Shockwaves are reverberating across Yorùbáland and the global Yorùbá diaspora following the sudden death of the Baba Ọba (King’s Father) of the famed Oyotunji African Village in South Carolina, USA. The late Baba Ọba, Lukman Arohunfale, a revered socialite and traditionalist, passed away under circumstances already sparking fierce controversy. His death comes just days after he publicly accused the newly installed Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty Oba Akeem Adéyẹmọ Owoade, of allegedly ordering his courtiers to beat him mercilessly during a recent courtesy visit to the Oyo palace in Nigeria. In a widely circulated voice recording, the deceased recounted how what was meant to be a simple homage turned violent. Although the Baba Ọba had reportedly battled ill health in the past year, growing insinuations suggest that the alleged physical assault may have aggravated his condition, ultimately leading to his untimely death. The palace in Oyo recently denied that s...
Andy Murray dashes from court to hospital after Australian Open win to see his father-in-law who collapsed
At the moment, Murray's camp is not expecting the world No 2 to pull out of the tournament after Nigel Sears was hospitalised
While the world No 2 was beating Joao Sousa in the Margaret Court Arena, Nigel Sears collapsed in the Rod Laver Arena and was carried away on a stretcher.
The British No 1 completed his match against Joao Sousa and was told the news by his mother Judy after he came off court. He immediately left for nearly Epworth Hospital to see Nigel.
Sears, 58, had an ECG in the ambulance – then another on his arrival at the hospital.
Murray has pledged to return home from the first Grand Slam of the season if his pregnant wife Kim goes into labour early. The Scot is due to play his next match – against Australians Bernard Tomic or John Millman – on Monday.
At the moment, Murray's camp is not expecting the world No 2 to pull out of the tournament.
Davis Cup captain Leon Smith, who was in Murray's player's box during the match, said: “I don't know the extent of what it is. If he is absolutely fine, it will be business of usual. But obviously he needs to find out exactly what happened.”
Murray, who won 6-2 3-6 6-2 6-2, said: “I thought I struggled. At the beginning I think he was extremely aggressive, very intense.
“You know, so he was getting into position to dictate a lot of points with his forehand. Once I started to hit the ball a little bit cleaner towards the end of the match I was able to get him in his backhand corner and dictate more of the points.
"It was tricky. I didn't feel great. You know, the match against Groth, though I returned well; I didn't get to hit that many groundstrokes; didn't feel I was in a great rhythm; wasn't hitting the ball clean at the start.
“He was hitting the ball great, close to the lines, and making me do a lot of running.
“I just tried to keep fighting. At the end I was actually hitting the ball well and felt better at the end. It was good to get through that one.”
Before Sears was taken to hospital, Andy's brother Jamie Murray reported that he was “conscious, talking, sitting up.”
Epworth Hospital, where Fred Perry died in 1995, is only five minutes away from Melbourne Park. A hospital spokesman said Sears' condition was “stable”.
Sears, the coach to former world No 1 Ana Ivanovic, was watching his player take on American Madison Keys.
The incident happened after 37 minutes of the match in the second set.
Ivanovic and Keys waited on court for around 10 minutes before they were informed play was suspended and left the arena.
After a 50-minute break, the players re-emerged and the match was resumed with Keys trailing 6-4 1-0.
Ivanovic, who was a set and a game up when Sears collapsed, is out of the tournament.
She lost 4-6 6-4 6-4 to Madison Keys. No press conference has yet been announced and it's not clear if she will speak.
Former pro Pam Shriver reported on ESPN that Ivanovic was aware of Nigel having similar previous episodes and both players were given option to further delay or cancel the match.
Former world No 1 Ivanovic, who won the 2008 French Open, is the girlfriend of Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.
She first worked with Sears between 2011-13 – and then hired him again last summer after losing in the second round of Wimbledon.
Sears, 58, is a former player who started coaching Daniela Hantuchova in 2001 and also worked with Amanda Coetzee.
A statement from the Australian Open organisers confirmed the news.
"A male in his 50s fell ill in Rod Laver Arena this evening. He was transported to hospital by ambulance.
"The match was suspended and the players updated on his condition. The players had the opportunity to consult with their teams and then went back on court.
"The players returned to the court at 8.40 pm."
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