Barbora Krejcikova, right, and Katerina Siniakova lift the women's doubles trophy after beating Iga Swiatek and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the French Open final. Reuters
Barbora Krejcikova, right, and Katerina Siniakova lift the women's doubles trophy after beating Iga Swiatek and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the French Open final. Reuters
Barbora Krejcikova, right, and Katerina Siniakova lift the women's doubles trophy after beating Iga Swiatek and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the French Open final. Reuters
Barbora Krejcikova, right, and Katerina Siniakova lift the women's doubles trophy after beating Iga Swiatek and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the French Open final. Reuters

Barbora Krejcikova joins elite company after winning French Open double


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Barbora Krejcikova has now made tennis history twice in two days after winning the French Open doubles title on Sunday alongside fellow Czech Katerina Siniakova.

Krejcikova defied all expectations on Saturday when she claimed her maiden Grand Slam singles title with a victory over Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Although her win in the final, becoming only the second Czech player after Hana Mandlikova in 1981 to win the trophy, was not a great shock, her journey to get to the final was more so.

Competing less than 24 hours later in the doubles title match, Krejcikova had the chance to join France's Mary Pierce as the only other player to win the Roland Garros singles and doubles titles the same year.

If there was some surprise to Krejcikova's singles triumph – given her unseeded status and previously limited success in the format – her doubles pedigree meant that she and Siniakova, seeded second together, were always going to be among the title favourites.

And they duly delivered, defeating the pairing of American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Poland's Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-2.

Swiatek, the 2020 French Open singles champion, saw her title defence end in the quarter-finals.

Krejcikova and Siniakova have now won three Grand Slam doubles titles together, following previous triumphs in 2018 at the French Open and Wimbledon. Krejcikova has also won a further three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles having won the past three Australian Opens.

Barbora Krejcikova holds the Suzanne Lenglen trophy after winning the French Open at Roland Garros. Getty
Barbora Krejcikova holds the Suzanne Lenglen trophy after winning the French Open at Roland Garros. Getty

Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

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Sarfira

Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal 

Rating: 2/5

Points tally

1. Australia 52; 2. New Zealand 44; 3. South Africa 36; 4. Sri Lanka 35; 5. UAE 27; 6. India 27; 7. England 26; 8. Singapore 8; 9. Malaysia 3

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

MATCH INFO

Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 12’) Liverpool 1 (Minamino 73’)

Arsenal win 5-4 on penalties

Man of the Match: Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal)

Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

Available: Now

What are NFTs?

Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.

You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”

However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.

This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”

This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

Torque: 985Nm

Price: From Dh439,000

Available: Now

PAKISTAN SQUAD

Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (test captain), Babar Azam (T20 captain), Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah. 

Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Rating: 4/5
The bio

Favourite food: Japanese

Favourite car: Lamborghini

Favourite hobby: Football

Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough

Favourite country: UAE

BMW%20M4%20Competition
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ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

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Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills