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You’re next Margaret Court! Serena beats sister, Venus for 23 Grand Slam Titles!

20170128_051704-11st Set Highlights

The match had an extremely tense start. 1st serve percentages were low for both sisters and Serena had to change her racquet after what she did to it in frustration.

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Photo: www.theguardian.com

After numerous double faults on both sides, break for break and repeat at 2-2 with Serena being very tight, Serena found a way to eventually break Venus once more and serve out the set, taking the 1st set 6-4.

Venus missed a lot of chances that she couldn’t afford, because to beat Serena she had to be perfect. Serena does not get beaten at her best and her best is better than Venus’ best. So you can see where it got mental and emotional for Venus as she knew she had to elevate her game and it was not happening.

2nd Set Highlights

Venus held serve to start off the 2nd set. Serena followed. Venus was then in trouble down love-40 and saved 3 break points to hold serve and go up 2-1 in the 2nd.

Venus then had a game of many missed opportunities, mainly failure to return weak 2nd serves by Serena resulting in Serena holding to even the set at 2-2.

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Photo: www.theguardian.com

At 3-3 there was negative body language from Venus. Serena capitalised on sharp angled 2nd serve returns and finally broke Venus to go up 4-3. Serena then served a perfect game to go up 5-3.

Venus held her serve to move to 4-5, followed by Serena serving for the Championship. Venus won the longest rally of the match in that game but Serena kept fighting and converted her Championship point!

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Photo: www.theguardian.com

Serena won 6-4, 6-4 falling to the floor in joy. Venus walked over to her side of the court and they shared a warm embrace.

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Serena now has the Open era record of 23 Grand Slam titles and will return to the #1 ranking in the world next week.

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By: Gabrielle Burgess

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Fed Express is back and in the Final!

Roger Federer is through to his first Australian Open Final in 7 years. He beat Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4 -6, 6-3!

Will it be a Vintage Men’s Final too? Suga thinks so! Federer awaits the winner of the Nadal vs Dimitrov Semi-Final.

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Photo: www.theguardian.com

By: Gabrielle Burgess
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It will be an ALL-WILLIAMS Final at the Australian Open!

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A Williams will win the Australian Open this year!

Serena’s serve was much better last night and she dominated Lucic-Baroni 6-2, 6-1.

It was all about Venus Williams making the Final last night though! She surely took centrestage. Her match was before Serena’s and must have helped to further inspire and fire up Serena to win her match.

Vintage Venus was on the move! It was such a beauty to watch. Quite inspirational.

The match started off with Venus being broken in her 1st game and that never occurred again. The 1st set went back and forth with Venus up 6-5. At this point Coco raised the level of her game to force the tiebreak. Venus tightened up during the tiebreak and lost the 1st set. She was visually upset with herself and if looks could kill! She expressed her wrath in the 2nd set with controlled aggression and took it easily, 6-2.

Of course at that point, the edge was still given to the younger player, Coco to have enough gas left for 3 sets. But the momentum stayed on Venus’s side with her entering the 3rd set with the same attitude, breaking Coco early. Coco went a bit loco throwing her racquet but she did not go down without a fight. I remember her asking out loud early in the 1st set what was going on. Well by the 3rd set it must have hit her that she was playing the experienced Venus Williams who was one of her 4 idols growing up. The other 3 included Venus’s sister, Serena, Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport.

It has been years since Venus has played like this. I was pleasantly surprised that she pulled this off. She saved 12 of 13 break points faced and scored 11 aces. Her movement was phenominal, she made necessary adjustments such as hugging the baseline to accommodate hard hitting by Coco and beat her mentally. Her serve was clutch and she won 6-7, 6-2, 6-3. It was spectacular tennis by both players.

Her winning moment is a must see. The 36 year old could not contain her excitement and emotions. She looked like a 6 year old and deservedly so. She had more twirls going than Serena.

Watch “Venus Williams Victory Dance + Interview after reaching Australian Open Final” on YouTube here:

Venus hasn’t reached a Grand Slam Final since 2009 and her last Australian Final was in 2003 vs Serena.

Here are the stats between the Williams sisters heading into the Final this Saturday at 3am!

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By: Gabrielle Burgess
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The Australian Open is heating up!

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Photo: www.yahoo.com

Serena Williams is through to her 10th straight SemiFinal! She beat Konta 6-2, 6-3. It was all mental and she read her opponent well. Despite her poor 1st service games tonight she surely turned up her 2nd and returns!

She will meet 34 year old, Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni at 12am later. Serena is chasing 23 Grand Slam Titles to write history but Lucic-Baroni has her own fairytale story, trying to have the biggest comeback in history. They last met at Wimbledon when they were teenagers in 1998 and Serena came out on top.  Lucic-Baroni was to be the next big thing back then upsetting Monica Seles to reach the Semi Finals at Wimbledon in 1999. But she drifted from the scene with personal issues, coming out to the public a few years later that she was abused by her father. She has a number of injuries but was in tears of happiness just to make it to the SemiFinals and will surely give everything she’s got.

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Photo: www.tennisnow.com

Venus will meet the young power hitter, Coco right now! Will Venus make it an over 30-year old final? Suga favours Coco to win but will be happy if Venus pulls off the win.

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The Men’s side is also hot. Rafael Nadal beat Milos Raonic in straight sets and is heading to the SemiFinals vs. Dimitrov.

We could possibly witness a Nadal-Federer Final! Federer would have to overcome Stan Wawrinka first though at 3:30am, which may not be an easy task.

Enjoy and stay tuned! Suga’s got you if you are sleeping.

By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Suga started the New Year with Dinner at Tamarind Continental

Tamarind Continental was one of the few places open on New Year’s Day for a late dinner so I was thankful.

Tamarind Continental, Saffron and Tamarind Indian all fall under the same umbrella, however Tamarind Continental’s menu offers cuisines other than Indian as its name suggests.

Their menu consisted of Soups, Salads and Appetizers in the range of $695 to $1395JMD. The Appetizers looked interesting with items such as Stuffed Mushrooms, Grilled Chicken with Olives, Fish strips, Shrimp bites, Zucchini fries with Onion rings and more.

Their main menu had a range of Pastas (Make your own), Burgers, Pizzas and a variety of Chicken, Salmon, Lamb, Shrimp, Fish and Pork dishes. Mushroom dishes were available for Vegetarians too. Prices were from $1100 to $2495JMD.

I peaked over at 2 tables nearby and the Pizzas didn’t look so enticing so I skipped over that part of their menu.

My husband and I started off with the Mushroom Cappuccino ($695JMD) and Shrimp Bisque ($795JMD) Soups. We thought the wait somewhere between 20 minutes and half hour was too long.

We were happy when they came though. Big servings and the Soups were freshly made and flavourful.

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Shrimp Bisque (above); Mushroom Cappuccino (below)

I wanted something simple for dinner and since I avoided fries during the holidays I enjoyed their Lamb Burger with fries ($1500JMD) even though the whole wheat bun was not available that night. It was not a big burger but I was satisfied since I had their huge Soup before it.

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Lamb Burger ($1500JMD)

My husband enjoyed his dinner as well. He had the Chargrill Sage Garlic Chicken Breast served with mashed potatoes and vegetables ($1500JMD). It tasted just as delicious as it looked.

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Chargrill Sage Garlic Chicken Breast ($1500JMD)

Service throughout the night was good, not great, but I liked the quality of the food and prices were manageable, so I will return. The use of Indian Herbs and Spices in European cuisine gives the food a unique, flavourful taste. My husband already returned for lunch!

Tamarind Continental European Fusion

Location: Shop 14, Orchid Plaza. 18-22 Barbican Road. Kingston

Ph: 876-620-5301; 876-620-5336

By: Gabrielle Burgess
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​AUSTRALIAN OPEN UPDATE!

Photo: ESPN Scorecenter

Venus at 36yrs old is through to the Semis as the oldest woman in History to do so at the Australian Open. She will meet the unseeded Coco Vandeweghe and fellow American who has been creating upset after upset, beating #7 Muguruza in straight sets 6-4, 6-0 after knocking out World #1, Angelique Kerber. Coco is a power hitter and she definitely has her eyes on the title.

Serena plays #9 Konta tonight at 9pm in the QF who is not a walk over. 

Photo: ESPN Scorecenter

For the Men, Nadal will face Raonic in the QF tommorrow at 3:30am.

Federer (#17) beat Zverev in straight sets and will meet #4 Stan Wawrinka who beat Tsonga in straight sets and stared him down.

Stay tuned!

By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Animal Crackers are back on the Market and Healthier!

Our beloved childhood snack, Animal Crackers disappeared from the shelves for a while and have been sited in MegaMart, Waterloo!

They are not only back but healthier in different packaging and in boxes of 6. They are slightly more expensive and you would prefer the original Animal Crackers. I’m not sure why ‘Original’ is on the box but from what I remember, they could pass as healthy before but not as healthy as they are now, especially if you ate the whole bag. I believe the original serving size was 1.5, but who is going to leave half a serving in the bag anyway? Of course, it was a bit tastier before as well. Converting to healthier versions are an acquired taste most of the time. 

Anyhow, although made in the USA, I am happy that I can now eat a full bag of Animal Crackers totally guilt-free. 0% Sat Fat, 0g Trans Fat, 0mg Cholesterol, low in sodium and only 8g of sugar and 4% fiber to keep you fuller for longer.

By: Gabrielle Burgess

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Falcons and Patriots Head to the Super Bowl!

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Photo: ESPN Scorecenter

The Falcons destroyed the Packers, beating them 44-21 to head to the Super Bowl.

The Packers failed to score in the first half due to a fumble followed by 2 interceptions. They also failed to convert huge opportunities to intercept when they were unable to recover a loose ball, mistimed a jump in the end zone and dropped the ball in the end zone, which was followed with a touchdown by the Falcons, ending the 1st half 24-0.

Defense was poor for the Packers and has been throughout the Playoffs. The players had butterfingers and even though Rodgers had more rushing yards than his teammates, he couldn’t win it by himself.

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Photo: ESPN Scorecenter

The Patriots rolled over the Steelers as expected with a win of 36-17. They are heading to the Super Bowl for a record 9th time.

Will the Vegas Pro prediction of the Falcons winning it all come through? Suga thinks it is possible. They got young, fresh legs.

In other Sports news, Serena Williams moves on to the Quarterfinals of the Australian Open and Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Cavaliers last Saturday night in Cleveland in OT 118- 115!

LeBron James failed to make the game-winning shot that caused the game to go into OT, he missed more crucial clutch shots and created a turnover. Kevin Love missed his shots as well, including the very last possession when the Spurs defense slipped up and he was left wide open for the 3-point shot. Kyrie Irving made the usual clutch shots in OT but it wasn’t enough.

The Cavs didn’t even play the full Spurs team. The Spurs are currently without Pao Gasol, who is out for 4 to 8 weeks and Tony Parker, who has an injured foot. So the game belonged to Kawhi Leonard who scored a Career high 41 points. It was his 1st game over 40 points.

Stay tuned. Sports season is on a high until June!

By: Gabrielle Burgess
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