Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Overcome with frustration, Simona Halep doubled over and started smashing her racket on the hard court at Sobeys Stadium after she missed a return late in the third set of her semifinal.
The two-time champion harnessed that passion to beat Jessica Pegula of the United States 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the National Bank Open's first semifinal on Saturday. The 15th-seeded Halep will face Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia in Sunday's final.
Haddad Maia beat Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-6 (9) in the late semifinal to reach a WTA Masters event final for the first time.
Halep said that destroying her racket shows that she's herself again.
"The fire is back," said a smiling Halep. "It's a good sign if I do that. It looks like I'm fighting. It helps me sometimes. I don't know if it's always good or not, but it helps me."
Halep started her season with a victory at the Melbourne Summer Set 1. Although it was the 23rd title of her career, it was the first since 2020. In early April she announced she would begin working with coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
She said that Mouratoglou's influence has rekindled her passion for tennis.
"The person next to us. Patrick. He brought it," said Halep, gesturing toward Mouratoglou. She said that training at his tennis school in the French Riviera has been inspirational.
"The vibe from the academy gave me the energy. To see all those kids fighting every day to touch the dream that they have — I felt that I still can do it. I still have it inside myself."
After beating Pliskova, Haddad Maia described herself as an emotional player who often screams or pumps her fist on the court. She said that like Halep she's learning to channel that passion productively.
"I just try to breathe a little bit more. I try to calm down and think about what I need to do and not what I'm experiencing," said Haddad Maia. "I try to play every point and think about the next shot.
"I don't think about, 'Oh, I'm here playing against No. 1 in the world in a big stage in a 1000 WTA,' because otherwise I wouldn't be able to play."
The WTA event was hard on seeded players with the top six all being eliminated before the quarterfinals. Haddad Maia was responsible for three of those upsets, taking down 13th seeded Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, and 14th seeded Pliskova in succession.
A year ago Haddad Maia was ranked 183rd in the world, she entered this week's tournament No. 24 and will crack the top 20 next week.
"I think the results have come because of the hard work," she said. "The only thing I changed in the last 12 months was to focus more on the process and not about results.
"For sure we set goals, and my next goal was to be in the top 20. So I'm very happy because we never know in tennis when it's going to happen."
Both Halep and Pegula were visibly frustrated with their own play in the third set after several unforced errors or double faults. Halep finished the match with 10 double faults to Pegula's one, but the American struggled with the placement of her returns.
Romanian flags dotted the stands at the tennis-specific venue on York University's campus and Halep, who won what was then called the Rogers Cup in 2016 and 2018, said she appreciated the support.
"Actually, it felt like we were in Romania today," she said. "Many people were supporting me. Actually, I felt like everyone was supporting me.
"They sent a lot of energy. In the tough moments they really pushed me."
In the late semifinal, Haddad Maia was dominant for most of the first set, quickly building a 5-1 lead. Plishkova started to build some momentum, however, winning three consecutive games.
Haddad Maia's 184 km/h serve on set point left Plishkova off-footed and the Czech player put her return into the net.
Plishkova had a strong start to the second set, building a 4-1 lead. But the 26-year-old Brazilian dug deep, tying the set 5-5.
After they exchanged games, the second set went to tiebreak.
Haddad Maia led the tiebreak 8-7 for second match point when Pliskova double faulted, angrily swatting away the Brazilian's return.
Pegula teamed with fellow American Coco Gauff later Saturday in the semifinal of the doubles tournament, beating Madison Keys of the U.S. and India's Sania Mirza 7-5, 7-5 to advance to Sunday.
Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and Mexican partner Giuliana Olmos were eliminated Saturday night in a tense semifinal doubles match against American Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Australia's Ellen Perez, who won 7-6 (5), 6-3.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2022.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.