Gunmen Leave Messi a Menacing Message

Police gather outside the Unico supermarket, a grocery chain owned by soccer player Lionel Messi's in-laws, after it was shot at in Rosario, Argentina, Thursday, March 2, 2023.Sebastian Lopez Brach/AP
Police gather outside the Unico supermarket, a grocery chain owned by soccer player Lionel Messi's in-laws, after it was shot at in Rosario, Argentina, Thursday, March 2, 2023.Sebastian Lopez Brach/AP
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Gunmen Leave Messi a Menacing Message

Police gather outside the Unico supermarket, a grocery chain owned by soccer player Lionel Messi's in-laws, after it was shot at in Rosario, Argentina, Thursday, March 2, 2023.Sebastian Lopez Brach/AP
Police gather outside the Unico supermarket, a grocery chain owned by soccer player Lionel Messi's in-laws, after it was shot at in Rosario, Argentina, Thursday, March 2, 2023.Sebastian Lopez Brach/AP

Gunmen left a threatening message Thursday for Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi and opened fire at a supermarket owned by his in-laws in Argentina’s third-largest city, police said.

Nobody was injured in the early morning attack, and it was unclear why assailants would target Messi or the Unico supermarket in Rosario, owned by the family of his wife, Antonella Roccuzzo.

The city’s mayor, Pablo Javkin, lashed out at federal authorities over what he called their failure to curb a surge in drug-related violence in Rosario, located about 190 miles ( 300 kilometers) northwest of the capital of Buenos Aires.

Police said two men on a motorcycle fired at least a dozen shots into an Unico branch in the early hours, and left a message on a piece of carboard that read, “Messi, we’re waiting for you. Javkin is also a drug trafficker, so he won’t take care of you.”

Messi, captain of the national team that won last year’s World Cup for Argentina for the first time in 36 years, has not commented. Messi currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain and spends much of his time overseas, though he often visits Rosario where he has a home in the suburb of Funes.

Javkin, a center-left politician in opposition to the ruling Peronist coalition, appeared to throw suspicion of complicity for the attack on both criminal gangs and federal security officials.

"I doubt everyone, even those who are supposed to protect us,” Javkin said in an interview with a local radio station, according to The Associated Press.

He said the supermarket was in a section of Rosario that has seen frequent crimes, that he has raised the issue in recent meetings with federal and provincial official law enforcement officials, and that no action has been taken.

“Where are the ones who need to take care of us?” Javkin said. “It’s clear that those who have the weapons and have the possibility of investigating the criminals aren’t doing it, and it’s very easy for any gang to carry out something like this.”



Swiatek Fights Back to Down McNally and Reach Third Round

Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 3, 2025 Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning her second round match against Caty McNally of the US. (Reuters)
Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 3, 2025 Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning her second round match against Caty McNally of the US. (Reuters)
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Swiatek Fights Back to Down McNally and Reach Third Round

Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 3, 2025 Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning her second round match against Caty McNally of the US. (Reuters)
Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 3, 2025 Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning her second round match against Caty McNally of the US. (Reuters)

Iga Swiatek may not love the grass but relishes a battle whatever the surface and showed all that fight and bullish determination as she recovered to beat American Caty McNally 5-7 6-2 6-1 and reach the Wimbledon third round on Thursday.

McNally, the world number 208, looked poised to cause an upset when she clawed her way back from 4-1 down to take the first set against the five-times Grand Slam champion.

At that point Swiatek's mediocre record at the All England Club, where the Pole has never gone past the quarter-finals, seemed to be weighing heavily on her shoulders.

But rather than shy away from the scrap, the former world number one flicked a psychological switch that saw her come out for the second set transformed, upping her aggression and playing with a ferocity McNally simply could not handle.

She broke early in the second set and never looked back, losing only three more games to set up a clash with another American Danielle Collins.

"I started the match well, so I knew that my game was there," said Swiatek. "I knew that at the start of the second set I had to be more accurate. I just tried to improve and I'm happy it worked."

The eighth seed may have her sights set far higher than the third round, but by reaching the last 32 she underlined her consistency on the big stage.

The 23-year-old is the third player this century to reach the third round in 22 consecutive women’s singles Grand Slams after Amelie Mauresmo and Serena Williams.

DIFFICULT SURFACE

Whether such milestones are enough to persuade Swiatek she can excel on a surface that has so far proven difficult to master is yet to be determined.

With four French Open titles to her name, another at the US Open and two semi-final appearances in Australia, her unspectacular Wimbledon record stands out like a sore thumb.

A run to the Bad Homburg final in the grasscourt warm-up event showed her game is not entirely unsuited to the surface, though there was a period in the first set against McNally where she may have wondered if this tournament was simply not for her.

Having broken early and raced into a 4-1 lead, the wheels briefly came off as McNally did everything to push Swiatek out of her comfort zone.

The American pushed right up to the baseline to receive serve, trying to give Swiatek less time to react to the return and for a while it worked.

McNally spurned four break points in the seventh game before finally taking her chance at the fifth attempt before breaking again for a 6-5 lead when Swiatek swiped a backhand long.

When the Pole fired a wild forehand off target to hand McNally the opener, everything seemed to be going the American's way. But that was as good as it got.

DOUBLES PARTNERS

Swiatek knows McNally's game well - the pair were doubles partners in their youth, clinching the junior title at Roland Garros in 2018 - and set about dismantling it in double-quick time.

She broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set and again to level the contest at one set each.

Swiatek then did the same at the start of the third set, breaking to go 2-0 ahead, with a forehand swiped cross-court, while another forehand winner saw her break again to move 4-0 up.

It was then straightforward for the Pole, although she did have to save five break points before wrapping up victory with an ace.

As well as earning her spot in the next round, the match against her old playing partner offered a pleasing trip down memory lane.

"It's pretty funny because I remember these matches pretty well," she said of her junior days.

"We know each other pretty well ... She's one of the people who make you feel like you are not only rivals on tour but that you can also respect each other and like each other."