Black Immigrant Daily News

New York (AP)— Imagine if they could bottle a potion called “Just Serena.”

That was Serena Williams’ succinct, smiling explanation for how she’d managed — at nearly 41, and match-rusty — to defeat the world’s second-ranked player and advance Wednesday to the third round of a U.S. Open that so far, doesn’t feel much like a farewell. “I’m just Serena,” she said, to roaring fans.

Clearly, there’s only one Serena. But as superhuman as many found her achievement, some older fans in particular — middle-aged, or beyond — said they saw in Williams’ latest run a very human and relatable takeaway, too. Namely the idea that they, also, could perform better and longer than they once thought possible — through fitness, practice and grit.

“It makes me feel good about what I’m doing still at my age,” said Bess Brodsky Goldstein, 63, a lifelong tennis enthusiast who was attending the Open on Thursday, the day after Williams’ triumph over 26-year-old Anett Kontaveit.

Goldstein pursues her passion for the sport more vigorously than most women her age. She plays several times a week and participates in an age 55-and-up USTA mixed-doubles league in New England. (She also plays competitive golf.)

Yet Goldstein, like any athlete, suffers her share of aches and injuries, like a recent knee issue that set her back a few weeks. Watching Williams, she said, shows ordinary folks that injuries — or, in Williams’ case, a life-threatening childbirth experience five years ago — can be overcome. “She gives you the inspiration that you can achieve your best, even in your early 60s,” said Goldstein, who also had high praise for Venus Williams, Serena’s older sister, competing this year at 42.

Evelyn David was also watching tennis at the Open on Thursday, And she, too, was thinking about the night before.

“Everybody is going, ‘WHOA!’” said David, who smilingly gave her age as “older than my 60s” and is the site director for New York Junior Tennis Learning, which works with children and teens. She cited the physicality of Williams’ play and the role of fitness in today’s tennis. “The rigorous training that athletes go through now is different,” David said. “She’s going, ‘I’m not falling over. I can get to the ball.’”

“A total inspiration,” David termed Williams’ performance — and she had some prominent company.

“Can I put something in perspective here?” former champion and ESPN commentator Chris Evert said during Wednesday’s broadcast. “This is a 40-year-old mother. It is blowing me away.”

Evert retired at age 34 in 1989, well before fitness and nutrition were the prominent factors in tennis they are now. They were even less so when pioneering player Billie Jean King, now 78, was in her heyday.

“For us older ones, it gives us hope and it’s fun,” King said Thursday in an interview about Williams. “Puts a pep in your step. Gives you energy.” She noted how fitness on the tour has changed since the 1960s and 1970s.

“We didn’t have the information and we didn’t have the money,” King said. “When people win a tournament now, they say, ‘Thank you to my team.’ They’re so lucky to have all those people. We didn’t even have a coach.”

Jessica Pegula, the No. 8 seed who won on Thursday, is at 28 a half-century younger than King. She knows well the difference fitness has made.

“It’s been a huge part of it,” she said. “Athletes, how they take care of their bodies, sports nutrition, the science behind training and nutrition — (it) has changed so much. Back in the day, you saw a player drinking a Coke on the sideline or they had a beer after their match. Now … health has been the No. 1 priority, whether it’s physical or mental.” She said she remembered thinking Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Williams were all going to retire, but “they kept pushing the boundaries.”

Federer, 41, hasn’t played since Wimbledon last year because of operations on his right knee but has said he’ll try to play Wimbledon next year, shortly before his 42nd birthday. And Nadal, 36, known for his intense devotion to fitness, has won two Grand Slam titles this year to raise his total to a men’s-record 22. Nobody would be surprised if he won another major. In contrast, Jimmy Connors’ famous run to the 1991 semis of the U.S. Open when he was 39 was considered an event for the history books.

In the women’s game, a longtime pioneer for fitness was Martina Navratilova, who won her final Grand Slam title, the 2006 U.S. Open mixed doubles, at age 49.

Of course, fitness is only one building block to greatness — in any sport. Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons, who like Pegula is 28, noted that even though it’s inspiring to see Williams keep an athletic advantage partly through preparation, “not everybody is Serena and Venus Williams. Maybe there are some genes in there that not everybody else is blessed enough to have, but it’s still cool to know that, hey, even though she is genetically gifted, there are some things that she’s done that have helped her in a tremendous way prolong her career.”

Dr. Michael J. Joyner, who studies human performance at the Mayo Clinic, said Williams shares many traits with other superstar athletes including star quarterback Tom Brady (45 and famously un-retired ) who have enjoyed long careers.

“What you see with all of these people is they stay motivated, they’ve avoided catastrophic injury … or they’ve been able to come back because they’ve recovered,” he said. Also key: They live in “the modern era of sports medicine.”

The question, he asked, is can Williams perform at the same level every other day to win a whole tournament? He hopes so.

Williams fan Jamie Martin, who has worked in physical therapy since 1985 and owns a chain of clinics in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, said she’s seeing many women playing vigorous, competitive sports into middle age and beyond. Some return to their sport, or take up a new one, after years of focusing on work or family.

Williams’ pursuit of another U.S. Open title at 40 is a reminder that women can not only remain competitive longer but can compete now for the joy of it, she notes.

“She’s really enjoying playing,” said Martin, 59. “That’s what’s fun to watch about it now.”

Brooklyn teacher Mwezi Pugh says both Williams sisters are great examples of living life on their own terms – which includes deciding how long they want to play.

“They are still following their own playbook,” said Pugh, 51. “‘Are you ready to retire yet, Serena?’ ‘I don’t like that word. I would rather say evolution.’ ‘Are you ready to retire, Venus?’ ‘Not today.’”

“The older you are, the more you should be able to set up your life in the way you like, and what works best for you,” Pugh said. “That’s what the sisters are doing, and they are teaching all of us a lesson.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Le géant russe Gazprom a annoncé que le gazoduc Nord Stream, qui devait reprendre du service samedi après une maintenance, sera finalement “complètement” arrêté jusqu’à la réparation d’une turbine de ce pipeline vital pour l’approvisionnement des Européens.

Dans un communiqué, Gazprom a indiqué vendredi soir avoir découvert des “fuites d’huile” dans la turbine, lors de cette opération de maintenance dans une station de compression située en Russie.

“Jusqu’à la réparation (…), le transport du gaz via Nord Stream est complètement suspendu”, a indiqué le groupe, sans préciser combien de temps pouvait durer cette réparation.

Ce rebondissement va accentuer encore l’angoisse des Européens, qui se démènent pour éviter une crise énergétique cet hiver et accusent Moscou d’user du gaz comme d’une arme pour se venger des sanctions occidentales après l’offensive russe en Ukraine.

Le groupe Gazprom devait reprendre samedi ses livraisons de gaz via Nord Stream, qui relie la Russie au nord de l’Allemagne, après une nouvelle interruption de trois jours pour ces opérations de maintenance.

Gazprom a assuré avoir découvert cette “fuite d’huile” lors d’un contrôle technique effectué avec des représentants du groupe allemand Siemens, qui a fabriqué la turbine.

Le groupe russe fait état de cette fuite d’huile sur des “câbles reliés à des compteurs de vitesse d’un rotor”. Sur Telegram, le groupe a publié une photo montrant des câbles entourés d’un liquide brunâtre.

Ces ennuis techniques empêchent d’assurer “une exploitation sécurisée du moteur de la turbine à gaz”, soutient Gazprom, s’appuyant sur un avertissement de l’Agence civile russe de surveillance des industries.

Plus tôt dans la journée, le Kremlin avait affirmé qu’une seule turbine fonctionnait sur place et que l’activité de Nord Stream était “menacée” par une pénurie de pièces de rechange en raison des sanctions visant Moscou.

Moscou affirme notamment que ces sanctions empêchent la restitution d’une turbine Siemens qui avait été envoyée au Canada pour être réparée. L’Allemagne, où se trouve la turbine, assure que c’est la Russie qui bloque le retour de cette pièce-clé.

– L’hiver approche… –

Depuis le début de l’intervention militaire du Kremlin en Ukraine, fin février, la Russie a déjà cessé ses fournitures de gaz, via d’autres pipelines, à plusieurs pays de l’Union européenne, comme la Bulgarie et la Pologne.

Et, en juillet, Gazprom avait déjà procédé à dix jours de travaux de maintenance sur le gazoduc Nord Stream qui avait ensuite été remis en marche mais avec une nouvelle baisse des livraisons.

Un responsable allemand avait jugé l’interruption de cette semaine “incompréhensible sur le plan technique”, y voyant une manoeuvre politique de la Russie.

“Nous ne pouvons plus nous fier à la Russie ou à Gazprom” pour respecter leurs engagements sur les livraisons de gaz, a répété cette semaine le ministre de l’Economie, Robert Habeck.

Il semble désormais que les craintes d’un arrêt total des livraisons russes à l’approche de l’hiver se confirment.

Pour compenser les quantités manquantes, les Européens s’efforcent de trouver d’autres fournisseurs et de réduire leur consommation sur fond d’explosion des prix du gaz sur les marchés et de spectre de récession.

Une coupure totale du gaz russe pourrait amputer d’un point la croissance française, a estimé le ministre de l’Economie, Bruno Le Maire.

En Allemagne, l’activité devrait se contracter au second semestre, plombée par l’impact de l’envolée des prix de l’énergie sur le puissant secteur industriel.

Dans la première économie européenne, la menace de pénurie de gaz cet hiver semble cependant s’éloigner. Le pays se démène pour réduire sa dépendance à la Russie qui atteignait encore 55% des importations de gaz en février.

Les projets d’installation de plusieurs terminaux flottants permettant d’importer du gaz naturel liquéfié (GNL) ont connu une nette accélération en Allemagne: deux première unités devraient entrer en fonction cet hiver.

Une diversification qui “aidera à passer l’hiver sans perturbations majeures”, selon le ministère allemand de l’Economie.

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