Things are never straightforward in professional sports. When the success of your performance relies on external factors like the weather, things are bound to get interesting. That is the case with Venus Williams and her match against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova during this year’s Parma Open.

Venus Williams Against the Heavy Winds in Parma, Italy

Things often get heated on the tennis court when players disagree with the umpire’s call, and when she got a time violation for waiting too long between serves, Venus Williams had something to say about it. After the call of the umpire, Venus went to his chair and explained that she “can’t control God” and the wind. If the wind blows, she said, there is nothing the pro player can do about it. She even encouraged the umpire to “talk to him” while pointing to the sky. Whether that violation or the annoyance from it contributed to her losing the match is something we can only speculate about.

Serena’s older sister ended up losing the match by 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 to the 125th in the world, Anna Schmiedlova.

A Bad Season for Venus

Her defeat in the first round at the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma is just one of the many lost matches for Venus this season. The seven-time grand slam champion has been hampered by injuries and hasn’t won a match since the first round at the Australian Open in February when she beat Kristen Flipkens. Schmiedlova has already become sort of an impenetrable wall for Venus as she has won four of their five matches together.

With the French Open already starting, we are yet to see whether Venus Williams will manage to break her losing streak and find her form in time to shine in Paris. What will happen there? We’ll just have to watch and see!

Arsenal’s first league victory at Old Trafford for 14 years can be more than a great result for Mikel Arteta’s men. It can turn out to be a defining moment for the Gunners.

The win over their Manchester rivals couldn’t have come at a better time. The Spaniard was under pressure going into the weekend due to his team’s poor results during the last four league matches.

Arsenal Stopped Manchester’s In-Form Attack

United’s attack had produced an impressive display during their Champion League 5-0 win over RB Leipzig. Most specialists were skeptical of Arsenal’s ability to defend their goal. After all, they had lost three of their previous four games and had managed to keep only one clean sheet, during the opening weekend of the season.

Arteta’s team, however, showed amazing discipline and managed to keep Manchester’s attacking duo at bay. The Spanish coach started in a 3-2-4-1 formation with two powerful players in the center of midfield.

When in possession, Arsenal played with confidence. They were patient, passed the ball well, and caused a lot of headaches to United. The team was well-balanced and produced a performance that all Gunners’ fans should be proud of.

Partey and Elneny Are Becoming a Fearsome Midfield Duo

Both Partey and Elneny displayed exemplary steeliness when their team wasn’t in possession of the ball. They took control of the midfield and dictated the tempo of the game. This boosted the confidence of their teammates who put in the effort to work and scrap and get behind the ball, all over the pitch.

The goal came in the 69th minute when French midfielder Paul Pogba needlessly dived in on Hector Bellerin who was in a position of no danger in the penalty box. The game official Mike Dean saw the foul and gave a penalty kick, which was converted into a goal by Gabonese attacker, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The match against Manchester United was Arteta’s 40th game in charge and showed how far Arsenal has come since he became their manager.