Forest Hills stadium has remained dormant for a number of years. In fact, it was just rotting away as it waits for the wrecking ball to get it out of its misery. Therefore, if the walls of forest Hill stadium could say something, the previous home for the US Open would have a lot of stories to tell as there have been so many great moments that happened at this stadium.

Forest Hill was built in 1923 and   a lot of great players have played there including Chris Evert, Rod Laver, Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King.

In addition to that, a lot of memorable concerts have taken place at the stadium such as Barbra Streisand, The Beatles and Frank Sinatra.

Immediately after the 1977 tournament, the US Open relocated to Flushing Meadow after leaving the West Side Tennis club. There were other tournaments that continued to happen at the West Side Tennis Club and it also continued to host concerts in the 1990s. However, the cost of maintain Forest Hill stadium became too costly. As such, the facility had to be closed for almost 20 years.

Forest Hill stadium stayed unused for many years until 2013 when immense renovations brought its life back. The reopening of the stadium in august 2013 followed with a Mumford &Sons concert. Just like in the past, the schedule of shows, events and additional renovations has continued. Now, tennis is returning to the stadium in fact, New York Empire will play its home matches at the stadium.

The tennis direct Bob Ingersole said at the West Side Tennis Club, “We are on a big upward swing for the last couple of years in bringing the concerts back and we are bringing the professional tennis back to the stadium.”

With only five regular season games remaining on UCLA’s schedule, it seems that Bruins will win all the titles to secure a spot in the NCAA tournament. Furthermore, each game has its own pressure.

Steve Alford, the UCLA Coach shown that that it is going to be challenging.

Alford declared earlier this week that his team has not reacted under pressure. On Thursday, he said it again after his team lost to Utah and he accepted accountability for lack of mental toughness.

“That has been me and not the team,” Alford said. “This is because, any time I apply a bit of mental pressure on them, they did not manage it well.”

Since UCLA team performed better last season in a must win situations, it did not add up to him. Alford said Kevon Looney was a tough player but left for the NBA draft.

According to Alford, only two of his players, Isaac Hamilton and Bryce Alford have shown the same resilience as that of Norman Powell.

Steve Alford said, “ This is a different team and whether the talks have been more of encouragement or short term than long term, this is a team that handles that of approach way better than any other.”

Bryce Alford said that the coaches had set long-term goals such as going undefeated at home. By the end of the season, they knew exactly what they needed for them to secure a place at the NCAA tournament. This year, the coaches are more focuses on single games andsometimes shorter time frames.

“Before we start playing any game, they give us at least three key areas that we need to put more focus on,” Bryce Alford said.

Unlike the previous season, UCLA’S coach is not planning to emphasize NCAA tournament to his players.

Nervous or not? I will let you be the judge of that. Michael Clarke, 34, returns to Pratten Park, where he first played cricket at the age of thirteen, watched by his parents; Deborah and Les.

Unlike any other player today, he brought his own bat, ball and soundtrack to his comeback game at inner-western Sydney.

As the saying goes, ‘when you fall own, get back up’, so did Clarke by defying all odds against him. This is the same game he left last August when he was defeated, thereby announcing his retirement.

And who better to support him other than his wife Kyly who gave him the good-luck kiss before the game together with their three months old baby Kelsey who attended too.

Clarke also came with his PR and personal sponsors. “I’m probably different” is what he said to Fox Sports.

He stood out from his teammates when he put on a black shirt with white stripes. His teammates, they have white with black stripes shirts.

The Australian test team are playing in Christchurch, a mere 2140 kilometres from Ashfield.

Clark is batting against Randwick and Petersham at number 3.

While on his third ball, it would have turned out disastrous but as we know Clarke, he saved the game by providing a small edge falling just short off the slips.

Clark had said he would not rule out a return to first-class cricket when interviewed by The Sunday Telegraph.

He fled being run out when he climbed back to his fold after running a single.

He finally gave in just after 2 pm. He had a LBW for 48 runs.

Clarke signed every kid’s shirt and scrap of paper during his breaks reminding them to always say ‘please’.

Safe to say the crowd was larger than usual. He said, “No matter who I play for, I always get nervous before I bat”.

34-year-old Serena Williams is America’s professional tennis player with over30 titles in the both Grand slams and Olympic gold medals. Serena pulled out of this years’ Teninis Open to be held in Qatar because of flu.

Williams said, “ I have come down with flu and this does not make me feel 100 percent. I need to take this time off to recover but I look forward to going back to Doha and seeing my fans soon.”

At 34, Williams is still ranked number 1 by Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in women’s singles tennis. Her passion and ability in making shots among other players makes her the greatest female tennis player in history, a status she boosted with a trio of major titles in 2015.

The only thing that seems to slow her down are injuries. However, all the trainings and matches over the past two years have taken a combined toll. Therefore, if an ailment pops ups, for instance knee problems during any Open, then it becomes a major concern.

Serena is the youngest daughter of Richard and Oracene Williams. Together with her sister Venus, they have grown to becoming great sports champions. Therefore, at this stage of her career, the most important thing for her is to be healthy as close as 100% for top events even if it means participating in smaller tournaments. The main question as for now is how this flu could affect her availability for most majors.

Serena holds most of the titles in major doubles, singles and mixed doubles than other active tennis players. She has won 2 titles in mixed doubles, 13 titles in doubles and 19 in singles. Therefore, it is important that she get back to full strength so that she may continue being the gold standard of women’s tennis.

Christian Ronaldo scored his 12th goal of the season in the Champions League with an a amazing strike into the top corner, putting Real Madrid on the edge against AS Roma with a 2-0 win on Wednesday.

Roma frustrated Real Madrid in the first half but Ronaldo ended their resistance by boldly controlling a fine pass from Marcelo before releasing a powerful and curling shot that bounced off Alessandro Florenzi and twisted over the goal keeper into the net.

The much struggled finish ignited a joyous celebration from Ronaldo who ran across the field to embrace their coach Zinedine Zidane.

“Ronaldo played well and the rest of the team as well,” Zidane said.

“I am delighted about the celebration but most importantly that he scored,” Zidane added.

Coach Zinedine Zidane is a Frenchman who is a former player of Real and haswon the Champions league back in 2002 and today, is now developing his career as coach.

“Today has been a very special day, the team played well but it was also a difficult match because Roma also played well”

“This was one of our best performance this season against a top team,” Florenzi said.

“We are bitter because we played very well but the scores are not pleasing.” He added.

During the first half, Real did not have any single short on target, but they have to thank Raphael Varane who came to their rescue when the ball was superbly intercepted from Mohamed Salah to Diego Perotti, before a shot was blocked by El Shaarawy.

Coach Zidane remains unbeaten ever since he took over leadership from Rafa Benitez, who was sacked last month.

“We are very happy with Zinedine Zidane and I am pleased that we are moving on the same wavelength,” Ramos said.

Ivan Johnson, an ex NBA player has had his lifetime ban from the professional league in Philippines for a blasphemous outburst at an official reduced to one year. This came after he made a personal apology, according to the league officials.

The banish of Johnson, who is an ex Atlanta Hawk occurred on Saturday’s mid game after he used the “F-word” in argument with Chito Narvasa, the commissioner of Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

The league spokesman Willie Marcial said that Narvasa reduced the lifetime ban to one season after having a meeting with a player from the Talk N’ Text Tropang texters team.

“He apologized for his actions, he explained that he is different on the court. His intentions was to show that he is a good man and he also loves his fans in Philippines.” Marcial said in a meeting that included Johnson and his family.

31- year old Johnson is married to one wife and is a father of two children.

After the incident, the PBA reduced Johnson’s fine from 250,000 to 150,000 pesos.

Johnson, who is 6 ft 8inch, has had tough season, having been suspended for one game earlier this month for fighting with a player of an opposing team.

In fact, he was banned for life in 2010 by Korean Basketball league for making an obscene gesture at the referee.

In addition to that, he was also fined for different altercations with fans and officials during 2011-2013 abbreviated NBA career.

Marcial said if Johnson misbehaves again, he will be banned for life in the Philippines.

In his post on twitter, Johnson said,“ This lifetime base is truly unfortunate and devastating for me because I feel at home and welcomed when I play here at Philippines.”

Players from foreign countries are highly valued in Philippines’ crazy Basketball as they can dominate a role in PBA, which is highly competitive.