the times | Monday May 2 2022 2GM 55
Sport
Wimbledon organisers are struggling
to find outright backing for their ban of
Russian players after three of the sport’s
biggest names stopped short of offering
their support yesterday.
Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and
Novak Djokovic all expressed regret
that competitors from Russia and Bela-
rus will be unable to enter the champi-
onships this summer. Ian Hewitt, the
chairman of the All England Club, said
last week that there is no “viable alter-
native” while the invasion of Ukraine is
ongoing.
“I think it’s very unfair [on] my Rus-
sian tennis mates, my colleagues,”
Nadal, the 21-times grand slam cham-
pion from Spain, said. “It’s not their
fault what’s happening with the war.”
Murray, who is a full member of the
though are made with caution, but the
Jamaican did not break the 19.50-mark
until he was 21.
During a superb 2021 season, Knight-
on broke Bolt’s under-18 200m world
record (20.13) seven times. At 17, he also
became the youngest American male
since 1964 to be selected for the United
States Olympics team when he fea-
tured in Tokyo last summer, finishing
fourth in the 200m.
Knighton’s ascent is as remarkable as
it is rapid. He prioritised American
football for much of his youth and only
began sprinting in high school to
improve his skill as a wide receiver.
When the pandemic restricted oppor-
tunities to play in his home state, Flor-
ida, he switched his focus to the track.Nadal and Murray question Russian ban
All England Club after winning Wim-
bledon in 2013 and 2016, said that he
was “not supportive of players getting
banned” but acknowledged that it was
an “unbelievably complex situation”.
“I don’t think there’s a right answer,”
he added. “I feel really bad for the
players who aren’t allowed to play and
I get that it will seem unfair to them. I’m
friendly and close with some of them
and I feel bad for them. But I also know
some of the people who work at Wim-
bledon and I know how difficult a posi-
tion they were in. Not a lot has been dis-
cussed about why this is happening and
[people are] forgetting about the
reasons for why Wimbledon, tennis
and sports are in this situation. It’s
because there is a war in Ukraine.”
Murray also believes that the UK
government backed Wimbledon into a
corner by issuing informal guidancethat suggested Russians could compete
if they signed a written declaration stat-
ing that they do not support the inva-
sion. This was widely regarded as un-
feasible because of the potential safety
risks to family members back home.
“I think that guidance was not help-
ful,” Murray said. “I’m not sure how
comfortable I would feel if that decision
was taken because if something hap-
pened to one of the players or their fam-
ilies, that’s not good either.”
Djokovic stood by his comments of
ten days ago, in which he described the
ban as “crazy”. However, the world No 1
feels it is unlikely that the ATP and
WTA tours will remove ranking points
from Wimbledon in retaliation.
“Everything is possible,” he said. “But
the more realistic option is to protect
the points of the Russian and Belaru-
sian players who are not playing.”Stuart Fraser Tennis Correspondent
A teenager tipped to be one of the stars
of athletics over the next decade has
become the fourth-fastest man ever
over 200m.
Erriyon Knighton, 18, ran 19.49sec in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Saturday,
joining an elite band who have run
under 19.50. Only Usain Bolt (personal
best 19.19) and Yohan Blake (19.26) of
Jamaica, and the American Michael
Johnson (19.32), have gone faster.
Knighton’s time was the quickest
since Bolt and Blake ran 19.32 and 19.44
respectively in the London 2012
Olympic Games final.
Comparisons to Bolt are inevitable,US teenager becomes the
fourth-fastest over 200m
Athletics
Kit ShepardWhen Katie Taylor’s hand was raised at
the end of a fight that soared beyond
epic, proclaiming her continuing reign
as lightweight champion of the world,
the roar that cascaded down the steep
banks of Madison Square Garden
rattled every bolt and screw in the great
arena.
It was a suitably deafening crescendo
for a week that will be recalled in every
way as something extraordinary, her
victory over Amanda Serrano destined
to be remembered among the greatest
expressions of Taylor’s global suprema-
cy as a female boxer, but more than
that, a tribute to the incredible resil-
ience and toughness that has defined
her career and compelled her to trans-
form a fight that seemed utterly lost
after six rounds.
A fight among the greatest seen at
The Garden was decided on a split deci-
sion — 94-96, 97-93 and 96-93 on the
judges’ scorecards — Taylor somehow
changing the tide when it seemed deci-
sively won by Serrano after a pair of
devastating rounds had almost stopped
her.
Taylor refused to submit and go
down despite suffering intense pressure
and punishment. How much longer the
35-year-old can absorb such potentially
damaging physical torture is a legiti-
mate question, but also one to be
addressed another day.
“Tonight was fantastic,” she said
afterwards, a cut over her right eye
stitched, blood seeping from a
wound on her left temple. “I had to
dig deep. I had to produce a career-
defining performance. What an
amazing champion Amanda is
as well; we definitely got the
best out of each other.
“It was the biggest fight in
women’s boxing history, but
it exceeded everything
people were talking
about this week. Walk-
ing out to the ring it
was unbelievable. It
was a special, special
moment. Best night of
my career, for sure. I
wasn’t sure if anythingTaylor is keen to do
it all again after the
best night of career
Boxing
Michael Foleycould reach my Olympic gold medal
moment, but tonight was absolutely the
best moment of my career.”
For Serrano, 33, there will be regret
that a tenth world title slipped away
from her having reached such a com-
manding position. But a combination of
fatigue and Taylor managing somehow
to navigate herself back to the control of
the opening four rounds before event-
ually opening up on Serrano in the
tenth defeated Serrano in the end.
“It was a great fight,” she said. “That’s
all I wanted to do was put on a great
fight to show that women can fight; we
can sell. I gave it what I had tonight.”
The fight had been expected to boil
down to a battle between Serrano’s
superior punching power and Taylor’s
agility and ring craft. Those terms were
respected from the start before turning
in a brutal fifth round when Serrano
inflicted a succession of ferocious
assaults on Taylor that led to one judge
awarding Serrano the round 10-8.
Taylor had stabilised by the seventh,
but the fight was by then in Serrano’s
hands. Wrenching it back required
something heroic. Taylor delivered. She
returned to the principles that frustrat-
ed Serrano early, staying elusive while
landing more punches, even if they
lacked the power to trouble Serrano.
The gap between them remained
close. The ninth once again tilted to
Taylor, even after she had suffered a
straight left from Serrano that could
have stopped traffic. Then the tenth
unfolded into an incredible war, in
which Taylor decisively turned the
fight around, finally landing shots
that shook a waning Serrano, and
capping an awesome reversal.
After both fighters had agreed
to a rematch, and Eddie
Hearn spoke of the pro-
spect of a fight in Ireland,
Serrano’s promoter Jake
Paul supported the pro-
posal, and was backed
by Taylor and Hearn.
“Absolutely. We all
want to see the best
versus the best,” Tay-
lor said. “A rematch
would be absolutely
phenomenal. If it
was in Dublin we
could sell out Croke
Park — 90,000 people.
That would be unbelievable.”Taylor secured victory
from the brink of defeatCLIVE BRUNSKILL/GETTY IMAGES5
Out of seven matches on
clay that Raducanu has
won despite playing on the
surface for the first time
as a professional last
monthOn TV today
Cameron Norrie v
Kwon Soon-woo (3pm)
Andy Murray v
Dominic Thiem (7pm)
TV: Amazon Prime