wars will have the same disastrous consequences as Smoot-Hawley, which only deepened the Great Depression, or whether at some point, after all the brinkmanship there will be a “deal.” It all depends on whom Trump listens to.

Related: Trump’s Fast And Loose Trade Policy Endangers American Jobs

In any case, today’s interdependent markets and technologies coupled to a global economy in good health (the IMF expects global growth of 3.9% this year and next) are in stark contrast to the rampant unemployment and inflation of the inter-war period. German unemployment stands at 3.4%; in 1932, 30% of the country’s workforce was unemployed. The following year, 25% of Americans were out of work. And the working wage then was much closer to the poverty line than now; far fewer people had savings.

Economic crisis and political disarray fueled the rise of paramilitary groups. Almost every European country had their own versions of the Nazis’ Sturmabteilung — the Brown Shirts — in the 1930s. It is hard to see how the peripheral fascist groups of today could challenge sophisticated states, even if another Great Recession came calling. All the same, it’s little wonder that a fringe of far-right groups feel enabled — especially with nationalist, anti-EU parties either in power or on the brink of it across Europe.

Amid the confrontations at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville last year, Trump said there were “fine people” on both sides. Far-right attacks injured 560 migrants in Germany in 2016. The British government’s latest counter-terrorism strategy contends that “the threat from the extreme right wing has evolved in recent years and is growing.”

Millennial challenges

We may not be facing a return to the 1930s, but our age has fault-lines of its own. The rise of populism didn’t start with Brexit or Trump. To Trump’s ideological mentor, Steve Bannon (and he’s not alone), it began with the financial crisis of 2008, the failure of what he calls crony capitalism. In the long slog of recovery, traditional “good-paying jobs” have vanished in the US rust-belt towns that voted heavily for Trump.

The National Employment Law Project found in 2012 that 58% of the jobs regained in the US since the recession were in low-wage occupations, paying less than $14 an hour. Millions of mid-wage jobs had disappeared. In Britain, unemployment is low but again, the jobs that have come back are largely semi-skilled and poorly paid.

Inequality has widened dramatically in the past generation: in the US the richest 1% held 20% of the national income by 2016, while the lower 50% had just 13%. The trend, while less dramatic, is similar in Europe. And most research shows it’s the poorest workers whose wages and job prospects are hurt by an influx of migrants.

One of the themes of the pro-Brexit campaign was that migrants from eastern Europe were depressing wages and stretching social services. The same dynamic is playing out in Italy, where two populist parties won elections in March.

Related: Brexit’s Broken Promises: Health Care, Immigration And The Economy

If the events of 2016 marked the Revenge of the Forgotten, their resentment is no less today. Populist politicians — Donald Trump, Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini — have expertly exploited that. (“I love the poorly educated,” Trump declared in 2016.) They say ordinary people have been forgotten by the “liberal elites,” including pampered international bureaucrats, crony capitalists and the “fake news” media — what Hitler called the lugenpresse, or the lying press.

But Hitler also wrote in Mein Kampf that, “in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility.”

Rather than jack-booted paramilitaries, the peril today seems more insidious: a growing animosity towards “others” expressed in inflammatory language and through outright falsehoods. His critics say Trump turbocharged this: by describing some countries as “shitholes” and saying his opponents want illegal immigrants from central America “no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country.”

This extends beyond the US. Trump derided Germany (and Chancellor Angela Merkel) for “allowing in millions of people who have so strongly and violently changed their culture.” He asserted, falsely, that crime was way up in Germany.

But the message resonates among a growing minority in Europe. So Salvini refuses to allow boats carrying migrants to dock at Italian ports and wants a census of Roma people. The Hungarian government has made it a crime for people to offer help to illegal migrants.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, recently elected to a third term, has spoken approvingly of societies that “are not Western, not liberal, not liberal democracies, maybe not even democracies, and yet are making nations successful.” Steve Bannon says Orban was “Trump before Trump.”

French President Emmanuel Macron lamented this trend a few weeks ago: “They [the populists] are saying the most provocative things and no-one, no-one, is outraged. We’re getting used to all kinds of extremism from countries that a few years ago were just as pro-European as we are.”

Related: Hungary Is A Beacon To Europe’s Populist Strongmen

Despite nearly a decade of recovery from the Great Recession, intolerance and racism has flourished. How the mood may further sour when (not if) the next economic crisis comes along, especially if those good-paying jobs that were promised don’t materialize. And who will be the scapegoats?

As the old certainties crumble, Merkel has declared that immigration is Europe’s existential issue and “we Europeans must fight for our own future and destiny.” She told a rally in May: “The era in which we could fully rely on others is over to some extent.”

Related: Migration ‘Make Or Break’ Issue For Europe, Warns Germany’s Merkel

The trouble is, in the midst of Brexit and badly split over immigration, Europe looks ill equipped to sort out its own destiny, especially as Russia seems so intent on meddling in European politics on the side of the populists.

On multiple fronts, the international liberal order is being challenged because it has lost the confidence of people who feel left behind and “swamped” by immigration, as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher put it 40 years ago. Trump, Orban, Salvini, Marine Le Pen of the Mouvement National in France, have become their champions.

As Martin Wolf asks in the Financial Times, “Should we expect the old America back? Not until someone finds a more politically successful way of meeting the needs and anxieties of ordinary people.”

The same question might be asked of Europe.

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